It is now the end of March and we are half way through Spring. Th snowdrops have faded but other spring delights are following.
Here is my classic End of the Month View (January, October, September, August) Last January the beds looked empty. Now they are full of leaves with lots of tulips and alliums pushing up. Mostly it looks very green but on the right we can see some early tulips adding some colour. 
Looking across the centre bed we can see more tulips putting on a great display. (Before you ask, these have been in for over 10 years and I have lost the reference to there name). At the back you can see a blue carpet under the rose bushes.
The Anemone Blanda Atrocoerulea were planted last spring with the idea that they would provide interest under the roses at a time when rose bushes are very boring. 
This is proving very successful. The leaves die back very quickly after flowering and can then be tidied up if required. Over time these will eventually grow to form a complete carpet of blue.
The bed to the left of the lawn is full to bursting with tulips and alliums and should look fantastic in a few weeks time. (Actually a gardening group will be visiting then) 
However, looking at it I think we need to give some more thought to structure and colour at this time of year.
To the right of the pond there is a similar mass of tulips and alliums. At the back the Delphinium Black Knight, Clematis Jackmanii, and Clematis Viola are all making good growth.
To the right of the pond Tulip Apricot Impression is opening up. 
Tulip Apricot Impression in all its glory. A very nice reasonable priced tulip.
At the back left of the bed you can see some plastic which covers Peach Terrace Amber Dwarf. This is to protect the peach from peach leaf curl.
Under the plastic the peach is already in flower.
Further round the bed on the right the Crown imperial fritillary is also flowering.
Elsewhere in the garden the plum Prunus Jubilee is flowering so far avoiding any frost damage.
Just how nice can spring get!
| Gardening Hours | ||
| This week | Total since June 19th | Average per week |
| 28 | 649 | 16 |
This week we spent considerable time in the garden. What were we doing?
For example here is our strawberry bed which is down wind from a big sycamore tree. You can see that this is covered with small seedlings from the tree. It takes time to remove them by hand. Just one of the jobs to be done.
Do have a look at Helen The Patient Gardener’s blog where you fill find links to other gardens at the end of March. Thank you to Helen for hosting this meme.
also Sarah at Down By The Sea for Through The Garden Gate (here).
Despite having a relatively large garden the greenhouse is not very large. The location is not ideal either as it faces west and has a large wall to the south and east. You may well ask “why did you put it here?” I would say that the main reason was that we did not want to spoil the views down the garden and the only other sensible location was totally shaded by a large old apple tree. Actually the location does have the advantage that it does not get over hot in the middle of summer.
At the end are Osteospermum cutting that have been over wintered and a bay tree which I bring in to protect it from the winter frosts.
There is not enough staging so some are started off on the ground.
On the right as you enter there are even more! The issue I have is that I always end up with more dahlia plants than I started with and I am always reluctant to throw away anything that could make a good plant. The greenhouse just get fuller!
It is amazing how quickly the tubers burst into life. This one is Dahlia Arabian Night a beautiful dahlia with large, fully-double flower-heads of dark burgundy-red.
This is already underway with trays of cosmos and poppies and in the incubator tomatoes and many more exotic flowers. This becomes a huge juggling act and eventually the whole floor will be covered with plants and the scent becomes overpowering. The aconites and Anemone Blanda White Splendour have already been moved out and I described these in 
Two trays that will soon be ready to plant out are Anemone Nemerosa Robinsoniana which I treat in a similar way to the aconites.
The spring standby, Primrose (Primula vulgaris). Not really a plant that is planted as it is quite happy to plant itself. April 19th is traditionally Primrose Day, marking the death of Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli on April 19th, 1881 when Queen Victoria sent primroses to his funeral.
The radiant yellow flowers of dwarf Narcissus Tête á Tête give a big splash of colour to any bed. One drawback is that the leaves take time to disappear so I plant them towards the back of my borders where the leaves can die back out of sight.
Mahonia media Charity looking splendid. Mahonia, or Oregon grape are highly prized not just for the beautiful glossy foliage, but because they flower through the winter months.
Ipheion uniflorum White Star is a small herbaceous perennial growing from a bulb and producing flat, shiny, green, hairless, grasslike leaves up to 30 cm (12 in) long. The stem grows up to 20 cm (8 in) tall and bears a solitary showy flower in spring. Not such a common spring flower but easy to grow in a sunny position. Here they underplant some roses.
The first tulip flower of the season. Variety unknown! However, the tulips are coming up all over the garden so we are expecting an excellent display later on.
Anemone Blanda Atrocoeruleais a very free flowering Anemone, which quickly forms large clumps and multiplies year after year. Plant under trees for a woodland effect, with a carpet of violet-blue flowers appearing every spring. The blue is stunning.
and Anemone Blanda White Splendour tends to flower a little later but is just as useful in the spring border.
Prunus Kojo-no-mai is always early to flower
and looks great for no effort.
Ribes sanguineum White Icicle has also started flowering.
This Aubretia, in a warm spot has burst into flower.
Lastly the view over the garden fence where the lambs are continuing to grow.
On the right the Winter Aconites and on the left Anemone Blanda White Splendour which I treat in the same way. An additional benefit of this approach is that the greenhouse gets full of the scent of the Winter Aconites which is fantastic.
The border with the snowdrops beginning to fade.
The winter aconites ready for planting
The border now with a few splashes of yellow which will establish themselves into large clumps over the next few years.
Everywhere you look at this time of year spring bulbs are bursting out.
Crocus Pickwick coming back every year.
Borders of Helleborus Ashwoods Hybrids doing their own thing.
Crocus Joan of Arc under a row of step-over apples with tulips emerging behind.
What could be more wonderful!
Just returned from India and stayed a couple of nights at the 
Actually it should be vases on Monday!
Spring had really arrived now. Over the years we have been splitting clumps of snowdrops to fill out the border down the lefthand side of the garden. This has been a real success with the spring bed looking absolutely gorgeous. 
From our back door the border is raised and you find yourself looking into the snowdrops.Which is really great to see.
Looking down on the same part of the bed you can see the progress the tulips are making. These are mainly Red Impression and by April the whole of this left hand border will be full of Red Impression.
The beauty of spring comes through with snowdrops, aconites, Iris Histrioides Katherine Hodgkin and a small cyclamen. 
Elsewhere the snowdrops set of the yew and box hedging.
The other arrival this week are the lambs in the field below our garden. The lambs are born in lambing sheds so when they are put out to the field they are quite strong. However, the day they arrived it turned cold and rained and I guess they wondered what it was all about. Certainly we could hear a significant amount of lambs crying out through the night.
In a week or two they will be charging around the field like a group of adolescents!
Glebe House Garden 