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PRIMROSE - I can't live without you, Early youth, Young love
POLYANTHUS - Pride of riches

I like to have some primroses or polyanthus in pots at this time of year, and I am not alone, the woodlice do too!

This year I opted for a mixed tray of white and a pink/orange colour, and I have made an interesting observation. The white flowers have been untouched and the pink/orange have been nibbled to death! Does this mean woodlice are repelled at the sight of white? I need to do more investigation? Has anyone else noticed this?



Great feast for the woodlice community in my garden, hundreds of them! Although extremely annoying in this instance, I really don't think woodlice do too much harm otherwise, so I will continue to invite them into my garden as a friend!

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PULMONARIA - Thou art my life

Also known as lungwort, I believe because of the speckled leaves, although the leaves on mine aren't speckled? These have to be at the top of my list of favourite plants for Spring, one plant which I eventually want more of in the garden. I did originally have two plants, but now only have one, like so often you put in a plant, never to see it again!

This plant seems to like being situated in a dappled shade, semi-woodland position, mine is on a bank facing north, in moist soil.

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WHITE VIOLETS - Let's take a chance

Since medieval times the violet has represented the month of March in the flower calendar because this was the normal month of its emergence.

I have discovered C W Groves & Son, a nursery in Bridport in Dorset, which specialises in various species of violet. Another place to visit, when we are next down that part of the country.

Another violet post coming soon.

Elaine from Feel My Felt asked if these violets are growing out of paving, and noticed the two other plants in the photo. Yes they are coming through a crack in the paving, they have self-seeded here. The two other plants in the photo, are sedum which will grow just about anywhere, and herb robert, which is a member of the geranium family, practically a weed in my garden. I am forever pulling it up, the whole plant has a very pungent smell!

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HELLEBORE - Scandal

You have already seen photos of three of the varieties of hellebore I have in the garden, well this is the fourth.

I was really fortunate, as last year my mother-in-law's neighbour was having an area outside of his house paved, and he needed homes for his well established clumps of hellebores. Well as not to appear greedy, I came home with out five good sized plants!

I potted them on into one litre pots, to let them die down over the winter period, and then this year, once they had started to spring back into growth again, I planted them out in the borders.

I can't wait for next year to see how they have spread?

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CELANDINE - Future joy

To the Small Celandine
William Wordsworth

Pansies, lilies, kingcups, daisies
Let them live upon their praises
Long as there’s sun that sets
Primroses will have their glory
Long as there are violets
They will have a place in story
There’s a flower that shall be mine
‘Tis the little Celandine

'Ere a leaf is on a bush
In the time before the thrush
Has a thought about her nest
Thou wilt come with half a call
Spreading out thy glossy breast
Like a careless Prodigal
Telling tales about the sun
When we’ve little warmth, or none

I am sure in a book, I have seen this beautiful little plant classed as a weed?

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SNOWDROPS - Hope

Do you step out into your garden, full of good intentions of getting lots done, but instead spend more time taking photos than you do getting your hands dirty? Well since starting my garden blog, this is definitely the case for me. It suddenly came to me, as today is the 1st of March, that my Jan/Feb poll would have closed. I asked everyone, which was their favourite spring bulb, well the little beauties above are the winner.

Yes, the snowdrop received 51% of the votes, daffodil came in second with 25%, third bluebell with 16%, and last and definitely not least, the crocus with 6%.

There are approximately 100 different species and cultivars of snowdrop, the two most common being galanthus nivalis which flowers from January to March, and galanthus nivalis floro pleno, a double variety which easily naturalises.

I only have two clumps of snowdrop in my garden, I lost one clump last year. This year I am going to divide the clumps into small sections, and replant. My longterm plan is to have drifts, may have to wait though! This is best done immediately after the plant has flowered and while 'in the green'. Snowdrop bulbs are fiddly and unreliable, so division is the way forward. To increase my stocks I may be lucky enough to get a few clumps off my Dad, he has lots coming up through the lawn, they look beautiful.

Do you know that snowdrop enthusiasts are known as galanthropiles!

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HELLEBORE - Scandal

What is it about hellebores that all of us seem to love? If you are not sure, just look at the picture above to see. These beautiful plants will bring colour into a very dull winter picture. My step-mum bought me the above plant for my birthday in 2006, helleborus 'Red Lady'. I remember a nice healthy looking plant but with only a couple of insignificant buds, so I planted it and pretty soon it disappeared from above, only to be forgotten. Have any of you planted a plant half expecting to never see it again? At the time this is what I thought, so imagine my surprise when I came back from being away to find this little beauty, looking not only healthy, but flowering so well too.



The hellebore above is the first I ever bought. I chose this particular plant because the flower was a beautiful yellow colour, which over the years, seems to have faded to more cream.



Above is a Corsican hellebore. This variety has become quite large in my garden, so remember to plant in a large space. The flowers last for months, infact I end up cutting the plant back when it starts to look bedraggled, as it tends to swamp other plants growing alongside it which appear later in the year.

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TETE-A-TETE - Regard, Unrequited love, Respect

How I like to get head to head with these little beauties, they are a ray of sunshine, especially after a long winter. A lovely dwarf daffodil, so ideal for all those narrow bare strips of soil around the place. Everyone loves big old blousy daffodils, including me, but I just haven't got the sort of garden where I can fit any in, or where I am not going to keep digging up the bulbs by mistake. I hate to be one to miss out, so these are perfect.

Notice that piece of old terracotta in the picture, well my soil is full of it, and shards of glass. For decades, dating back to the early 1900s, the area was the home of a thriving greenhouse and nursery trade, mainly chrysanthemums but also vineries, being demolished to make way for the building of homes in the late sixties, that very site being where I live.

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CROCUS - Youthful gladness, Cheerfulness

Thanks so much to everyone who has so far voted in my January/February poll, but don't stop now, we have a few days to go yet! I know it is a tough decision to vote for a favourite spring bulb, as in my eyes, every single one of them deserves poll position, but so far crocus hasn't received a single vote. I hope the photos that I took yesterday of crocus in my garden, will sway someone into casting a vote, crocus really are beautiful.

As some of you may be aware I have spent a whole month away and left my garden, well in its winter state. I couldn't believe on my return how much it has changed, you don't tend to notice this so much when you are living with it day to day. The crocus have not only sprung through but are in flower, as are the snowdrops and leucojum, and the narcissi and jonquils which I have in pots, are well on their way too!

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CYCLAMEN – Resignation, Goodbye

Many thanks to everyone who took part in the November poll, the results show that colourful Cyclamen has been voted most favourite winter bedding plant.

Rather fortunate really, as this is the winter bedding plant I have chosen for my drainpipe pots, the almost sorbet shades of pink do look so beautiful and full of colour, and seem to look good against the brick of the wall. I have them planted in homemade compost, and topped off with soil improver, which is made up of very small pieces of bark mulch, which makes a lovely foil for the beautiful markings on the foliage, which this variety have.

Make sure you twist off the spent flower heads as they turn to seed, doing this will help them to continue flowering over a long period of time.



Cyclamen, from the Greek, kyklos, meaning circular, a reference to the way the flower stems twist into spirals as the seed cases develop. Cyclamen were put to many medicinal uses during the first few centuries AD according to Pedacio (or Padanius) Dioscorides, a Greek military surgeon and naturalist of the first century.

Cyclamen received 50% of the vote, Pansies/Viola received 27%, Polyanthus/Primrose received 10% and Heather received 1%, I am so pleased one of you voted for poor Heather!

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ROSEMARY - Remembrance

There's Rosemary, that's for remembrance; pray you love, remember - (Hamlet) William Shakespeare. Rosemary is the herb of remembrance, and sprigs are often carried at country funerals or woven into wreaths.

I inherited this useful Rosemary plant from the previous owner, it is a hardy evergreen herb, and is still in little blue flower now in November! It likes dry soil and mine is more or less growing out of a paving slab, so that is how impoverished the soil is.

Rosemary is said to thrive in households where 'the mistress, not the master, rules', maybe that is why it thrives so well in my garden!

Rosemary Hair Rinse - Infuse a few stalks of Rosemary in hot water for several minutes, strain the liquid and allow to cool and bottle, this can be used as a final hair rinse, but always remember to keep it handy in the bathroom! This rinse will bring out the shine in dark hair, for fair hair replace the Rosemary with Chamomile flowers.

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COREOPSIS - Always cheerful

This variety Grandiflora Mayfield Giant makes a lovely addition to any cottage style garden or in a prairie style garden mixed with tall grasses; if regularly deadheaded it will happily produce lots of sunshine yellow flowers from mid to late summer. Multiply this plant around your garden by taking cuttings, they are really easy to do. I have found coreopsis to be drought tolerant so they are perfect for any dry areas of your garden.

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NASTURTIUM - Patriotism, Conquest, Victory in battle

I cannot rate nasturtiums highly enough, not only do they give great ground cover but the flowers are great added to salad leaves for a lovely peppery taste. They are dead easy to grow from seed; as I love all the colours available these days I grow lots of different varieties, these are two which I have grown this year.

I am an advocate for using different herbs and flowers as companion plants when growing vegetables; nasturtiums are great for attracting aphids away and are even said to repel whitefly and ants. They are good companions to broccoli and cauliflower, cabbage and sprouts, courgette, marrow and squash.

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CLIMBING ROSE - Grace

I have only two roses in my garden, one I have already commented on, this is the other; it was a gift from my mother-in-law. It has a heady scent and a profusion of lovely pale pink flowers all summer long, as long as you keep up with the deadheading. I never really get time for serious pruning so basically it is allowed to do as it pleases, a few branches may be lopped off here and there but only when it starts to impede upon the garden bench.

In the summer I pick the young buds and add them to ice cubes, a simple idea but really effective, and it costs nothing.

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SUNFLOWER ‘STELLA’ - Adoration, Pride

Listed by English seedsmen as early as the mid 1800s the blooms were sold in Covent Garden as cut flowers and the plants were grown in ornamental borders. It was also known as the classic insect attractant especially with honey and bumble bees. A border would often accompany a block of hives.

I love this one, they look lovely dotted around the garden, give much needed late summer colour and make an excellent cut flower, what more could you ask for! My sister-in-law’s name is Stella, she doesn't know it but if it wasn’t for her I would never have discovered this lovely variety.

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SWEET PEA ‘MATUCANA’ - Blissful pleasure, Goodbye, Departure

This variety dates from about the 1930s, it is sometimes confused with Cupani which is of much earlier origin.

Everyone should grow these, they are wonderful. Each stem has four lovely flowers, each with a heady intoxicating scent. Once they start to flower they can be picked up until October, just as long as you don’t allow them to go to seed.

For anyone interested in antique varieties of sweet pea visit http://lathyrus.com/. I have got my eye on Henry Eckford which has vibrant orange flowers, which I am sure will go on my shopping list for next year.

SWEET PEA 'SPENCER WHITE SWAN'

This variety has produced masses of white flowers on lovely long straight stems, so ideal for cutting to bring indoors, unfortunately once picked they only stay fresh for a day or two, but who cares as you can just go outside and cut some more.

I have a lovely hazel tree in my garden so I use the twiggy branches as a support.

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SUNFLOWER 'SPARKY' - False riches, Pride

I have grown this variety for the first time this year (as the seeds were gratis). I shall have these again next year, they have been good for picking as they have multi-headed stems and are fairly short in height, although the one growing by my compost heap is taller.

I always grow my seedlings in pots and I don’t put them out until they are sturdy little plants as I have discovered that in my garden if I put the seeds straight into the soil they never reach more than about an inch before the slugs find them.

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ROSA RUGOSA - Thankfulness

I haven’t given up much space in my garden for roses but I have got two of these lovely old shrub roses which I inherited from the previous owner. The flowers are a lovely cerise and the hips are huge. The first year I was here I cut both down to the base after they had finished fruiting but now I leave them alone and every year they reward me with more and more flowers and hips.

Monty Don The Complete Gardener - Birds love all berries, but tend to go for red ones first and leave the dark blue and black ones alone.

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GRANNY’S PINKS - Pure affection

This variety in my garden have long stems so I have planted them to plunge over the side of a low wall, their perfume is absolutely ‘out of this world’. A relation of mine gave me the originals as every year she would take cuttings from the main plants in her garden, they are so easy to do, a necessity, as the plants do become untidy after a while.

Edible petals
First rinse the blooms in cold water, then remove the petals and discard the white heel (as this part has a bitter taste). Petals can then be added to sweet puddings or you could crystalise them and use as a decoration for cakes.

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POPPY - Eternal sleep, Oblivion, Imagination

Walking around my garden I discovered this lovely poppy, where it has come from I do not know.

Poppies have long been used as a symbol of both sleep and death: sleep because of the opium extracted from them, and death because of their (commonly) blood-red colour.

This poppy is not red but this beautiful pink, I love poppies but I just wish the flowers would last a little longer than they do, one blink of an eye and they are gone.