End of Month Review March 2023

March sees the beginning of Spring.  Whether you are the 1st March Spring type or an Vernal Equinox type - both happen in March.  The garden responds to the changes in light which encourages the trees and shrubs into growth and also takes some account of the temperature depending on what mood it is in.

In the front garden the Tree Peony by the gate is budding up well.  Regular reader will know it took it several years before it decided to flower routinely but now it is pretty happy in a regular routine.  Frost can still disrupt this routine so let's hope we don't get too many late frosts this year.

There's something unpleasant looking about the box hedge Knot Garden.  Is this the beginning of the end I wonder?

The Quince Hedge is flowering really well.

even on the cold wet day I was taking these photos, the bees were buzzing around it.

It has been a cold winter and the pots by the back door are frost-damaged and need replacing.

In the back garden I still have not cut back the winter detritus.  It has rained a lot the last few weekends making getting out in the garden difficult, and when the sun has shone, I've been out somewhere and so missed my chance.  I am not too bothered by this as we keep having the occasional frost so I don't want to cut back too soon.

In the Courtyard Garden the aspidistras have wintered well, though I think they would like a bit better weather now.  The mirror in the corner is attracting the Long Tailed Tits, they keep perching on it and admiring themselves.  I wondered briefly if they were nesting behind it, but they are not.  I am glad they are not I don't think I could protect them from the cats at that level.

and it is time for the yellow table and chairs to move back outside after being stored indoors for the winter.  I cannot help but smile at their brightness, definitely one of my best buys last year, I am so glad I didn't wimp out and buy a most 'tasteful' colour.

The Conservatory Border looks quite scrappy, the hellebroes are flowering well and the roses are starting to grow.  The snowdrops have gone over and the alliums are on their way up.  There are too many alliums.....

The Spring Border looks springy - can you spot the Esme?

The Prairie Borders need their hair cutting.  I can see green reaching up through the Stipa tenuissima which means get the sickle out and get cutting.

The Dancing Lawn is more accurateyly described as the daffodil lawn at the moment.  The Narcissus telamonius plena are flowering beautifully.  I am fairly sure I did not plant this many, but in honesty I cannot remember.  I planted them about 7 years ago and I don't know how long they take to start bulking up.  I doubt I planted more than 20.

The tree ferns look cold.  It is that time of year when I keep covering and uncovering them.  I am confident there are nice knuckles forming in the larger two trees, not quite so certain about the smaller two.

The edgeworthia is a mess of dead buds and gleams of green growth (phew).  I can only see only bud developing into actual flowers.  The very cold temperatures did not make it happy.

I might (did) recently buy a red flowered one 'Red Dragon', as obviously my angst for the big one was no longer enough.

Magnolia Leonard Messel is starting to flower.

and I am very excited and relieved that the Magnolia stellata 'Water Lily' is going to flower.  This shrub flowered last September as a stress reaction to the end of the drought.  It was fooled into thinking it was Spring and I worried that it might not recover to flower again this Spring.  It looks like it is ok so this is good.

The Iford Cherry has become a beautiful tree.  It is now maturing well and it just covered in blossom buds.  Just a bit more sun and it will be stunning.

The contorted hazel is now taller than I am, I bought this many years ago before I lived in this house and it spent several years living in a pot by that front door.  It has thrived since being planted out in this garden.

Various peonies are starting to grow,

and primroses are starting to flower.

The snowdrops in the Accidental Shrubbery have gone over now and a few daffodils are starting to flower.  Two years later and Trev's chair still misses Trev, and so do I.

The brown dead flowers of the sedum make good points of structure in the garden this time of year.  I was looking at them and thinking they need diving again (more, I need more! more!).

The dye garden is waiting for a large bag of topsoil to arrive.  By the time I publish this it should have arrived, so that is very exciting.

The madder roots I potted up the other week are starting to grow.  They are very excited about moving into one of the new raised beds. 

The pond is quite full and also has some frogspawn in it.  I sat and watched the newts nibble at them for a while.  I wonder if I will get any tadpoles this year?

Take care and be kind.

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