garden notes News, products and advice for the new season
SEASONAL SENSATION AUBRETIA The perfect perennial for a pop of spring colour, aubretia is best grown in full sun on top of a drystone wall, in a rockery or in tall pots. Once established it will form a lush, vibrant, flower-studded cascade from mid-spring through into early summer. Braithwaites in Leeming Bar (braithwaitesnursery.co.uk) has a wide selection in stock.
KEEP OFF!
Once the soil warms up you’ll be eager to plant out your new seedlings – and the neighbourhood mice and pigeons will be equally keen to tuck into them! Wire cloches, like this one from gardentrading.co.uk, are a stylish way to prevent hungry wildlife from scoffing your precious young plants.
Divide and Rule
New hosta shoots will soon be peeping above ground, and when they do it’s your cue to divide large clumps and spread these fantastic foliage plants around your garden or share them with friends. Simply uproot a clump, divide into quarters with an old breadknife and replant the divisions in a moist, shady spot.
Stunning Cerinthe
SOW AND SOW
Now’s the time to begin sowing small batches of beetroot and carrot seed, repeating every fortnight to ensure a succession of tender young roots from summer through to mid-autumn. Early direct sowings can be protected from cold weather under plastic cloches; once May is in sight they’ll likely survive unprotected.
Cerinthe major subsp. purpurascens, the honeywort, is a handsome hardy annual whose purple, bell-like flowers and bluetinted leaves make it an eye-catching summer filler for cottage garden borders. Sow Cerinthe under cover now and it will be ready to plant out in June. Save the seeds in autumn for next year’s crop. Dales Life | SPRING 2022 |
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