The Garden in March 2025- ‘Marching into Spring!’
At last, the gardening year can really begin as the days lengthen, the weather improves and we, as well as the soil, begin to warm! Of course, the March weather will still produce a few surprises which we need to be ready for but on most days we will be able to get on with all the jobs that we have been itching to get started. However, as I say every spring don’t be tempted to do it all at once because you know you will pay for it. Much better to be slow and steady rather than laid up with a bad back!
Looking back through my earlier March blogs (all to be found under ‘news’ and ‘monthly garden guides’ on The Old Railway Line website) I see that in 2021 I was highlighting the plants doing well in our own garden in West Wales including spring bulbs, Hellebores, Japanese Quince, Hazel catkins, Pulmonarias and Primulas. This was followed by a look at the jobs for March which included top dressing beds and borders, dividing perennials, pruning roses and late flowering shrubs such as Buddlejas and Hardy Fuchsias, work on the lawn and early seed sowing. Also in 2021, I wrote a blog on ‘Gardening with Wildlife in Mind’ which followed those from January and February 2021 on ‘Creating Garden Ponds’ (to be found under ‘news’ and ‘gardening tips’). In 2022 there were two March blogs, one a list of March jobs just to keep you busy and a second a visit to the Aberglasney gardens to witness the arrival of spring in a truly unique setting. In 2023 I was concentrating in some detail on ‘growing your own fruit and vegetables’ which for anyone thinking about doing this for the first time might find to be a good place to start. It also contained a section on ‘bee friendly plants’ and in particular the beauty and benefits of catkins and Pulmonarias. In 2024 I was ‘Springing into Action’, just not as quickly as I used to!, in which I was writing about five spring plants that I wouldn’t want to be without- Narcissus, Helleborus, Primula, Pulmonaria and Camellia. I went on to look at ways of keeping our soils in ‘good heart’ such as the use of soil conditioners and making homemade compost as well as starting off a whole series of advice on taking cuttings, pruning and growing your own fruit and vegetables.
For a talk on St. David’s Day there can only be one plant to start with- the wonderful Daffodil. In Welsh, as I’m sure you know, it is known as Cenhinen Bedr which translates as ‘Peter’s Leek’ just to confuse us all! I’m sure that the Daffodil became the national flower of Wales partly because on St, David’s Day, Daffodils can be seen blooming all across the country, something which they have been doing for thousands of years. However, they became much more popular as a Welsh symbol in 1911 when David Lloyd George (the only British Prime Minister whose first language was Welsh) advocated their use in the investiture ceremony when Edward VIII was made Prince of Wales. Long before that it was the leek which was worn by people as an emblem. This most likely dates back to the Battle of Crecy in 1346 when Welsh archers defeated French soldiers in a field of leeks. Daffodils have long been native to Wales, the wild Daffodil Narcissus pseudonarcissus can be found all over Europe from Wales to Germany and as far south as Portugal. The sub-species, N. pseudonarcissus ssp obvallaris (often referred to as the Tenby Daffodil) is thought by some to be the true St.David’s Day Daffodil growing wild across Wales, although sadly not as widely as it used to, and is notable because the flowers are completely yellow.
The Tenby Daffodil in our front garden, not quite ‘out’ on 26th Feb. but not too far away!
The genus Narcissus is a member of the Amaryllis family and contains around 50 species of bulbous perennials from a variety of habitats in Europe and N. Africa, in meadows from sea level to subalpine altitudes and in woodland, river silts and rock crevices. The genus name comes from a Greek myth in which the youth Narcissus fell in love with his own reflection and, depending on which story you read, wasted away and became a flower or was turned into a flower by the Gods! Either way it is probably best avoided! Back in the real world, the leafless stems bear anything between 1 and 20 flowers, each with six spreading petals (perianth segments) surrounding an almost flat or long and narrow cup or trumpet (the corona). The flowers are mostly yellow or white, occasionally green and some have red, orange or pink coronas. For horticultural purposes Daffodils are divided into 12 groups, for most of which the name speaks for itself- Trumpet, Large Cupped, Small Cupped, Double, Triandria (each stem with 2-6 nodding flowers usually with reflexed petals), Cyclamineus (solitary flowers, each acutely angled to the stem and with reflexed petals), Jonquilla (each stem produces 1-5 usually highly scented flowers with spreading petals and small cups), Tazetta (small-flowered cultivars with up to 20 usually scented flowers per stem- excellent as cut flowers but some are only half-hardy and need to be grown under glass), Poeticus (fragrant, usually solitary flowers with pure white petals and small, open, red-rimmed coronas), Wild Species, Split-Corona and Miscellaneous- yes, even with eleven other groups some cultivars don’t fit into any of them! Unsurprisingly, with such a wide variety of types, Daffodils can be used in a number of ways in a garden setting. Many are suitable for planting between shrubs or herbaceous plants in beds and borders, some are particularly good in containers, while others are easily naturalised in grass or in a woodland garden or edge. Smaller species, hybrids and cultivars are good rock garden plants while others are more suitable for an alpine house. There are simply so many to choose from (my plant encyclopaedia has seven pages of them!) that everyone can find a favourite or indeed favourites to enhance their gardens and by choosing carefully we can all have Daffodils in flower from January to April- so what’s not to like? Just remember the golden rules for these golden plants- plant the bulbs in the autumn around twice their own depth, leave the foliage to die down naturally after flowering and give them a light feed at the same time. This will give them the best chance to continue flowering and giving you great pleasure for many years to come. Just a final word of warning, Daffodil bulbs are poisonous, causing a stomach upset if eaten, so it really does pay to know your daffodils from your onions!
Narcissus ‘Arctic Bells’ and an unnamed Daffodil from our back garden
My second plant profile for this month is about a plant which you have probably all been enjoying in your gardens since late January/early February and if you haven’t you are definitely missing out! It is, of course, the wonderful Hellebore which featured in the February edition of the RHS magazine ‘The Garden’ in an article by the botanist, John Grimshaw MBE. This, winter and early spring flowering plant with its big, bold and bright flowers making a real impact in the garden is quite unlike many of the other flowering plants at this time of year which tend to have quite small, less showy flowers and is therefore well worth its place in the winter garden. In all 15 species are recognised, with many variants and wild hybrids to add to that number. The centre of their geographical location is eastern Europe but it extends as far west as Portugal and eastwards as far as China. Britain only has two native species, one from each of the two main groups of Hellebores. The green-flowered Hellebore, Helleborus viridis subsp. occidentalis is one of the stem-less (acaulescent) species which have a fleshy rootstock from which the short, flowering shoots emerge. Most garden Hellebores are from this group. In contrast, the Stinking Hellebore, Helleborus foetidus, has a robust stem (caulescent) that holds the leaves and flower heads which can be up to 2-3ft/ 60-90cm tall making it an imposing plant with big heads of pale green flowers contrasting with the dark green leaves.
In recent decades, however, it is not the species plants which have been turning gardeners’ heads but the many, showy, beautiful cultivars created by a number of very talented plant breeders such as originally Helen Ballard and Elizabeth Strangman and more recently Kevin Belcher at Ashwood Nurseries in the West Midlands. To this list, on a more personal note, I would also add the names of Hugh and Liz Nunn from the village of Harvington near Evesham where I taught for nearly thirty years. Two of my many ‘A’ level students were their daughters, Pippa and Penny and I distinctly remember Pippa going off to RHS Wisley to study after her ‘A’ Levels. During my research for this piece I discovered that younger sister Penny now runs the ‘Twelve Nunns’ nursery near Stamford in Lincolnshire which, unsurprisingly, specialises in producing the wonderful ‘Harvington Hellebores’! It turns out that ‘Twelve’ was her mother’s maiden name and Penny is continuing the plant breeding which her parents started back, I think, in the 1980’s. Not only that but Pippa lives in the next village in one direction and their parents in the next village in the opposite direction so the family connection remains strong. When you see ‘Harvington Hellebores’ for sale, which you definitely will as they are sold in many garden centres that I visit, perhaps knowing the story will encourage you to take a second look and I can assure you that you won’t be disappointed if you actually take one home (after paying, of course)!
The starting point for many cultivars is H. orientalis which grows in woodlands from the Balkans through to the Caucasus as it hybridises easily with other stemless European species such as the green H. odurus, the dusky pink H. purpurascens and the often, dark purple H. torquatus to produce plants now known as H. x hybridus. In the garden these give the most successful, long-lived plants that bear many flowers in the late winter and early spring. The lighter ones- white, pale pink and yes, yellow- show up best on dull days and look good against a dark mulch or backed by evergreens. Darker flowered selections are best planted where they can be seen close up, perhaps by a path or door, so that their rich colours can be fully appreciated. The author, John Grimshaw, likes to plant H. x hybridus in groups of the same colour so that it increases the chances of getting similarly coloured seedlings. Self-sown seedlings can be very large in number and if the space is available these can be grown on to see what flowers they produce but be aware that you will have to wait until their third year to see any flowers so this is not for the impatient gardener! The stemmed species Helleborus foetidus and argutifolius make handsome, bold plants that are easy to grow and look particularly good in association with other evergreens. Hellebores in general prefer a well-drained soil, ideally neutral to alkaline and humus rich and a well-lit spot during their growing period of spring to early summer as well as space to spread their broad circle of quite large leaves. In winter the old leaves of H. x hybridus cultivars need to be removed, partly to allow the new flowering shoots to come through and be seen and partly because at this stage the old leaves are rather unsightly and may in fact be diseased and covered in black spots. With the stemmed species and cultivars there is no need to remove any foliage just to cut out the flowering stems once the flowers fade.
A Helleborus x hybridus which we did plant and a ‘double’ self-sown seedling which we didn’t!
John Grimshaw concludes that he wouldn’t be without Hellebores in his garden and I wholeheartedly agree as they brighten up the late winter with their colourful blooms and add handsome, bold and often marbled foliage for a year-long effect. Whether you prefer the simple green flowered species or the latest bright development from the breeders there is a Hellebore, or several, for every garden.
One of the darker leaved cultivars of Helleborus x hybridus
Well, that is all for this month but I will be back in April for another look at some great plants for the month as well as, hopefully, answering a few of your gardening questions and providing some useful gardening tips. The talk will be on Saturday 5th of April and I hope as many of you as possible will be able to join me then.
Until then enjoy your March gardens and get out there as much as you can- you know it does you the world of good!
Keith.