The only advantage of lockdown?

April 2020

Official advice is that keeping fit is now extra important and I’ve never felt more connected to the daily unfurling of fresh leaves and spring blossom as this has been a month filled with long walks and gardening.

I have been carefully nurturing a single pot of Tiarella cordifoila since last autumn. A plant I haven’t grown before which I had considered rather delicate, is miraculously thriving in a shady spot with fairly dry soil where very little else has flourished. Its bright spires of tiny, star-shaped flowers will carry on blooming till the end of July and its deeply lobed leaves with dark central blotches are equally attractive.

The ‘wildflower meadow’, that began life as lawn is now studded with cowslips and primroses but it’s the strange, spidery flowers of Tulipa acuminata that are the stars. Also known as the Fire Flame and Turkish Tulip this species tulip dates back to the early 1800s. Its curious, narrow petals are predominately yellow but tinged scarlet towards the tips and in mid-spring each flower opens with pointed, upward-facing petal tips.

What solace our gardens provide. I’m only too aware how lucky I am to have one to escape to in these uncertain times.