Spring is here.

The first day of spring has come, in this part of the world and time to get the wellies out and tidy up after the winter. This time of year always amazes me, how brave plants are, to start peeping up their buds and foliage when anything can happen weather-wise in the next few weeks. I know it’s time to begin the year’s gardening well before the calendar tells me because, the alliums are well up, the spring bulbs are starting to burst through the soil of their pots and the trees are starting to bud up.

The first job on my list every year is to weed around my alliums. The type I have are called Allium Unifolium. They are a dwarf variety and flower in summer but begin to sprout very early in the year.  They don’t look like a typical allium but they have this ever so delicate pink colour and delicate blooms that I fell in love with. I bought 25 bulbs a few years back and now they have multiplied prodigiously to cover the full area of the bank, in which I planted them. They are planted on a grassy bank which is susceptible to the weed crows-foot in particular. If I don’t get out early enough in the year, and cut back the grass, the alliums grow using the support of the strong grass and then I am unable to cut back the grass without the plants falling over and never being able to stand on their own. And if I don’t deal with the weeds the take over altogether. I fell in love with the delicateness of these flowers but in truth, it’s become their downfall, they are so delicate you hardly notice them, last Autumn I planted iris’s among the alliums so hopefully this will help make this bank more visually appealing.

The next job I have is to tidy up the rotted montbretia foliage after the winter. I don’t mind this job as the montbretia give such a good show when they flower, they are worth the effort. Also, my daffodils are planted in the same area, so removing the leaves shows up the daffodils. I let the foliage over winter because it is supposed to be very good for your garden wildlife wise, they can use the decaying leaves as protection from the harsh winter. Down the length of my avenue, I have 20 clusters of planting with grass in between. The clean up is quite a big job, as I get a full wheel-barrow full of leaves from each cluster.

The last job which is quite a nice job is bringing out the spring-bulb-flower-pots. In autumn I plant pot-inserts with spring bulbs, place them away from view but in full light and when spring comes along I take them out, place each plant-pot-insert into its ceramic pot and enjoy many weeks of colour. Already the crosses are up and I’m eagerly awaiting the rest.

Spring is sprung and its time to get out there and enjoy it.