Spring has arrived in our island at the end of the Earth. And it is an unbelievably beautiful Spring. The Camellias are brighter and bigger than ever, the Magnolias are dazzling in their beauty and the blossom trees are stretching their arms to touch the blue Spring sky. Even the birds are singing louder and more often.
Camellias are one of the easiest of all spring-flowering plants to grow in a temperate climate. It was many years before they moved out of the glasshouses in England, the gardeners always assuming that the outside conditions were too harsh for this exotic to flourish. Then one brave soul planted a hardy Camellia in his garden and it made it through the winter!
Experimenting in your garden is an exciting exercise. Have you added drama to your life by putting two colours together that may or may not clash? Try bringing a tall plant to the front of the border, don't always put the tallest in the back and the smallest in the front. Let a stream of tinies travel through, as a river, to greet the taller shrubs or perennials that you put to the back of the class. But always put the perfumed wonder where the gardener may brush against it and enjoy the scent. Plant that exotic you have seen at the nursery or in your glossy books and haven't dared grow even though you love it.
There are ways and methods of protecting your plants in the most horrible weather. Mulch is the best answer for both cold and heat. Don't put it too close to the stem, it may ring bark your exotic. I have rushed out and covered Camellias with newspapers in a rare snow storm. Now, I have too many plants to do this and have found they do not object to short snow spells. Fern leaves or bracken used to make a snug home, to keep exotics warm over the Winter months. Heat is more difficult. You may mulch and use something like bracken to protect the plant against the strong rays of the sun but who wants a garden full of bracken houses? Nothing can be done when temperatures are way up and a strong hot gale is blowing.
Early in the history of the country garden, we suffered these conditions. We were in the city when it happened and watered and watered the plants there. Towards the end of that heart-breaking day, we travelled down to the new country garden. I was suffering from a very bad dose of real 'flu. On arrival and inspection of the "Home Orchard Garden", my temperature went sky high and I took to my bed. Our two feet high Acers, just getting their delicate new leaves, were burnt to a crisp. Hydrangeas and Rhododendrons, still in their tender years, were brown, wilted objects. Howling my eyes out, I said to Kees, "That's it. We can't manage two gardens", and buried my head under the blankets.
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