A very attractive plant in the garden at the moment is Polygonatum multiflorum, Solomon’s seal with soft green arching stems. Shortly the plant will produce small tubular white flowers along length of the stem followed by black fruit which, like all parts of the plant are poisonous. They grow well in woodland areas in light shade. There are many species of Polygonatum providing good garden plants, most growing to around 30 cms except for P. hookeri, one of the smallest just making 10 cms in height although worth having as it produces pink flowers rather than the usual white. At the other end of the scale P. hirtum can reach 1.2 metres and will have the normal white flowers. The plants spread…

I have in my woodland garden plants that are flowering now and for such an exotic looking bloom I find that they are surprising easy to grow. They are species of the Erythronium genus, commonly called Dog’s tooth violet due to the fact that the bulbs resemble canine teeth. Some species are also known as trout lilies. All Erythroniums are in the lily family and occur naturally in a wide range of habitats in Europe and North America. They do well in humus-rich soil in light or dappled shade and the bulbs should be planted at around 10 cm deep in autumn. Once established they make large clumps that can be dug up and divided to increase stock. Not only are the flowers eye catching but some species have attractive glossy mottled leaves often…

The best time to plant a tree, they say, is 25 years ago; the second best time is now. I have been lucky enough to have planted an arboretum around twenty years ago and now I am planting a second one, although I view this one as more of a park than an arboretum. The first one has become quite mature with trees like Abies veitchii, Prunus x yedoensis, Quercus palustris and Pinus armandii reaching heights of up to ten metres as well as…

A simple way to garden is to limit the plant species you wish to grow which I have done in my kitchen path garden, so called because the central path is made of old kitchen tiles. I have four types of plant genera plus two rows of Snowy mespilus, Amelanchier trees lining the path on both sides. In early spring Chionodoxa, glory of the snow, starts the season with their tiny blue flowers. This plant is well named as I have seen it flower with snow on the ground. These are followed by yellow daffodils, always a cheerful sight in spring. While they are still in flower the trees start to bloom with light pink to white blossom and their new leaves are also decorative with reddish-pink tones. After the daffodils fade blue Jacob’s ladder, Polemium caeruleum, takes over and flowers for most of the summer. At the far side of this area I have a few Iris…