Over the FENCE
I'm putting on a spring bulb show in my pots
My sweet pea seeds, sown last month, are growing nicely, so I got out in the sunshine to make a support for them. I love a natural look, so I’m using hazel rods to make a rustic A-frame. I bought a bundle of rods from a local farm fencing supplier and set them out in two rows roughly 22cm (8½in) apart and tie them at a height of 1.8m (6ft). There’s 30cm (1ft) between each rod; I then weave in more hazel and twiggy stems at waist height to strengthen the frame.
While I was outside, I arranged pots of bulbs on my garden tables. There are hyacinths, daffodils and iris, forced in the greenhouse to make an early display. I’m pleased with dwarf iris ‘Katharine’s Gold’, a new sport from ‘Katharine Hodgkin’. It has white flowers with a pretty speckled yellow tongue.
Snowdrops are also in flower. I've dug up a clump to stand on my potting shed window where I can admire them close up.
Shifting my thoughts from spring to late summer, I potted up my dahlia tubers and placed them on a sunny windowsill. I’ll take cuttings when their shoots are 7.5cm (3in) long. If dahlias need coaxing to start into growth, there are three tricks I use. I cover them with a compost bag to create dark and humid conditions. If that doesn’t work, push a knife down the centre of the stem and twist until it splits down to the crown. Finally, I’ll give the pot a good soaking with hot (not boiling) water. My favourite dahlias are bright orange ‘David Howard’ and spiky, deep red ‘Nuit d’Eté’.
Lemon trees are looking good in the greenhouse. I’m replacing the top 5cm (2in) of compost with fresh, peat-free wool and bracken compost. I’ll start to increase watering, and check for scale insects. They can be scraped off.
You can read more at bramblegarden.com and on Instagram at karengimson1.