NG4 March/April 2022

Spring Flowering
Favourites
After a long winter it’s
wonderful to walk around
my garden and see signs
of my spring flowering
favourites getting busy for
a wonderful show.
Ajuga, (common name, bugle)
has kept looking good through
the winter but now the rosettes
of leaves are looking fresh and
glossy and I’m just waiting for
the first short spikes of blue
flowers to emerge. These are
unassuming plants that spread,
noninvasively, by sending out
runners much like strawberry
plants do creating ground
hugging clumps. They do
well in some shade but aren’t
that fussy. My favourites are
the bronze-leaved types like
“Atropurpurea”, the darker
“Black Scallop” and the reddish
“Burgundy Glow.” The flower
spikes are short and neat about
6in / 15cm tall. Larger and
more impressive is “Caitlin’s
Giant”. Ajuga are easy to grow
and propagate as the runners
root easily. They don’t seem
to suffer from any pests or
diseases.
Another tough and
accommodating spring flowerer
is lungwort (Pulmonaria). The
name comes from the belief in
the past that the spotted leaves
of some species resembled
the inside of a lung. Another
common name, army and navy,
is given because the wild plants
bear both blue and reddish
flowers at once, harking back
to the military uniform colours
of the time. Whatever the
name, the flowers are loved
by early flying bees. The plants
grow in sun or part shade and
prefer moisture. They do seed
a bit and are best cut back
really hard after flowering
as the leaves can be tatty
and sometimes get a bit of
powdery mildew. They soon
grow fresh, healthy leaves after
this treatment. Good varieties
include the vivid “Blue Ensign”,
the paler “Opal” and the pink
flowered “Mawson’s Red” or
“Dora Bielefeld”. One of my
favourites is “Cotton Cool”,
with almost completely silvered
leaves that makes a wonderful
foliage plant through the year.
Another lovely spring-flowering
foliage plant is Brunnera, a
relative of borage and equally
good for bees. The clumps
of heart-shaped leaves are
crowned with forget-me-not
like blue or sometimes white
flowers. Modern varieties have
introduced incredible silvered
leaves, either netted with silver
lines as in “Jack Frost” (blue
flowers) and “Mr. Morse” (white
flowers) or almost entirely
silver like “Looking Glass”. They
are best cut back hard in early
summer to encourage fresh,
new leaves.
Spring in the perennial garden
is truly something worth
waiting for with lots of easy to
grow flowers to perk up your
plots and beautify your borders.
Martin Blow
Janet & I organise Plant
Hunters’ Fairs, specialist plant
fairs at wonderful locations.
Please see
www.planthuntersfairs.co.uk
for a full list of all 30 of our
2022 plant fairs.
PLANT FAIR DATES FOR
YOUR DIARY 2022
Please check website for event
confirmation and ticketing
information before travelling.
Middleton Hall, Nr Tamworth
B78 2AE on Sunday 3rd April
Entry to Garden & Plant Fair £3
1620’s House and Garden, Nr.
Coalville LE67 2FW on Sunday
15th May Entry to Garden &
Plant Fair £1
Carsington Water, Ashbourne
DE6 1ST on Saturday 28th May
FREE ENTRY to the plant fair &
country park (small charge to
park).
Thoresby Park, Nr Ollerton,
Newark, Notts NG22 9EP
on Saturday 18th June FREE
ENTRY to the plant fair &
country park (small charge
to park)
Southwell Minster, Palace
Garden, Notts NG25 0HD on
Sunday 7th August Entry to
plant fair suggested donation
of £2