I’m finding it really exhilarating to watch Spring unfolding in our garden for the first time. Trees and bushes are budding and blossoming and little green shoots are appearing in unexpected places, so that I’m wondering what plants are hiding under there that I didn’t even know I had! Among these surprises are dozens of grape hyacinth which are now in full bloom in the front garden, the snakes head fritillary which I posted about recently and dicentra, Bleeding Heart, which I was admiring in a garden centre recently, totally unaware that one was pushing its way up in the back garden.
One of the plants doing the best in the back at the moment is a stunning red rhodedendron.
It’s in full flower and sort of socks you in the eyeball as soon as you step round the corner! We have a few more rhodedendrons which are also doing nicely and providing bright splashes of colour at the front and back of the house. This pretty white one has a lovely delicate fragrance:
Rhodies weren’t traditionally a big favourite of mine, and I confess to trimming a couple of them quite drastically and yanking out a few of their azalea cousins in the autumn when I was tidying the beds up before the winter. However seeing their early displays of colour in our gardend also at Glendoick Gardens (more on this visit later) has definitely made me reconsider their virtues.
Finally, a wee photo of the fab little grape hyacinths – they’re such a gorgeous vibrant purple right now!
Julianne Robertson 