Spring fling

John casts an eye over some of his floral favourites that are sure to put a spring in your step

Some plants however continued to push up flowers despite the rotten weather

Spring is long overdue, and this feature on spring flowers had to be put back a couple of times as spring flowers were difficult to find.

The early flowers such as snowdrops and aconites were in full bloom when disaster struck as the “Beast from the East” descended upon us and a couple of feet of snow flattened all the flowers.

Brief moments with brighter days allowed the crocus to appear, but they also suffered due to cold temperatures and lack of sunshine.

Cold winds continued with more snow in the following weeks and there was little improvement in the garden till the middle of April.

Some plants, however, continued to push up flowers despite the rotten weather.

Tubs of Polyanthus and hanging baskets with pansies have been in full flower from late February and looking great, but Myosotis, the Forget me Not, was very unhappy and quite a few died out.

Early flowering tulips planted in between these spring bedding flowers have appeared but flowering is still a couple of weeks away.

My early Rhododendron praecox which normally flowers in March, attempted to flower in early April but the cold winds and overnight frosts shrivelled them up.

Other Rhododendrons and azaleas are in no rush to flower so nothing to report back till some time in May.

It was mid April before any decent spring weather arrived, (apart from Easter Sunday) and warmed up the garden to let other flowers have their moment in the sunshine.

Forsythia was a pure golden picture against a blue sky.

Forsythias are great value, very easy to grow shrubs, but can grow quite large so need plenty of room.

If you have the space to let them grow they will reward you every spring with a dramatic display of golden yellow flowers.

My pink Camellia Donation came out at the same time and put on a great display, just ahead of the red Camellia Adolphe Audusson.

This one makes a large bush so some size reduction pruning was done last year immediately after flowering.

It soon grew more young shoots which had time to mature and ripen up the wood to produce flower buds ready for the next year.

Back down at ground level flowering bulbs are definitely three weeks late this year, but still the show goes on.

Narcissus February Gold (definitely

Pictures: John Stoa. Clockwise from main image: Forsythia in April; Anemone blanda; Camelia Donation with Betula jaquemontii; and John and Serge admire the spring flowers.