No Pain, No Gain

The end of winter is signalled by the annual pruning of the Cornus "Midwinter Fire". This is grown for its bright orange and red stems which glow in the winter sunshine. To get coloured stems next year, it has to be cut down to a short stump each spring.

This drastic treatment also keeps the shrub small enough for the space, and allows me to get behind it to prune the yew and the ivy.

I am adding more red, orange and yellow plants to the border on the left of the kitchen door. This used to have a lot of herbs in it, but over time some of the herbs have died off, and there are gaps which need filling. I bought some achillea "Terracotta" and two oriental poppies "Beauty of Livermere" I've tried both of these before, in different parts of the garden, but they have always been defeated by slugs. There are fewer slugs this year so they may have a chance to establish themselves.

I've had this small hemerocallis in a pot for two years but last year it didn't flower well. I hope that by dividing it up and putting the pieces in the border, they will bulk-up and produce more flowers. Here is the original pot:

The second picture shows a section of the plant where I have cut through the roots and the last picture shows the three pieces in the ground.

This week, I had the first cherry blossom of the season - from a small shrub in a pot. This is the Fuji Cherry, "Kojo-no-mai"

The tulips in the pots have put on a growth spurt, and will be producing flowers soon. This view of the garden shows how green it is beginning to look, after a winter of looking very bare.