Gorgeous tulips.

T. 'White Parrot' in a Parrot Tulip pot.

This strangely warm few days has brought the tulips out incredibly quickly. You can't beat tulips for an explosion of colour and ours have certainly gone kaboom in the last couple of days. So let me show you around...

Tulip 'Creme Lizard'



Along the entrance path, where you are quite likely to be greeted by Puss-Puss, I have been fairly restrained this year, with white, blue and some yellow flowers and yellow and green foliage.

I try to make each area different each year - but sometimes it is hard as some plants really struggle in certain places. The entrance path can be bitterly cold and windswept in the winter and I have had to remove two young Ilex 'Silver Queen', which keeled over just as spring arrived.
 

 

Red tulips in the courtyard garden: (Left to Right) 'Princesse Charmante', 'Roulette' and 'Rococo'



The Courtyard Garden is dominated by red, yellow and bright, sharp green foliage. This picture shows the yellow tulips 'West Point' (lily-flowered) and 'Maja' (fringed). The red in the large Buxus pot is 'Roulette', the red in the square pot is 'Princesse Charmante'. Princesse Charmante was shown in bud in last week's blog but I was wrong when I said that she smells of freesias - I was thinking of 'Ballerina', the orange lily-flowered tulip that has only just started to open.



Orange tulips 'Prinses Irene', 'Fidelio' and 'Ballerina' (the latter is small and skinny because these were planted in this large Gothic pot three years ago, bulbs planted last autumn will have fatter flowers)

 

The side of the courtyard garden by the Octagon is stuffed with orange, bright green, white and dark purple. Here the pots in front of the Octagon contain (top to bottom) 'Prinses Irene', 'White Parrot' and 'Fidelio'. The white narcissus is N. actaea.

My favourite of these at the moment is 'Prinses Irene' (see below in a straight-sided basket pot) because of the lovely clear orange of her tepals with the bonus of a broad purple streak on the back of each one - this detail is TELLING you what to combine with this tulip!



Tulip 'Prinses Irene' and
Anemone blanda 'White Splendour'







Tulip 'Silver Parrot' in Armscote Bee Pots

 Just around the corner in the stockyard everything turns pink and purple this year. I often use grey and purple foliage with these tulips because grey-leafed plants such as Erysimum 'Bowles's Mauve' so often seem to have purple flowers. The star of this year's show in the stockyard is a tulip that's new to us - 'Silver Parrot'. Its curliness isn't to everyone's taste but I love the outrageous parroty tulips most of all I think. This has coloured up in a range of pinks really beautifully and stops many people in their tracks.

 Here 'Silver Parrot' is growing through Santolina chamaecyparissus, and Viola 'Cancan'. You can just see Erysimum 'Bowles's Mauve' behind it and the purple bells in the background are Fritillaria persica, which are in the next pot. Grouping the pots allows you to play with colour combinations infinitely.

Tulips 'Silver Parrot' and 'Backpacker'
with Pansy 'Can-Can'

So here's part of the same group from the other side. The purple double tulip which is just beginning to expand has the ugly name of 'Backpacker' but is a sturdy and very pretty tulip.

Tulip 'Ronaldo'

I haven't shown you everything - but if I did you would have less reason to visit the pottery! I really do have to stop messing about with photographs now and go and do some real gardening, especially as Rene has just sent me a very exciting box of dahlias and gladioli which need urgent potting up. I'll just leave you with a handsome tall, dark stranger called Ronaldo:

Oh and by the way - I really should mention that we have a bulb sale in September, we are likely to have all the above and more - we normally have about 30 different tulips plus narcissi, alliums, crocus, every bulb you need to make next spring a real riot of colour.

Bloom, Blooms and Bold Birds

This week I moved a few things around to refresh the displays in the courtyard garden in honour of the seconds sale - strangely people often forget that this is possible and keep the same pots in the same positions year after year even if it means that some are flowering in obscurity. I often find that simply moving a few pots makes some of my colleagues 'discover' things that have been there for ages. That is one of the many joys of pot gardening - you can rediscover plants and combinations just by having a shuffle.



Violas and Scilla siberica
in a straight-sided basket pot

There is plenty to look at outside and it is changing by the minute. I make sure I have a good look at the pots every working day (I'm only at the pottery for three days every week)  because warmer temperatures and windy weather mean that I have to watch for drying out.

Paradoxical irrigation

Container gardeners can't rely on rain to wet their pots at this time of year as the lush foliage, especially of tulips, will prevent a lot of the water from reaching the compost. I don't water every day but I do make sure that the pots are not too dry before a heavy spring shower. This often puzzles people but flowers are much less likely to get squashed or snapped off if they are fully turgid than if they are a bit on the limp side.  As the drainage is so good in our pots I am less worried about waterlogging than about plants collapsing under the rain, so I am often to be seen out with the hose when there are juicy black clouds looming over the village.

 

Narcissus 'Bath's Flame'
Dating from 1913

N. 'Mrs Langtry'

 The other reason for loitering in the garden is that new flowers are opening all the time. I have really enjoyed Rene's collection of vintage daffodils. Narcissus 'Bath's Flame' opened soon after N. pseudonarcissus and is a real beauty, tall and strong even though the flowers are large, with lovely clear colour.

N. 'Butter and Eggs' dates from 1777. Variable but surprisingly strong for a double.

Unripe tulips

T. 'Rococo'

My favourite visual treat at this time of year is the changing colours of the tulip tepals (neither petals nor sepals), many enhanced by a beautiful glaucous bloom. T. 'Rococo' almost looks better before it turns red, with hints of yellow, purple, green and turquoise in its curly flowers.



T. 'Princesse Charmante'



A Greigii tulip, 'Princesse Charmante', is beginning to colour up, too - this modestly blushing flower will soon turn bright red and smell of freesias when the sun shines on her.

Fritillaria persica

Other bloomy blooms include the fritillaries - the Snakesheads have been going for a while and the F. persicaria have now raised their spectacular heads of dark purple bells.

More modest F. uva-vulpis are looking good in a couple of small pots.

Fritillaria uva-vulpis in a small Parsley pot

And finally - Bird News
Yackety jackdaws visit every morning to check for cake crumbs. They have an uncouth look about them but they are very clever birds - they were quick to learn that Whichford Pottery is a good source of cake!

Mr Right?

Mrs B has been dividing her time between excitable suitors and very busy nest building. We had had hardly any rain for ages and she scuttled into the greenhouse to join me when I had been watering plants and pottered about gathering mud to stick her nest together. I think Chez B is in the hedge beside the gas tanks for the kilns this year.

The robin has also been in the greenhouse looking for caterpillars and picking off a few greenfly, so I have had some company while I prick out seedlings. Better get back there now...

Spring flowers, seed sowing and multiple birth

So much to do, so little time
There has been a slightly bigger than usual gap between this blog and the last because there is just too much to do - but there is plenty to look at and it would be a shame not to share it with you. Last week's planting is doing well, the Pulsatillas' fluffy buds have opened and the other plants are settling in nicely.

N. pseudonarcissus in a Buxus pot (644)

I have been a bit disappointed with the crocus and narcissi that I planted in pots this year - I experimented with using compost from the compost heap in the bottom of some of the pots and I think that this combined with the heavy snow and temperatures around minus 12 or 15 for days at a time contributed to some rotting. Well, you live and learn. I won't use garden compost next year but I don't think there's much I can do about the weather.

Old but tough
My vintage narcissus collection seems to be OK though, Narcissus pseudonarcissus was the first in full flower this week, Jim has drifts of this British native in his garden and they look stunning, but in a pot attention is focused on them and you notice more about the details of their pale, slightly twisted petals.

A cheerful heart
The most striking flower in the courtyard garden at the moment is Tulipa 'Heart's Delight', this belongs to the Kaufmanniana group of tulips, valued for their short-stemmed early flowers which open wide in the sunshine, and their leaves which are striped and spotted with maroon. This is the first time I have tried this variety and I am pleased with the soft red on the outside of the petals and the starry cheerfulness of the flowers in sun.

T. 'Heart's Delight' with Carex 'Curly Whirly' and Corydalis cheilanthifolia

 Seed sowing is in full swing in the greenhouse, so I thought I might share my basic seed sowing technique:

1. Use a compost which does not have large lumps in it, or sieve it with a garden sieve. I use a peat-based multi-purpose compost but add a generous dollop of Perlite (the white granules you can see in the picture) so that the drainage is good. Seeds and seedlings like to be moist but not soggy.

2. Over-fill the seed tray, then sweep the excess off the top, level with the edge of the tray, using the flat of your hand (without pressing).

3. Pick the tray up and tap its base on the bench a couple of times to settle the compost in. Then take a block of wood or similar and gently press the compost down by about half a centimetre. This makes a firm, level surface to sow the seeds on so that you will get even germination and there won't be large air gaps for baby roots to get stranded in.

4. Sow the seeds thinly. Don't be tempted to use the whole packet if it means the seeds are in clumps. If they are cheek by jowl the seedlings are more likely to damp off (rot), they will grow straggly and weak and it will be hard to prick them out without damaging them. Large seeds (these are Tagetes 'Disco Mix') are easy to space out.

Small seeds can be sown thinly if you crease the foil packet to make a narrow channel then tap it gently as you move it across the surface of the compost so that a few seeds fall out at a time.

5. Cover the seeds in accordance with the instructions on the packet (or if there are no instructions the rule of thumb is cover by approximately the same depth as the diameter of the seeds). I just use a plastic pot as a sieve and work back and forth, tapping lightly and making sure the covering is even. Do read the packet carefully because some seeds need light to germinate and so shouldn't be covered at all.

6. Label with the name and date and keep the packet to one side in case you need to look at it again or in case the plants are a roaring success and you want the same thing next year. Then place the tray in a box or tray of water so that the water comes half-way up the sides. Leave only until the surface appears moist then remove promptly.

8. Place the tray in a propagator (ours is cobbled together out of scraps of wood and plastic sheeting, with a thermostatically controlled heating cable under grit). I find the vast majority of seeds are willing to hatch at about 15 or 16C but again you need to consult the seed packet for any special instructions. You shouldn't need to water them again while they are in here, but make sure the base of the propagator (gravel, sand or capillary matting) remains moist. Seedlings don't like to be soggy but they will not tolerate drying out, even for half an hour, so check them frequently. Many seeds, especially hardy annuals, are fine on a windowsill sealed inside a clear plastic bag.

9. As soon as you think all the seedlings have germinated and are fully expanded (not still folded up or with seed leaves stuck in seed coats) you can remove them from the propagator or bag. At this stage they may need another drink, so you can give them another dunk in some water but don't get the compost absolutely sodden. Make sure they are not in bright, hot sunshine or a draught and leave them for a few days (still inside the greenhouse or on the windowsill) to toughen up a bit.

Then prick them out as soon as possible - I'll give more details on this another time- I think that's enough for now, so here endeth the lesson.

Talking of propagation

And finally - do you remember the sheep I pictured the week before last looking so uncomfortable? Well this last Thursday she produced FOUR lambs! No wonder she couldn't lie straight.

Everyone up and about in a matter of minutes. I really, really don't want to be reincarnated as a ewe!

Willow weaving and a pot full of mountainside.

This week I finished pruning the crown-like willow arbour that nestles behind the Octagon. I could only do little bursts of work on it last week because even with two pairs of gloves on I had to keep dashing back into the pottery to warm my fingers by the kilns. But this week I could make much faster progress and was down to shirtsleeves for the first time this year.

Before - work just started in the foreground

The arbour was made by Richard Kerwood of Windrush Willow about five or six years ago and is so solid and well established that it throws up 12 foot shoots every year. Cutting it back is a major exercise but does provide me with plenty of material for making plant supports. Many of you will have seen Windrush Willow and their lovely sculptures, plant supports (much more elegant than my efforts) and baskets at events here; they will be back for the Summer Garden Party this year.


After - all neat and tidy

Chop-chop with Puss-Puss

It is such a satisfying job, lopping most of last year's growth off, leaving shoots that are well placed to repair breakages or reinforce weak points and weaving them in. Puss-Puss turns up without fail because willow shoots are his favourite toy.

Here he comes.

Daft fluffball

Mini landscape for Steeple Aston.
On Tuesday I went to do a spring planting demonstration for Steeple Aston Garden Club. I don't actually plant many pots at this time of year, the vast majority are either planted in the autumn or in May/June but if I do a new planting one of my favourite ways is to make a little alpine landscape in a pot, using stones, crocks or whole pots to make crags, cracks and crevices for alpines to fill.

So I raided the seconds pile for a few odds and ends to embed and picked a beautiful 15 year-old Orange Pot (621C) to put everything in. I always like to take a weathered pot with me to demonstrations because often people look at the new, bright pots and find it hard to imagine them mellowed with age. And our pots do age beautifully, especially if you don't keep them too clean!

Just after watering in.

My turn to do the washing up.

As I started putting my concoction together in front of this friendly group of gardeners I became aware of a few puzzled looks - and had to admit that my arrangement looked rather like a bowl of washing up. To my relief as soon as the plants started to go in it looked better and by the time I added the mulch of gravel and grit the whole thing was meeting with approval.

Nanoclimates.
Most alpines enjoy having cool places under "rocks" to send their roots and like to have their heads in sunny, airy conditions, so raised in a large-ish pot in a sunny area is an ideal location for them. Plants that like cooler conditions, such as most saxifrages, can be sited on the shadier side of the crocks or sheltered behind larger plants - there are different microclimates even within one potful.

Alchemilla erythropoda's pinkish stems pick up the pinkish red in the bud of Pulsatilla vulgaris 'Pinwheel'

Don't just buy plants in flower.
You can also inspect the detail more easily than you can on the ground. This is already quite a pleasing arrangement even though there are no flowers yet! Plants establish best when they are concentrating their energy on root growth rather than flowers, and if you plant them before they flower then you have the pleasure of seeing their whole flowering season, not just the part of it which occurs after you have taken them home from the garden centre. It is also worth looking carefully at foliage colour and form - if you have effective combinations of these the pot will look good all year.

I have planted this fairly densely for instant effect, so I will have to observe it carefully, especially as some of the plants are new to me: if some spread too rampantly I may have to remove or reduce them in order to avoid suffocating their neighbours. Some will creep, some will sprawl and I am hoping a few will start to overflow from the pot.

Here's the plant recipe - but you don't need to use exactly the same things, have a look and see what's available locally and don't forget to see if you already have something you can split and replant.
Main pot, clockwise from front left:
Crassula milfordiae sedifolia
2 Pulsatilla vulgaris 'Pinwheel  Dark Red Shades'
Alchemilla erythropoda
Hebe (it's a scruffy cutting of a low-growing one, and I'm sorry I've forgotten the name - will add it as soon as I find it!)
Saxifraga 'White Pixie'
Chamaecyparis 'Rubicon' (a slow-growing maroon-tinted conifer - if it gets too big it can simply be moved)
Sempervivum (I have used 3 clumps in total, all split from the same overcrowded potful)
Rhodanthemum hosmariense
About 5 Crocus 'Blue Pearl' (from a spent potful - these will hopefully come up again next spring...)
Embedded Frilly Lily pot:
2 Sedum spurium 'Coccineum'
Embedded Rose bowl:
2 clumps Sempervivum
Sedum spathulifolium 'Cape Blanco'
Embedded small Round pot:
Phlox subulata (a pink one - name lost, but there are lots of good ones)

Happy landscaping!

Spring Delights and Shopping for Plants

Let's start with Plant Combination of the Week. I thought this was rather tasty and I am quite smug about it because I had never grown this crocus before so wasn't sure of the exact shade of pink, I studied photos and hoped for the best; the pansy is from a mix but was flowering when I planted it so I knew the crocus had to fit with these shades of lavender and dusty pink. Note also the way the emerging leaves of Tulipa 'Silver Parrot' have a pinkish edge. I wish I could say that I had planned that detail but that's where serendipity comes in! The tulip is new to me too, so let's hope that fits with the colour scheme as planned...

Crocus tommasinianus var. roseus and Pansy 'Cancan'



 So all the classic signs of spring's approach are here: although the nights are still frosty the sun is almost warm, buds are swelling and threatening to burst and so are Elizabeth's sheep in the field  behind the back-up stock area.


Hard to get comfy nowadays

 The birds and the bees

The birds have gone berserk. It's like something out of Hitchcock. On the way to work a buzzard buzzed me, a rook dropped a twig, no a branch, on my car and blackbirds and pheasants played 'chicken' across the road. This afternoon as I stood at the top of my stepladder pruning the willow arbour a shadow dropped to the ground and there was an almighty shrieking. The sparrowhawk had nailed another blackbird and when I went to investigate  it was crouched on the ground mantling (covering the victim with its wings) and glaring at me to make sure I didn't even think of interfering. The predator got its come-uppance later when a couple of jackdaws called in reinforcements: within two minutes a cloud of angry birds - about 40 jackdaws plus rooks and magpies - was whirling and squawking around the hawk. Eventually it broke away and everyone went home.



A bee dives into Crocus 'Blue Pearl'


Bumblebees have been lumbering about for a while, but this is the first week I have noticed large numbers of honeybees rummaging in the flowers. They need all the help they can get after a hard winter. Joe says that both his hives died out this year, honeybees are in difficulty - mites, disease and now the weather have taken a heavy toll. Having as many early-flowering plants in your garden as possible helps these insects to recover.

To market, to market...
On Tuesday morning I went to the market to buy a few plants because I'm doing a demonstration/talk for a garden club next week so I want to be able to give them a few ideas for things they can be doing now. I'll let you know the recipe for the planting I do for them in next week's post.

I was very pleased to see that there was a new plant stall (Spinneywell  Nursery) at Moreton-in-Marsh market with some old favourites and a few unusual plants all in 9cm pots. Plants in small pots are very useful when you want to cram plenty of material into a planting. Market stalls will usually have competitively priced multibuy offers and of course the stallholder just brings what's looking good now - so it is easy to choose if you are wanting instant effects.

Moreton market - a major Cotswold attraction

Go ahead, have some sweeties!
It was hard to resist the gaudy primulas and little potfuls of daffs that were on display at the other stalls. It looked like a lovely easterish box of sweets. Don't go thinking I'm against primulas - they are great when you want a dollop of colour at this time of year, it's just that I was looking for something else, but I won't tell you what it was until next week. In fact I get annoyed by plant snobbery, it is yet another of my hobby horses (I have a whole herd). After all, why deprive yourself of a certain plant just because someone else thinks it is common as muck? Have the plants you like, that's what I say.

Barn Close Nursery's stall at the market.


Where do you get yours?
People often ask me where I get my plants. I try to propagate as many as I can myself but when I do buy I like to buy from a range of sources. Occasionally I buy a few from an exciting repository of rarities such as Bob Brown's Cotswold Garden Flowers; I also use mail order, go to local garden centres, farm shops, markets, horticultural shows, garden gate stalls with honesty boxes, even DIY stores (but here you have to be careful about the quality of the plants as they may have been under cover for too long or badly watered). In short I go where everyone else goes as I don't want to be like the annoying cookery recipes in magazines which look lovely but demand absurdly obscure ingredients.

I also now have the temptation of the Hillier plants that we sell at the pottery, they do a great range of shrubs and perennials and my next job is to finalise the order I'm placing to replenish our stocks in time for our April Foolishness event. I already have my beady eye on some of the goodies in their availability list...