Gardening

People are often complimentary about our garden, but there is no reason for this, unless, like last year, clumps of  scarlet tulips have come up like elegant soldiers on parade, and clouds of forget-me-not supply a contrasting blue. But how often does this happen? Tulips either come up once and disappear, or come up in ones and twos at different times. Last year's tulips seem to have disappeared, and this year's are going to come up at different times because I am experimenting with different colours.

The crocuses came up and didn't bloom because the weather is so grim. The shrubs are always reliable and they look as though they are perking up a bit. But the fact is, the best things in the garden are ferns, grasses and mosses. Today we split some ferns that have been too successful - let's hope they don't die! but it's quite likely as the operation they have had has been radical and merciless.

I keep getting rid of shrubs and planting herbaceous stuff, but the conditions seem to be wrong for the small stuff as it just seems to fade away. I guess I keep the garden centres going. Last year I planted crocosmia and alchemilla mollis, which was just lovely, and a peach coloured heuchera, and a sea holly, and it is hard to know if anything is going to survive except forget-me-nots, which always self-seed all over the place.