The whoosh is what the plants are doing now after a few days of much, much appreciated rain. They are growing like the clappers, everything is fresh, the ground is soft, the colour green is dominant, pure and zingy, it’s all rather thrilling (after some rather shocking snow on April fool’s day, we hope that’s over and done with). There’s lots to do now: more seeds need sowing, the first salad crops have moved to the mini-greenhouse, chilli peppers have been potted on and it’s time to keep a watchful eye on the hungry slugs and snails.
What can be more tantalizing than pots of tulips about to burst into bloom? I crave their colour like an alcoholic craves a bottle of wine! I’ve got Aladdin in the foreground, which I had last year and adored, and Negrita mixed with Request in a great big pot alongside. There’s also some Dillenburg, the very first of which is showing its sunset shades.
The dainty little Narcissus ‘Minnow’ has done well this year. I didn’t give up after last year’s disaster when all my narcissi in pots rotted. This time, I made sure the drainage was good with plenty of vermiculite in the potting mix and raised the pots off the ground with bits of broken tiles – this seems to have worked, thankfully.
Moving from the pots on the terrace to the shady side of the front path, where this delightful yellow archangel (Lamium galeobdolon) provides a welcome pit stop for the bees. See how it has a lovely rain canopy on top, edged with wispy hairs, and rather gorgeous nectar guides on the lower petal: lunch this way. The leaves are dotted with silvery-white splashes (so this might be the cultivar, aluminium archangel, rather than the wild species). It’s from the dead-nettle family, but doesn’t sting.
It’s also the foliage at this time of year that can delight. This is lovage is growing so fast it’s almost sprinting out of the ground. I especially look forward to all the herbs coming into growth at this time of year, as fresh herbs transform everything you cook from fine to sublime. Lovage has a strong flavour, here in Belgium they call it the ‘Maggi herb’ after a famous brand of stock cubes, because it really does taste just like one. Perfect for adding flavour to soups and stews. It’s also handsome enough to go in a decorative border, I’ve even heard of people growing it with roses.
Fruit blossom is another of April’s highlights, and here is Malus Evereste in its second season here. The buds are a brilliant pink, opening to classic crab apple blossom. It’s earlier into bloom than both my apple trees.
There are so many pretty things to chose from (21 photos this week!) but as my final pic I’ve selected this bit of my lawn that has been messed about with. Can you guess who the culprits are?
No, not the chickens, it’s a pair of magpies who are using the grass and mud to line their nest, which is in the big climbing rose just outside our bedroom window. What with starlings nesting at the top of the house in a cavity under the roof (when in the office we can hear the babies crying out for food), and with the great tits investigating the nest box in the glade again this year, that could be three sets of birds nesting in our garden.
So that’s my six-ish tour for this week, I’m tempted to go on but I’ve got some packing to do, as we’re off to Rome for a short break. It’s a tricky time in the gardening year to be going away, am a bit worried about my tomato and chilli seedlings, but it’s only for a few days, and at least they’ve been potted on. Looking forward anyway to a few more degrees of warmth, sunshine and pasta, lots of pasta! For more of the Six-on-Saturday theme from gardeners around the globe (but no Italians yet, I think?) visit the Propagator and his special Six-on-Saturday page.
Lovage is a favorite of mine, but have struggled to get it going here. Too hot and dry, I think. Very exciting news about your nesting birds. What kinds of birdhouses, if any, do you use?
We have two wooden nest boxes, one which is never touched, another which the great tits usually nest in. The nest boxes sometimes appear in photos of the glade area, and have good cover from climbers like honeysuckle, clematis and a rambling rose. Yes, lovage likes a bit of damp I think.
Have a lovely trip to Rome. I’m afrais I’m not keen on magpies after I saw them stealing baby fledglings.
Thank you. I am aware that magpies do that, and so do our red squirrels…I suppose that’s just the way of the wild.
Love your tulips! I have grown Negrita before and I have Request for the first time this year. We’re nipping away for a week too and I hope the tulips don’t all flower at once before I am back! I really hate leaving the garden in spring. Never tried to grow Lovage, but I shall see if I can find some. My hyssop from last year looks dead, but I will leave it another couple of weeks and see if it revives in the warmth. Enjoy Rome!
I know, I’m quite glad the weather here will be cold and dull while we’re away, thereby hopefully preserving the tulips. Not everyone likes the taste of lovage, its very strong, but even if you don’t it’s a pretty (and big) plant. My hyssop didn’t survive either, too wet and clayey for it.
Beautiful things this week with tulips of course. I also grow Negrita and they are not ready yet. Surprised by the mess of magpies on the lawn! Without reading the text after the photo, I was looking for something with 4 legs and a muzzle 😂.
Have a great time in Rome and enjoy your break in family.
Haha, yes those magpies made a real mess! But I don’t mind, the grass will regrow.
The flowers are doing great unless the weather 🙂
Enjoy your trip to Rome and have a great time over there.
Thanks Rudi, hope the weather improves by the time I get back!
A lovely selection of tulips. I think I remember Aladdin from last year. I’m glad your narcissi have done well this time – I think I have Minnow. Have a good break. Your garden will look even more lush and colourful when you return.
Thanks, I know I’ll take the path straight to the garden to see the tulips before I even enter the house on my return!
I love the enthusiasm of this article as I feel exactly the same, a sort of breathlessness and feeling of how can I possibly keep up ! That narcissus Minnow is lovely. Do you grow all your bulbs in pots ? I also like the look and sound of lovage which I didn’t know. Like you we’re off on Wednesday for a week in England seeing my son and his family and I’m thinking it’s just not the right moment to be leaving the garden. Good luck with the magpies !
It’s an amazing thing to watch the transformation of the garden, and I think because we look so closely, we get very bound up in it! I love the impact of bulbs in pots and prefer to grow them this way – I find that in a small garden I can make a nice border display one year with bulbs, but then they inevitably get sliced and diced as I move plants around (which I do quite a lot!).
So nice to see flowering gardens while we wait for the mud to firm up and a few sprouts to show their faces here. Enjoy your time in Rome. If I were to travel anywhere overseas, I think it would be Italy for the food.
The food is great, simple but very tasty. Coffee truly excellent too. There’s a lot to like about Italy, the light is also famous here – good for photographers!
What a brightly coloured and positive Six-on-Saturday! Yes, so many plants are romping away and many new shoots are ….shooting. I thought the leaves of my wild garlic/onions were quite broad but maybe not broad enough. Your “dead” nettle is most unusual, I have the small pink variety appearing in a few places around the garden.
Rome – I’m rather jealous. It’s the architecture rather than the pasta that gets me excited though. I hope you have a great time.
The lovage has very attractive leaves, and thanks for the clue to its flavour.
The architecture is incredible, and pasta has honestly never tasted so good, I must be cooking it wrong at home.
You’re moving along well with your seed growing etc.
Note to self: “Order more tulips for next year. See Sel’s post for inspiration.” 🙂
I do love tulips, such a burst of colour 🙂