The beautiful warm sunshine that we have enjoyed for about two weeks has unfortunately gone, the wind has turned from the warm south and is now coming from the icy north! The warm spell has meant that new growth has been popping up everywhere, I hope that it doesn’t regret it when temperatures drop to near freezing at night. I keep reminding myself that at this time last year we had snow and freezing temperatures, so we haven’t done too badly this month with the warm spell that brought an end to all the awful rain which lasted for months. At last, our garden is drying out and at we have been able to cut the grass and clear away all the dead foliage from last year, what a difference just doing that has made!
Newly emerged foliage of Meconopsis Lingholm, so hairy you could stroke it.
Lovely foliage of Brunnera Jack Frost which just gets better and better as the months go by.
Pittosporum Irene Patterson with lower branches removed to make way for the Euphorbia underneath.
New foliage on Acer Sango Kaku in the woodland.
New growth on Paeony mlokosewitschtii in the front border.
New growth on Spiraea Goldflame under the pergola.
A large form of Caltha palustris by the pond.
Foliage of Arum italicum marmoratum, an old favourite which will continue until the summer.
Tree peony in the centre of the garden by the dead oak.
The purple foliage of Pittosporum Tom Thumb in the border by the dead oak.
New foliage on Rosa Geoff Hamilton.
Lovely golden foliage on Philadelphus coronarius aureus.
Help needed, Pulmonaria longifolia is being swamped by a small campanula, I must rescue it!
Euphorbia melliferra’s leaves stay through the winter here, adding to the hedge by next door’s garden.
Some of you may remember me having a dream about planting heucheras, at last I ordered them and am now about to plant them.
And a few more heucheras.
New foliage sprouting on Sambucus Black Lace.
All this new foliage shows so much promise so I’m hoping that this cold spell doesn’t spell disaster for all our little leaves. I’ve just looked out of the window, I can’t believe it, it’s snowing!!
Thanks once again to Christina at My Hesperides Garden, for hosting Garden Bloggers Foliage Day once more, do visit her to see foliage from around the world.
Pauline, so much lovely foliage again and so much I like very much! I like the way you have pruned the Pittosporum Irene Patterson, it really does give you a lot for space and allows more planting underneath. I’m envious of your new Heucheras, they struggle with the sun here so have to be grown in shade. I can’t believe that its snowing with you, I’m sure it won’t be much but I know that it can happen in March, your weather has been horrible this winter I hope summer is kinder. Thank you for joining in again this month, I always look forward to seeing what you have. I’m going back to enjoy again at some of the new foliage you have.
Christina, ten minutes later the sun was shining and I’m wondering if I imagined those white bits floating past the window! Glad you like the new shape of P. Irene Patterson, it will allow the Euphorbia to grow a bit more. Most of the heucheras labels say to plant in shade, just a few can take the sun, but I’ll have to finish the weeding before any planting gets done! All the new foliage growth is so pretty and so colourful too, almost as pretty as flowers.
Here the meteorologists have also been threatening us with snow, luckily so far it has not shown up. I hope it won’t do too much damage in your garden. The Pittosporum does look great like that, and a very clever way to create more space. Those hairy meconopsis are sweet, aren’t they, my M. Huntsfield bought in Scotland last year, has surprised me by starting to produce shoots, I really thought it had died.
Snow was forecast Helle, but I really didn’t expect to see any! The sun came out and now there is no sign of any, thank goodness. So pleased to hear that your meconopsis is thriving, it is a worrying time, waiting for them to shoot again!
How tall does your Paeony mlokosewitschtii grow? I’ve seen reports of up to a metre but in a previous garden it came nowhere near that. I bought an immature one a couple of years ago and put it close to the back of a border but it hasn’t done much so far. Not sure whether to move it, I know they’re not fond.
Jessica, Paeony mlokosewitschii has grown to about a metre high and wide in the front border where it is now, but I moved it twice before I got it right! They don’t really like being moved and will sulk for a bit, but I would move yours if it isn’t responding. They are greedy feeders so mine all usually get a handful of 6x manure, also they don’t like having too much soil over their roots so don’t pile up any mulch there either. Hope this works for you!
Hi Pauline,
No fair, you have Mecanopsis leaves; I check mine almost daily to see if they’re coming up… Beginning to get worried now.
Lovely to see so many leaves isn’t it? Visiting my parents today I spotted lots of Hawthorns leafing up; so lovely and so lifting to see the season is definitely inching toward spring (even if the equinox has now officially passed).
Snow, huh? None here, although we did have a quick hail shower yesterday on my way home from work. Local school children were caught in it wearing only their blazers! I shouldn’t laugh, but I remember those days. I hid in my car for a few minutes until it passed, then dashed into the house. I hope you don’t send your snow up here 😉
The snow soon stopped Liz, then the sun came out and got rid of it all! I’ve just been for a wander round the garden, I soon came in when I was caught in a hail storm without my gardening coat. The weather doesn’t seem to know what to do today!
Don’t worry yet about your meconopsis leaves, I’m still hoping for quite a few more which haven’t appeared yet, maybe soon with a bit of luck.
Trees and shrubs along the lanes definitely have a green tinge about them, another week maybe and the leaves will be telling us that spring has arrived!
Beautiful pictures Pauline. The foliage of Meconopsis Lingholm looks like a longer, more refined version of Salvia argentea foliage. I am aslso impressed with the foliage of Paeony mlokosewitschtii. I have never grown it because the flowering period is supposed to be so very short. However, if it has such foliage, it certainly would be worth a try.
Thanks Alain, the flowering period is maybe a bit short, but she is so gorgeous that you forgive her and make sure you never go on holiday when she is about to flower!. I was impressed last year when I found she closed her petals when it was cold or raining so that the pollen wasn’t spoiled, this way the flowers last longer. From the moment when the foliage first comes through, there is something to enjoy, all the flower buds are there ready, but it will get taller before they think of opening up. It will give you more than two months of interest, so go on, be tempted!
You have some great foliage there, the peonies, the meconopsis… and you’ve been naughty with the heuchera 🙂 Good for you! I added one of the peachy colored ones last year and it’s been doing very well in full sun, I was surprised. I expected it to suffer through drought and sunburn, but it actually seems to enjoy the location. Maybe the heavy soil helps it keep hydrated.
Thanks Frank, I believe some of the Heucheras like the sunshine, the labels that came with them tell me which ones are for shade and others for sun, so hopefully they will like where I eventually plant them. Like you , we have heavy clay soil, but they will be planted with added leaf mould and compost, so should be happy.
Great, varied foliage everywhere. That Euphorbia looks so good underneath the Pittosporum, Pauline. Also your choice of heucheras looks very promising. Just thought how nice they would look just grown together like that – a beautiful tapestry. Have a good weekend 🙂
Thanks Annette, when I took the photo of the heucheras, I thought they would make a nice edging somewhere, but they are destined for other places. Maybe one day I will be able to remove bits and make some more plants, who knows!
Hi Pauline, The cold continues here unrelenting. Last night it snowed and I almost cried. I am so, so sick of winter. I have a feeling that your cold snap won’t harm the emerging foliage. Plants have an amazing way of taking whatever nature throws at them. You have a lovely array of new Heuchera. They will be a nice addition to your garden this year.
Jennifer, I’m so sorry your cold spell is still with you, it is time it moved on! Our tiny bit of snow soon vanished when the sun came out, but we have had a few hail storms since then. I’m looking forward to the heucheras brightening up some of the shady areas, with more hostas and ferns.
So much promise in all your new leaves.
Peony Molly the Witch doesn’t bloom for long but she is exciting from the moment the fat red buds appear in winter.Have you tried it from seed? The flowers are not always pure lemon. Perhaps it hybridises with another peony because I have had babies flushed with pink.
And you have a bud on your tree peony, how exciting. Which one is it? I have a bud on the rockii I grew from seed, I can hardly contain my excitement!
No Chloris, I haven’t tried growing Molly from seed, I’m too impatient! The tree peony is just one bought from the garden centre and labelled Pink Peony, I would say it is more magenta coloured! How fantastic that you have a bud on Rockii, I’ve always loved Rockii, how long has it taken to flower from seed?
I do remember your dream and the selection of new heucheras is great. Hope they do well for you. They look perfect together.
I didn’t think anyone would remember Susie, well done! I now just have to remember where I was going to put them all!
Just noticed the leaves on my Meconopsis yesterday. What a lovely feeling that was.
Your plants are well on – I thought my garden was coming on leaps and bounds but judging by whats going on down there, it’s only baby steps!
Will be looking forward to seeing what you do with your Heuchera.
It’s always a worrying time isn’t it Angie, till the Meconopsis show again and a feeling of relief when they do. I think the warm spell we had brought all the plants on a lot, but now we are back to winter with freezing temperatures at night for a bit.
I did go a bit mad when I bought the Heucheras, but having so many shady areas, they will soon be absorbed into the garden.
Pauline, I love all your foliage. the Pittisporum Irene Patterson looks great like that and is perfectly complemented by the Euphorbia. You have a beautiful assortment of Heucheras. I hope they do well for you! I sigh at the back and forth weather. I just posted about how nice it is that spring is here, and now I just discovered they are predicting lows into the 20s on Tuesday night!
Our weather is unpredictable too Deb, sunshine, snow and hail all in an hour yesterday and tonight it will be freezing once more! The Pittosporum will now allow the Euphorbia room to grow more, the honey perfume from the flowers will soon be filling that part of the garden. I think some of the Heucheras will be planted in that area too.
I really like that Euphorbia Pauline. And I adore heucheras, so look forward to seeing if you plant them together or dot them around. I have considered having a corner dedicated to them as they seem to do so well here wherever I put them!
This Euphorbia Cathy, seems to like our heavy soil, unlike other euphorbias, this one seeds around happily so I always have some seedlings to give away. I will be planting a few of the Heucheras together in the same corner as the Pittosprum and Euphorbia, to bring some much needed colour to that area, they also seem to like it here, ones I have bought in the past seem to do very well.