So much for Spring arriving early! I have been told by the local farmers on the Epynt that Spring is about four weeks behind last year. I could have guessed this by looking at the plant growth in the garden. By the middle of the month there are hardly any flowers out at all: the daffodils are still in bud and even the hellebores in the courtyard are yet to open fully whereas last year at this time they were at their best. Although the weather has been sunny for the first two weeks of March, this has done little to bring any sign of new growth. Meanwhile the tiny lambs bleat in the fields and shiver in the cold easterly wind. The real impact of the freeing cold winter months is showing now. I am pretty sure all my beautiful ‘Severn Sea’ rosemary are dead, even my few common Rosmarinus officinalis are brown and frost damaged …much like last year; the Santolina viridiflora in the dry bed at the front are also mainly brown; the thyme is dead in the herb garden and it looks like my beautiful mimosa by the kitchen door is also past repair. The lovely orange trumpet-flowered climbers on the west wall look like they will not recover and may have to be replaced with something hardier, such as the evergreen clematis armandeii ‘Apple Blossom. On the south wall my Trachleosperum jasminoides is also dead because of the biting winds which sweep across the valley. I need to plant some evergreen hedges this season to protect the plants from the chilling winds and create more shelter within the confines of the garden.
Alongside the driveway and beside my proposed vegetable garden I have already planted a hedge of ruby flowered Rosa rugosa to create more protection and help break up the different areas of the garden. These will combine well with the many native foxgloves which are emerging on the bank by the old hazels. I have also done lots of work in the main border this last week. I have planted several Anchusa ‘Loddon Royalist’ in the centre of the border for their stunning blue colour and height and put in more Penstemon ‘Sour Grapes’ since it goes so well with the verbena boniaris and grasses which are all at their best towards the end of the year. I have covered the young plants with plenty of dried bracken since the temperatures can still plummet at this time of year. I have weeded about half of the border too in preparation for mulching it before the weeds really get going. Sure enough, right at the end of this month a sprinkling of snow fell again … in the highlands of Scotland the snow was treacherous causing accidents and power cuts!