A Week of Contrasts

On the last day of March, we had a sudden afternoon thunderstorm accompanied by a flurry of hail.

As so often with these spring weather happenings, it was so local that our friends further west had none of it.

Now, just a week later, we have a spell of sunny weather and everything is bursting into bloom. 

The daffodils were already flowering and to my surprise came through the pummelling without any visible damage. 

My favourite grape hyacinth, two-tone blue Muscari latifolium has emerged underneath them to make a cheerful combination of colours.

A variety of different primulas scattered about are are making bright patches where later perennials have yet to break ground.

The first to bloom are a couple of fat little doubles that hug the ground in tight clumps. I find them a bit lacking in elegance but the fact that they are so early and flower in such profusion without crowding their neighbours has led me to acquire a number of different varieties.

Primula 'Sue Jervis'

Primula 'Dawn Ansell'

The blue flower accompanying 'Dawn Ansell' is Anemone blanda, one of several wood anemones I've collected. It pops up virtually overnight around the beginning of March and sticks around until it's overtaken by the more delicate Anemone nemorosa 'Robinsoniana', a paler lavender-blue.

Anemone nemorosa 'Robinsoniana'

Going briefly back to the primulas, I've been charmed by 'Lady Greer', another delicate woodlander. The opening petals have a slight pink blush that fades to cream.

Primula' Lady Greer'

It's in the same bed as some trilliums, but luckily not too close as I think their crisp white petals on stiffly upright stems might make 'Lady Greer' look less ladylike.

Trillium grandiflorum

Lastly, a small triumph for me this spring. I've never had much luck with snakehead fritillaries, but for once I've been rewarded with two small flowers on Fritillaria meleagris. Behind them is Heuchera 'Sugar Plum' in similar colours.

Fritillaria meleagris