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Splendid Early Performers

© Graham Leatherbarrow

The last weekend in March saw the clocks go forward an hour here in the UK to British Summer Time. This seems to have done the trick. Easter was exceptionally sunny and warm, bringing out many gardeners for the first time this year. The smell of cut grass was almost overpowering.

This lovely weather of early April continues, enabling many colourful characters to show their best features. Sunny weather also works wonders for the mental state of gardeners too. All gardens have their quota of problems, but they never look half as bad in the sunshine. The promise of spring is with us again and the adrenalin is running high.

Owners of smaller gardens have one great advantage over their more expansive colleagues. We can plan our pint sized plots more easily to accommodate the changing seasons. My own little area of paradise is a constant source of delight whatever the season and I'm still taken by surprise even now by friends long forgotten.

Some of my plants specialise in hide and seek. One little golden charmer that always succeeds in catching me unawares is the Marsh Marigold or 'Kingcups' as it is sometimes known. It spends the winter completely hidden from view, and then one morning I notice those golden flowers ablaze in the morning sun. In fact, of course, there is not much of this plant to see in the winter months at all, but given a little warmth and light it literally bursts into action. This is one of the many plants that make me smile every time I see it. Turning a corner and coming across those gorgeous golden-yellow flowers I just can't help myself. A damp soil and some sun are its only needs, and then you have a friend for life.

There are lots of friendly flowers around at this time of year. I fell in love with hellebores some years ago and our affair continues, but alas we don't see each other that often. Right now, the clumps of H. orientalis in deep-plum make me go weak at the knees. Like all affairs the going is not always smooth. My Magnolia stellata and I had a 'heart to heart' last spring. Either it fulfilled its side of the bargain or our close association was at an end. This spring has seen its best flowering to date, so it's obviously good to talk!

Magnolias are splendid features of spring, but not many gardens can grow the larger forms. M. stellata is quite compact and can be grown in a container as I do in my own garden. It flowers generously from an early age and enjoys an acid soil. All magnolias hate disturbance and their greatest enemy is the gardener's forking and general fussing around its delicate roots. Magnolias are for life so plan for permanency.