Thinking about Pansies

Sorry for the pun! Yes, I know that the name Pansies came from the French pensée, which is all about thinking and thoughts. In the language of flowers, the inclusions of pansies in a bouquet or a gift of any kind, related the message: 'I am thinking about you'.

Lovely, romantic. But today I just want to talk about what good do-ers these plants are in the garden. As you know, I have a new garden which I am re-creating to suit my own style of gardening. This is not to say that there was anything wrong with the previous owners style of gardening. It was lovely, but I am a flower lover, so there needs to be a lot more flowers to keep me happy.This, however, involves digging borders, improving the soil, and planting the plants. As a lady of a certain age, with Rheumatoid arthritis that takes time, even with help. Lock-down earlier in the year didn't help either. Normally, I would trawl Garden centres for plants to fill in the gaps - not possible this Spring.

So when ordering seeds, I included a packet of Pansy 'Summer skies' in the order. My thinking was that they are fairly easy to grow from seed; they are of medium build,; they are fairly unfussy about soil,situation and watering; will fill in gaps in the low borders, wall and rockeries; and have a long flowering period. So I promptly sowed them and they came up within about a week, I think, and in about a month (April/May?). they were planted out in the garden. They started to flower almost immediately, and have been flowering since (1st of November, as I write this). So that's about six months of no-fuss service in the garden. I have watered them once or twice, and occasionally dead headed them - so not exactly high maintenance plants.

As I get older, I have less patience with the prima donnas of the plant world. Maybe it's because 'I hear times winged chariot hurrying near'. I don't know. But I do know that I will be growing Pansies again nest year (If the Lord spares me, as my friend Anne says!

Happy gardening!

Snowdrops

We have thousands of snowdrops here at Muirlands. I can take no credit for them - they were here when we arrived, and probably had been since World War 2, at the very least. How do I know this? Well, when we were in practice, we got the odd person in, who had been evacuated here during the war. Barrow, as a naval shipyard, had been an occasional target for the Luftwaffe, who seemed to have managed to hit quite a lot of residential areas as well as their in intended target. The poor victims were temporarily accommodated at our house, it having the necessary space to accommodate the extra family or two. Most had fond memories of their time spent here, but all used to ask 'Are the snowdrops still there?', and were uniformly pleased when I was able to answer in the affirmative.

On a rainy Boxing Day, my thoughts have turned to the garden. Their will be no gardening today - the ground is too wet (though we have luckily escaped the inundations that have afflicted other parts of the county). But I have seen the first signs of their presence - a few green tips pressing through the water logged ground. They will be in their prime in February here - a carpet of white on a grass green background. A sight to behold on a sunny day!

For those who like to know where plants come from - Galanthus (the Latin generic name for snowdrops), are native to Europe and the Middle east. Though they seem to come from drier climes than the British Isles they seem to be remarkably tolerant of our damp ground (that may be because the roots of trees soak up most of the water later on in the season)

Galanthophiles/olics (snowdrop experts/ addicts?) would, I am afraid, be a little disappointed after the initial appreciation of the mass plantings. As far as I can see, we only have the 'bog-standard' single and double forms. If you require something a little more exotic there are specialist growers out there. I list a few at the bottom.

I would like to grow a few of the more exotic snowdrops. Galanthus elwesii is a little larger than most, and the leaves have a bluish tinge to them. Maybe, I'll grow some this year.

Can you and should you grow snowdrops? Oh, Yes! Though they thrive best growing in light deciduous woodlands in the UK, they can be grown in pots, underneath deciduous shrubs, in borders; but most importantly they will delight your soul at a very dreary time of year.

Wishing you all a very Happy 2016,

B

Suppliers (best bought after flowering and planted in the green)

Ashwood nurseries

Dryad nurseries

Broadleigh Gardens

and many more?