THE WEATHER (and other stuff!) -

This time last year I was moaning about how late spring was, and how far fewer plants were in flower in March than the previous year (2000). Well, this year has made up for it, with many plants flowering a week or two before they would normally because of the unusually mild weather we have had this month. A look at the list of plants in flower further down the page will confirm that!

The month began with mild weather for the time of year, although it turned much colder for a few days later on. Very strong gales on the 9th, which blew over the bird table (no permanent harm done, though!). I'm getting really fed up with this windy weather - we seem to have had more extremely windy days in the last three months than in the rest of last year put together! Every time I stand my pots and obelisks back up - up comes the wind and blows them all down again...... Not much rain the first week of the month, but we soon made up for it with lots of rain for the next two weeks. The last week of the month was really beautiful, with warm spring-like weather and sunny days. I can't remember having temperatures of 22°C (72°F) in March before! Frost at night, though, which as, usual, has nipped the new red growth on my Pieris japonica "Forest Flame".

For the first time in 21 years, I have had NO frog spawn in the pond. I don't know why this is, as there are certainly frogs in the garden and surrounding areas, and lots of spawn in the neighbouring lake, which has been there since mid-February (the spawn, that is, not the lake!!). I'm really disappointed!!

Maximum temperature 22°C (72°F), minimum temperature minus 3°C (28°F).

All the Hellebores in the garden are in full flower now. They are such lovely plants, one of the first of the perennials to flower. I have lots of different ones, but one of the most striking is this lovely yellow Helleborus orientalis hybrid. I bought it in flower about this time last year, and this year it has flowered even better. It really is quite yellow - a most unusual colour for a Hellebore.

Kerria japonica flore-plena is a common shrub, but I am very fond of it. My plant has been in flower since about last December, showing the odd flower here and there, but it is an absolute picture now, with its sunny yellow double flowers all along leafless branches. Once it has finished flowering, I will cut it back hard to encourage new growth which will flower next year.

Soldanella montana is a lovely little plant, which has pretty mauve nodding bells with fringed edges, on stiffly upright stems. The foliage is evergreen, and reniform. As it is an alpine plant, and therefore likes full sun and sharp drainage, I have this in a pot, as my soil is not very well drained, and such a small plant would soon get swamped by other more robust plants. I bought this plant last year, when it was very small, and it has probably tripled in size over the last twelve months.

The biggest problem I have in my garden is Celandines (Ranunculus ficaria), which begin growth around December, and continue until the end of the first week in June. They grow so thick and lush that they smother the new growth of everything coming up at this time of the year. I'm really at a loss as to how to get rid of them. I can't spray weedkiller, as they are coming up all around and through my other plants. I can't put down a membrane to smother them, for the same reason, and I can't dig them up because it's a waste of time, as the slightest little bit of the tubers, which break off so easily, if left in the ground re-grow - so I just have to put up with them. However, not all Celandines are bad news - this one is Ranunculus ficaria 'Brazen Hussy', which has the usual sunny yellow flowers, but deep chocolate brown shiny leaves. A real stunner!

Some people think Camellias are boring! How can that be, when you have beautiful glossy evergreen leaves, which are great for flower arranging, and in the spring, these beautiful waxen flowers in many shades. This one is called 'Lavinia Maggi', and has palest pink double flowers with red streaks. I have this in a pot, as my soil is not really suitable for acid-loving plants like Camellias, being a mixture of loam, clay and marl (which contains lime).

Sometimes, you have to be cruel to be kind, as they say. When we built the pergola the year before last, this Clematis armandii had to be cut back very hard in order to clear the area for work. It was in July, which isn't the best time to cut back a Clematis. However, it soon began to re-grow, and has actually flowered better than it ever did before (and a month earlier this year, too!). I love its beautiful clusters of white flowers, whose petals differ in number from four to six, and the evergreen foliage is lush and tropical-looking - just my type of plant!

No, it's not some kind of pre-historic creature emerging from the swamp - it's Gunnera manicata! I love its spiny stems and leaves, and my plant is now getting very large indeed! I shall soon need to move house, I think! This grows into a seriously large plant........

Last month I showed you a view of the garden, so I thought I'd show you a different part of the garden this time. This view is on level 2, looking towards the paved walkway which leads to some steps down past level 3, on to level 4 where the pond is. On the left is Fatsia japonica, and on the right is Cordyline australis. The yellow shrub in the distance is Forsythia x intermedia, and the red-leaved small plant in the centre-distance is Euphorbia martinii. The ghostly grey thing on the bottom right is Phormium tenax 'Flamingo', all wrapped up in fleece against the frost. I can remove the fleece towards the end of the month, I hope. To the left of the fleece is Heuchera 'Pewter Veil', which is just starting into new leaf now. The yellow-leaved plant just in front of the fleece is Valeriana phu aurea, which has beautiful bright yellow foliage, with small white flowers in June. The funny-looking brown thing in the middle of the path is a piece of driftwood, which I had sorted out to use in a flower arrangement, and forgot to move before I took the photo! (Well, nobody's perfect, even me!) This photo was taken in mid-March.

That's all for this month...... Happy Gardening!!

Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell. (These are early this year - no butterflies were seen until April last year.)

Blackbird, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Crow, Goldfinch, Great Tit, Greenfinch, House Sparrow, Long-tailed Tit, Magpie, Robin, Rook, Seagull, Starling, Thrush, Tree Sparrow, Wood Pigeon, Wren.