Forgotten primula is thriving
We live within a mile of the North Sea and the soil in our garden is light to medium, so given the annual demands of fruit, vegetable and ornamental crops, replenishment of the organic content is a priority. Horse manure from the local riding stables provides the necessary but only after it has been weathered out in the open for several months. Judy’s mare, Honey, is stabled there. The fresh straw is handy, too. Some was tucked in with rhubarb we’re forcing and it’s on hand to cushion the strawberry fruits in season.
Removing a once admired, slow-growing conifer was tinged with sadness. Thuja occidentalis ‘Rheingold’ was approaching 2m (6½ft) high and suffering from disease. After reducing it with long-handled pruners, I tackled the roots with spade and saw. Now there’s a space to fill with something just as special.
Colour is building in the garden again. Viburnum bodnantense ‘Dawn’ and winter cherry are excelling themselves, while at ground level Cyclamen coum, dwarf narcissi and snowdrops are catching the eye. We’ve been dividing up herbaceous perennials; helianthus ‘Lemon Queen’,
Symphytum caucasicum, rudbeckia ‘Goldsturm’ and primula ‘Guinevere’.
The latter was a favourite I've lost touch with over time, but on a Harrogate Spring Show visit three years ago I found a single pot of it, unlabelled, on a nursery stand. By last autumn we had six plants to pot up and last week we had turned them into a group of 15!