Long Gone March

I can't believe it has been so long since I last had time to sit down and write a post. Looking back I see I now have lots to catch up on and now I need to go all the way back to March. Despite the ongoing bathroom renovations we had plenty happening in the woods and the greenhouse. While M was busy indoors I was doing my best to keep things ticking over outside.

At the beginning of March we had a Storm Gareth to contend with and fortunately we only had one upturned tree.

The best thing was the fact that it just missed one of our little rhododendrons. No harm done, the tree had a few branches removed and it was possible to lift it back up again.

A visit to our local garden centre resulted in a random purchase of a Himalayan Lily bulb. Apparently they can grow to about 6ft tall although that looked unlikely given the small green shoot appearing.

In the midst of the wood shavings and plaster dust the potatoes were set out to chit. M has always wanted to grow King Edwards so we bought them along with Cara which has previously been a great success. We also thought we'd try some Blue Danube potatoes as a new variety for us. I was hoping they would go well with the purple carrots we had sown.

After all our efforts of planting in the autumn we found that the deer and rabbits were trying their best to destroy as many of the tiny new plants as possible. Sadly the Erythronium were the first to be devastated, munched down to the ground.

Next the newly planted bluebells had the rabbit chop treatment. We were hoping some would survive enough to produce some flowers but only time would tell.

As the days started to warm up so the grass began to grow and we knew it wouldn't be long until the endless days of mowing would upon us. At least M was able to concentrate on the bathroom refurbishment until then.

The 'White Garden' was not looking particularly white but there were dots of white Thalia daffodils rising above the grass. The beautiful tulips from last year did not reappear but we had high hopes for the large Joan of Arc Crocus. However, the poor crocus were obviously very much enjoyed by the wildlife so were not quite the amazing display we had planned.

Daffodil walk was beginning to live up to it's name with an increased number of blooms and quite a variety of colours. We don't plan on planting any more daffodils here but hope that with all the bulbs already planted the display should improve year in year.

At the end of March I eventually managed to complete the annual greenhouse clean. I'm not sure why it took so long this year, last year I cleaned it all in one day but this year it took me nearly 3 days. As always I was so glad when this was all done and dusted.

After all the devastation left behind by the rabbits and deer I had a bright idea whereby I could use some old hanging baskets to protect the small emerging plants. I also had some left over thin wire which I wound around them to increase the defence.

Although I knew that the baskets wouldn't protect the flowers I hoped that the main part of the plants would survive any attacks. I was thrilled when my little plan worked and we had some lovely Anemones and Fritillaria.

One of my favourite flowers at this time of year has always been the little wood anemone. We planted some a couple of years ago and although we haven't yet had a wonderful display they are increasing in number each year. They too seem to be a favourite of our local rabbits but sometimes we get to enjoy their simple pure beauty before they disappear.

I love the early days of spring when the buds appear and the trees begin to come alive after a long winter.

Although this is a pretty rubbish photo I was amazed at the abundance of flowers on the Larch this year. We put this down to having quite a mild month.

The Larch wasn't the only tree enjoying the warmer days. This pear tree (a cheapy supermarket variety) was full of blossom and looked beautiful in an otherwise sparse orchard.

I thought I'd finish off the month with some bright colour. Last year we bought a couple of large plastic barrels as the old wooden one had rotted and collapsed. We planted a variety of bulbs which would provide colour from February through to June and each barrel had a central perennial for continued interest. The inject of flowers in the garden always gives me the impetus to sow seeds and plan further for the summer and so there's the plan for April.