A few sunny days and plenty of rain and our Spring Garden has burst into life. I’ve deliberately kept to a simple colour palette because as you know I tend to go a bit mad with a riot of colours in our summer and autumn planting schemes. It’s quite unlike me to be tasteful so I like to make the most of it at this time of year!
The year starts off with Snowdrops… nothing fancy just the common Galanthus nivalis and lots of them. Hyacinths and Hellebores (all shades of pink) and Primula vulgaris in palest yellow follow on as soon as the Snowdrops fade and then it’s the turn of the blues… Anemone blanda, Crocus, Muscari armeniacum and deep blue Pulmonaria add a nice contrast to all the pale lemon and ivory plants.
At first everything is low growing and mound shaped and then the daffodils start to push their way through.
I must confess that I do grow bright yellow daffodils elsewhere but here in the Spring Garden I’m sticking to my tasteful theme and pale cream and ivory are the order of the day. My favourite Daffodil is Thalia. It’s multi headed and quite relaxed in habit which fits nicely with the relaxed feeling in our garden. Sometimes plants can be too straight and upright don’t you think? Especially in a country garden.
What’s really lovely about Narcissus ‘Thalia’ is that it multiplies by forming new plants within the same clump and also self seeds speading around gently. They soon begin to look as if they have been spread by nature… which indeed they have. Like most daffodils Thalia is easy going and will grow in most gardens. They do best in full sun or in the dappled shade under mature trees or deciduous shrubs. You can grow them in containers and they are great for cutting too. They will last about a week in a vase indoors.
If you missed planting Daffodils last autumn don’t worry. They are available now for just a few £ at all good nurseries and garden centres.
Do you grow Daffodils in your garden?
I’d love to know which variety you prefer.
Happy Gardening. Gillian 😉
I love Thalia and have decided to buy some to plant under the dahlias in the cuttings garden. I can’t naturalize them here because they need summer moisture so under the dahlias works perfectly; making use of the space and the narcissus get enough moisture. Your spring garden must be a picture of beauty right now. Enjoy spring Gillian.
That sounds like a good plan Christina!
So gorgeous! We can’t really grow daffodils here in Texas, unless we pick out the bulbs and chill them artificially. They will do okay for a year or two but then they sort of disintegrate. So I really appreciate how beautiful yours are!
I must admit that we’ve had such a mild winter that I wondered if all the daffs would have very short stems. It seems that we just had sufficient frosty nights to produce nice long stems and lots of blooms. Thanks very much for your comment.
Which daffodils do I prefer? Yours!
Ha Ha!
Gillian, I like the floppy narcissus the best. I don’t want my garden to look too perfect, I like more of a cottage garden look, a little unruly! I will go to the nursery this week and see if I can find Thalia! I have never had any daffodils in my garden, but I think now is a time to start them, don’t you?
I’m sure you can squeeze a few in… you could even grow them in a nice patio container for a couple of years.
I love your soft color palette. So lovely! ‘Thalia’ is definitely one of my favorite narcissi. ‘Pipit’ and ‘Minnow’ are two others.
Thanks Eliza. I don’t have Pipit but I do grow Minnow (in the picture with Muscari on this post) Just looked at some images of Pipit… they look very attractive with their very pale yellow centres.
And the are sweetly fragrant, too. 🙂
I love the fact you put so much time and effort into your colour scheme. Before reading your posts l was a chuck it in anywhere gardener but now l spent a lot more time thinking about where things should be. I have learnt so much for your posts. Thanks so much for sharing.
Hope you have a wonderful day:)
Have a lovely day yourself Chantal. Thanks for your message. I’m happy you feel inspired!
Thalia is one of my favourites too, so elegant.
Mine too!
Such beautiful photos Gillian and I absolutely love the soft color schemes. Sadly we can’t grow many of the bulbs I remember from England and I miss them. Thalia looks so lovely!
– Kate
I’m sorry you can’t grow them Kate… they are gorgeous. Luckily for you there are lots of advantages to gardening in a warm climate and I’m sure many UK gardeners are wishing for a bit more sunshine. I certainly am!