How
I love this time of year - for the profusion of flowers and the soft
sunshine. Well, and rain today, which is a Very Good Thing.
Melbourne's
springs are spectacular and, at 170m altitude, we're not too different.
This
week's joy has been a trio in the raspberry and silver bed. About 5 clumps of
Queen of the Night tulips have opened their blackberry petals; an evergreen
cranesbill is attired in pink-purple little blooms (a variety of Geranium phaeum, possibly `Alec's Pink');
and Anthriscus `Ravenswing' is opening
dainty Queen Anne's Lace flowers above plum foliage (below).
In
another part of the garden, further from the house, dazzlingly white lacecap
flowers have opened on a favourite shrub, Viburnum
plicatum `Mariesii', a paragon growing slowly in poor soil and never
watered (last pic). Nearby, Spanish bluebells, yes, a bit weedy, are tying in with the
lovely azure flowers of large bugle, Ajuga `Jungle Beauty' (below). I like these blues
together but I should add some white or, better yet, lemon to make this picture
sing.
And
so many perennials are popping their heads up, cautiously: `is winter really
over?' they seem to be asking. A lovely perennial from the cool forests of
eastern North America is bloodroot (Sanginaria
canadensis, top) with pristine snowy flowers over handsome, slightly glaucous oak-leaves
which last until late autumn. Like many perennials, it's pretty easy to divide (be
careful to avoid the poisonous orange latex or juice) to create more clumps
and, to my great surprise, a piece I planted last year (which promptly died
down in objection to my dry-ish, unwatered garden) has risen like Lazarus with
both flowers and leaves.
How
can I go on holiday now, I ask J, and miss all this bliss?
Jill Weatherhead is
horticulturist, writer, garden designer and principal at Jill Weatherhead Garden Design
who lives in the Dandenong Ranges east of Melbourne, and works throughout Victoria.
(www.jillweatherheaddesign.com.au)
