I felt a little pang of nostalgia putting the photos for this post together. This time last year the front garden was just a dirt patch. There were no flowers or shrubs and I was in the early stages of planning out a cottage garden in my head. We spent the whole Winter looking at our dirt patch, so one sunny weekend we went to the garden centre and spent £40 on plants. I remember getting home and realising we’d underestimated how many plants we would need to fill the space! A year on, things are flourishing and many of the plants starting to flower now are those we bought that weekend. Let me show you what’s happening.
The Lithodora will be covered in bright blue flowers in a couple of weeks time. The bottom half of the plant is looking brown and scraggy but the top is full of new growth.
The erysimum is coming back to life. It’s pushing up new buds and popping out petals. This is one of my favourite plants in the front because its filled out quickly and has a long flowering period.
When I look at this photo I hear the Pac-Man chopping, imagining she is feasting on aphids as she walks.
I think these waxy green shoots are bluebells. I planted them randomly in the front thinking I’d remember where I put them but I don’t.
In the battle of crocosmia vs slugs, crocosmia won! I love this shade of green – I haven’t Photoshopped that colours, the shoots are actually that bright.
I bought a Snakes Head Fritillary last year but it only flowered for two weeks so I assumed it died because it wasn’t happy where it was planted. Then when I was putting bluebells in I found tiny white bulbs where it use to be – I realised they were Fritillary and quickly buried them. The tiny bud below is the beginnings of a new Fritillary.
I need your help this week! Does anyone know what the plant below is? My vague searches for things like ‘zig zag leaf’ have failed (unsurprisingly!). I bought it at a village plant sale but it didn’t have a plant marker. In early Summer it sends up a long wispy stem with small pink flowers. ***Update*** It’s called ‘London Pride‘. Thanks for identifying Mrs Fox!
The daffodils are shining bright. I’ve been tempted a few to put in the house but I don’t know if I can bring myself to do it because there will be fewer outdoors.
A Pulmonaria photo for the third week running! This is one of the first things to flower and I love the almost tie-dyed effect on the petals.
When mid-March arrives it’s time to sow the wildflower seeds. We had a bee mix leftover in the seed tin and I scattered some cornflower seeds (saved from last year). I scatter them in most of the gaps because they make the garden look fuller and add lots of colour. They are annuals which is good because the permanent plants can still grow in to that space as they die off.
We had a really warm, sunny day at the start of the week so I put the leggy seedlings outdoors to soak up some sunshine. Chilli plant on the left, nasturtiums and sage in the middle and marigolds on the far right. So big already. When plants get to this stage, I’m always amazing they’ve grown from a tiny tiny seed.
I love Spring. You can feel everything stretching up and doing a big Bagpuss yawn as it wakes up from a 3 month sleep.
Nature is very cool indeed.
I hope you find an answer about those zig zaggy plants, I’ve seen lots out and about recently.
I love how much is going on here, so many colourful signs of Spring, can’t wait for the wild flowers to do their thing, I got a little ahead of myself and scattered some seeds a while ago, lots of seedlings already!
If I ever find out what the mystery plant is, I’ll post an update. I got carried away with sowing marigold seeds this year. I did extra in case some of them didn’t germinate and they all did!
Oh I’ve seen that plant before in my Step mums rockery garden – not a clue what its called, but I know it spreads quite a lot – not that that’s much help!!
Them spreading is a good thing as we need some more ground cover in the front. Thanks for the info!
Wow! I bet it must be so satisfying looking at everything springing to life from what was a dirt patch this time last year!! Nature is the best 🙂
It is 🙂 In a few years it will hopefully look like a proper cottage garden…
It looks like a succulent but I’m not sure which one.
I thought it looked like a succulent too. I might try searching for that instead!
so happy that spring has finally reached you Gemma!
Thank you Claudia. I’m happy too 🙂
Your seedlings are doing so well – congratulations. We call the mystery plant London Pride it has a reddish slender stem that comes with a bunch of little white flowers on top. Good as low ground cover.
Thank you thank you! It’s definitely London Pride! If we didn’t have a screen between us I’d high-five you 🙂
your garden is so busy already! i think we must be a couple weeks behind you. we are getting one of those annoying bits of residual winter this weekend. ugh. keep us posted about the mystery plant! i would love to see the flowers. is it, perhaps, a variety of sedum?
Mrs Fox worked out it’s called ‘London Pride’, a type of Saxifraga. The front garden is waking up but the back garden is definitely still asleep because it gets no sun until late Spring.
Yay for little seeds! Grow! Grow! Grow!
We have bluebell shots in big bushy effect here too, the front of the house has a big row of thick green shoots and I can’t wait for them to erupt into purple.When they do I’ll be sure to instagram you a shot of them (with me yomping a bacon, brie and redcurrant sarnie in the foreground obvs!)
Always need to get that foodie link in there somewhere!!!
Thanks for joining in again Gemma 🙂
Haha, you are so cruel 😉 Yes, do Instagram your bluebells! It’s quite interesting to see what sprouts up when in various parts of the country.
I can’t believe that it used to be a dirt patch – you can see already it’s going to be Gorgeous with a capital G. Beautiful captures of spring waking up in your garden.
Ah thank you Kriss 🙂 It’s amazing how much its grown in just a year.
Ooh I am new to this gardening lark, but love the idea of scattering wild flower seeds – shall do it this weekend before it gets too late! Lovely photographs.
Thank you Sonya! Hope you managed to scatter your wild seeds in the end. They look very pretty for so little effort 🙂
The best part about your garden is that each year it will get better and better. Nothing beats a three year old perennial garden :-D.
Very true. I look forward to the day the patch in the front has established!
I love the pulmonaria, they are such pretty colours. It is lovely to see flashes of colour returning x #HDYGG
Yay for Crocosmias – they really are bright aren’t they, glad they’ve beaten the slugs. And yes, I wish I’d remembered where I planted bulbs too – I need to get on and sow some stuff too, so much to do – but isn’t that lovely?! #hdygg