Purple, Pink and Sunshine Yellow

Published on by Catherine

Six on Saturday

Glorious purple. It’s always an exciting moment when you find little clumps of crocuses here and there in the borders. I spotted these on Friday morning just after the rain had gone off. They were new, fresh and had held up well against the awful downpours of the previous few days.

Crocus. A welcome sight in any garden.
Prickly. Growing among a rugosa rose.

Hellebores. Hellebore ‘Double Ellen Pink’ unfurled her first bud during the week. Last week I wondered about two hellebore plants that seemed to share a label. Now this bud has opened it has to be ‘Double Ellen Pink’.

Hellebore ‘Double Ellen Pink’

Although it hasn’t revealed itself yet, the one below must surely be H. ‘Double Ellen Red’ since I bought both at the same time. They were bought for their name – Ellen was my mum’s name and I like to think they belong in my garden.

Buds of Hellebore ‘Double Ellen Red’

Seed sowing has begun! Last Saturday was a very wet day. So what do you do on a cold, wet and miserable Saturday afternoon in February when you can’t get outdoors? You start sowing seeds, of course. On the upper left, there are a few Cosmos ‘Apollo White’ F1 seeds sharing a tray with Tomato ‘Sungold’. Behind this in the top corner is a tray of Helichrysum ‘White’ – they’re fast off the mark and already starting to germinate. Bottom right is a tray of Helichrysum ‘Salmon Rose’, inspired by Graeme at One Man & His Garden Trowel. Finally, the tray at the bottom is shared by two varieties of Callistephus, ‘Light Blue’ and Duchesse Apricot’.

Half-size trays of seeds

Clematis & the damaged fence. Our back fence took a beating during the last storm, and now we’re torn between repairing or replacing it. It’s swaying in the wind, and every post needs to be replaced. I’ve had to start cutting back the clematis a little earlier than usual to allow trellis to be removed so work can begin. The clematis below had new growth up to 6 ft high but has now been pruned back. No matter what we decide about the fence, I hope nobody goes stomping around in big boots and tramples all over the plants!

Clematis buds at 5ft, now cut back.

Primula ‘Everlast’. I managed to squeeze in a little visit to a garden centre this week with my husband and two grandchildren in tow (school holidays). The children never complain about going there, somehow they manage to find plenty to capture their interest – and they enjoy the lunches served in the restaurant! I went home with some bits and pieces, including a few pots of these pale yellow primroses, bought to add some sunshine to a dull border.

Primula ‘Everlast’
Bright & cheery, who doesn’t appreciate these little bunches of sunshine in late winter.

Finally, it was exciting to see Iris reticulata ‘Pauline’ finally open. I’ve been watching for weeks. They haven’t disappointed.

Iris reticulata ‘Pauline’

We’re going to be very busy over the next few weeks because we had to remove our old summerhouse some weeks ago, and the deck that surrounded it is waiting to be taken up. A new patio area will be built there, but that’s probably a story for another day. To add to all that we now have to attend to the fence. Having a garden isn’t always a relaxing pastime!

Six on Saturday is a lovely way to glimpse other peoples’ gardens and if you pop over to see Jim of Garden Ruminations you’ll find plenty of great gardening blogs there.

Have a good weekend!

Catherine 😊

26 thoughts on “Purple, Pink and Sunshine Yellow”

  1. Lovely to see all your beautiful spring flowers, so pretty! Glad you have Iris reticulata Pauline, she flowers for me in January but our frost then put paid to her flowers, she really didn’t like it! Sorry to hear about your fence, hope your plants all stay safe from any big boots!

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    1. What a pity about your Iris, Pauline – it’s always so disappointing when frost ends otherwise healthy bulbs and plants. Big boots have been warned! 🤣

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  2. You’ve already started sowing cosmos! I often wait until the end of March and beginning of April, but maybe I will have to start too! About Callistephus seeds, do you sow them on the surface without covering them? Otherwise, superb photos as usual. The hellebore one is really very successful.

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    1. Apollo White is a fairly new variety of Cosmos, Fred and can be sown from February. Like you, I wait until March before sowing cosmos bipinnatus, but I’ve only sown a few of these seeds and I’ll repeat sow in a few weeks. They’re a shorter variety (H. 55-65cm/20-26”) and suitable for pots.
      Instructions for Callistephus say to surface sow as they need light to germinate, but they do look odd, like tiny white curly worms. I expect I’ll report back in due course!

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    2. I’m reporting back earlier than expected! The few Callistephus that have germinated so far are damping off. I’ll empty the tray and try again at a later date. So far the other seeds in the propagator seem to be fine.

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  3. Wow to those Iris reticulata – stunning. I hope the strawflowers do okay! I’m going to give them another go this year – I just need to decide whether to risk last year’s left over seed or buy fresh. That’s a pain regarding the fence – just as plants are emerging.

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    1. The strawflowers have germinated already. I’ll do a second sowing in a few weeks just to be sure I can get some to grow through to full, flowering plants!
      Maybe you should get a new packet of seeds, while they’re available. Sow some of them and also the old ones. It’ll let you know whether they’re good as second-year seeds – then, if that’s successful, you can keep the remainder of the new seeds for next year?

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  9. Oh, so exciting! You give me hope–thank you. 🙂 We have had mild weather (for us) for most of the winter, but this weekend brings another dip into cold winter. But I know my similar plants will be blooming soon. Your Iris, Hellebore, and Primrose blooms are so lovely!

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    1. Our temperatures have been around 10C (50F) this week which is also very mild, and apparently staying like that next week. But it’s so, so rainy! I hope all your spring plants make an appearance soon, Beth – they have a great way of brightening up a dull day! 😊

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  10. Your spring flowers are beautiful Catherine. I love that pink Hellebore. I bought one some years ago but it turned out to be the red one by mistake (which is also pretty). Good luck with the fence repairs.

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  11. The crocus and iris are a most striking and attractive shades of purple Catherine. Do you know which crocus it is? So exciting to start seed sowing – are yours indoors or in a greenhouse? Here I’ve just sown cobaea scandens in a heated propagator up to now but my fingers are getting itchy 😂

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    1. I don’t know the name of the crocus, Anna, it’s been in the borders for years, but although the bulbs keep getting dug up with new planting, they eventually reappear – usually somewhere else. 😁 The colour is rich because they’re so fresh, but will pale as the flowers open.
      My greenhouse is unheated – there’s no option but to commandeer the dining room for a few weeks! I set up a folding table at the patio doors and the propagator sits on that. I’ve added inexpensive grow lights, but how effective they are, I don’t know. I know how you feel though – I’m in a hurry to start sowing more!

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