After 2 weeks of dry, sunny weather but very cold nights with
minima of -6C, the latter half of the month was much warmer which
has at last brought on the hellebores very well and the first of
the narcissus, mostly "February Gold" and "Jetfire" - good reliable
cyclamineus hybrids. The lawns too have started to green up after
being yellow for months; they were scarified and fed and weeded in
the last 2 weeks and soon the mowing season will begin in earnest
for the next 7 months! The vegetable beds were rotovated in the dry
weather and after all the frost we have a lovely tilth ready for
sowing as soon as the soil warms up and the rains stop. This time
last year we had already planted all the spuds except the
lates.
Seed sowing has continued in earnest and we have already sown
over 300 varieties of seed with about 75 of the more tender
varieties left to sow. Of particular interest are the hemerocallis
seeds that were donated by members of the American Hemerocallis
Society as part of their outreach programme, many of which are new
crosses. They have germinated well in gentle heat and it is
exciting to anticipate the flowers in a couple of years time. We
have potted on all the overwintered perennials in tunnels and
frames and had surprisingly small losses except for hollyhocks and
kniphofias. We hope to have plenty of plants in a wide variety for
such a small nursery for sale to our visitors this summer.
Wildlife too is on the move with the Paddock Pond full of frogs
and toads and plenty of spawn already. The herons take a big
interest in this but they seem to have very little impact on
tadpole populations. We saw our first hedgehog last night just
before dark and he looked well after a hard winter. He readily took
some dried food before creeping off to sleep under the big
laurel. Red kites have been much in evidence this month with up to
4 whistling to each other all day long in the tall willows at the
bottom of the garden. In the 34 years I have lived here it is
amazing to observe how their numbers have grown - they are now more
numerous than buzzards, previously the main bird of prey in these
parts.
We have been busy with talks to garden clubs this month and a
memorable Gardeners Question Time in Llandovery which was a great
success. Three more talks to come in April and one in May. They are
most enjoyable and a chance to make new acquaintances and a good
opportunity to advertise the Gardens to a wider audience.
Finally we had the great pleasure this month of meeting Tom Hart
Dyke from Lullingstone Castle in Kent at The National Botanic
Garden in Llanarthne, Carmarthenshire. He gave a fascinating talk
of his 2009 plant hunting travels in South America with
references back to his incarceration by guerillas in Columbia in
2000. A fabulous plantsman with great stories to tell. For more
information go to www.lullingstonecastle.co.uk
The National Botanic Garden of Wales is a great place to visit
at any time of the year but especially so in early spring when the
mediterranean garden in the Great Glasshouse looks at its absolute
best. The South African garden with proteas and leucadendrons in
full bloom is simply stunning and is a "must see". Tom considers it
to be one of the finest in the UK Go to www.gardenofwales.org.uk