The second act

Now the early magnolias are over, helped by the fierce winds, we are just beginning the second act in the garden. Rhododendron falconeri and its hybrids are coming into flower as the earlier ones fade and cover the ground with petals. Here is Fortune- a cross originally made by Lionel Rothschild but also by the Gibsons and suitably named for a banker.

The rock garden is alive with small treasures. It’s great to see R pemakoense in the quarry untouched by frost. Erythroniums are everywhere, together with anemones, in places invading early primulas and need to be dug up and relocated. I’ve just removed a huge clump of the blue anemone Robinsoniana and will pot them for sale.

We hope that the rain will lessen and there will be time for some planting in the next couple of weeks- we have hardly started what we want to do this spring.