Award-winning gardener, author and broadcaster, Liz Zorab explains how to help make your spring garden blooming marvellous
About forty years ago, my first growing plot was an unimaginative rectangle of inner-city back garden. It had been neglected and was overrun with bindweed, dandelions and buddleia. That first summer of gardening, as I attempted to tame the weedy wilderness, was demoralising, but it was also wonderful. I quickly learnt that I am happiest when pottering in the garden, watching nature, experimenting with planting combinations and trying new methods of growing.
When I’m not actively gardening or observing my garden, you’ll find me in front of a camera making videos about my garden, or at my desk, writing about gardening. Nowadays I live in a rural setting and I’m very pleased to say that I’m still in awe of nature’s beauty, and the joy of gardening has never diminished.
Try different flower variations
After the grey light and muted tones of winter, I revel in the bright colours that spring offers. Swathes of snowdrops, winter aconites and the punctuation points of cheery crocus all perform a prelude to the spectacular displays to come throughout the rest of the year. There are some clever planting combinations that can be used to enhance individual flowers, making each a little bolder, more striking, or more impactful.
To find the best planting partners for your garden, you may need to try out different variations on a theme. I think the most fun in our gardens is in the experiments, the ‘let’s see if we like it’ trials, and in learning what works for us in terms of taste and style, as well as our growing conditions.
My favourite flowering plant combinations for spring include:
Pink is not a colour I usually associate with late winter and early spring, so this planting combination really stands out. Viburnam × bodnantense ‘Dawn’ is a deciduous shrub with an upright habit, making it ideal as a support for clematis. It flowers from autumn to spring, with little clusters of white flowers that are heavily flushed with pink. Clematis cirrhosa ‘Freckles’ is an evergreen climber that starts flowering in November and continues through to February.
My favourite colour tulips for this combination are rich red and bold yellow. The intense colour of their large petals stands out so well against the tiny bright petals of Myosotis. The contrast in textures is also appealing; the smooth and shiny tulips with the frothiness of forget-me-nots. Both are easy to grow, Myosotis will happily self-seed through your borders and is usually grown as a biennial. I leave a few plants to go to seed each year and walk through the garden, shaking the seeds into each garden bed. The young plants act as ground cover until they start flowering.
I like to team a mid-purple iris with a white anem
