Flowering shrubs are blooming fantastic!
Flowering shrubs, bulbs and herbaceous perennials have put smiles on our faces through the darkest days of winter, not necessarily in great numbers, but their mere presence has been enough to keep our morale high through the most trying of circumstances.
But that was a mere rehearsal for the massive outburst of colour currently unfolding in our gardens and countryside.
Happily, this coincides with the onset of springtime and the prospect of more freedom in visiting nearby attractions and enjoying the spectacle.
I liken my key flowering plants to the top athletes in an extended relay race that covers the gardening year.
The anchor group must have staying power because the first leg runs from October to March inclusive, so viburnum, jasmine, prunus and erica select themselves.
Each of these is still showing bloom approaching the handover and collectively have led by example, establishing a cracking pace.
Several of those in successive legs of the race are sprinters, lasting barely a month in bloom but helping maintain the tempo.
This group includes shrubby forsythia, ribes, berberis, spiraea, et al and many herbaceous perennials.
What we really need when garden space is limited are plants with extended flowering ability.
This can be found in lots of hardy perennials including roses, lavatera, garden pinks, lavender, geranium, marjoram.
Two unassuming but dazzling half-hardy annuals that have just germinated – rudbeckia and cosmos – will flower throughout summer right up to the first hard frost.
Their constant presence is inspirational.
Year-round colour in the garden, be it from foliage, bark, fruits or flowers, has always been an important factor in my approach.
This applies not only to ornamental plants but also edible types.
Best current example of this is the peach which has been covered in large pink blooms throughout March.
When flower buds start to swell the anticipation increases, as in our garden, where this is currently happening with a Conference pear, Victoria plum and assorted apple varieties.
They will bloom in this order.