Spring Countdown

Published on by Catherine

If you follow the Meteorological calendar, you will only have 20 sleeps until Spring arrives – how exciting is that! But if you prefer the Astronomical calendar, you’ll have longer to wait. Your Spring will start on the 20th of March, mine on the 1st day of March. Come rain, hail or shine – that’s the day my Spring begins. I’m very, very impatient when it comes to leaving winter behind – I’m a meteorological kind of person. 20 sleeps until Spring! Happy days!

Six on Saturday

New Plants. Physocarpus opulifolius ‘Amber Jubilee’. I’m hoping this plant lives up to its glowing description that declares, “in Spring, the leaves will be a rich salmon-orange that mature to green”. There’s a rough idea rattling about in my head about where to place it, but all I hope is that it will add colour where it’s needed in early spring.

Physocarpus opulifolius ‘Amber Jubilee’ with fiery buds

Aralia cordata ‘Sun King’. Since taking out the Golden Hop last year, the garden has been left without any lime-coloured foliage. Aralia cordata ‘Sun King’, although not a climber and perhaps not as lime-coloured as the hop, seemed to be a good replacement. I like several things about this plant, it’s perennial, fully hardy and fast-growing. One potential problem is that it needs protection from strong winds. Two will go into the borders and the third will be in a pot that can be moved around the garden to add interest and colour as needed.

Aralia cordata ‘Sun King’ – not much to see here!

Rhubarb I couldn’t resist taking this photo of the rhubarb purely because of the amazing textures on the almost paper-like wrap around the crown of the plant. This plant is ancient and massive. It’s been divided several times through the years and needs that to happen again. It’s probably now too late for this variety to be divided, but it will have to be tackled in the autumn.

Rhubarb ‘Timperley Early’
These stalks will be sweet & juicy

Stachys byzantina ‘Silver Carpet’ has come through the winter so far, with very little damage. Three plants edge this border, but the smaller is looking a wee bit weak, though I’m sure it will pick up once warmer weather arrives.

Stachys Byzantina ‘Silver Carpet’

Zooming in, I noticed that new growth appears more green than the other leaves, which is not unusual on plants, but this time it’s because they don’t have their full coating of ‘hair’ yet. This is something I hadn’t noticed until now.

Young, green leaves with fewer hairs

Tulip ‘Orca” It’s early February, and two Tulip ‘Orca pots are already sprouting. They’re not alone, Tulip ‘La Courtine Parrot’ (not shown) is also appearing. They were planted late, so I didn’t expect to see such early growth – quite a surprise. There are more strong winds to come, I hope this new growth won’t suffer any damage.

Tulip ‘Orca’

Hellebores are getting into their stride now. This is the one that’s been flowering since September. Heads are drooping heavily after a freezing night.

Helleborus, variety unknown

Buds-in-waiting. This Hellebore has to be ‘Double Ellen Red’, or ‘Double Ellen Pink’. One label is missing, the other has come out of the ground and is lying between the two. Any guesses?

Hellebore ‘Double Ellen Pink (or Red)

Snowdrops. The snowdrops at the top of the post and below benefitted from the dark red background provided by a heuchera. I liked the way the deep colour made the snowdrops pop.

Snowdrops with Heuchera background

This week we’ve had snow, sleet, rain, high winds and a few bursts of welcome sunshine, quite a mix, but perfectly normal where I am. Winter still has an icy grip on us, but it won’t be too long before we leave it behind…I say with my fingers crossed!

If you’re new to the meme ‘Six on Saturday’ it’s hosted by the very able, and skilled gardener, Jim at Garden Ruminations. Pop over to his website and you’ll find a host of other gardeners posting their gardening efforts from their blogs.

Have a lovely weekend, I hope your weather doesn’t consign you to the house!

Catherine 😊

36 thoughts on “Spring Countdown”

  1. You counted the sleeps until spring, I counted the days until the time change. There’s not much difference: we’re both impatient 😆. I can’t wait to see the Physocarpus flowers later.
    I’m thinking I’ll have to take a look at my stachys, and maybe a little cleaning up on last year’s leaves and stems

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    1. I’m not sure that the flowers of the Physocarpus will be significant, Fred, there’s barely a mention of the flowers online or the fruits that follow. I’m *hoping* the foliage will be nothing short of fabulous though! 😁

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  2. The rhubarb images are stunning. I love it stewed. It was even more delicious when spooned on porridge during the winter months.
    Lots to look forward to in your garden.

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    1. Thank you, Suzanne. I like rhubarb stewed too, though I haven’t tried it with porridge. I have porridge for breakfast most days, all year round so I’ll try it with rhubarb once the stalks grow a little bit more!

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  3. I love rhubarb, must buy some plants. It’s so nice that we have daylight until after 5pm now (when it’s not chucking it down) and the flowers are returning. The return of spring makes me happy 😊

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    1. I’ve ordered a new rhubarb plant, Jude, ‘Fulton’s Strawberry Surprise’ from a Perthshire grower and it should be delivered early next week. This one is suitable for growing in a pot and was voted the best-flavoured rhubarb in RHS Wisley trials. Sounds delish, but I probably won’t be able to pick from it this year. It’s good that the days are lengthening out, it’s more of an incentive to get up a bit earlier in the morning – when, as you say ‘it’s not chucking it down’! Hope you get some sunshine this week – we’re all needing it!

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      1. I have just ordered three bare roots of Timperley Early and Raspberry Red and Victoria. A couple will go into large containers. I shall look forward to my own rhubarb next year!

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          1. I was going to order mine from a company in the rhubarb triangle (where I am from) but they never have what I want in stock – Timperley Early, Early Cherry (which is good for a small garden), Brandy Carr Scarlett Sweet and Fulton’s Strawberry Surprise. So I will be very interested in how that one tastes.

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    1. I don’t think I could stretch my imagination & hopes to December, Rosie! 🤣 It won’t be long before perennials are popping up all over the gardens!

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  5. I also love the way rhubarb looks when it emerges. Also that first taste of fresh rhubarb! I knew I had to have some. I give it ample manure every spring and it gets enormous leaves. Gonna be a while before I see mine though. My winter would smack your meteorological calendar to the curb! We had springlike weather this week, but here it is a fools game to expect anything good in the garden before April, and even a tomato plant put out on May 31 can be killed by frost. It is a cruel world for tender plants!

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    1. Brrr, I don’t envy you for your winter, Elizabeth. You have way too much snow and far too low temperatures, but on the other hand I think your summers are warmer and I do envy that! I guess I’ll be enjoying that first taste of rhubarb before you – I’ll spare you a thought. 😁

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  7. Definitely meteorological for me, can’t wait for spring to get here! Lovely mixed selection of foliage, hellebores, bulbs and rhubarb. You have so many flowers on your first hellebore, you must be doing something right!

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    1. Nice to be in the company of other early spring followers! 😁That hellebore has grown to be quite a large plant, it must like where it is, but the others, in the same bed are very slow by comparison.

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    1. Timperley Early can be picked from February, some of the stalks are almost ready to pull, but I have a later variety, ‘Fulton’s Strawberry Surprise’ on order, and that should be here in a few days.

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  12. I go by astrology when it comes to the seasons so must be patient for even longer 😂 Spring will be well worth the wait for us whenever it comes. A beautiful photo of your snowdrops Catherine – they look so pristine despite the vagaries of the recent weather.

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    1. I don’t have the patience to wait any longer, Anna – I need to get into my head that winter’s over, even though the weather is likely to be still wet, windy and bitterly cold! 🤣 There are small clumps of snowdrops here & there in the garden, and I’m surprised they’ve all held up – they’ve been flowering for a few weeks now.

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    1. I’m surprised they’re unnibbled – the S&S’s must be hiding from the dreadful weather and I’m sure they’ll emerge in due course. Then the fight will begin!

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  14. A lovely post Catherine. I am a great fan of Physocarpus, discovering it only a few years ago when planting up my new ‘Edge’ border and it has done so well! I hope yours will provide the colour you are looking for. The added bonus I found was the small flowers which are not very visible but the bees love them. Lovely hellebores and snowdrops… spring can’t be far off now if the snowdrops are already showing, can it? Interesting to see the new growth on the Stachys. I will have to cut mine back as it has got mouldy and frost damaged this winter, so I will look out for those fresh leaves. Mind you, I may have to wait a little longer…. 😉

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    1. Thank you, Cathy. I’ll have to watch out for those little flowers on the Physocarpus. The great thing about the plant world is that there’s always another plant waiting for us to discover! That’s a pity about your Stachys, but growing back hopefully won’t take too long.

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  15. Oh! The rhubarb makes my mouth water. Have the custard at the ready.
    I get my good bike ready for road for 1st March. I call it my Summer Bike. 🚲. Already I’ve got itchy feet as the winter bike is creaking.
    Here’s looking forward to a great year ahead. The Unknown Helleborus is looking great. I’m sensing that many of the named varieties look great initially but don’t thrive year after year.

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    1. A big pot of custard will be on the hob soon, Páraig, just as soon as that rhubarb is ready to pick. Not long now until the 1st March and you’ll be able to get back on the summer bike! I hope the weather will be in your favour.

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