April: If ever world were blessed now it is
Wednesday, May 3, 2017
I have often said that I do not have a favourite month as they
all have something unique to enjoy but April, especially a good one
like this year, has a freshness and vibrancy which none of the
others can match.
In several News Items over the past few years I have been
indebted to the poem "April Rise" by Laurie Lee for words to use as
a suitable headline to capture the essential spirit of
the month. New plant and animal life all around us and every day
something different to stimulate us, small but many
significant events that we look forward to every year, like the
arrival of the first swallows which burst onto the scene on
25th.
To read the poem go to www.poemhunter.com/poem/april-rise/
The landscape in particular is dramatically changed when
trees and shrubs begin to come into leaf - as another poet, Philip
Larkin magically puts it in his poem "The Trees" "The trees
are coming into leaf like something almost being said"
At this time of year not everything green on a tree is
the leaves. One of the fine sights is a wych elm in full
flower
It usually takes me 5-6 days to compile my monthly News
Items. On 25th I wrote the above lines full of the joys of Spring.
On the morning of 26th I awoke to frosted fields and on entering
the gardens the stench of rotting leaves, all sure signs of a hard
frost overnight.
In the borders there were many stressed perennials
and shrivelled up leaves on most of the 85
hydrangeas. The thermometer confirmed that there was an overnight
low of -5C.
If any plant in the gardens is going to succumb to a
sharp frost and who can blame it for the Gunnera is a plant of
Brazilian Jungle! A mature plant like this usually recovers well
later.
Hydrangeas macrophylla and serrata however are
very frost tender at these temperatures even when protected
by fleece, and if their leaves are destroyed so too will be the the
nascent flower buds they contain. Hydrangea paniculata however is
much tougher and all plants came through unscathed
Hydrangea aspera villosa leaves frozen to a crisp
in spite of being covered in fleece
Lilum speciosum "Black Beauty" looks very poorly
lying almost flat on the ground and after 6 days shows no sign of
improving
For me the saddest casualties are 3 plants of
cardiocrinum giganteum var yunnanense, 6 years old and in bud for
the first time. You can just see the buds in the crown of the
leaves. A few hours of sharp frost appears to have denied
their crowning glory later next month, but we just have to wait and
see.
Mostly in full leaf the many hostas here have
also suffered a big hit even H. "Rhino" which is
supposed to have the toughest leaves of any in the genus. It is a
recommended slug resistant variety and very durable.
Even a large hosta like "Sagae" looks shrivelled
and a few days later the leaves had turned white
One of the few genus to have come back quickly is
hemerocallis and even they looked sorry for themselves at 6.00am!
Yes I was up at that time - Julian please note!!
My mood was remarkably darker than the day before and for
a while I was crestfallen as I checked out the casualties. But then
I rationalised that it was still April which can often
be the cruellest month.
Although we have had sharp April frosts occasionally in
the past, there was less plant damage then because plants then were
not in such foward growth as they were this year after a fine
April. Some things will come back, others may not flower this
year particularly the hydrangeas and a few may be
killed outright. Gardening is full of highs and lows and we
have to take the good with the bad, keep calm and carry
on!
And a further pick me up on that cold morning was
the sight of this cheerful group of violas in one of the cold
frames. Even in the open ground all the violas were untouched,
about the only genus to have this distinction.
Just to rub salt into the wounds the next night
there was another sharp frost which registered -5C that caused ice
to form on the water butts.
Weather
A generally fine month with a good mix of weather and many dry
and warmer days; rainfall totals generally across the country much
lower than the monthly average. Bright days lead to clear skies at
night and in our frost pocket setting that means overnight lows at
below zero.Time to get out the horti fleece again! Sadly not
even fleece could save many plants from the severe frosts in the
last week of the month
2 continous periods of drought of 9 days and 13 days at the
beginning and the end of the month. Only 8 days with some
precipitation. Max 18.8C on 8th. Five frosts coldest -5C on 26th
and 27th.
The good and the bad - a beautiful sunset lighting up
the forest before nightfall and the frost. Note the fleece over the
shrubs
And one of the many blue sky days showing off to
perfection this fine oak
Garden Update
Two major events were the rotovation of the vegetable beds
on 11 April thanks to our good friend Robert, and completion of
the major tidy up of all the 17 borders in the gardens;
weeding, trimming, feeding and turning over the soil. Only
staking now left to put in place and new planting opportunities
where older plants failed to come through the winter or have
outgrown their current places. Oh and of course, the never ending
round of weeding until the border plants grow large enough to swamp
the weeds.
Potatoes were planted immediately after rotovation
("Charlotte" an all time favourite, "Venizia" a truly
outstanding salad potato with superb flavour and texture, and a new
salad variety called "Pippa" which has had very good reviews). No
main crops any more as we have one less veg. bed. A couple of days
later onions and a range of Brassicas were planted and small
seeds in variety were sown. Tender veg growing well in the
polytunnels. The gardening year has now truly begun.
I continue to sow seed of ornamental plants in the tunnels
although far less than I used to. However Moira suggests that I am
still not reducing plant propagation as much as I said I would. I
assure her that I have, as evidenced by the fact that we can walk
through the big tunnel without falling over plants on the floor
!
Seed germination has been quite slow with cuttings taking longer
to root than normal at this time of year. Salvias, pelargoniums and
hardy chrysanthemums are however growing away now and have a strike
rate of 80%+ .
I propagate brugmansias from a range of stock plants,
every year and have been more succesful in the last couple of years
since I discovered that cuttings of semi ripe material about half
an inch diameter root much better than smaller, softer pencil sized
ones. One cutting, taken any time up to late December, in a 9cm pot
of gritty compost, takes about 6-8 weeks to root on a hot
bench.
Lawn mowing is now a regular occurence, and with grass
growing strongly I am cutting 3 - 4 times a week. When the grass
was longer it was the Hayter rotary roller mower but from now
onwards it will be my cherished 30 year old Webb cylinder mower
which gives such a clean cut and better defined stripes. I can look
at any lawn now and know what form of mower it has been cut with!
Obsessive or what?
What's looking good?
If you live in a kinder climate than ours it is said that you
can have a clematis in flower every day of the year. With a range
of 300 or so species forms from all over the world and countless
cultivars, it really isn't that difficult. However the winter
flowering forms need a warmer climate than ours; we are
therefore a clematis free garden from early November until mid
February when the Atragene Group of clematis come into their own.
Although there are 17 different species in the group, the most
commonly grown in order of flowering are c. alpina c.
macropetalla, c.koreana and their cultivars.
C. Alpina
c. macropetalla "Marhams Pink" one of the finest
of all the named cultivars
C.koreana, a seed grown form in its second flowering
year
They lack the huge flowers of more showier species
in the genus, but make up for that with lantern shaped pendant
flowers generally of blue to purple but in the cultivars
there is a better range of colours from the pastels
spectrum. They are easy to please and will grow in almost any
situation including that difficult north facing area. Like most
clems. they will grow up a range of support material - walls or
trellis but for me they are best climbing through shrubs when they
look more natural and can bring the shrub to life before the leaves
arrive. They are not massively vigorous clematis reaching 8- 10
feet for alpinas, up to 13 for macropetallas and in excess of that
for koreana which is the most vigorous of the three.
Collectively they span a flowering period from February with the
alpinas to late May with koreanas which may then produce more
flowers periodically until August. If you don't already grow them
give them a try - you won't be disappointed.
And the star of the show is this ? atragene? that
came to me from the British Clematis Society in 2008 as seed of
c.alpina. Open pollinated clematis from a known mother plant may
have have often crossed with a different species which may have
happened in this case. When I recently showed the flower to
my local Hardy Plant Society many members were in raptures about
it!! The flowers are at least 2 and a half inches across and
a real true blue.
As usual a picture gallery of a selection of the other
best plants this month.
A British native woodland plant equally at home in
a garden setting; for shade and retentive soil is paris
quadrifolia. An eye catcher for its simple beauty and a good clump
former when happy.
Some of our few small rhodos and azaleas by the
House Pond. 2 days later the frosts had claimed
them
Chloranthus sessilifolius "Domino" is an eye
catching woodlander for its shiny dark foliage and scented white
sprays of flowers in mid Spring. It makes a large plant in time to
3feet tall. It is however rated as half hardy so you need to live
in a mild area to get away with this outdoors. Ours stays in a pot
in a shady corner of the large tunnel
Silver leaved Phlomis fruticosa with emerging
flower buds creates a lovely architectural form before the
yellow flowers open late May -June followed by attractive
seed pods. A very valuable long season of interest
plant.
Native bluebells mingling with euphorbia
griffithii "Fireglow" in the Beech Hedge Walk. This planting is
over 30 years old.
A less well known form of the yellow Skunk Cabbage
is the white form from the far east. The delightful but very slow
growing Lysichiton camtschatcensis is much smaller and less
invasive than its American cousin. Our plant in the Paddock Pond is
10 years old and has 4 flowers this year. However this marvellous
collection at Aberglasney Gardens puts ours to shame!
The last daffodils to flower for us are narcissus
"Pipit" a division 7 Jonquil form which apart from its graceful
form has the good scent of its group. and is a fitting farewell to
their season.
Wildlife and countryside
Nothing could be more representative of late April than
a local oak wood covered with bluebells, intensified by the deep
blue sky.
Undoubtedly in our part of the world, it is wild flowers that
take pride of place for their wonderful show throughout the
month. All along the lanes are masses of celandines, wood anemones,
ladies smock, wild garlic, stitchwort, the first of the
umbellifers, red campion and bluebells to name just a few. A recent
newspaper article pointed to the plight of wildflowers because of
loss of habitat and some agricultural practices, and it suggested
that road verges are the last refuges for many of our much loved
wild flowers. It emphasised how important it is for local councils
to be sensitive to the needs of wild flowers when planning their
verge cutting programmes, and to ensure that they have chance to
set seed before they are cut down.
Dandelions put up a colourful show at the verge of the
Llandeilo By Pass
On a main Roundabout on the A40 in Carmarthen is a show
stopping display of Ladies Smock or Cuckoo flower (Cardamine
pratensis). Quite a distraction for a plant nut like me.
Fortunately Moira was driving!
King Cups at Aberglasney
And a bank of primroses, sweetly scented on a warm
day
Cowslips again on the road verge
Two superb stands of Ladies Smock in a field
alonside the A40 in Carmarthenshire , the wildflower capital of
West Wales?
And back again to Llandeilo! this bank is
covered in what I thought from a distance were oxlips, the
primrose/cowlsip cross. Research however reveals that this fine
plant is too multiheaded and pale yellow to be what I first thought
it was. Oxlips have simpler infloresences and the flowers hang like
a cowslip. Further research into its identity is continuing as
there are only cowslips on the bank but no primroses. It seems far
to vigorous for any wild species
One plant which is native to the UK is fritillaria
meleagris but I have never seen it in the wild in our part of the
world. However our friends Liz and Paul have scattered seed over a
good few years in the moist shaded areas of their superb 3 acre
gardens to produce this jaw dropping show.
To see this wonderful garden go to www.llwyngarreg.co.uk for
visiting times and details of the garden.
And a final observation on wildflowers along a road verge.
WhenI was travelling back and forward to work in Swansea over
11 years ago, along a stretch of the A48 there is a central grass
verge which divides the dual carriageway. Every late May or
early June, I used to go bonkers when the local council saw fit to
cut back the grass verges which were full of Southern Marsh orchids
and common spotted forms, along with a supporting cast of Ox Eye
daisies in their prime. This continued over a number of years but
at last the council came to their senses driven mostly I suspect by
the recession. A more enlightened approach seems to have secured
the habitat which now enables the plants to complete their life
cycles.
On the Paddock pond at dusk a few weeks ago I caught sight of a
mallard duck with 10 ducklings, a charming sight as they all
followed her in a straight line to roost under the large juniper at
the edge of the pond. Too dark to take pictures I consoled myself
that there would be plenty of picture opportunities the following
day as they seemed to be well established. However I never saw them
again! I have observed previously that when they are disturbed the
mother bird often leads them to another location, usually along the
little river at the bottom of the garden where there is more
cover.
The swallows were a good week later this year than usual
arriving on a fine morning on 25th. Having been quite common here
for nearly 40 years, pied flycatchers have become quite scarce, the
last ones here being sighted in 2013. A distinct absence of other
summer migrants too, and it goes without saying no cuckoos.
One of the best sights on the farms at this time of year
is the releasing of cattle which have been indoors all
winter, into fields full of lush grass. To see whole herds of
cattle particularly milkers enjoying their first taste of freedom
for 5-6 months is quite mooving! They skip and jump and chase
each other, with their udders swinging too and fro! It is a sight
that gives delight to our farmer neighbours too, especially as they
have no more yard scraping, a never ending chore, to do until next
winter.
Visits
Plenty of outings were squeezed in:- to RHS Flower Show
Cardiff, a Plant fair at Rhosygilwen Mansion, and 2 of the best
West Wales gardens which, with with acid soils, have a superb range
of rhododendrons , camellias, other choice trees and shrubs and
many fine Spring woodland plants.
RHS Cardiff was disappointing this year I thought, even
though the weather was sunny and warm. A cramped site and lack of
seating made it incomfortable to walk around the show ground, set
in the beautiful Bute Park, a stones throw from the City Centre.
There were less nurseries and large gaps in one of the floral
narquees
A superb exhibition of paeonies on this
stand and in this wreath
This plant was the highlight of the day for me,
one of the newer introductions of far eastern epimediums with huge
flowers (for the genus) floating like bees on long stems. It was
named as e. wushanense ssp wushanense
Pics and website details for the gardens which are worth
a long trip to see our part of Wales in its horticultural
prime.
Aberglasney Gardens www.aberglasney.org
Picton Castle www.pictoncastle.co.uk
Many fine old rhododendrons and other specimen trees
dwarfing Moira, Liz and Carole on one of our day long outings. Paul
and Peter are camera shy!
Plant fair at Rhos y Gilwen Mansion which only
opens for events during the year
And once again a plant stole the Fair: arisaema
sikokianum is very difficult to grow well but Richard Cain of
Penlan Perennials has the knack with 12 plants in superb condition.
For more info about Richard's nursery go to www.penlanperennials.co.uk
On the way home from the Plant Fair the unusual
sight of a couple of fields of oilseed rape which lit up the
surrounding countryside
Hope you have had a similarly enjoyable April, minus the severe
frosts,
and that May brings some warmth and all the fine things we have
to look forward to then.