In the garden: Four fab plants that excelled this spring

Growth going into overdrive is all around and there are different shades of green, orange, yellow and red unfolding as leaves of trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants reappear, fresh and full of vim and vigour.

The new foliage of acers can be as dramatic as their autumn coats and this year, as a result of dry and sunny weather, we got to ire their reappearance to best effect.

Magnolias, rhododendrons, cherries, and azaleas are all bringing big splashes of bright spring flower colour to the garden right now.

Spring flowering bulbs have benefited from the good, dry, sunny weather, with daffodils dancing in the breeze and tulips standing proud in the spring sunshine.

The garden is beginning to fill with foliage and even more flower will follow next month.

April is the month where momentum is starting to build in the garden, with lots to look forward to in the months ahead. For now, there are some spring flowering stalwarts in the herbaceous borders. There are also some stand-out plants for combining with spring bulbs, and this year among them for me were:

Euphorbia amygdaloides var. robbiae

A great spring flowering perennial for a dry and shaded location and a great companion for planting spring bulbs through.

It is seen in the photo on the right with Tulip ‘Paul Scherer’ and Tulip ‘Ronaldo’ appearing between Euphorbia which self-seeded through this area of planting. Proving once more that some of the best plant combinations happen as a result of happy accidents!

There are a lot of worthwhile Euphorbias, also known as spurge, for spring interest, some of them are more shrubby in size such as Euphorbia characias subsp wulfenii, Euphorbia stygiana and Euphorbia mellifera with its large yellow sprays of flowers luring early pollinating insects from far and wide. These larger species will need more space in the garden.

All of the Euphorbias attract early pollinating insects, making them a good plant for wildlife in the garden. They also exude a milky sap which can be a skin irritant so do wear gloves when pruning or removing these plants in the garden.

Brunnera macrophylla

These enjoyed a colourful spring flowering from February into April this year. They are also a great partner for tulips with their airy flowers allowing the bulbs to push their foliage and flowers up through these clump-forming perennials.

They are a great ground-cover plant for a dry and shaded location as these can be some of the most difficult spots in the garden to get plants established. They are seen in the photo on the right with some Tulip ‘Darwin Hybrids’ emerging amongst them.

Lunaria annua or honesty

This is a great spring flowering biennial that will seed itself through the garden once established.

Flowering from April, it produces purple or white flowers that go on to create very attractive coin-like seed heads that can be used for dried flower arrangements and to save seeds from the plant.

This plant flowers in the second year of growth, with summer-sown plants flowering the following spring, so keep this in mind for summer seed sowing this year.

A particularly attractive cultivar with red foliage and purple flowers is called ‘Chedglow’ and the variegated forms provide additional foliage interest in spring also.

A worthy old-fashioned cottage-style plant that deserves a place in every garden and looks great interplanted with spring flowering bulbs, particularly tulips.

Podophyllum peltatum

This is a wonderful spring foliage plant with its large umbrella-shaped leaves erupting from the soil in April and unfolding to create a large palmate leaf.

They have a white flower but are largely grown for the foliage and do well in a woodland setting provided it has water retentive soil. They do not like to get too dry.

Other podophyllums to consider are P. ‘Spotty Dotty’ and P. ‘Batman’, their dramatic foliage heralds the arrival of the growing season like no other and they look great in a woodland setting with some spring-flowering bulbs interplanted to provide pops of colour.

******

It certainly was an enjoyable start to April and now, as we prepare to leave the month behind, we have some much-needed rain, as the ground was dry and the demand for soil moisture is high as plants come back into leaf.

Night-time temperatures continue to be on the chilly side with some ground frosts in the mornings before the rain arrived, so continued vigilance of young new plants and tender plants is needed to ensure no frost damage to new growth.

Pricking out seedlings, potting up and keeping young plants moving so that they grow stress-free is an important undertaking at this time of year, and protected growing space is at a with cold frames coming into their own.

Creating a floating flower arrangement is an inventive way of gathering and displaying all that is in flower in the garden at any given time during the year.

It is ideal if an outdoor water feature exists like a trough or pond which can be used as this bigger area allows for more creativity.

An arrangement captured in the photograph shown combines weeds and cultivated plants currently in flower to create a colourful display. How many plants can you identify in the picture?

Each week, there is more colour appearing in the garden with temperatures rising and flowers bursting forth.

Food is becoming more plentiful now for pollinating insects and at the start of the growing season we are hopeful for the season ahead.

Happy spring gardening and planning this weekend!