Many shades of green

This is a white house and many of the retaining walls in the front garden are white.  Many of the planting combinations in the garden include white but by far the most important colour in this garden will be green.  After a long Winter and the tentative start of Spring, it is the colour green that I appreciate more than any other.  Green comes in so many subtle shades at this time of year that it offers its very own colour palette.   

We certainly have too much white at the front of the house and adding planting and the colour green in the form of the foliage that appears on plants and shrubs is the best way to counter-balance the backdrop of white. 

Yesterday I was up early planting the last of the box in the front garden.  I have planted these between the Yew cones and in front of the low white retaining wall.  In time this will form a substantial low hedge and a wonderful backdrop for current (Scabiosa) and future planting.

We have also added two jumbles of pots planted up with Nemesia, Lavender, Heliotropium, Calibrachoa, Geranium and Marguerite daisy.  These create focal points and much needed colour.

We have also been busy assembling herb planters for the vegitable garden as Vanessa is keen to include herbs in this space.  They came in kit form and once assembled Vanessa painted each before I added John Innes number 3, some compost and lots of horticulteral grit.  We then planted up with a selection of herbs including chives, winter savoury and mint.

But it's been so very wet and windy lately.  Thankfully we have had some sunny spells so the garden has been able to soak up the water while recovering in the sunshine.  But I do long for green in the form of hedging and trees.  Our Birch is only just in leaf, our Hornbeam and Hawthorn about to leaf and only now can we see signs of our Beech hedging coming to life.  But I am sure this yearning for green in its many profusions will be satisfied in the next couple of weeks so I must be patient.

Tulip trials

The continued results of our Tulip Trials are there to be seen. Everywhere in the garden combinations of Tulip varieties are coming into full bloom and the added colour at this early stage of the gardening year is so welcome.

Back in December we planated over 500 Tulips throughout the garden, all kindly given to us to trial by Jo and Tim at Directbulbs.com.

The combinations were - Spring Green & Eyecatcher, Blue Diamond & Orange Princess, Jackpot & Graceland, Claudia & Tres Chic, Ballade White & Synadae Orange and single plantings using Cracker and American Dream.

American Dream works well planted in amongst the Wallflowers we have and which border the vegetable garden. Meanwhile, Tres Chic and Claudia look very elegant planted in our more formal beds in the front garden.

But the hard work planting these Tulips was last year. The hard work right now has been barrowing the recycled garden waste we use as a mulch from a large pile which was delivered on Friday to all the beds we have created around the garden. This will seal in moisture before Summer while surpressing weeds. All day Saturday and half of Sunday is long and tiring work but it will be worth it and has the added bonus of improving our thin and impoverished soil.

A Beautiful Wedding Day

Vanessa's favourite plant is the Rose and we both love an old fashioned rambler called Wedding Day.

Wedding Day has a short flowering period but it is just the most beautiful, romantic rose with a heady, seductive scent. Its pale apricot buds open to a creamy-yellow flower fading to a pure white cluster in mid Summer. We make the most of every day it is in bloom.

I have just erected a rusted rose arch between the vegetable garden and the orchard. On either side I have planted Wedding Day along with a Clematis called Chevalier. This is a relatively new variety and extremely free-flowering from May to September. I selected it for its velvet, purple, star shaped, sepaled flowers which will age to a mid blue with maturity. The combination of a white rose and a purple clematis will be the perfect combination for the arch while also framing the view quite beautifully into the orchard from the vegetable garden.

In another spot next to an old knarled tree I have planted another old favourite - Rambling Rector. With its vigorous growth, good old Rambling Rector should soon be up the tree in no time and flowering with its white, fragrant semi-double flowers. Next to it I planted another clematis - 'The President' - with its attractive large rich purple flowers. This again should free flower from May until September.

Then it was into the vegetable garden to begin work planting first early Potatoes (a couple of varieties), some Lettuce, Broccoli, Mange Tout and Sugar Snap Peas. And with the Easter holidays and the long weekend it has been a joy to be out in the garden working on a series of small projects. Fun and rewarding.

Claudia says hello...

Back in the cold dark of December I planted 500 Tulip bulbs. The first of these Tulips is now in flower and it is Claudia. This lilly flower shaped Tulip was planted with Tres Chic.

But the purple/pink colour trimmed with white is striking and dramatic and after the long months of Winter and the slow journey into Spring the appearance of Claudia is most welcome.

Of course there are many more Tulips to make their appearance. The hot dry weather has been a bonus while it has lasted and Claudia has made her entrance a month early but this is probably due to the hot spell and the sheltered spot where she was planted.

But welcome Claudia, the garden just got a lot more colourful.