10 good things for March

Chloris at The Blooming Garden writes a monthly roundup of the best things in her garden in any given month and has decided to make the day the 23rd of each month so that others may join her.

There is no shortage of choice this month as spring has come to My Hesperides Garden and it is such a pleasure to walk around each day to see what is newly flowering and watch progress on buds that are slowly opening.

One thing I can see from the kitchen table is the progress of the Wisteria, extra special this year after loosing all the blooms last year to the Beast from the East!

Wisteria ‘Prolific’ 18th March

Wisteria Prolific today 23rd March

Wisteria ‘Prolific’

It is as if the colour was waiting for today to show. in another couple of days I think it will be open completely.  There are so many buds, I’m so excited to see it flowering.

Viburnum burkwoodii

Usually Viburnum burkwoodii is the first to flower but this year carlessii beat it by a couple of days.

Viburnum carlessii

Narcissus Thalia

Thalia are gorgeous, I need to pick more to bring into the house as they have a delicious perfume.

Clematis armandii

Another white spring flower and another that is delicately perfumed.

Magnolia stellata

There is Euphorbia rigida and E. myrsinites all around the garden

Both these Euphorbias seed prolifically in the gravel so I’m able to lift them and place them where I want them.  They have been the most obvious statement of spring’s arrival; luckily they work well as a back drop to all the spring bulbs and then continue to look attractive even in the heat of summer.

Hyacinth Miss Saigon, Anemone coronaria ‘Sylphide and Euphobia

More Hyacinths from a mixed pack

A little mix of spring colour from bulbs

Muscari and Hyacinth Delph Blue

Suddenly the foliage of the bearded Iris is growing too, another month and they will be flowering too.

Hyacinths Berry Fruit mix

Just behind the Hyacinths you can just see Iris reticulata ‘Harmony’, which has been a great success this year.

Muscari with Euphorbia

There has been blossom in profusion from the fruit trees but I only have an image of the miniature flowering peach (I think that is what it is but each year I forget!!!

Dwarf flowering peach

 

Then of course there are tulips

Tulip Miami Sunset

Tulip White Triumphator

I love how the sun shines through their leaves

Tulip ‘Negrita Parrot’ and Hyacinths

Tulip ‘Exotic Emperor’

Tulip ‘Exotic Emperor’

I’ve rather lost count, but I think that is ten!  Spring is here now in Italy, the cold wind we’ve been experiencing all month has finally dropped and it is wonderfully warm.  Do visit Chloris and perhaps find ten things you’d like to share from your garden too.

Today in the Garden 1st March 2019

Yesterday when I was in the greenhouse I glanced out and was horrified to see that the Cypress by the gate was billowing with smoke; I thought someone must have set the tree on fire – but no as I looked at all the Cypresses they all looked as if smoke was blowing away from them.  Then, of course, I realised that it wasn’t smoke but the fine dust-like pollen!  I pity anyone with an allergy, the pollen is so fine it filled the air and there would be no way of avoiding inhaling the pollen.  Stranger still was the fact that the day seemed to be completely still (after days of strong wind), yet the pollen didn’t stream off the trees constantly but in gusts.

Today was cloudy but not cold; ideal for taking some photographs showing the advance of spring.

Anemone coronaria ‘Sylphide’

More Anemones are opening their buds around the garden; I have sown the seed I saved last year; I want to be able to have them all around the garden and have enough to pick for a vase.

Anemone coronaria

Anemone coronaria ‘The Bride’

The white Anemones remain with short stems; they are the most prolific Anemone in the garden but grow with consistently short stems – very annoying.

The formal beds looking towards the left hand border

You can see Anemone coronaria ‘The Bride’ on the left and Euphorbia rigida peeping out between evergreen shrubs giving a shot of early colour all around the garden.

Euphorbia rigida

Rosemary

Rosemary has been flowering since the autumn but there seem to be even more flowers at the moment.

deep purple crocus

Hyacinth ‘Miss Saigon’

Hyacinths have been in the ground for several years now, I planted more last autumn too.  They reliably return each year giving a punch of strong colour just when we need it most.

Hyacinth from a mixed pack of blues

Grevillia rosmarinifolia, another plant that has been flowering for most of February.  This Grevillia is very hardy, I would like to try some of the other varieties but I rarely see them in nurseries here.

Top of drive border

You can tell it is winter by the patch of bright green in the field beyond the garden, it would be golden or brown in summer.

Lonicera fragrantissima

I think there are more blooms on the wonderful fragrant Lonicera than I’ve ever seen before.  Maybe due in part to more rain last summer.

Lonicera fragrantissima

So much perfume from such tiny flowers.

Iris reticulata ‘Harmony’

Iris reticulata ‘Harmony’ are blooming all around the garden at the moment; I love them.  This variety returns well each year but other varieties are less sure.  After seeing the wonderful selection of varieties Chloris at The Blooming Garden has, I hope to try some different ones next year.

I hope the good gardening weather continues everywhere.  Readers in the UK might like to contemplate that their temperatures this past week have been between 5 to 15 degrees higher than here in central Italy where last weekend we had a icy winds from the north.  Even yesterday, which was a glorious day our temperatures didn’t rise above 18°C.

In a vase on Monday – preemptive action

The flowers in my vase today were picked on Saturday as like most of northern Europe we are forecast snow and temperatures in the range of minus 5 to minus 11°C.  I don’t know if the temperatures will dip so low but the 50 km per hour winds from the north are very likely indeed; my garden is windy at the best of times and when the wind is from the north or northeast it is not unknown for my heavy caste iron chairs to be flung from the terrace onto the gravel.  

The garden this week – changable weather

In Monday’s post I mentioned that the weather forecast was for rain but that it was a lovely sunny morning.

Spring IS coming!

The weather is very mixed at the moment, but the very cold temperatures are gone for a while although we are still threatened with some snow this month – I’ve no idea if it will actually snow here.  On sunny, clear sky days there is already real warmth in the sun and the greenhouse heats up quickly if I don’t open the door early.  On dull days, like today it doesn’t feel very warm but most days this week the temperatures have reached double figures during the day , dropping by 5 or 6°C at night.

In a vase on Monday – fun with red

Cathy of Rambling in the garden  in the garden who hosts this popular meme guessed  what would be in one vase today when she read my post last week about what I was enjoying in the garden, so to keep her interested and surprised I picked some flowers in a colour I don’t think I’ve ever used before – red!

The Spring Walk – Still Good!

Despite the rain, despite the hail the Spring walk is only slowly fading into summer.

I am so pleased with this planting although I certainly need to add other bulbs to extend the season, especially earlier in the year. I will add Iris reticulata, maybe I’ll try again with some small narcissus and I’ve already moved some of the winter flowering Iris unguicularis and species freesia to the border. For the end of the season I will add Dutch Iris, probably a mixed pack to keep the random effect going.