I have just about recovered from the holidays. Being chronically ill, I can barely do more than one thing at a time. Christmas, New Year’s, a rediscovered addiction to baking, aggressive little bouts of activism (who doesn’t want to change this world?) and my birthday all in the same three months wreaked havoc on my body and did not leave space for anything else. I’ve been hiding in the depths and warmth of my house.
Until one day, I looked outside and the crocuses were out. And I remembered the feeling the garden can bring me. So I returned, as I always have.
It’s surprising to me that every year I seem to have forgotten what it was like. In November I still go outside, tend to my plants, although not often. By January I no longer remember my gardening self. She was happy. The content of her days depended wholly on the weather. She smiled at the birds while they skipped from plant to plant. She was happily surprised all the time. She’s a different person.
Now, where do I start?
I start by taking it all in.
The roses are sprouting. The pots with autumn seedlings - violas and snapdragons - are bursting at the seams. The wisteria looks like it might flower for the first time, although I’ll have to take a closer look. The bulbs are showing their foliage.
So I prune, repot, and feed the bulbs. And as I feed and arrange this little garden, I feel like I’m feeding a part of myself.
I’m not exaggerating, this is how it feels. I haven’t found a less corny way to describe it. Sometimes corny things are very true things.
Bulb update: early spring
I’ve been carrying out an experiment: making tulips flower for multiple years in pots. Many say it can’t be done. But it looks like multiple of last year’s tulips are returning! Now, it’s not every single one, but I didn’t expect that anyway. Also, I’m currently keeping a few tulips with abnormalities under close observation, but I’m not convinced it’s tulip fire yet. (I do expect to get it at some point.)
At the end of February I fed them with liquid, potassium-rich beet vinasse to give them a little extra flower power (you can probably still do this, but do it now). Last year’s two alliums are producing lots of foliage as well, and the third one which didn’t come up then is now suddenly growing as well! It does surprise me as my containers are so full. They contain perennials and annuals every 10-15 cm in all directions, with many bulbs underneath.
I’m also very content with the hanging planters. Last year’s bulbs have mostly come back. Both the crocuses and irises have a lot more flowers than last year, which is evidence they’re growing larger.
The only problems are in the more shallow planters, in which there are some unhappy and rootbound native perennials I’ve been experimenting with (the experiment being: is there a plant that can appreciate a tiny space, never-ending drought and brutal sunshine?). Significantly less bulbs returned in there.
Coming up next are muscari ‘Early Bird,’ which are new this year; then muscari latifolium and tulipa ‘Little Beauty.’ I love the unified look of the hanging planters which all have the same bulbs planted in them.
Hellebores
Now is the time for these winter roses to shine. Some are very early, starting in December or even November, but their main time is now. A great Dutch nursery recently had their special ‘Hellebore days.’ I look for ones that aren’t the standard faded purple-red single flowers slowly becoming green and I’m not a fan of pure white either. Anything very early (November - January) is good too.
I was hoping to acquire hellebore ‘Angel Glow,’ because it’s colourful and flowers from January (many others start in February or March) but sadly it was no longer available.
I did find two other beautiful ones. ‘Elemental’ is from the Rodney Davis Marbled Group, which includes some stunning varieties with beautifully marbled leaves. I love the vibrant pink with the added brightness of the light center.
Others that caught my eye (if only I had more space!) were ‘Jiska,’ an incredible veined pink-white double; ‘Larissa,’ a double in light rose with brown speckles; and if you want something very dark and double, ‘Manon’ is the one.
Pot recipe
This pot is in its second year after planting small plants from 9-11 cm pots in it, and is now working really well. Last year I’d just divided the hellebores (why did I do that in spring???) and they didn’t flower much. But now, they’re amazing! They’ve doubled since I took the photo below.
I particularly love the tiarella spilling over the sides. In a few weeks they’ll produce lacy flowers on short spikes.
This is a 32 cm pot. It’s rounded in the middle, so it contains more soil than a narrowing terracotta pot of the same size. I think I gave the hellebores a sprinkling of something slow release and organic in autumn, and when I think of it (not often) the pot gets a splash of potassium rich liquid beet vinasses. It’s performing surprisingly well.
You can just plant bulbs underneath the perennials. Some of mine were added later, so I crammed them in in-between. I like the somewhat more natural look hyacinths get after their first year of flowering.
The plants:
2x hellebores of unknown variety, with single flowers in purplish pink
1x tiarella cordifolia ‘Running Tiger’
1x dryopteris lepidopoda (a fern)
8x hyacinth ‘Pink Pearl’
5x narcissus ‘Bridal Crown’
What I’m sowing this month
I started sowing last week, with a heat mat and growing light (after last year chilli sowing failure I’ve succumbed to the madness). The mat has no temperature regulation so I run to it three times a day to check. I try to keep it around 25 C, so it’s warm enough for the chillies but not too warm for the Iceland poppies… (It once became 34 C in the sun… woops.)
This is what I’ve sown (with the ideal germination temperature and average time):
Serrano chillies (23-30 C, 1-2w), for Mexican salsa!
Thunbergia alata ‘African Sunset’ (21-24 C, 1-3w)
Tomato ‘Marmande’ (22-28 C, 1w), because I love beefsteak tomatoes
Papaver nudicaule Salmone and Champagne something (18-24 C, 1-2w), gorgeous colours
Rhodochiton ‘Purple Bells’ (20-23 C, 1-4w), this climber’s colour will add lots of depth to my garden, I hope
Nicotiana ‘Pink Picotee’ (21-24 C, 2w), easy little plant that goes in any gaps
Panicum virgatum ‘Sparkling Fountain’ (21-27 C, 1w), to bring together a less-than-ideal plant combination with lots of fluff
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