| My wife Annie has just discovered that I
thought I could get by without planting her ‘Matilda’ Poppies this winter, well
it seems I can’t. There is no substitute; I’m reliably informed. They are the
best cut flowers for winter and spring and nothing else comes close. Luckily it is still
not too late to plant poppy seedlings. I have
planted our ‘Matilda’ Poppies as late as mid June in 1996 and they still
flowered until Christmas Day, when out of kindness I pulled them out unnoticed. There are
other Iceland Poppies too I’m reminded by nurseryfolk, ’Spring Chorus’ is a
beauty Nick Smart tells me, but Annie wants ‘Matilda Poppies’ for her cottage
garden so she will get them.
Only trouble with compliance is that something has to go to
make room for the beloved poppies. That drift of "Soapwort" is looking
precarious. Yes there is no other option. You see gardening is all about compromise. Find
out what grows best in your garden and plant lots of them.
I did have a win this year with planting the new BPA
release of ‘Wild Silk Pansies’ though in stead of Annie’s favourite
‘Masterpiece’, but the consensus is that the ‘Wild Silk’ is charming,
but too blue and ‘am I surreptitiously moving to a blue theme garden?’ Annie
resists theme gardens. A cottage garden can be lots of things and ours certainly defies
definition. I love it because Annie loves it.
I find most keen gardeners love their toil. They love the
results, however modest sometimes. If your garden doesn’t please you… start
again. It is never too late. Poppies might not be your favourites, but Calendula,
Cineraria and Primula can all be planted now and they love our cool nights and wet winter
soil, with the sunny mild days and even our clay soil!
With all this love in the garden, just don’t loose
sight of the enemy. Slugs and snails are on the prowl and all your efforts with young
seedlings come to naught if you overlook the hungry little critters. |
