Blog: A tale of too dry, cold and sunny!
Gardeners are never satisfied, and April gave me a lot to moan about. Bone dry, sunny, but paired with the evil curse of frosty nights without end, it seemed. Never mind, here’s my April garden in photos… That was some dry spell! The water butts were emptied by the middle of the month. Sod’s law, as I’d chosen March as the time to divide a load of herbaceous perennials. The only precipitation we had until the 26th was in the form of two hail showers!
Luckily, my rain dance worked with rain on two whole days running. A slight respite from the frosts, only for the latter to return at the end of last week. Can somebody out there make the weather work, please? Massive thanks to Vanessa for taking most of these pictures – a much higher standard than I can manage!
April garden highlights: Daffodils and tulips
Stars of the April garden continued to be the bulbs. The daffodils continue to blaze away, especially the new Cheerfulness and White Cheerfulness from Taylor’s Bulbs. Who’d have thought there would be so much joy in a £5.99 bag? There was the bonus of a free bag of mixed daffodils with my J Parkers order. They’re brightening up the pond seating area as we speak.
Last year’s tulips in zinc pots have suffered from the drought and proximity to the bird feeder. Raggy leaves and bird poo do not make a good combination. Thankfully, saving the day for the tulip world are the new Golden Apeldoorn and Purple Dream. They look wonderful, backed by contrasting Phormiums, Platt’s Black and Maori Sunrise.
Ornamentals
The herbaceous perennials didn’t let the side down. Best of the bunch is Brunnera Looking Glass, for its silver leaves and blue forget-me-not flowers. Also up there is Bergenia Admiral, with big, glossy purple-tinted leaves and deep pink flower spikes – excellent for ground cover.
For trees and shrubs, the weeping pink double cherry is looking the best it has for years. Shows what can happen when you stop it from being strangled by ivy! Euphorbias never let the side down at this time of year, with E. mellifera and E. characias wulfenii shining out
Then there are good old Berberis darwinii and the spring shoots of Pieris Forest Flame (inherited) and Cornus Midwinter Fire. The cut-back Sorbaria is coming back strongly with its delightful flamingo pink young foliage.
April garden edibles
I’m cutting back my outside veg growing as I begin to clear part of the garden for a bigger greenhouse. I’m trying to grow things that cost a lot in the supermarket. Still, I’ve sown climbing yellow courgette Shooting Star to plant out at the beginning of June. I’ve moved the raspberries and most of the strawberries into a 1m raised bed. Still plugging away is the autumn-planted garlic.
We’ve had lovely blossom from blood plum Lizzie, apricot Kioto and cherry Regina in our April garden. However, I fear the frosts may do for them. Thankfully, the apples haven’t opened up yet.
Under glass, I planted Rosella, my sole cordon tomatoes, in the greenhouse. All that sun has meant the tomatoes are well on. The rest are bush types (Tumbling Tom Red, Garden Pearl and Losetto). They’re gradually being potted up when Gary gives in and takes me for more potting compost.
The chillies (Hungarian Hot Wax, De Cayenne, Jalapeno and Red Cherry) have had a burst of growth. The peppers (Golden Bell, Antohi Romanian and Friggitello were sown late for me on March 22. However, this has been a bit of a blessing with my lack of space issues!
Exotics
This has become a botanist’s wonderland. After I sowed a packet of Chiltern Seeds’ Mac’s Mix XV, a huge variety of rare, tropical seeds have germinated. I truly have no idea what many of them are, but I have a complete list now. Expect a post on this soon. There’s definitely Morning Glories in there!
The Colocasia (elephant’s ears) have finally poked through after weeks of sitting on a heat mat. I was convinced they’d rotted. The bananas, ginger, canna and Pelargoniums have been repotted (see last week’s blog) and rehoused in the greenhouse. The Abyssinian red banana, Yucca and Washingtonia palm are still in the conservatory. So are many of the big ceramic pots. They’re too heavy for me to lift downstairs, hence the need for a bigger greenhouse!
That’s my April garden for you. Onwards and upward to May!
