Blue skies and tulips

Today is the first day I've woken up to a blue sky - bliss. Don't get me wrong, I like the rain...enjoy it even. And it certainly saves me from having to keep traipsing around the veg patch with heavy watering cans. But I also like the way it changes the garden. As you're watching the rain start to fall, the colours change - become deeper almost. And it gives everything a sheen.

I swear that everything in the garden is four times as green as it was yesterday. The box hedge at the front of our house is positively lime green, and the back border has exploded into life. In particular the alliums seem to be doing well. I am trying out a new variety this year: Nectaroscordum siculum (Mediterranean bells) and so far they are looking good. The fat flower pods are bursting at the seams waiting to open, although I'm sure it's a bit too early for them yet. I've also had a second flush of tulips...the ones I planted in the ground last autumn. They have flowered beautifully underneath the cherry tree and are looking elegant, colourful and poised - just the way they should be. The tulips I planted in pots (pictured above) were not so elegant and apparently many people have had poor tulip displays this year. If you've encountered the same problem and would like to know more, there has been some discussion on the The Guardian's gardening blog on 18th April 2012 where it has been suggested that it could have been lack of watering earlier in the spring - certainly a possibility for mine, as I failed to keep up any kind of regular watering regime throughout February and March.

If you haven't already bought it, this month's Gardener's World magazine is now out on sale and it has a rather handy 2-for-1 garden entry card and a booklet of many open gardens around the UK. I've already circled half a dozen that I want to go and see...now all I have to do is convince Cem to go.

Clematis conundrums

Recently, Cem made a pergola to replace a broken archway that surrounded the gate leading through to our veg patch. He managed to get hold of some free wood and spent the Easter weekend sawing and nailing and painting. I'm very impressed with the result!

We decided that we should plant up our new feature with some Clematis and so we both went to our local garden centre to buy a couple of plants. This was a rare treat for me - Cem is a great believer in doing the garden for free and so usually trips to garden centres are relatively rare. Notwithstanding Cem's sound philosophy (it is one I stand by as much as I can) I'm afraid I cannot resist the lure of the garden centre and often end up wandering around gawping at all the plants and usually end up buying at least one (the eagle-eyed among you will notice that sneaky Campanula in the bottom left-hand corner - this was one such guilty purchase). Anyway, I digress. We went to choose a Clematis together.

I had no idea just how many different types of clematis there were to choose from. They were all so pretty and each one very different. After much debate, we settled on two Clematis Bourbon. They are beautiful plants with big burgundy flowers. Hopefully they'll be happy in this sheltered and sunny spot.

I have to say that I've never had any success with clematis (and I've owned quite a few) Recently, I saw a feature on Gardeners' World and I think I have found out why. Unbeknown to me, clematis like a very rich soil and lots of watering. I've always grown my clematis in pots and admittedly never taken the time to enrich the compost. Those poor clematis probably starved to death! This time, I'm going to plant them out in the ground and give them plently of well-rotted horse manure. Long may the clematis thrive!

Seeds, basal cuttings and bluebells

Yesterday I spent a lovely afternoon pottering around the garden. There's a lot to do at this time of year and so I had plenty to keep me busy. I found an old packet of seeds that I forgot I had, they are a mix of woodland wildflowers that will thrive in shade (great for our little woodland garden) by Mr Fothergills. Although the packet recommended to broadcast sow the seed direct outside, I decided to instead sow them in a tray in the greehouse, mainly so that I could choose where to plant each seedling when they are ready to go out. When you have only a small garden, you need some element of control of where to put individual plants, otherwise it can just look overwhelming and a touch messy!

As well as sowing seeds, this is the time of year when basal cuttings are taken and I am eagerly waiting for some of my plants to grow tall enough for me to do this. One of the first I will take a cutting from is my Veronica "Red fox", a beautiful plant with fluffy pinkish-red spikes in summer. I only brought one plant last year with the intention of making a few cuttings now to increase my stock and have a patch of three, or possibly even five if I am lucky with my cuttings.

I also planted out some Hollyhocks yesterday, which I brought from a garden centre about 10 days ago. As I was planting one of them, I realised that there was a baby Hollyhock growing alongside the adult plant, so I gently pulled them apart and hey presto! I got two plants for the price of one. I will definitely be looking out for that next time I'm buying Hollyhocks. I had no idea they were so easy to divide.

Another exciting development this week is the gradual opening of the bluebells in the garden. You can almost see them opening before your eyes. Watching the bold blue flowers unfurling in the sunshine is a pure joy. They reminded me that Kew Gardens must have a stunning display now. We visted Kew at the end of March so we were too early for the bluebells, but we could see all the green foliage in a great green carpet - the flowers themselves must be quite a sight now.

New beginnings

I am writing my first blog entry from the warmth and shelter of my office after an evening's gardening in the rain. The weather has been overcast and rainy all day, but the plants have had a good drink. Everything seems to growing at a rate of knots at this time of year, and a good watering helps the process along nicely.

April is a lovely time of year in the garden - a time of new beginnings. After pottering about in the garden this evening, I came into the office and looked through some photos I took just 6 weeks ago and the difference in the garden is astonishing. There's new growth appearing all over the place.

When the rain stopped for a few brief seconds today, I managed to get a snap of one new shoot that I'm particularly excited about:

It's a Lily of the Valley that I planted next to the brick footpath. There are a few shoots of it coming up throughout the garden, but this one is the biggest so far. I can't wait to see the flowers emerge later in the year. These fresh new shoots are so green and full of promise. Exciting times!