Stuck in the garden

We aren't really stuck in the garden but I suppose it has become the main focus of attention recently. Now we are into April more flowers are coming into bloom. Aubretias, cowslips, euphorbias and tulips are now putting on a colourful display but insects are still in woefully small numbers.

Euphorbias and tulips in the foreground, cowslips in the middle ground and

aubretia in the background. Our front garden, 2 April, 2020

One surprise has been the pasque flowers. Their numbers increase every year and now show a surprising range of colours. Salmon pink blooms are probably the most numerous.

There are plenty of these salmon-pink pasque flowers but they are not my

favourites. 2 April, 2020

My favourites are still the purple native forms and it is tempting to introduce a few into local meadows. The snag is that they do like a taste of lime but the local soils are slightly on the acid side.

The sumptuous purple of the native form is hard to beat..

A surprise has been the appearance of a white form. It did appear last year but we thought we had lost it, so its reappearance has been very pleasing. I have never knowingly bought a white pasque flower so it may be a natural sport.

Where this white form came from I'm not sure.

In my opening paragraph I bemoaned the current paucity of insects in the garden. Thymes, lavenders and rosemary should bring them in during the next two or three months but space is limited in our rather small garden. What I won't be doing is follow the advice given in the magazine of our local wildlife trust.

A good case can be made for growing cuckoo flower and holly - but why

nettles?

Once again we are encouraged to plant nettles in our gardens. Certainly they are excellent for the butterflies indicated (plus numerous bugs, etc).  But why? Nettles grow on waste ground in abundance and if the local authorities can be encouraged to limit their use of sprays there will be plenty of nettles available. I go along with Ken Thompson, who argues that growing them is quite unnecessary.

I have found Ken Thompson's book very persuasive and it would take a lot to make me change my mind. At the time of writing Ken was Senior Lecturer in the Department of Plant and Animal Sciences at the University of Sheffield; he knew what he was talking about.

Reference

Thompson, K. (2006) No Nettles Required  Eden Project Books