It was a
long winter and it was wonderful to finally experience some warm sunshine
recently. Spring is an exciting time in the garden, as it explodes with colour,
scent and sound. But March and April have seen dramatic and rapid changes in the weather, lurching from icy blasts to record
high temperatures, then to wind and driving rain. One can
only imagine the impact this has had on the garden.
The two
late cold snaps arrested some growth in our garden, and some normally
winter-hardy plants even succumbed to the frost. Our jasmine polyanthum appeared
to suffer badly; and we lost all of the lovely trailing geraniums in our window
boxes – plants that had survived two previous winters and performed beautifully
every year.
The cold
snaps were followed by wet weather and the garden became quite waterlogged,
making it difficult to do much at all. Most plants appear to be resilient to
heavy rain, though. The
primroses got very soggy and brown, but deadheading revealed a lot of new
growth. The ferns also benefited from a bit of a tidy up and it was lovely to
see the new fronds unfurling.
The brief
spell of hot sunshine was very welcome and I found myself outside all the time, doing jobs in the garden, soaking up the sun, and posting photos of flowers on social
media ... But even then there were challenges for the garden, as we recorded
the hottest April temperatures for 70 years. A BBC weather forecaster warned that
spring flowers may not last as long and might be overtaken quickly by the
summer growth.
The
sunshine coincided with blossom season, and our plum, cherry and pear trees really
brightened things up. Some of the most dramatic blossom trees are in our
neighbours’ gardens, and we enjoyed the ‘borrowed landscapes’.
One neighbour’s
acacia tree literally hums with bees in spring. This, combined with the
chattering of goldfinches, the singing of robins and blackbirds, the cooing of
woodpigeons, and the squawking of parakeets, adds up to a wonderful spring
cacophony that transports you out of the city (although it's unlikely you'd find that particular combination of sounds outside North London).
But the
mini heatwave was quickly replaced by colder temperatures, heavy rains and
strong winds. This is similar to a couple of years ago, when we also had a lot of
wind and rain shortly after the blossom came out, and we lost the blossom very
quickly – we think that may have affected the fruit harvests, too.
Rain or shine, spring has been particularly fragrant, with the heady scent of
hyacinths and skimmias (var. ‘Fragrans’ and ‘Fragrant Cloud’), which we have planted
close to the seat at the bottom of the garden. Also by the seat is an unusual
clematis – ‘Pixie’. It has tiny delicate leaves and dozens of small white
flowers with a delicate but lovely fragrance.
Our vegetables are already showing promise, despite the confusing weather. Our early potatoes
(planted in bags) have healthy green shoots; the raspberries and blueberries are looking good; while the rhubarb – which performed very
poorly last year – is showing numerous sturdy stems. So I'm looking forward to
a good few crumbles this year (a warming thought as we huddle inside with the
rain beating down outdoors …). Rhubarb disappears completely over winter, so to
see it spring up so quickly and strongly in a matter of days is very exciting.
There is a lot
to do in the garden in springtime, so it’s frustrating to be faced
with cold temperatures and pouring rain. …. There are seeds to sow – cucumbers,
courgettes, carrots – which can at least be started indoors. Outside, though, the climbers – clematis, honeysuckle – need tying in regularly
as they experience dramatic growth spurts. The lawn looks unruly far too
quickly after being mown – but with all the wet weather it’s difficult to find
a suitable time to mow it. And of course there is weeding to do – though as the
garden matures, it’s nice to see some of the ground cover plants doing their
work and reducing mine. (I recommend phlox ‘Purple Beauty’, alyssum
‘Luna’ and oregano.)
So, we will
do what we can regardless of the elements. It looks as though it will get warmer and drier in the next few days …In fact, now the BBC are saying it's going to be the hottest early May Bank Holiday on record.
