What's making your garden shine at the moment?

[Chippychop]

I'm just back from holiday and my garden looks a mess.. Granted the grass needs a good cut and the weeds had grown but the garden looks a bit bare and land. The garden is only 3 yrs old (building site beforehand) so it's a work in progress. I've got shrubs and herbaceous plants mainly - and I do need to add more but I could do with some colour or something - any good ideas?

My salvia amistad are finally sprouting when I thought they had all died! Yay! If you fancy a salvia I really couldn't recommend Amistad enough.

Oh and my Hellebores.. I've got a purple double hellebore that I couldn't tell you the name of but is absolutely beautiful.

Very jealous, must get an Amistad. At the moment I should be enjoying the snakeshead fritillaries in my meadowy bit of lawn but got back from holiday to find that all the flowers have been eaten! Think it's the pheasants that have invaded the garden (20 females roosting in the beech hedge!). The cowslips are looking gorgeous though - they self seed so easily -try some.

My magnolia grandiflora is out in full flourish at the moment and looks fantastic. It's a total indulgence and a big blowsy showpiece but I love it. I did this garden from scratch 10 years ago with evolution along the way but the big things went in 10 years ago (they were small then, they've matured beautifully now). It was literally edge to edge scruffy grass to start with, now there are trees, shrubs, bulbs, climbers, seating areas, sheds. I love it .

The grandiflora is quite a big beast once it gets going (spreads quite a lot) so I wouldn't recommend if you are on a narrow or tight plot but I would definitely recommend adding height to your garden, I'm not keen on gardens that are all one level, planting wise. I've got a crab apple tree that has interest for much of the year (inc gorgeous blossom) and is much more compact, ideal for a smaller patch.

Just be aware with things like shrubs , what looks bare and a bit gappy now might well look perfect in 3 or 4 years time once things have got comfortable and grown. Don't be tempted to fill in gaps with more shrubs or you'll end up overcrowded.

Pulmonaria are lovely at the moment too (and very good for bees).

Snakes head fritillarys are beautiful. I went to Heligan last week and they were everywhere, I'd love some in my garden but it's not wet enough.

Pheasants taste really nice

I was very impressed with Amistat when I saw it on GW last week. Is it fairly tough?

10 red and white striped tulips in a shallow green dish - they look amazing!

My very dark purple tulips are coming out now and look so beautiful.

My bluebells are out so a bit of blue colour & the colourful tulips and the peonies are in bud and will bring a splash of blowsy pink romance to garden.

I've got common red tulips, they seem to be going over already.

Well I've got 3 and one is sprouting.. The one I moved when I shouldn't have so I am hopeful.

Fingers crossed. They really are spectacular in high summer.

Non of my tulips are out yet :(

Mine must be early flowerers

My white flowering cherry is full to bursting of beautiful white blossom and is right outside my window. Makes me smile.
I have one lone snakes head fritillary...dont know where the rest have gone!
My tulips are on the cusp of blooming... just tight buds full of promise...

Things I have that are out: pulmonaria, hellebores, cowslips (bit surprised how lovely they look, I feel I've done them down in the past), magnolia stellata, violets, primula denticulata (like lollipops on sticks), euphorbia for a real zing of green, lovely late Thalia daffs (much more elegant than the earlier yellow ones), and erysmium 'bowles mauve' which just flowers all year.

And don't forget colourful foliage coming through - my red-leaved persicaria is currently bright pink, as is my acer, my photinia (in another patch) is bright red, and my lysimachia is a really deep black-purple.

Oh, and I have some lovely species tulips - much easier and to my mind more elegant and restrained than the big blowsier ones.

I don't know what mine are. I plonked them in for quick, easy colour when we moved in and they pop up every year. I don't bother with the digging them up every year thing, I leave them to it and they come back every year. They are a bit municipal I suppose but they remind me of the early days in this garden when there was naff all in, everything was very much in its infancy and they were the only cheerful colour on show.

My tulips are looking lovely in my 'bulb sandwich' outside the front door - I've had months of great flowers from it, starting with the winter pansies, little iris, daffs and now these. Once they're done I'll stick the whole lot straight into the ground, so it should come back next year.

I'm also quite pleased with my purple erysimum, and my acer (albeit small) is starting to put its leaves out.

The cherry blossoms are looking lovely right now (I have a proper tree in the front garden and a miniature bush in the back garden). The brunnera macrophylla is covered in blue flowers with the odd daffodil still in flower next to them. I've got lots of white primroses in flower too.

Squeezy I have a grandiflora arriving tomorrow!

This is a lovely thread!

I spent a good few hours pottering in the garden today, and it is looking good, this is possibly its best time of year. The dark oils are dying back now, but there is a shock of yellow from a forsythia. There are lots of tulips, the flowering currants are looking ace too. The blueberries are coming into leaf and flower, and my new grow house is crammed wih seedlings destined for the allotment. But mostly I love this time of year for the lovely green everywhere - all different shades of green, looking all alive and healthy, giving promise to the months ahead.

I want some snake head fritillaris now though.

Yes I agree it is a lovely time in the garden. Sitting out and watching the plant grow and listening to the birds sing is wonderful!

In mine in bloom atm:

tulips American dream (yellow with red streaks) , forgetmenots,
Scilla siberica, violas, fritillaries
frilly orange and yellow, and deepest purple primulas
magnolia stellata
hellebores (white, green, yellow, purple, deep red all in different places:)
yellow primroses species
cherry amanagowa
more forgetmenots!
the daffs are going over already!
white japonica

with buds: camellia, rhodedendron, azalea, deutzia, clematis, roses, apple tree, geraniums

coming up in the herb pots
fennel, angelica, rosemary, mint, thyme, lavender, oregano, sage

there is lots of other stuff but not in bloom yet.

Oooh chippy* how lovely