by Christine Swan
I don’t know about you, but I am ready for spring. The weather has been cold, rainy and windy, and I now long for warmth and sunshine. I put on layers of clothes to beat the chill, when in reality, I long to wear bright colours, sunglasses and to be able to leave the umbrella at home.
I suppose another driver is that I have recently recovered from a nasty bout of ‘flu and am still suffering the effects of lingering tonsillitis. I just want to be well and to feel joy again. I am a very impatient patient and am currently popping no fewer than eight antibiotics a day. Just make it stop!
To cheer myself up, I dug out the gardening catalogues, started to look around for signs of spring, and reflected on some fine examples from my photo albums.
Delicate snowdrops (Galanthus nivalis), are the welcome heralds of springtime
I have a small patch of snowdrops under an apple tree in my garden. It is not an extensive area and they don’t appear to spread prolifically, but I am always pleased to see them as a welcome sign of warmer times to come. They are the spring pioneers, and I love them.
Primula vulgaris – primrose
Many years ago, in Stoke Lacy, just outside of Bromyard, an old lady lived in a little cottage with a sign outside, that said: “Plants for sale”. It was too enticing not to stop and take a look. The lady grew native and unusual plants and herbs, each carefully labelled and priced. It was possible to wander about and take your time selecting pots, while the host would explain where to position the specimens and any care requirements. Sadly, the lady has long since passed but we still have many of her plants in the garden. It was such a joy to visit and I’m certain that she also sold cups of tea. This part of Herefordshire used to regularly be “buzzed” by low-flying Typhoon jets and I remember sitting in her garden, drinking tea, with the cups rattling to the roar of them overhead. She sold cowslips, primroses, dog violets, many types of mints, horseradish, lovage and fennel.
The joy of daffodils – this early flowering example never fails to cheer me
I adore daffodils and narcissi. There are so many different forms, but I think that all are golden trumpets that herald spring. When I was a teenager, I had a Saturday job in a florist shop. The earliest daffodils came from Guernsey or Jersey and people seemed quite happy to pay a little bit more to see daffodils on their windowsill, even when it was cold and dull outside. We also sold a scented narcissus variety called Cheerfulness. Closing my eyes, I can still smell the delicious scent. I have not found many faithful perfumes that capture it accurately. The closest is made by the French perfume house Fragonard, based in the famous perfume region of Grasse, and who specialise in natural, botanical scents and blends. A tour of the factory is fascinating, and explains different extraction methods used depending on the nature of the flower. Some are very painstaking and time-intensive.
Crocuses are also welcome signs of spring. Small, understated, but beautiful
I do love scented flowers and hyacinths are also one of my favourites. The blue variety always seem to be the most strongly scented of all of the colours, so I tend to buy planted bulbs in supermarkets, that are often sold cheaply once they have started blooming. I use them as natural air fresheners and then, after resting, plant them in the garden for the next year’s season. Occasionally, I have too many resting, and plant them higgledy-piggledy in pots and planters, with mixed other bulbs. The results are often a riot of colour – a multicolour meadow in a box. The smaller bulbs and offshoots might not bloom that year but they have a chance to throw up leaves and grow ready for next year.
Blue hyacinths (Hyacinth orientalis), are my favourite. The overblown blooms are rested ready for next year’s show.
Violets (Viola odorata) is a prolific ground cover plant for shady spots. Its delicate scent is wonderful!
The violets in my garden started life in a pot from the lady in Stoke Lacy, and have spread to be quite a springtime carpet. I actually have two varieties – one scented and other, non-scented, the latter having darker leaves and a darker flower. Fragonard also produce a true representation of this delicate scent and the British cosmetics company Lush, use violet in a number of their products, which I always seek out to buy.
Tulips (Tulipa sp.) from Amsterdam
A few years ago, after the direct Eurostar service from London began, I visited Amsterdam for a few days. The Bloemenmarkt is definitely worth a visit and you are able to bring back 2kg of bulbs “for personal consumption”, although nobody would recommend consuming bulbs! A huge variety of different species and varieties are available but, as the song suggests, Tulips from Amsterdam, really are a must. Staff in the market are very ready to help, in English, and to offer growing advice. I have since returned to Amsterdam and purchased even more bulbs, and I also did when I recently visited Leiden – the home of the original “tulip mania”. I now have a plethora of flower shapes and colours.
Polyanthus are a late spring staple in our garden
Pansies make a reliably impressive hanging basket display for spring.
Although I am a big fan of growing native plants in gardens, I do also enjoy exotic species too. Some provide marvellous value, blooming over a long period and, in the case of polyanthus, survive year after year. Therefore, a smaller annual investment returns an increased crop of flowers year on year.
I hope that my botanical foray has spread some optimism this week, when everything else seems so pessimistic. As I write, we are currently still in a “snowdrop week” but, spring is just around the corner and we just need to believe that brighter times are ahead.
Awful Rigours and Wretched Pay 