We’re gearing up for our big open gardens day on Sunday April 26th. We’ll have local plant nurseries with plants for sale, craft stalls and refreshments and it’s all in aid of St. Elizabeth Hospice – a wonderful cause that’s very close to my heart. We’re open from 12 noon until 5pm, under 16s free and dogs on leads are welcome. We hope you will come along.
We have hundreds of tulips breaking hourly into radiant flower and above all the garden is turning green. That wonderful April green at its most potent. There is a sense that every leaf is burgeoning and growing into the freshest and vibrant green possible. As I get older this becomes more and more precious. How I love this time of year.
It is such a busy month in the garden especially with seed sowing. The greenhouse is currently the engine room of this garden. But we should do everything we can to reduce the amount of plastic we use. We are doing this by reusing any plastic seed trays and pots that we have – and looking after them so we can continue to use them for as long as possible and not replace them.
I love primroses. No other plant epitomises spring more. We have them growing on our moat banks, in our woodland and on a bank near the bog garden and I am cheered by everything about them. They range from ivory-white to a egg-yolk yellow although the vast majority of them stay the lovely shade of pale yellow we all expect. Don’t be surprised if the occasional bright pink one pops up – here we always have one or two of those that appear every year. Primroses spread by seed but I do love to lift and tease some apart once they’ve finished flowering to make new plants for planting elsewhere. Wherever they’re growing this lovely little flower personifies new life.
And while I adore the delicacy of the early spring flowers, I cannot write about April without again mentioning tulips – wonderful, joyful tulips. The first real blaze of colour of the year and every year they astonish me anew. We plant hundreds and hundreds of them and now is their time.
Kate Elliott came to Columbine Hall in 1997 when she was sixteen. She is now head gardener but also helps with managing the property generally and in conducting guided tours.