Lonicera Week

When I planted the Lonicera, part of the promise was that it would delight passers-by with its scent. Now that it is blooming in Week 2011/13 I have to admit that it is at a fairly windy spot where only the most sensitive noses could catch its perfume. But the sight of the bush in blossom is a very attractive one. I have just planted a Daphne mezereum close to it, and its crimson-purple blossoms make a great contrast at this time. It is interesting that the giant Allium is already shooting up leaves. The slugs are not active yet, so I am able to protect it in due time with a plastic anti-slug fence. We are doing lots of work this week, slicing moss out of the lawn and hacking back the Pyracantha hard while there is space available in the "green refuse" bin for its nasty thorns.

Lonicera Week

Apart from a display on Lonicera, not a huge amount is happening in Week 2010/13. There is a faint hint of yellow on Forsythia, but the daffodils are not out yet. Perhaps foolishly I am clearing grass from a daffodil bed on public ground outside the garden. One risks a dog rolling on them or soiling the bed, no doubt with a stupid owner staring impassively as the damage is done.

Lonicera Week

During a few weeks away from the garden, I hear that a late March bout of snow is setting back budding. Returning at the end of week 2009/13, it is time to take stock of frost damage: the Phormium tenax in particular stayed green into February, but has now been completely ravaged and has gone limp. Its fellow New Zealander Libertia looks dry and yellow, but at least remains stiff. I clip back both to about 20 centimetres from the ground. Ribes 'Atrorubens' is getting ready to blossom with drupes emerging, and the first spring azaleas are in full flower. This is remarkable, as vireya rhododendrons and other late-flowering types are still in autumn flower in the same week on the streets of Auckland, New Zealand: a testimony to the remarkable adaptability of the magnificent, hugely various Rhodedendron genus. Early witch hazels have finished their run, but 'Jelena' is still at a peak of ripe flowering and Lonicera x purpusii (pictured) next to the street again provides a delicious vanilla perfume for passers-by as it climaxes. It may be possible to underplant this with Erica carnea, which begins to flower at this time: there is a fine example a few doors away.

Lonicera Week

The Lonicera x purpusii bush on the front fenceline is grabbing attention in week 2008/13 with its pretty flowers. This is an out-of-the-ordinary, woody honeysuckle, which jumps the gun and scrambles into bloom before most other plants. Sometimes it even gets into its stride in December before winter hits. Otherwise it comes on stage at the very start of spring. The Eggert nursery describes it as a hybrid of Lonicera frangrantissima and Lonicera standishii.