Garden diary

6 February 2017

The first blooms

The garden at Allt-y-bela is beginning to spring to life once more. On the droveway and through the woodland snowdrops abound drifting in vast white carpets across the brown green of the winter landscape. There is something magical and heartening to see swathes of ground suddenly coming to life in these dark weeks. Amongst the throng of single native snowdrops, a few double flowers can be found. You can generally tell the doubles by the broader nature of the flowers, the only way to be sure of course is to get down on your hands and knees and have a good look. The rewards certainly make the muddy knees worthwhile but it is a shame we don't get the chance to appreciate them in a more congenial environment.

Along the sides of the drive towards the field gate is a small wild bed filled with winter snowflakes. Winter aconites are beginning to establish there too. The winter snowflakes look a little like a broader stronger snowdrop, their heads still nod in the cold breeze but they are larger and slightly more showy.

The bulb lawn is beginning to show the first signs of life now too, a few short weeks ago I was looking across the grass at the telltale leaves of iris and crocus that offered so much promise and over the course of the last few days the flowers have been breaking out, first a few crocus, then the very first reticulated iris. Each day, come rain or shine, flowers have been emerging.

One of the frustrations I've found in past years is that I never seem to be able to photograph these spring treasures to really do them justice, then, while crawling around on my hands and knees through the mud it occurred to me that it would be rather lovely to bring these flowers into the house and photograph them properly. Around this time last year Allt-y-bela played host to a Dutch Masters flower arranging course, the resulting pictures were so stunnning I was desperate to have a go at recreating a similar sense of light and dark, fine detail and highlights. These early spring bulbs which posses such breathtaking beauty are perhaps slightly overlooked as we dodge the rain and hurry past against the biting cold. Brought indoors, with time to really look and appreciate them, their elegance shines through.

Once inside with our selection of flowers we decided to break them down into three groups; the crocus, the iris and the snowdrop type flowers. I think we could have very easily spent days placing them around the house to photograph. Allt-y-bela is such at atmospheric house, somehow though it always comes back to the older parts of the house, the medieval dining room with its massive stone fireplace and shining polished oak furniture lend themselves so freely to this style of photography.

The bulbs which are in flower now represent the beginning of the year in the garden at Allt-y-bela, there is so much to come, the thought is almost a little overwhelming. But this week, through the incessant rain and frost, these beautiful plants have emerged bringing with them a sense of positivity and hope for the coming year.

Plant information:

1. Left to right; Crocus subs. biflorus, Crocus tomasinianus, Crocus 'Snow Bunting', Crocus 'Cream Beauty'

2. Crocus 'Prins Claus' & Crocus tomasinianus

3. Crocus 'Snow Bunting'

4. Crocus 'Cream Beauty'

5. Left to right; Leucojum vernum 'Snow Flake, Galanthus 'Flore Pleno', Galanthus nivalis

6. Galanthus nivalis

7. Left to right; Iris reticulata 'Pauline', Iris reticulata 'Gordon', Iris reticulata 'Pixie', Iris reticulata 'Katherine Hodgkin', Iris reticulata 'George'

8. Iris reticulata 'Katherine Hodgkin'

9. Iris reticulata 'George'

10. Handtie of Iris reticulata 'Pauline', Iris reticulata 'Gordon', Iris reticulata 'Pixie', Iris reticulata 'Katherine Hodgkin' & Iris reticulata 'George'

Words: Steve Lannin, Head Gardener at Allt-y-bela

Photographs: Britt Willoughby Dyer

© Arne Maynard Garden Design 2017 - reproduction of content and / or photographs only by request.

7 November 2016

Burying treasure

As regular readers will no doubt be aware I am something of a fan of bulbs, or perhaps more specifically the flowering display produced by bulbs. Bulbs give you a huge amount of value for your time and monetary investment, especially the bulbs we use to naturalise and leave in the ground year round.

Last week we set about changing over our main containers from their summer clothes to their winter ones. There are few jobs in the garden which speak more clearly about the changes about to take place than the planting of bulbs in the autumn, it almost feels like an acknowledgment that the coming months are going to be very different than those which have passed but that there is a belief that when the sun returns these little packets of energy will burst into life and celebrate with floral fireworks!

We've worked our containers very hard this summer and they have mostly responded by giving us extremely large and abundant growth. A few pots however have become waterlogged and fetid. Over time old roots and debris have built up in the base of the pots and although we often replace the top soil we haven't been down to the depths and changed everything for quite some time. I won't bore you with the details of my emptying the pots, but one thing which was apparent was the care taken when mixing the previous compost and I was determined to do just as good a mix to replace it.

There are lots of things to think about when choosing a compost for containers, chief among them being creating a suitable environment for whatever you intend to plant. As our pots will have a wide range of different plants I set out to make a general mix which should provide a good mixture of qualities. We've made some particularly good compost this year and this along with some of our leaf mould became key ingredients. I also added a little grit, top soil and John Innes, mixing it all on a board until I felt happy with its consistency. I might also have checked with the boss, just to be on the safe side!

Over the last year we have started to build up and layer our seasonal planter display, hopefully giving a more sophisticated appearance and next spring will be no exception, in fact our plans are to have a more complex and coherent display than ever before. Our pots have a greater sense of sophistication too, we have picked a palette of plants and bulbs and varied the mix throughout the pots so that while they will all have the same threads through them, the pattern will alter.

The bulb choice is also a little different: this year we have gone for viridiflora tulips which have a flash of green up the petals in whites and apricot, and wallflowers in creamy white. I'm really excited to see the results. We've spent more time this year both in the planning and in the preparation of our spring display and there really is nothing like good preparation to give you the feeling of anticipation!

Words: Steve Lannin, Head Gardener at Allt-y-bela

Photos: Britt Willoughby Dyer

11 April 2016

Emerging beauties

Everywhere you look now there are signs of spring. Driving down the winding narrow country lane is becoming a joy again. A few short months ago it was a wet, muddy and occasionally dangerous affair with ice when it was cold and flooding when it was wet. The journey along it this morning was one of transition from winter to summer.

The wood anemones are beginning to bejewel the steep sides of the lane, the reddish tinge of their stems reflected in the warm blush pink of the underside of the young flowers. Dogs Mercury, wild primulas and the first brave bluebells hint at the abundance to come.

Arriving in the garden now, you are greeted with colour, the narcissus might be waning but en mass they are no less a spectacular sight. But the really exciting thing now is what is emerging amongst them; the snakes head fritillaries, which we have been flooding the wilder parts of the garden with, are starting to flower in the darker areas. We've had them for weeks on the sunnier slopes but it is on the common and along the drive in which the majority were planted and they have been giving me moments of quiet panic! There are tulips too, albeit yet to flower, but just seeing them in bud is enough for now!

We have tried a number of new crown imperial varieties this year which are, on the whole, really very beautiful. Fritillaria imperialis 'Early Passion' and F. imperialis 'Early Romance' are far more subtle than the usual harsh dark orange or daffodil yellow but are they any less smelly? To be honest I'm not sure, I've never really minded the smell, which causes some so much consternation!

The return of lush green growth has also meant the return of our old foe, slugs. With the warmth of the spring sun and the reemergence of so much life and joy in the garden right now I can even forgive our slimy mollusc friends for joining in this time of celebration and hope.

Elsewhere in the garden weeds are growing, as is the lawn, and with each mowing the garden is beginning to look tighter and more business-like. In the greenhouse vegetable seedlings are growing on apace and it feels like it won't be long before the kitchen garden is again groaning with produce.

In the bulb lawn our special Anemone parviflora have successfully made it through their first winter and sit like colorful beacons under the multi-stemmed apple trees. Tulipa clusiana are beginning to emerge in the bulb lawn tot and will soon be the dominant species before the long meadow grass takes over through the summer.

All through the garden signs of spring act like signposts on the way towards summer and while April showers remind us that summer hasn't yet arrived, the lengthening days and the warming sun spur me on in making ready for the better days ahead.

Words: Steve Lannin, Head Gardener at Allt-y-bela

Photographs: Britt Willougby Dyer