There are several musical nudgesthat come to me at certain times of the year – for some reason the month of March makes me think of the great Rodgers and Hammerstein anthem that is now forever linked with the city of Liverpool. In my head I change the lyrics to “March on, March on. With hope in your heart. And you’ll never March alooooooone”. It all seems appropriate as we near the brighter foothills of new growth and warmer days. We march on together through the inevitable storms with the promise of the golden sky of springtime just over the horizon.
WORDS JAMES ALEXANDER-SINCLAIR
STARS OF THE MONTH
Narcissus ‘Tête-à-Tête’ and Pulmonaria officinalis
This is just the sort of thing we need to get us out of hibernation mode and onto the starting blocks of the oncoming gardening year. Yellow and blue is always a good combination whether it is the sun and sky, the Ukrainian fag, the Swedish national football team strip or a simple fried egg on a blue plate. At this time of year, we have lots of yellow daffodils and they can be teamed with a whole string of blue spring plants – not just pulmonaria but also grape hyacinths, Omphalodes cappadocica, chionodoxa, periwinkles and even the old reliable winter pansies.
Narcissus ‘Tête-à-Tête’
A popular small and delicate multi-headed daffodil which is excellent in borders or containers.
Height x Spread 20cm x 5cm
Pulmonaria officinalis
A good plant for bees as it is nectar rich and fowers just when the bees emerge and need feeding.
H x S20cm x 25cm
GRANNY’S HAND-ME-DOWNS
My mother has always grown camellias in large pots – they were cuttings taken from her mother’s garden many decades ago. I had no idea what it was, but I remember as a child seeing the fallen petals speckling the lawn like confetti. We all have family associations with plants and stories that are handed down through generations. This coming summer, I will carry on that tradition and take cuttings of my own.
Camellia x williamsii ‘Sayonara’
Be like Granny and take cuttings in mid to late summer. Each one should be about 10cm long, cut just below a leaf node.
H x S4m x 2.5m
CHERRY AID
As we all know, trees are vitally important for the environment and we should all be planting as many as we can. However, if you only have a small garden then you can’t start planting a forest – or even a copse! If you only have room for one small tree,
