Rain, shine, rain, shine, more raining, more shining. Just make your mind up, is all I can say. April is over, we need a little more consistency and a lot more warmth. It has been a mixed week but, adding up the pluses and the minuses and the indifferent, a good week. If you want to see what the other SoSers have been up to, pop over to The SoS Hub and all will be revealed. Come on, let’s get going, there are eggs to be boiled.
First, the wonderful Dodecatheon meadia putting on the best display ever. The best for me, not in the world, I am not expecting a Guinness Book of Records representative with a clipboard any time soon.
Next Matteuccia struthiopteris, a gift from Welsh Ann last year. Another, perhaps unintentional, gift that hitched a ride was Inula hookeri. Both are lovely, one perhaps a little bit more of thug than the other. I’m not naming names, you know who you are.
Ever since I saw a bank of Uvalaria grandiflora at Hestercombe Gardens in Somerset I have wanted a little of the action. And here it is. Little, but definitely some action.
Every year I like to buy at least one inappropriate plant for my present circumstances. Last year’s contender was Enkianthus campanulatus. No regrets.
In the autumn I duly dug up my many (relatively speaking) dahlia and stored them in the greenhouse, dusting with cinnamon to combat rot, snuggly packed into crates with crumpled newspaper, checking them on a regular basis. I was especially anxious to get them out of the ground as the soil here is heavy and wet. The only one I didn’t lift was a large dark leaved, grown from seed, monster. Too big for cossetting. It seems it didn’t need it.
Finally, cuddling up against the weather, Tulipa ‘Copper Image’ and T. ‘Negritta Double’ doing what I thought they might do when I planted them. Now that’s a first!
All done, another six, still raining, have fun.
Off The Edge Gardening 
Loved reading this
Nice garden update! Love the photos of the Dodecatheon meadia and the Matteuccia struthiopteris. Looking forward to more updates.
Eamon
Easy Landscape Gardening
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Thanks Eamon, nice to meet you!
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I have the tulip Negrita (single) but the double is pretty cool too! Beautiful Matteuccia ! I tried to find Inula hookeri seeds but no good suppliers near me.
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Remind me about the seed later in the year.
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Nice idea ! Thanks.
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‘struthiopteris’ is such an illustrative word. I may apply it to my uphill cycling!
Cinammon for root protection… That’s also new information for me.
Did you enjoy the boiled eggs? Probably well forgotten at this stage.
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I haven’t had the eggs yet, OH has gone out to get the paper and is on breakfast duty when he comes back. First year for cinnamon for me, it seemed to work, I had very little rot. It is a wonderful word. I have just realised that I have replied backwards. Figures!
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Friend of mine mentioned that a small stick of willow acts as hormone to promote rooting. Used instead of powder. Must try it.
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I wonder might you investigate & confirm back to me please? What is the WordPress theme that you use? It’s the one that I want…
In any case, do not use valuable gardening hours to keep me happy. 😜
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It only took a moment. It is called Exford. 🙂
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Maith thú, a chara. Sounds very English! But I’ll update the state of play. Thank you.
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Gosh, Dodecatheon meadia is a stunner. Despite trying to adopt an I-couldn’t-care-less-what-happens-to-you attitude with my dahlias this year I must admit I was excited when I saw new growth appearing earlier in the week.
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I think that the abandoned ones like to prove a point. Especially if they are ones you are not too keen on and you secretly home they succumb. 🙂
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What a gorgeous selection of plants. I like the Dodecatheon and the Uvularia I think I’ve only read about in Gertude Jekyll’s books and not seen in real life. I would never have thought a Dahlia left in heavy ground last Winter would have made it through. It’s obviously a toughie. But you saved the best till last.
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What a lovely six. The tulips are a perfect pair. 🌷🌷
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If I were to eat cinnamon buns would it form a similar preservative ie beauty treatment, far better than being left in the cold! I shan’t hear any denials, my next bake will be cinnamon buns. What beautiful tulips!
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I planted Dodecatheon years ago but it succumbed to being too dry, leaving only a self sown Dactylorhiza that had hitched a ride. Some you win.
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If it was easy we wouldn’t bother. Saying that, this one has been in a pot for the last x years, with a handful of seaweed feed when I remember and a few encouraging words.
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A feast this week. Haven’t seen Enkianthus in years! Fab tulips. Hoping you get some warmth from here. We have enough.
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I thought you had some early Peony blooms but no, they’re tulips! Gorgeous!!
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Oh my! Tulips look like peonies! (. . . not that I have experience with either.) We tried Enkianthus of some sort on the farm. It was likely Enkianthus campanulatus. It performed well, but was discontinued because it was unpopular. No one knew what it was.
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