My gardening Diary
MONDAY Although Neil uses onions in his cooking, he prefers shallots, leeks and garlic for imparting that oniony flavour. A strip in the raised veg beds has been warmed up and dried out slightly by pu ing Dutch lights over it and we’re planting shallots, including ‘Golden Gourmet’, in the warmed soil.
TUESDAY The native hedge is yielding masses of material for hardwood cu ings. Cornus and two viburnums – V. opulus and V. lantana, the common wayfaring tree - will make an important element in some of the hedges we’re going to plant in the new field. You can pack a whole lot of cu ings into a small area.
WEDNESDAY One of the Barnhaven primulas we’ve grown from seed is a dark red polyanthus from the Venetian Cowichan range. Of the two first to come into flower, one is thrum-eyed and one pin-eyed. I’m going to try hybridising them with the aim of producing our own strain of dark crimson polyanthus without a yellow centre.
THURSDAY It’s lovely to have a few spots of glorious selfindulgent colour in the garden to home in on when all around is grey and miserable, and the brighter the colour the more effective it is in banishing the blues! We’ve been using Ashwood hellebores and primulas in pale colours to do just that, some of them planted together in containers.
FRIDAY ‘Kojo-no-mai’ translates as ‘flight of bu erflies’, an apt name for this diminutive Japanese cherry. Over the last couple of weeks, its tiny, pale pink flowers have opened in succession on its dainty branches. A heartening experience for us but even more of a special treat for fat bumble bees who work its flowers daily searching for pollen.
SATURDAY Wondering about how to tackle the first part of the field to be cultivated, just over the hedge and extremely wet. Although it will be cultivated I’d love it to have a very informal feel and use broad, simple plantings of a few plants – rodgersia, iris, caltha and astilbe.
SUNDAY Still si ing in a module tray since last autumn are 50 or so Potentilla
thurberi, one of our favourites here for its truly red flflowers. It makes a neat, clumping plant smothered in its simple, single flflowers and all it asks in return is a sunny, well-drained venue.