PotsandPlots

I’m not quite sure what happened to this week. I did get out in the garden a few times, and I suppose time flies when you’re having fun. I haven’t posted on the blog since last Saturday, which means no books reviewed. I’m getting behind!

But most of the people who read my SixOnSaturday posts probably aren’t that bothered by that. Here’s how the garden is looking as we now officially enter spring.

You can see from the featured image above that I have cleared lots of pots from the patio to the decking. The patio has been swept down and now needs a clean. I really must remember not to overwinter my metal pots on the paving, as they stain something chronic.

SixOnSaturday is curated by Jim at Garden Ruminations, and you can find the participation guidelines here.

1. Some more narcissi have come out in my pots. Two varieties have started blooming. The creamy, with pale yellow trumpets, Sailboat, and the taller yellow Kokopelli. At least I think that’s what they are.

My narcissi in pots adventure has been an object lesson in making better notes. I have a bowl of small yellow daffodils that look a bit mangy, which is why I haven’t photographed them, and I have no recollection of what they are and I’m thoroughly confused as to which batch are which and can’t find the email telling me which bulbs I bought.

2. Acers give me a lot of pleasure, and none more so than this one I inherited from my dad. I’m not sure it’s ever more beautiful than when its new leaves are just coming in. We’re not quite at full beauty yet, so this may well feature next week too.

3. A National Garden Scheme garden we have visited for many years has a giant agave plant at the front of the house. I love it and decided I wanted one of my own. So I visited Urban Jungle (well, its website) last summer to choose one. It’s an agave salmiana var. ferox. They can get pretty big, so I may have regrets in a few years time.

This particular agave hardy but doesn’t like to be wet over winter. It’s been sitting in our little greenhouse since October. I figured it’s probably safe to bring it out to enjoy some sunshine.

4. I’ve been growing aubretia in two plastic troughs for a couple of years now. One of them is just starting to flower, and the flowers are so purple, they seem to be blowing the colour balance of my phone camera. These never fail to cheer in the early spring. I was hoping I could encourage them to cascade more, but perhaps they will over time.

5. I’m terrible for buying plants I like at garden centres without really knowing what they are or where they might go. I tend to figure most things will grow in a pot (though I’m not always right). So it was with this one.

As usual, I quickly lost the label and so had no idea what it was. Last year it was wonderful, with lots of lovely purple anemone-like flowers for quite a long time. I was wondering whether to put it in the ground this year.

To my rescue came March’s RHS Garden magazine and an article about aplines. What I have here is Pulsatilla Vulgaris. It’s lovely; almost furry before it flowers and all of a sudden it looks ready to go. I don’t really have any flower beds suitable for it, so as it’s doing so nicely it can stay in the pot for now.

6. I’m almost too embarassed to show this photo in a public space, but we’re all friends here, right? My main project for this year was to create a nature pond.

Here it is, half full and with some new planting around it. It still needs work. Some aquatic plants and more water for a start. I have put in two Rodgersia pinnata ‘Superba’ in the area behind it, and in front, so far, is a row of Tiarella cordifolia. I may add some hosta to the right, in due course. To the left (with one more out of shot) are a couple of ferns, Dryopteris erythrosora ‘Brilliance.’

It looks terrible at the moment; there’s a thin line between a bucket of dirty water and a pond, but hopefully, this time next year, it will look a little more natural.

And Finally.

Still the star of the show, the cherry is still going strong.