A Garden Tour
Keep reading to learn what I'll have in my garden throughout the seasons
After the never ending Winter, the first sign of life is the snowdrops peeping through the lawns along with crocuses alongside hellebores, daffodils and tulips and suddenly Spring is on the way.
My bulb lasagnes start to explode into flower during March and April giving me an array of narcissi, hyacinths, irises and tulips all planted the previous Autumn. At the same time, the ranunculus and anenomes start to bloom after hibernating all winter in my greenhouse.
Next to appear are my biennials, my favourite being Sweet Williams that have such incredible vase life that I so appreciate after the end of a long winter. Others include foxgloves, honesty and the stunning Solomon Seal – so perfect for arranging.
In May, many of the perennials start to bloom and this is often when the garden looks its best. The lupins and delphiniums stand proud, the bees and butterflies adore the Nepeta (aka cat mint), the foxgloves tower over the geums, the poppies appear fleetingly but leaving gorgeous seed heads in their wake. Aliums take my breath away and look so gorgeous with white honesty and green foliage. Again the seed heads are fabulous once dried and can make stunning additions to Christmas decorations later in the year. Sweet peas are now in abundance with their incredible scent and just so perfect to cut for a daily bunch on the kitchen table.
At the same time, the field in front of our house explodes into a wild flower meadow filled with buttercups and it forms such a gorgeous backdrop to everything else in the garden – perfect for fantastic photo opportunities
In June, the annuals that I have lovingly nurtured from seed explode in their full glory -ammi majus, cornflowers, scabious, larkspur, sunflowers, bells of Ireland and amaranthas. There is now so much to choose from in the garden. A recent discovery are the stunning sphere-like seed heads of “stellata sternkugel” (aka drumstick scabious) – such a great addition to my bouquets. Another favourite are bells of ireland with their amazing bell-like foliage.
July and mid way through the year and I wait with anticipation for the first dahlias to appear which then continue to the end of October. This year I have loads of new varieties to show you and maybe you can join me on one of my twilight “Pick your own” evenings. As the days grow shorter, the chrysanthemums start to bloom producing huge numbers of stems alongside the dahlias until the dreaded first frost when we know our cut flowering season has come to an end. I’ll allow myself a few weeks off and then it is full speed ahead planting bulbs for next Springs offerings..
