GARDEN WRITER AND DESIGNER ARTHUR PARKINSON SHARES HIS LOVE OF SEASONAL PLANTS AND FLOWERS
Winter, the oftendemonised season, can be forgiven, as although the cold and slumbering it brings is at times brutal, it makes the spring a season to be longed for and loved all the more. The microclimates of city and walled gardens will see such little gardens envied by those with large ones in the countryside, as smaller gardens will nurture plants that are considered to be tender during especially cold and freezing nights. Winters are becoming windier, colder and, overall, it seems, drier, with rain flooding over a few hours rather than gently drizzling. So the watering of pots containing bulbs may be required little and often. Many butterflies hibernate through the winter, including the peacock butterfly, which is arguably the prettiest of all. The eye-like markings are used to try to scare away predators, such as mice, which prove troublesome to butterflies during their winter’s sleep. Its caterpillars hatch over the summer, feed as a herd once they’ve emerged, spinning a protective web-like cloak around themselves as they move through clumps of nettles in an attempt at deterring predatory wasps.
CRAB APPLES
In spring, crab apples blossom with gusto, to the delight of bees, and then, from early autumn into late winter, their fruits resemble Christmas tree decorations. The colder the winter days get, the more appealing and sweeter in flavour the fruits become to songbirds, especially blackbirds. You can also make crab apple jelly with these fruits, and I love to have a few whole crab apples to wire into a Christmas wreath.
Like roses, crab apple trees are best planted during the winter, when a larger variety of them will be available as dormant, bare-root trees. A crab apple tree will want a decent-size pot, either of dolly tub or old dustbin size. It will then need to be watered once a week from mid-spring (April in the UK) onwards, for it to blossom and fruit well; it will benefit from a good 10cm mulch with well-rotted organic manure in the spring.
MY FAVOURITE CRAB APPLES
• ‘Evereste’ – Scarlet flower buds open to white spring blossom with red, yellow and orange-blushed marbled fruits. Can reach 7m tall, with a conically shaped crown.
• ‘Gorgeous’ – Similar to ‘Evereste’ and said to be the best for crab apple jelly.
• ‘Wisley Crab’ – This has the largest known crab apple fruits and looks like a Snow White pantomime prop when in bloom. The shining blood-red apples are so large, they all drop off once the autumnal winds set in. And as tempting as they look, they are incredibly tart.
• ‘Indian Magic’ – Deep
