Mzzz B"s March Garden

RHS daffodils search for rare varieties. Click on Image to see all three.

The March Garden

It's about this time of year I get itchy fingers – the need to sow something takes over. But hold back a bit, we have had such a cold period and still having frosts , so only seeds that you can germinate on windowsills or in a greenhouse will work. But there are some seeds that need to be started early in the season like sweet peas, tomatoes, chillies etc.

But the days are getting longer and it has certainly warmed up during the day – so lots of things are starting to appear. The yellow of the daffodils and primroses, the crocuses opening up in the sun, are certainly very welcome to cheer us up.

The Royal Horticultural Society are looking for varieties of daffodil that used to be available but have disappeared from commercial cultivation and they are trying to find these varieties in private gardens – so check out your old daffodils and see if you have any that look like the pictures above. And if so the Society would be very pleased to know
. Go to their website. CLICK HERE. https://www.rhs.org.uk/science/daffodil-diaries

There are plenty of jobs to do in March

• Cut dogwoods(cornus), and willows down to the base to promote vigorous new growth.
• Plant lilies and other Summer flowering bulbs in pots.
• Feed Ericaceous shrubs like rhododendrons, azaleas, camellias and pieris with an Ericaceous fertilizer, and if you have yellowing leaves, try watering with a dilute feed of Epsom salts- it worked magic on a mahonia in a pot.
• Tidy up borders, as much as you can, removing established and newly germinating weeds,
• Sow tomatoes, chillies, sweet peppers and aubergines in pots in a heated propagator.
• Sow lettuce, parsley, celeriac, and celery indoors to transplant later.
• Protect greenhouse sowings of beans, peas, sweet peas from hungry mice, try sprinkling chilli powder on top of pots of seed and then place holly leaves around plants. You will have to render it after you have watered.
• Mow lawns once you can get onto them without paddling. and cut edges with a half moon cutter- it's amazing how smart this makes the garden look.
• Keep feeding the birds as the breeding season gets underway.
• Cut back winter flowering jasmine to encourage flowers for next year.

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