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If the calender hadn't told me it's March in my garden then the swathes of gorgeous flowers giving it a spring glow up would do so. There's colour everywhere, which is always a welcome sight at this time of year. I've written before about the rewards bulbs and corms give for very little effort, and this month's fabulous display is no exception. Apologies in advance for a very photo-heavy post!
What's flowering now?
While the daffodil is probably the flower most people associate with March (as well as being St David's flower), my garden stars are hellebores (see cover pic). I have several varieties of this lovely perennial dotted around our garden, both in sun and shade, and they are absolutely stunning just now. They're incredibly good natured too, needing little maintenance other than a light prune to remove the previous year's leaves each December/January.
Another low maintenance perennial is my Raspberry Splash lungwort (Pulmonaria). A shade lover, the beautiful white spotted green leaves make a lovely contrast to the delicate little red flowers, which will turn blue over time.
So what about those Spring bulbs? Well, the predominantly blue colours are coming from the grape hyacinths (Muscari) which I have in pots and underplanting some of our shrubs. They’re supremely easy to grow and come back year on year.
And scattered through the grass are some blue chionodoxa forbesii, some pink chionodoxa luciliae, and some blue anemone blanda (windflowers) under the foot of a tree.
Over the years we’ve planted thousands of daffodil bulbs in pots and throughout the garden and orchard. Some are tall, vase-ready plants, some are smaller bedside posie-sized, but all are blazing joyously in their various locations. My favourite is the centre picture, I just adore this shaggy, raggedy little flower. I don’t know what variety it is but it’s a little beauty.
What's sprouting now?
Pretty much everything! I hard pruned our buddleias last month and they’re putting on new growth at an alarming rate. All the roses are growing fresh new leaves and it will be time to transplant my three new rose plants (grown from cuttings taken last year) soon. I just don’t know where though as they’ll become eight foot scramblers in time. It was a cuttings experiment that I didn’t think would work so well!
If you read last month’s post, you may remember I went on a little bulb and plant spending spree for my birthday 🙂 Planting bulbs and corms is absolutely back-breaking work, but not this year thanks to my wonderful new gardening stool* kindly gifted by OneLeg. OneLeg stools are designed to rock and tilt as you sit, making them ideal for those tricky or uncomfortable low-level tasks. Designed by a lady gardener, each stool is weather proof, impact resistant, lightweight and easy to move around. So there’s no longer any need for bending, kneeling, or gardening-induced osteopath bills.
I chose a 32″ model in lime green (you can also select other heights, colours, and removable slip-on covers) and I have to say it is a complete game changer. After a solid three hours in the garden, I woke up the next day with no backache whatsoever. And I am shocked that something so small can make such a difference. I can see it being in use all year round: for weeding, pruning, seed sowing, and not just in the garden either. Flora keeps trying to pinch it for her bedroom, so we may be investing in another one shortly…
Here are some of the flowering spring bulbs I planted underneath our new silver birch tree. Once they’re over, some early summer aliums and gladioli should hopefully start poking through too.
And I gave way and bought another dahlia tuber which I’ve planted up in the greenhouse to grow on for planting out after the last frosts. (Tubers look a little like potatoes, it’s hard to imagine that they’ll ever provide the glorious floral displays that you see in late summer!) You might also remember that sunflower seedhead I left out for the birds over winter had started sprouting? Next to the dahlia tuber are a few of the sunflower seedlings I rescued. Very kind of Nature to lend an early helping hand.
Indoor jobs for March
Towards the end of last month we sowed our tomatoes, cucumbers and sweet peas, some of which have already started sprouting. Now it's time to sow some white and pink cosmos, purple and white cobeas, and my absolute favourite purple petunia.
Petunias have a bit of a granny image, I think, but Purple Tower is lovely: velvety soft leaves, vibrantly purple blooms, and the most wonderful heady fragrance. And they grow up to six feet if given support, or scramble happily as ground cover if you have the space. Most, if not all, of the flowers I grow in our garden I've chosen for their colour and their scent, and because they make wonderful flowers for cutting.
Wildlife
The early February warmth has kickstarted all the frogs into action in our little ponds. I've counted 18 in our top pond and 12 in our bottom pond. You're supposed to clear the ponds of dead leaves etc before winter. But we've rarely bothered and I think this is why our ponds are so popular year on year.
We have masses of frogspawn already, so we've transplanted some to Flora's little pond at the bottom of the orchard. Hopefully, those tadpoles will be none the wiser and will come back to her pond as adults in time.
Flora's garden
What a change a few short weeks can make.
Spring bulbs are flowering, some garlic and a solitary broad bean plant, both from an old Mud and Bloom subscription box, are sprouting too. So this month we'll plant some more broad beans alongside too, now that the soil is warming up a little.
March in my garden
When I look back at last month's post, it's hard to believe that so much has grown in just a few short weeks. As usual, much of which I'd forgotten was coming, because I struggle to remember what I've planted from previous years. But that's one of the joys, I think. Gardening is full of surprises: some good, some bad, and in the end, Nature will always do what she wants. Once you accept and try to work in harmony with her, I truly believe gardening is one of the easiest, most relaxing, and rewarding acts of self-care I know.
What will you be doing in your green space this month? What would you love to grow the most?
* This item was gifted for review but all opinions and photos are my own and unbiased. This post also contains some affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission at no cost to you if you make any purchases using these links.