March into April

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The year is already speeding by and we’re now into April, so before we forget what March was like, I’m posting a few pix.

The prunus has quite a short flowering season, and the blossoms soon succeeded by the leaves, seen here. There is a huge variety of prunus, and ours seems to be a minority variety, although I did see the same one in a garden in Oxford recently. Most other varieties flower more prolifically.

Meanwhile, in the south facing border, everything is stirring into life. At the moment there is a carpet of celandine. I suppose that strictly speaking these are a wild flower (i.e. a weed in a garden). But they do have a charming little flower and the carpet of foliage keeps other weeds at bey.

We have quite a good show of primrose. I’ve split up clumps and spread them around (as recommended by Monty Don last night in fact). Now, apparently, is a good time to do this.

My favourite hellebore are now coming to an end of their season, although even when past their best, the flowers are quite decorative. I like the way the white ones catch the light and stand out briefly in the border which is shaded for much of the day.

We always try to have some early colour on the patio, and last autumn I potted up daffs and narcissus and tulips, the last following the example of Carol Klein, who, of course, does so on a somewhat grander scale. There are two pots of yellow tulips, with one pot flowering earlier than the other, so we should have a longer tulip season.

The shrubs are also coming on. The skimmia confusa and the cornus are both doing their seasonal best. The skimmia is covered in budding flowers while the cornus has put forth wonderful green leaves which contrast beautifully with the pink branches.

The chaenomeles (Japanese quince) which we inherited is flowering abundantly, and continues to give us a lot of enjoyment as we look out of the kitchen window. The new pink chaenomeles which we planted last summer also has survived the winter and is now starting to flower.

Our neighbour’s magnolia has also given us a lot of enjoyment. It’s more or less just outside our bedroom window, so even on a grey morning we can enjoy the colour of its blooms when we open the blinds.

Unfortunately, a recent frost has damaged the flowers — one of the risks with magnolias. And now that we are in April, we expect to be free from pillaging frosts. But this season you never can count on anything! Except, of course, that we now have a hosepipe ban. Just as well we got two water butts installed last autumn.