Your Garden
SPRING’s here! Having purchased lots of ‘rare plants’ and more unusual perennials over winter I am now eagerly awaiting all my little treasures coming to life.
With our dry weather, watering is vital as everything has a high need for moisture when springing back into life. Losses can occur if your plants are not fully established and are stressed at this point. I have used quite a bit of water already but the new growth on my roses and the emergence of perennials is great and should auger well later in the season.
If you have not finished mulching, now is the time as the warm weather will dry the soil out quickly. Mulch not only saves moistures but blankets the soil from weather extremes, increases microbial and earthworm activity and if you use Lucerne or pea straw, it also feeds your soil.
How beautiful have the flowering plum trees, Chaenomeles and other early prunuses have been and now the pears have started.
Daffodils, snow drops and jonquils have been amazing this winter/spring. My first tulip, crocuses, Devon Skies and the beautiful little Iris reticulatas have popped up and are all so lovely.
While yellow is not a colour, I like during the warmer months, it is so cheerful in winter and spring. Have you grown Forsythias? Their lovely yellow flowers are another herald of spring, very useful as a single shrub in a bed or border or as a hedge and looks great with daffodils nearby.
I’m really looking forward to my deciduous shrubs flowering, my first viburnum is in flower already and some of the others not far behind. All the new leaves unfurling are so fresh looking.
If you don’t have room for a tree perhaps a deciduous shrub might be just the thing.
With a quick trip to the sunshine coast hinterland, my view is a lush subtropical garden filled with lovely warm climate plants we can only dream about in our cool climate.
The difference is we have four seasons.
