Tuesday, March 15, 2011

March flowers

Spring has sprung: and all over the garden flowers are spangling lawns and peeking from borders. I'm not sure why spring flowers are almost all tiny: perhaps it's to do with the energy involved in getting to flowering stage before most plants are even waking up. But they're all the more exquisite for their diminutive size.

I can't take credit for the flowers in these pictures, or indeed for most of the flowers in my garden over the next few months: I'm taking the softly, softly approach this year as I really have no idea what I've got just yet, having only had the acquaintance of my garden since last September. And big fat buds are emerging from the ground in the most unexpected places so I suspect there will be more than a few surprises. So far, it's all looking very promising. Very promising indeed.

Viburnum x bodnantense 'Dawn': still going strong, but now joined by sumptuously pleated leaves in a brooding shade of slatey-green just breaking their buds

Primula vulgaris - or a selection thereof: these have rather deep yellow centres to be a wilding (though there are plenty of those in the banks hereabouts) but they are close enough not to offend

Scilla sibirica: this is one of mine, one of a few big wide pots I planted up with bulbs the autumn before last, and still going strong. The blue of the scillas backlit with sunlight is enough to stop me in my tracks every time I walk past. They play havoc with the school run.

The early bumblebees are enjoying the last of the Mahonia japonica flowers

and the slugs have been munching my Anemone blanda - though there are plenty more buds coming through

Chionodoxa luciliae: another star of the big sunny pots of bulbs that lift my heart

One of my favourite daffodils: Narcissus 'February Gold', small, early to flower and with a deep tangerine corona which glows in low spring sunshine

Leucojum vernum: I was wondering what the big clump of healthy, strappy leaves just outside my back door were: then they started producing lovely clear white flowerbuds about a week ago. Never been able to grow them before (they like wetter soil): I'm chuffed to bits.

Yes, I know. It's a weed. But you can almost forgive lesser celandine (Ranunculus ficaria) its rampantly invasive nature and infuriating ability to thumb its nose at your efforts to weed it out when it sprinkles the lawn (and the borders, and the hedgerows) with its lovely droplets of pure sunshine.

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day is hosted by Carol at May Dreams Gardens - thanks Carol!

8 comments:

Linda said...

What lovely blooms for GBBD.

Mother Nature said...

The wild soft yellow primrose is my favorite. I think i'll have to get seeds and grow my own. You have to get to the grocer just on the right day to pick up a primrose in good shape in Jan. Sometimes at lowes if you are lucky.

Plant Mad Nige said...

Lovely breath of spring.

I know celandines are often called 'weeds,' but I think they're as lovely as a lot of posher cultivated pretties and welcome them in much of my garden. Nothing quite matches the sheen on those petals or the way they light up the hedge bottoms in March.

RBell said...

I can see why those Scilla capture your attention - very nice.

Su said...

Lovely flowers. I planted leucojum last year and so far only have leaves so am very envious of your flowers!

VP said...

Yep - I haven't the heart to get rid of my Celandines either. They're looking most pretty in the gravel path at the moment :)

The Constant Gardener said...

Thank you all and I see there are plenty more celandine fans around :D

MN: primroses are dead easy to grow from seed as long as you remember to leave them outside over winter to get frosted. I could never grow them (as so much else...) in my previous acid sand garden as it was too dry and too acid: they seem to love my current damp alkaline though.

And Su - again I can't take credit for my leucojum! They were here when we got here, and are a huge clump so my bet is they've been there some time. Hang on in there and I'm sure yours will flower too...

Alice said...

Your garden is in warmer country than mine, I have a few weeks to wait for those flowers

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