what's blooming right now?

other than spring bulbs what's putting on a show in your garden right now?

My early Doronicums are out except for a late variety I have. Cowslips and Primula Rosea are out. my tiny double Celandine looks so cute. Geranium Bill Wallis will have flowers any day now as it's covered in buds. my recently acquired Leucojum 'Gravetye Giant' is looking really smart.

I'll post some photos over the weekend.

Mark

This message was edited Friday, Apr 27th 3:19 AM

Well at the moment not a lot, primumlas, pollyanthuhus, primroses, varigated perrywinkle, woodland annomies, appart from that nothing, the rest are very slow. the bulbs have all finnished early, very quiet in the blooms dept.

AJC what Anemonies do you have? wild type or cultivars?

My Clematis Montana rubins has big fat buds on it which look like they are about to pop. Can't wait, it will be first year it's flowered. The same with my new Evergreen Clamatis "Jingle Bells".

Daisy you need to prune your clematis back every year after the flowers have gone in order to keep it looking good. They flower on the previous years growth so dont be tempted to prune it during the summer.

mine had it's first flower open today. I'll post a photo of how it looked this time last year.

Mark

Thanks for the advice Mark.

I planted the Clematis Rubens 18months ago, it's just reached the top of a 7ft pergola. How much do I prune off it?

Forgot to say, my Blue Chinodoxa are looking beautiful in my gravel path/bed. I want to try and get the pink variety this year.

back down to about 3 feet wont do it any harm provided there is still green stems that low. If you cut into totally brown stems it will take it a little longer to put on new growth.

Mark

I just purchased a Henryii clematis a month ago. It's about 18 inches high. Is it too small to be planted outright in the ground, or would it make sense to put it in a large pot and let it grow til it's much bigger? I also bought a sanguineum striatem (?) in a 4 inch pot. It's packed with stems and leaves. Would it be safe to divide it? They only had one and my daughter wants part of it, or would it be better to let it grow before stressing it out by dividing? Doris

hi Doris

I wouldn't divide it. Plant it now remembering to plant it so the plant is about 6 inches deeper in the ground than it is now in the pot. You can take cuttings of it for your daughter. you take these from this year's growth just b4 it has hardened in late summer. what you do is cut a stem half way between 2 sets of leaves then make another cut just above the next set of leaves. this leaves you with a cutting that has a long piece of stem with 2 leaves and 2 buds at the top end. remove one leaf to reduce water loss. dip the bottom end in hormone rooting powder and pot it right up to the leaf in a good cuttings compost. water it in and place in a clear plastic bag. in 6 - 8 weeks you should have a rooted cutting.

it sounds complicated but it's not.

good luck!

Mark

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Well Mark everything is going great guns in the garden even got a few buds on the roses too. I bought 3 clematis blue moon the other week and they have big fat buds on it, the lilac has opened, the ribes are out, and i am now waiting for my clematis Montana to flower shortly now.

Well, all my lesser celendines are flowering (I collect them), anemone nemerosa, anemone parviflora, cowslips, oxslips, pasque flowers (at last they are late this year), dicentra spectabilis alba has flowered its head off, daffs, violets, pansy 'molly's sister', primula marginata, snakes head frits, tuberous comfrey, symphytum uplandicum, anemonella, epimediums and aquilegias.

I won't even list whats got buds on them :) I defy anyone to say shady clay gardens grow nothing!

Debby

I have lots of Primroses, Clematis Francis rivis, some tulips,fritillaries and hailstorm!! Debby, the Dicentras here are only now forming decent foliage!
Mark...do you like Polygonatums?

Shady clay gardens grow nothing, :).

I've got lots of bulbs in flower. Apart from that lots of polyanthas. Still have heather in bloom. Have some honesty plants coming into flower. They were bad with powdery mildew last year. I only need a couple really to give me enough seeds to start a few more on their way. Spring bedding plants bellis perennis and forget-me-nots. My Viburnum is still in flower. Have a few Ranunculus. I also treated myself to a strawberry planter so I have a few strawberries coming into flower. I put in quite a few perennials but I'm not sure how good they'll be in their first year - they all look a bit pathetic at the moment - though with this weather - rain again - who could blame them? I feel as though I'm weeks behind. I've tried to sow hardy annuals again but there's one section still to do, cos of the weather. I think my garden will look a bit drab when the bulbs die back. The bulbs have really been magnificent. Not sure if I have very good taste though. It's not stylish and elegant yellow and purple but yellow and blue and red and white. The bed where I've made a mass planting of bulbs is a mass of colour.

Well Northener i have planted my hardy annuals inside and you should see them coming along great, got Calendulas, lavatera,and one i grew last year and loved the common cornflower, also the poached egg plant although some of these have self seeded from last year.So they wont get rotted by the rain, its the wet that kills them more than the cold. Its been a horrible day mainly rain and a little bit of sun.

HI Mark, Thank you so much for telling me how to handle the geranium. I would have no doubt killed it, having never grown them before. I had heard of people making cuttings but had no idea how it was done so this is a big help. And I've learned how to plant it properly! Thanks again. I had ordered 15 of the geraniums from the co op here on Daves so hopefully they will be easy to grow. I'm wondering if I had planted them deep enough. The soil is up where the roots begin. But I'll watch them carefully. Doris

OH Alan!

I shake my head in dispair, theres always one isn't there :P.