Gardening In The Time Of Covid-19*

I have felt a deep affection for our garden during the past ten years, so it's challenging to express how much more I presently love it as France completes its third day of lockdown while spring makes its much awaited appearence.

Foreground: off the patio white sweet alyssum, red tulip, abelia, irises, ivy-covered pergola pillar; background: lawn and that wide, brown smear is the asparagus bed.

Our larder and freezer is well stocked allowing us to refrain from food shopping (which is permitted but only if carrying a self-signed certificate printed from the government's website) which is mutually beneficial for us and others. But fresh can't be beat and the seven-year-old asparagus bed has begun in earnest last week popping out spears. Though their delectable taste lessens each day of storage, cutting off the woody ends (trimmings can be used for making stock), placing the asparagus upright in a jar with 2.5 cm (an inch) of water, and covering with a plastic bag keeps their flavour longer. In this way enough can be harvested to make a soup.

Rhubarb will soon be on its way.

In about a week, pea shoots will be ready for picking. Ah, fresh greens!

In about two months, raspberries born on last season's canes will be ripe. Once harvested, those canes will be cut almost to the ground, and new ones will grow enabling a second crop for September.

Strawberries will be ready by beginning of May.

I haven't planted any new tulips last autumn and hope what is in the ground will do their thing soon. Presently, there are single show stoppers like an Apeldoorn Darwin Hybrid bud peeking out in between an ivy-covered fence and a Leyland cypress hedge . . .

. . . and this sprightly Seadov Triumph tulip sprouting on the compost under a rusty pole . . .

. . . and finally this Purple Dream lily-flowered tulip gracing the front garden.

A sizable expanse of low-growing, evergreen periwinkle (Vinca minor) just off the front entrance staircase is full of their lovely blue blooms. 

À la prochaine!

* Yes, Love In The Time Of Cholera by Márquez inspired my post title!

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Book Review / The Tulip by Anna Pavord

Mostly Tulips But Also Periwinkle, Spiraea, Lamium & Ivy

As I dash around doing my late-day garden rounds, flashes of bright colour skim my peripheral vision, and though I know they are tulips which I planted with anticipatory passion last autumn, for a fleeting moment, I forget their identity and succumb to magical thinking that this swirl of pink, purple, peach, and white comprises a sentient presence of some sort. Garden fairies, perhaps? Here's hoping these shining, bright goblets of varied hues in our front garden bring respite to weary workers returning home via cars and buses rumbling past.

Also: Candytuft (Iberis sempervirens), Heuchera 'Stormy Seas', immature Lawson's cypress

Purple Dream Lily-flowered Tulips were mostly dug up this past autumn during my planting for this season's tulip display, but a few escaped my spade and graciously made a reappearance, though with slightly faded and smaller blooms. If an impressive presentation is desired it is best for fresh tulip bulbs to be positioned each autumn. However, to get a few more seasons from your tulip investment, plant them in a bed away from the public eye so if the flowering is lacklustre, it at least won't have the spotlight but still be enjoyed. It's best to dig them up after the foliage died unless they are in an area that gets no summer irrigation as to prevent them from rotting. Store in a cool, dark place until needed.

Miss Elegance Triumph Tulip is a favourite choice of mine because of its midseason blooming, ruffled edges, and delicate shade of pink.

Next season I will showcase them in pots as their smaller stature would benefit from the loftiness provided by containers.

Dordogne Single Late Tulips have huge pink and apricot blooms on tall stems.

They look gorgeous cradled in the fresh, green growth of the lavender hedge.

The golden tones of Dordogne tulips complement the colour of Blue Parrot Tulips perfectly as they bloom at the same time.  Next season, I am planning to plant them closer together. 

I always wanted to recreate a horticultural scene glimpsed several decades ago when we lived in California and have retained in my visual memory since then. The sight of a lushly planted expanse of evergreen periwinkle sheltered from the heat in a shady spot had caught my eye because the small blue flowers sparkled with a silky sheen as if they were stars in a night sky, all cool and welcoming. Like many perennials, they took time to meet the challenge I presented to them, and now, about five years after their planting, the original five plants have made an area of about 150 cm (5 ft) by 300 cm (10 ft) their home. The blooms have been going for the last two months! Their glossy foliage forms a beautiful ground cover year round.

Lamium galeobdolan is another perennial case in point. Several years ago three plants were placed a few feet apart. They are now covering a much larger space. Like periwinkle, their long stems root into the soil. The spiraea is drooping over the lamium, the lamium is grazing the driveway's low wall, and sweet violets have self-seeded themselves in the angle between wall and driveway. Great show!

Ivy covering perimeter fences, shed, and pergola has been duly given its spring clipping. And yes, it is yet another perennial case in point. There were a few plants scattered here and there ten years ago upon our arrival, and now lots of eyesores are covered in calming dark green, giving the garden much needed 'green bones' and privacy. If those benefits weren't enough, its berries are an excellent source of winter food for birds. It does need around 3-4 clippings a year and watering during the dry season to do as well as it has.

À la prochaine!

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Book review: The Tulip by Anna Pavord