When the hounds of spring are on winter's traces…...

[echt]

I realise it's later in the UK, but couldn't wait to start a new thread. If another title had been agreed, just tell me and I'll have this removed.

Other than that, seek out those deckchairs from the shed, check them for spiders and get nattering about the spring's promise.

Hi everyone! Not done a lot in the garden of late. It's all ticking over nicely. I've made a list of jobs for March

Can anyone ID this plant I saw today? It reminds me a bit of a hosta. I asked the gardener and it sounded like two words: 'aero italic' ?! Obviously that's not it and I should have asked for the spelling. It looked surprisingly lush for this time of year in the SE. It was surrounded by snowdrops and hellebores

Rhubarb which NGS garden did you go to? Was it in Herts?

That's arum italicum pictum. An excellent plant for foliage but I believe the berries it eventually produces are toxic.

We're still trapped indoors by plumbing issues. Hopefully it'll all be fixed tomorrow. I'm watching those bits of the GB Gardening Revival that I missed earlier.

HaveYou that's Arum Italicum. Best avoided to be honest, spreads like wildfire and very difficult to dig out due to impossibly long tap roots. It does however thrive in deep shade where nothing else will grow, so it does have its uses.

The NGS garden was in Sussex.

Bramshott you don't have to book butterfly slots in advance. They were queuing today (15 mins) to get in without prebooking. Obviously it's nice to skip the queue, but if you don't mind waiting you can still get in.

Wisley was looking lovely. highlights for me were the coloured stems of Cornus and Salix around the lake, irises and other spring bulbs under the trees, and the jade vine flowering in the glasshouse. The butterflies were lovely too of course.

Jade vine. Love it.

Sorry x post with Maud about the Arum. Sorry to hear your indoor water feature is not sorted. How annoying.

I forgot to mention the alpine house at Wisley was looking fabulous - full of colour, an absolute delight and I was irrationally pleased when ds spiked himself on a plant after being told repeatedly not to poke them.

The dcs were hard work today. One of those days when you resolve never to take them for a nice day out ever again. The horrors. Obviously I will, but I need a good lie down and a before I can even contemplate it.

Wow to the jade vine.

My AIP is in the corner of two fences, under a tree. It doesn't get much light or water but chugs merrily on. It hasn't spread much, possibly because it's in such an inhospitable environment. My invasive thug is lamium galeobdolon, which I should never have planted and tank out by the bucketful every spring. Sigh.

Wisley sounds nice.
Indoor water feature sounds like a pain if it is sunny outside
Thanks for all your good wishes but sadly my week is going from bad to worse.

However the days are getting longer so this morning when I left I spotted a really pretty jewel like small dark purple iris with yellow stamens has flowered along with the fritillaries, hellebores, primroses and snowdrops in the front garden.

It is the first year I really have a decent front garden as its a sort of raised walled bed and previously the wall was too high to really see very much or be able to do very much. But the wall was collapsing as we are on a slope, and last year I got someone to take the height of the wall at the long side of the bed along the driveway down and rebuild it so that now I have a sloping bed, which is much nicer and more easily accessible and also gets the sun.

I'm quite impressed with the snowdrops and iris flowers because those bulbs got planted very late in mid January. The hellebore there is from Wisley and has masses of flowers on it.

I hope things improve soon funny

Thanks so much for the ID Rhubarb and Maud I'll contemplate whether arum is suitable.

Rhubarb your description of your son and the spikey consequences amused me

Lidl have fruit trees, roses, small clematis, herbs in terracotta pots and various other bits from tomorrow

Ooh, if we don't get further from home tomorrow I may have to go to
investigate Lidl's pots of herbs.

I'm sorry your week isn't improving, funnyperson.

I've only just seen Rhubarb's post about the perils of outings with uncooperative children. I suppose I had it easier because I only had one to contend with, but when she was being difficult it always made me more determined to get out of the house, as it felt less claustrophobic and I (almost literally) had more breathing room.

Hi all. I've just been in Norfolk on holiday. I have never seen so many snowdrops - is this a particularly good year for them, or have I been very unobservant before?! I saw woodland in gardens with great spreads of them - beautiful. We came back via Anglesey Abbey (again) - I just wanted to see the winter garden, not realising it is famous for its snowdrops (240 vrieties!), so we caught those too. I really do love AA. So did everyone else: AA were using the overflow car park and there was an extension to the restaurant in a marquee!

Then I got back home and realised that we have quite a lot of snowdrops when I look for them - they came out while we were away.

My garden thug is also a Lamium - the pale pink variegated variety. It does cover dry shade, and doesn't spread too quickly, but it is a real pig when I want to dig up any.

Sorry to hear about your week funnyperson. Your front garden sounds beautiful! As does your snowdrop/hellebore planting combination that you mentioned up thread.

Hope the plumbing work is a success tomorrow MaudantWit

I have gardening reinforcements for the rest of half term, in the shape of my parents who are going to take charge of DD tomorrow afternoon whilst I tackle the far end of the back garden. Aiming to get the firethorn up off the ground and attached to the fencing - gloves at the ready! Then we might go on a couple of trips out to local gardens or nurseries. Really enjoyed Helmsley Walled Garden last time I went, but haven't been to many others. Has anyone done the Burton Agnes snowdrop walk?

Thanks for that tip Rhubarb. In fact I think we'll stick with the plan to go on 1st Mar as I have already formulated another plan for today involving a trip to Winchester so DD2 (7) can see the Roman things in the museum and then moan around the shops, and DD1 (12) can moan around the museum and then spend her Accessorize voucher!

Oh that Jade vine looks like a post from echt no wonder it's in a glasshouse fabulous! I like those arum leaves too, it's just a matter of looking at certain things in a different light !

Only the hellebore are in flower here Maybe you've got a sun trap in your nice new front garden funny? I'll try to post a pic of a sunny morning yesterday.

Laughing at the various tricky Dc's, mine were equally as difficult in Brighton yesterday! We wouldnt have had time to pop by rhubarb by the time we'd circumnavigated the 100s of round-abouts and found somewhere to park it was almost time to come home! Will go by train next time!

Anglesey sounds lovely bearleigh

I have had a pleasant morning cleaning the greenhouse, and wondering where to plant various perennials that have over wintered in pots. In particular Acanthus Mollis rue leden. I'm thinking one in the front -semi shade and 2 in the back with ferns and bells of Ireland and possibly Hostas. Unless anyone has any other suggestions?

I always think that about Brighton, CallmeGeoff. On Saturday, there werer roadworks at the back of town and it then took roughly as long to get to the seafront as it took to get from home to the back of town. But it's still one of my favourite places.

Your planting plan sounds lovely. I have a bog standard acanthus mollis awaiting planting. I can't decide whether to squeeze it in somewhere here or to donate it to the Brownie garden. The one I already have has gorgeous new lime green leaves just emerging.

Oh yes driving and parking in Brighton is a total pain. I got a parking ticket there this morning despite the parking machines not working.

That's one good thing about being just outside Brighton - I don't have to deal with that crap every day any more (lived there for ten years). It's a great city, but...

Mind you, London was just as bad.

We made the mistake of parking in a car park which charges more per hour than the London Borough of Westminster. I didn't know that was possible.

That Jade vine looks very tempting, though I can't think of anywhere in my garden that doesn't get boilingly hot sun at some time in the year, possibly a shade-clothed area, which I don't have. I spend quite a bit of time shoving potted plants into shady areas once it hits 40, which seems to be the magical temperature that burns leaves and makes possums drop dead out of the trees.

I can't begin to imagine what 40 deg feels like when you're in it - and the idea of possums dropping dead from it - wow.

Yes Brighton is a nightmare - it does take such a long time from the outskirts to the centre - at least in the summer they usually have some glorious traditional municipal bedding to admire as you crawl past. But I do love it. Quite apart from anything else I have happy memories of taking a tiny BabyBearleigh to the pier and him loving the baby rides. I hated taking him on the helter skelter though - perched on the edge of the pier, it was so frightening!

Oh I have a lovely memory of my dad taking me round that helterskelter in his lap when I was little- I must have been about 4 years old! I thought I was going to fall in the sea! But he just laughed so I laughed too!

My week is getting a bit better. Nearly Friday!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That planting plan with the Acanthus Mollis Rue Leden and the hostas and ferns sounds good. I'd never heard of bells of Ireland! Maybe my white foxgloves and clematis avalanche will do instead of the bells of Ireland.

I've worked out how to take pictures with my phone but not how to upload them. This will have to be rectified as I will loose lots of lovely photos if I loose the phone, and I would like to share garden photos.

I've just been reading GW magazine, which has a piece about amelanchiers. They do look gorgeous.

They also have an offer of 33% off Hartley greenhouses and I have been drooling over some of the Victorian models. I'll never have room for one, sadly.

There are also lots of pics of Monty striding manfully around Longmeadow, fixing things

that looks lovely I wish I could grow them!

I have a mystery clematis that has been lying neglected for a couple of years. I bought is as a plug plant and (having lost the label) all I can remember is that it's supposed to be white. The leaves are almost oak-shaped - could it be Avalanche?

I haven't been to Brighton and feel a bit left out now. Actually I am sort of lying, I went for an interview at Sussex University but I think I just saw train stations.

I'm curled up with GW magazine whilst my gallbladder misbehaving. I have spotted online this place specialising in herbaceous perennials www.bluebellcottage.co.uk which I am also perusing between articles as seem to have a pretty decent selection.

Have also Googled avalanche clematis, looks lovely. My Early Sensation is a little like that so I guess that is another possibility for your mystery one Maud.

I'm really enjoying a little bit of spring appearing in last year's new border.

I have cut the first rose of the year - a Graham Thomas. Might be too damaged by rain etc to open but have optimistically brought it inside.