Spring is in the Air
There was hardly a sign of a flower on the tulips seven days ago and then suddenly they began to appear…
Similarly last time I looked the Euphorbia mellifera was all leaf but has now put forth flowers ready to flood the air with the scent of honey next month…
But plant of the month for me is the Triandrus daffodil ‘Thalia’ with its snow-white flowers and gorgeous perfume. I planted the bulbs on the allotment at the base of the Autumn Bliss raspberries so they take up very little room and can be left to die down. The scent from this vase in the sitting room is noticeable when descending the stairs and this is day 5 since picking.
A pot of Marsh Marigolds- Caltha pulustris- was gathered from the edge of a stream at Easter and is still looking good several days after picking…
And the multi-stemmed Amelanchier canadensis shrubs in the garden here are in almost full bloom. The bronze-pink leaves un-furl at the same time as the star-shaped white flowers open and both offer fabulous, early spring interest.
On the allotment the peas are planted and the supports and netting is in place. I am trying once again with peas ever hopeful that I get a crop worthy of blogging. I am not bothering with dwarf French beans since a handful every few weeks isn’t particularly rewarding. Instead I’ll be sowing climbers: the purple ‘Blauhilde’ and the runner bean ‘Lady Di’ and I’ll stagger the sowing and planting to get a good, long cropping period.
Backlane Notebook 
Thalia is a star, I’m certainly going to order some for next year, planting under the raspberries also makes excellent sense as they need water during summer and so do the raspberries. I picked by first pea pod of the year on Friday and ate them there and then! I find the opposite to you with beans, I get a much better crop with dwarf French beans, but I also grow yard long beans which don’t seem to mind the high summer temperatures and just a couple of beans is enough for a serving as they are so long!
Yes I love Thalia. It was recommended by another blogger for its scent but I particularly like the ghostly white flowers and the long vase life too.
I love white Narcissus and Thalia is one of my favourites. I never thought of putting Marsh Marigolds in a vase, they look so pretty.
The marsh marigolds had the brightest, yellow flowers imaginable and with such long stems they made a huge impact. They do like their feet to be permanently damp though so edge of a pond or river for planting I guess is best.
My tulips have obliged by opening in waves. First pink, then red, and now yellow with red stripes – all from one bargain supermarket bag. It looks amazing and brings the bees closer to my fruit trees. I’m not bothering with dwarf beans this year either – I want to make better use of vertical space this year so am back to growing climbers. Must get round to planting some peas!
It’s so lovely when tulips open in patches and especially thrilling when they were bargain purchases making their beauty a bit of a surprise. I am about to photograph some extraordinary fringed yellow ones. Incidentally if you read this reply I find it impossible to leave a comment on your blog in spite of five options to do so. We googled the issue and it’s to do with incompatible blog hosts. So sorry not to be able to say I enjoy your posts very much.