It is a ‘given’ in the gardening world that no two years are the same, let alone seasons. Remember last Christmas? I think this is a plus, but a challenge, of course, if you do desire uniformity. To my surprise, we had a daffodil in flower on Christmas Day, and as I write, quite a few are out. This is the variety ‘Rinjveld’s Early Sensation’ which I first met whilst living in Cornwall. Last year it flowered here at the end of January. It is perhaps a little brassy for my liking these days, but nonetheless very welcome at this early time. I much prefer the miniature, often scented and more muted coloured varieties. ‘Thalia’, ‘Niveth’ and ‘Petrel’ are new favourites this year. If the weather remains so mild no doubt many bulbs will be in flower when you read this in February. Certainly Iris reticulata may well be over. This is a charming little bulb, so early and so welcome. I always plant up quite a few of my favourite terracotta tubs with a mixture of bulbs in the autumn. I then put them in a shed/garage/barn – they do not need light and the pots are protected from the damaging frosts. I put them outside when the tips of the bulbs are just peeping through. If you start off with Iris reticulata and have a mix of early to later scented daffodils and tulips in the pot, it will cover a flowering season of some four/five months. If you place the pots by the main entrance to the house you will be greeted with wonderful scents, as you come and go. Don’t forget to feed the bulbs at the end of the season. Liquid seaweed diluted in a watering can and sprayed on the leaves just as they are beginning to senesce is a very easy method. And do not cut off the leaves before they have completely died back or you will be losing next season’s food supply.
Every New Year’s Day I count the number of plants/shrubs in flower in the garden. I started this whilst in Cornwall and used to get up to around 40. Nothing compared to Trelissick near Feock – they often had 250/300! This year, my second in Semley, I found 25 in flower. I suspect the Donhead gardens, so sheltered and on that wonderful greensand, may achieve way above this. I throw down the gauntlet for everyone to count on New Year’s Day 2013!
And now a Plea for Chaos! May I persuade you all, if not already the case, to leave those little corners in your gardens to Chaos. Actually I mean scruffy plants of course, like stinging nettles. They are such a vital food source for many butterflies including the Red Admiral and Small Tortoiseshell and the Comma. These butterflies lay their eggs underneath the leaves of the nettles and the caterpillars feed on the nettles when hatched. If we clear away all the nettles there’s no food for the butterflies. Plants like Jack by the Hedge and Queen Anne’s Lace are all vital food plants for many insects. We are so tidy these days; it is my belief this is why we have fewer birds due to fewer insects and so on, up the food chain. So a few untidy scruffy corners can easily be explained away as ‘my food bank for the food chain’!
Freddie Yorke
