March lives up to its weather lore billing
Saturday, March 30, 2019
Most people will be familiar with the old weather saying that
March winds and April showers bring forth May flowers. What
we had this March was far more than just wind, with 2 named storms,
gales and torrential rain throughout most of the month.
It was with this in mind that I cast my mind back to March
1976 and what the weather was like here then. Thanks to the
marvels of the internet I was able, courtesy of a website of the
Met Office, to find everything I wanted to know detailing by region
all the UK weather for the whole month in that year. Why was I
curious to know this? On the 29 March I moved into Cilgwyn Lodge on
a day that was mild and springlike if my memory is correct.
This was verified by the Met Office weather account for the whole
month. Otherwise it was a very similar month to this one, but
with more frosts and snow than we have had this year.
This is an old picture of the Lodge in 1969 as it still
was when I came here (apologies for the poor quality of the
pics.)
And this is the latest we have from 2009
It is our second anniversary event, the first one last month
being the 10th annivesray of our website. Living here for 43 years
has given us many special memories and friendships and is a
move I have never regretted. It was a delight, and a major
challenge to develop the nearly 1 acre garden from a
relatively blank canvas to the garden many readers will be familiar
with. As I grow older I find it difficult to believe how we managed
to do all this having had a 70 mile back and forward commute to our
place of work in Swansea. We still get much pleasure from the
garden and surrounding countryside even though our respective
health conditions have slowed us down in respect of garden
management, but we nevertheless manage to stay on top of essential
chores as much as we can with help as needed.
Weather.
An after storm sky early in the month. From
howling gales and torrential rain to this
Everything was suffused with pink
From the sheep
To Kit Kat who doesn't like to miss out on
anything!!
And this pic reflects the change in the weather
during the last 6 days of the month
Brief weather records up to and including
30th
As mentioned in the heading, rain and wind was the predominant
weather feature for 17 days of the month with rainfall levels of
5.75 inches.
There were 9 dry days with sunshine. Max 18C on 28th with
the 2 previous days also clocking 17C and 16C Incredible for this
time of year in our part of Wales
And 4 cloudy days
Seven frosts were recorded for the last 6 days of the period min
-2.5 on 27th so unexpected late expenditure on gas for the
polytunnel heaters!
All in all a good growing month, the second in succession,
reflected both in the garden and surrounding countryside. A far cry
from this time last year when we just getting over the Beast from
the east
Garden update
Thank goodness for the fine February that gave us a chance
to get on well with many outdoor jobs, Moira completing her
annual house and outbuiding painting well ahead of her normal time
table.
The garden became so wet, that no further work on the borders
could be completed, because walking would compact them. Spreading
garden manure from a soaking wet pile is not a task to be
undertaken lightly in these conditions. However there was
more we could do when we had that late spell of warm dry weather.
it is good now however to have already completed all the pea and
bean trenches After mowing the grass regularly last month, this has
been on hold.
There is an upside to all this in that we have been able,
with invaluable help from stalwart friends
Bob and Annette, to all but complete repotting the
overwintered plants in the nursery and polytunnels. It is fun
finding many plants that we had forgotten that we had!
Turning the plants out of the pots can sometimes
give you an unpleasant surprise however, such as this invasion of a
begonia rex tuber by vine wevil grubs - there was nothing left of
the tuber! just the remains of the surrounding growing
media.
Some of the nursery areas
A welcome tea break after a days
potting.
The milder weather has brought on plant growth and now that the
snowdrops have finished daffodils are filling the gaps. The shorter
forms have stood up well to the gales but some of the older large
trumpet forms collapse quickly and no sooner have they done so the
slugs move in to devour the flowers before we can pick them.
A favourite of ours is narcissus cultivar W.P
Milner an old form much like the native species
pseudonarcissus.
A range of narcissus in the House
Garden
As a final postscript to hellebore season, with long lived
sepals (flowers), hellebores keep going, but are now beginning to
show their age. This isn't the end of them as they still demand
some time when the developing seed pods are cut off to prevent
them self seeding, often into the crowns of surrounding
mature plants. It is also a good time then to scatter fertilser
such as Fish Blood and Bone around the roots. Not everyone chooses
to do this however but I would recommend it. Seed can be gathered
from quality plants and sown in pots when they will germinate well
and produce quality plants to flower in 2 to 3 years time exactly
where you want them.
Moira filled this cart when dead - heading all the 300+
hellebores in the garden
The last hoorah of hellebores
Our friends at Farmyard Nurseries are major hellebore breeders
and no seed is ever wasted there! Already they have pricked out
last years seedlings that are now growing away strongly.
Stock breeding plants
This years flowers having been hand polinated and
marked with pink wool
There are over 60 polytunnels at Farmyard and
always treasures to be found there like anemone
pavonina
What's looking good?
Flowering shrubs are aways good value at this time of year and
with mild weather and no sharp frosts, they have put on a
great show.
Magnolia loebneri
Magnolia stellata an unknown pink flowered
form
Viburnum carlesii with berry like buds that open
to highly perfumed pink/ white flowers.
With no severe frosts to contend with pieris have
done very well
On the herbaceous front, it is euphorbias and pulmonarias that
for me are currently the star plants. However there are flowers now
on a range of epimediums, and attractive woodlander,
hacquetia epipactis.
Euphorbia characias
I thought ours were doing well until I saw this
fantastic stand on a roundabout on the outskirts of
Abergavenny
Back home this smaller form, euphorbia myrsinites
self seeded in a wall
British native euphorbia robbiae at home in the
wodland garden.
Just outside Monmouth, off the A40, they grow well
on embankments in large numbers
Blue pulmonarias, a mix of "Lewis Palmer", "Mawsons
Blue" "Blue Ensign" plus some interbred seedlings create an
early bluebell effect in the woodland garden, which is packed with
various shade lovers.
Hacquetia epipactis.
Saxifraga relative, mukdenia rossii needing shade
and moist soil, unlike most of the family. Palmate leaves appear
after the flowers, turning vibrant red in autumn.
The first spring clematis in the attragene group are
just beginning to flowerThis is Clematis alpinum, to be followed
later by c. macroptella and C. Koreanea until the end of
Spring.
It will be some weeks before others
appear,and the plant in the pic will be covered with flowers Growth
is promising too on epimediums, erythroniums and brunneras in
partcular.
And just a few days ago I was fortunate to find
this fine mixture of pulsatilla vulgaris at a local wholsale
nurseryman friend
In the tunnels there are always some stars in that
protected environment.
Velthemia bracteata, a bulbous plant, all grown
here from seed sown 4-5 years ago, give me great pleasure, having
succeeded in growing them, and with that touch of elegance so early
in the year- they started to flower just after
Christmas.
Clivia miniata on holiday in the large tunnel from
the top greenhouse.
Wildlife and Countryside
As always in March there are masses of lambs in all our
surrounding fields and they never fail to entertain with their
joyous behaviour. It is good to see such activity in fields that
just a few weeks ago were barren.
Such activity is not evident with the indigenous wildlife but 2
Mallards appear to be nesting at the edge of the Paddock Pond.
Plenty of kites and corvids, but one thing that has changed since
1976 is the loss of the curlews and lapwings, that in the
intervening years have become very rare. Nothing in the bird
kingdom can for me, improve upon the the liquid calls of the
curlews, and the peewit calls of the lapwings, that always spoke to
me of the countryside of upland Wales and we do so miss
it.They used to nest every year in the field directly opposite the
Lodge, and how easy it was then to take it for granted. We were so
lucky to have experienced this in our early years of living here.
We have also lost spring migrants such as sppotted and pied
flycatchers and winter visitors like fieldfares and redwings.
Further from home on the road to Carmarthen 20 miles away there
were 2 plant and wildlife events that really excited me:-
A first sighting of little egrets, relatives of
herons, all white with crested head feathers and now most likely
resident year round.
Secondly, Walking along the banks of the River Towy to take some
pictures of them I chanced upon coltsfoot, a wildfower I have not
seen for many years, growing in scrubby ground along the river
bank, a preferred habitat. A relative of groundsel but looking like
a more elegant form of dandelion. An attractive plant flowering
from February until mid spring to a height of about 12 inches. It
has considerable medicinal and confectionary qualities and is found
in many countries around the world. To find out more go to www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tussilago
The stretch of the r. Towy.
It was with some regret that as I approached the egrets,
feeding in a marshy field adjacent to the river. in spite of a
cautious approach, they flew off before I had the chance to take
any pics! With none to show you, the internet again came to the
rescue www.naturespot.org.uk/species/little-egret
Visits
A couple of times a year my good friend Richard and I go off on
what we fancifully call ""plant hunting" trips. Nothing like real
planter hunters to far flung and out of the way places. We seek out
nurseries within a days travelling time from our part of Wales,
especially those that stock a wide range of plants with rare or
unusual plants if possible. Gloucestershire was our destination in
mid month. We managed to fit in 3 nurseries, Tortworth Plants
www.tortworthplants.co.uk ,
ShadyPlants.com www.shadyplants.com and
Pan Global Plants, www.panglobalplants.com
all
of which satisfied our criteria for trips.
Pan Global is owned by Nick Macer who is a modern day
plant hunter travelling extensively every year to bring back
treasures for our delight! It is amazing how many plants we managed
to pack into a small Berlingo hatch back. Richard is a master at
packing plants and getting them home in one piece. He has a large
Transit type van but doesn't usually use it for these trips
because he would never be able to constrain himself from buying
more plants! A day spent in the company of a kindred spirit and
very knowledgable plantsman is always a day well spent, and lighter
pockets!
The nursery at pan global is in the former walled
garden of 15th century Frampton Court, not far away from where I
used to live on Severnside
Always something to interest to delight keen
plants persons ( I hope that is sufficiently gender
friendly!)
And at Shady Plants our friends Tony and Sylvia have a
wide range of shady plants including a very large collection of
arisaemas of which Tony is an authority and major collector. There
was only one in flower in the tunnels, it being too early in the
year for most of them. An intriguing and challenging genus that
after uncertain beginnings I have come to admire.
Finally the end of March is a time to look forward to with
the clocks going on an hour, giving yet more time to keep working,
as the garden begins to burgeon with new growth and much promise
for the future.
Have a good Easter and enjoy your garden and beloved plants.
Keith and Moira X