In the garden: Yellow plants having their day in the sun

‘April showers bring May flowers,’ or so the saying goes - and rain showers have been the order of the day this week after a fortnight of glorious spring sunshine and dry weather.

We do need some rain now, with deciduous trees and shrubs coming back into leaf, it is a welcome arrival.

It seems to be happening a lot the last few years, that we get a dry spell just as the trees are coming back into leaf, which results in a staggered unfurling of foliage.

Growth is beginning to get into full flow now, with grass growth also gradually beginning to get going, although the lower night time temperatures serve to keep growth in check.

Weeds too are gaining momentum and it’s important to attend to particularly perennial types like dock roots, nettles and dandelions in cultivated growing areas as they will benefit from any mulching and feeding if not removed now.

Seed sowing has gone into overdrive now that the temperatures have come up and virtually anything that you can think of can be sown from now on really.

Squashes, pumpkins and French beans are the seeds that come to mind for me that need to be left the latest, as they germinate quickly once sown and then need to be transplanted out into a frost-free environment when they are grown on a bit, and this does not happen until well into May really.

Before going too crazy with sowing, do consider the protected space available as there are four-six weeks left when plants will require protection after pricking out to ensure they do not get damaged and stressed by lower outside temperatures.

Our native holly trees and bushes are suffering from die-back and disease in many locations and I had noticed a young holly tree planted in a hedge had become sparsely branched and now is dead lower down, with a few living branches at the top.

This is as a result of a fungal disease called phytophthora ilicis or holly leaf blight. It appears as dark brown patches on the leaves, which can be hard to see against the dark green colour. These eventually lead to leaf and branch die-back and blackening of the stems and leaves.

The disease is spread by fungal spores in water or wind-blown rain and is possibly carried by birds and animals also. The effects of the disease will be most noticeable after cold and wet weather, so now, after winter, plants will look their worst and display obvious symptoms.

It seems to work its way from the bottom up with spores being splashed upwards as disease spreads.

The best control is to cut out any infected branches and collect any fallen leaves and dispose of them carefully.

I plan to cut down the holly tree completely to the ground and clean up any fallen leaves at the base and mulch with garden compost in the hope that the plant will regenerate from the base.

Holly is such a valuable native plant, supporting wildlife, providing structure and texture in the garden and wider landscape throughout the year, and versatility in size and shape.

Holly can be grown as a hedge or a specimen topiary feature and can also reach the height of a small tree if allowed the space and light. It will tolerate full sun and heavy shade, and is often found growing in the understorey of woodland.

Plants are always facing new challenges, and with climate change thrown into the mix, creating stressful growing conditions, it is even more important that we have an understanding of the challenges being faced by plants and do what we can to resolve and help overcome difficulties where possible, particularly with our native plants, which make up such a huge part of the landscape and ecosystem that we live in.

Another native plant appearing in the hedgerows right now is the common primrose, or primula vulgaris.

It is a great competitor, establishing itself among rough grass and producing butter yellow edible flowers and foliage in abundance in springtime.

When the use of weed-killers is eliminated, then these perennial rosette forming plants will establish themselves in numbers, creating a golden carpet in springtime.

Yellow flowers really are the order of the season in spring, with daffodils, dandelions, primrose, celandines and buttercups all alerting early flying pollinators to the available food source residing within their flowers.

Yellow is one of the colours most easily identified by pollinators, and early in the season they need all the help they can get in sourcing food.

Plant of the Week

Tulip clusiana ‘Cynthia’ is giving it socks right now, basking in spring sunshine when it appears and creating a star-shaped flower with its petals opened right back to maximize on those rays.

This bicoloured tulip is coloured rose red on the outer petals and pale yellow inside. The flowers close in duller weather, creating a narrow tubular shape, and open in sunshine, greeting its arrival with much enthusiasm and changing the appearance of the flower completely to a dazzling star shape as shown.

It is a great tulip bulb for naturalizing, reappearing each year in greater numbers when given the right growing conditions, which are free draining soil in full sun and a sheltered location to grow best.

This bulb has grey strappy grass-like leaves and the flowers get to a height of 35cm reaching for the sun!

A cheery spring addition to the garden for sure.