Sea of Blue Muscari, with Bronze Heuchera and Tulips
April's the month when we emerge from the long grey of winter and early spring. Even if the weather is cold and changeable, the hedge rows start to burst forth. First the white Blackthorn blossom and slightly later the first lime green shoots on the Hawthorn bushes. We can say April is a true spring month. For some it sees the last of the frosts but here we can, and should, expect a sneaky frost right up until mid May. For gardeners it's usually a busy month. There's much to be done getting seeds sown, plots weeded, lawns their first cut. It's easy to overlook the here and now in the plot, planning for bigger and better things later in the season. But April itself can be a stunningly beautiful month in the garden.
It does, of course, take some planning. There are many gardens with a flurry of daffodils in March and then maybe just a few tulips at some point in April and that is pretty much it. Garden centres tend not to focus too heavily on April flowers, knowing all too well that the big money is getting us to pay for summer bedding and preferably several times over if we go for it too soon and the frosts get it. So plan we must otherwise we are stuck with an early gap in the garden's flowering year.
Deep Red Rose Shoots Add to the Garden Colour
Like with any month, planning colour in your garden needs to take account to the different layers of planting. Trees, shrubs, herbaceous and the low layers (usually bulbs and small perennials). At his time of year, the herbaceous is often missing or certainly more sparse. Many plants just haven't had the time to grow since the dormancy of winter. This means there are more likely to be gaps. Remember though that green itself is colour and many herbaceous plants will be growing strongly producing leaves and shoots in all shades of green providing the perfect backdrop for the lower layers. Plants such as roses, which flower much later in the season, will be producing deep red shoots, a perfect contrast colour to be worked with. If you plan your shrubs carefully, there are those that are worth growing for their April shoots alone. The Spirea family have many of these; I'm a particular fan of Spirea Japonica Gold Flame that has red brown shoots or Plumtastic (a newer variety) with deep plum tips on the leaves (and later beautiful cerise pink flowers). Similarly, the Physocarpus Opulifolius have fabulous early spring shoots in deep reds and bronze (these later become a flower arrangers dream contrast foliage).
Streams of Primula
The season's showpiece is that lower layer. Now, unless you're particularly keen to survey your plot on your hands and knees in chilly April, for impact, you should be considering some mass plantings. Depending on your space it might only be a group of three plants or it could be a whole drift. Single specimen planting can have impact but is probably not for this scenario unless perhaps you're going for a burst of a strong contrast colour. When choosing what to go where, consider that in April the trees do not really have full leaf coverage and so much more of your garden is going to be in sun. This opens up possibilities that will not be there later in the year. You'll need to consider what happens to the plant later in the season. For example, the humble primula. I love this and have many particularly of the native pale yellow variety, but I can't resist the deeper coloured hybrid cousins either. These like a bit of sun at this time of year and enjoy a sheltered spot. Mine have chosen an east side of a wall. This spot would be too hot and dry in summer but fortunately nearby trees provide enough shade when their canopies form to prevent the primula from shrivelling completely. Other beauties will just die back entirely after flowering and this applies to the many of the bulbs - our biggest challenge here is remembering not to dig them up later in the season. It just takes a bit a thought. My recommendations for en masse April plantings in the lower story are as follows:
Primula (as mentioned above) the bonus is they will gently self seed when they're happy creating an ever bigger drift that you can divide and move around the garden.
Cowslips - a native perennial and one often associated with grasslands but they do well in my garden and self seeds happily. I keep them away from my primulas as they will cross pollinate. These have bright but delicate yellow flowers on a slightly taller stem than the primulas.
Pulmonaria - By April, these girls have been flowering for some time for me. But in April they start to fill out and stand out. Deep blues, pinks and whites are a welcome sight.
Heuchera - these will not be in flower for some months, but with heuchera its all about the leaves these days anyway. Many have been bred for their stunning foliage colour and they are starting to grow again in April giving a new lease of life to any winter leaves that have made it through.
Lamium Maculatum (dead nettle) - this is a useful ground cover with delightful silver leaf markings and deep pink flowers that start to appear in April. It can easily be pulled up if it over reaches but well worth its place.
Bergenia (elephant's ears) - there are many varieties of this and often they remain evergreen all year around. I've always found them quite a messy plant, yet in April, all is forgiven as the new leaves appear and with it the flowers. The colours range from deep pink, almost red to white.
Geranium Phaeum - this is a herbaceous plant and only really starts to flower at the end of the month earliest. That being said, the leaves with their deep purple markings are up and about in April and a welcome sight. This will self seed but again I don't mind this. Pull up if it's a problem. I love the deep purple coloured flowers but I also have some of the white and there's pink too.
Epimediums (barronwart) - this is a big family of plants and is often celebrated for its love of dry shade. I cut the leaves off in winter so that the flowers can be seen in April. It will happily spread slowly. There are a great many varieties with flower colours from yellow, orange, white, pink and red.
Centaurea Montana - this is another late in the month flowering herbaceous plant. Sometimes known as Twelve Disciples (who knows why) and part of the knap weed family. These often have bright blue flowers of unusual shape. I've included them in the en masse planting list as they will self seed and they are quite the space hog unless you stake them well (which invariably I fail to do properly). They're great value though as once they start flowering, with a bit of deadheading, they'll be going well into the summer.
I have a few other low layer plants that are worth a look too that are not spreaders. My absolute favourite has to be Brunnera. There are several different varieties, all with different leaf markings. They have fabulous blue or white flowers that look a lot like forget-me-nots except they grow as a clump plant and are perennial. I have several of these and where certainly a hit the first time I opened my garden for charity. I'd also add Dicentra (bleeding hearts) to this list of my favourites. I personally love the white one which is so much tougher than it looks. They are fleshy and herbaceous but as long as they are not in too warm a position, they'll be back each year.
Cowslips and Bergenia Leaves
Slightly more tricky to grow for me and quite a bit smaller are Pulsatilla (Pasque flower). The flowers are gorgeous but the seed heads are worth a look too. If you like a traditional rockery, these are your stars. Talking of rockery plants, many saxifrage flower in April. These form small moss like mounds but can have striking little flowers. I love a bright cerise pink for this time of the year as it stands out. These rockery plants would be described as Alpine plants and there is a wide range to choose from. I particularly like some of the Erodium family. Their flowers are small and with some of our heavy soil, I quite often favour these in pots. With these Alpine/rockery plants soil is likely to be the biggest stumbling block. They need fast drainage and quite honestly would prefer a gravel garden type setting.
Centaurea Montana (Twelve Disciples)
Many of us associate April with spring bulbs and indeed a great deal of colour in the April garden comes form them. It can be a bit tricky as a warm early spring can result in many of the bulbs being over early again causing a tricky gap in the season's colour. I personally choose mainly late flowering tulips so that their season runs up to the allium season in early May. I have tulips planted in the garden, some of which are almost perennial but that is more of a rarity. Often tulips need to be replaced each year to keep flower production up. They are worth their show though. Hyacinths are more reliable and great for some striking colours early in the month. For me their scent is only bearable outside, but it's a welcome part of a sunny spring day. I love muscari (grape hyacinths)and use them as a drift planting under the newly cut back Cornus (dogwoods). I also love narcissi and in particular the later flowering varieties that often have smaller multi flowered stems. I do think these are good investment as they are a very reliable bulb, returning each year. Later in April there are Camassia, which are great for heavy soil and Bluebells. I will confess that we have both the native and Spanish varieties in our garden.
The Long Border in April
If you are still in search of colour for the April garden then perhaps some Spring bedding is for you. Wallflowers are often at their very best in this month and now some of the short-lived perennial varieties such as Bowle's Mauve will flower all summer too (and next too probably!). The traditional winter pot bedding of violas and pansies come back to life in April and will flower their hearts out until it becomes too warm for them. I personally prefer violas for their funny little faces.
There really is colour galore available for the April garden. It just needs someone to know where to look.
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