What fragrance?

In our garden, the Lonicera is in fine flower in 2012/02. I am told this has a honeysuckle odour, but I can never smell it, because its flowering coincides with my hay fever.

Week 2012/02 features some remarkable fireworks in the next street: some Hamamelis is flowering in the next street (pictured January 13, 2012), and of course planting it in front of a red brick house was the perfect way to show it to be best advantage:

Kerria Week

In English, some wag named Kerria plenifora "bachelor's buttons". Some people seem to have Kerria plenifora in full flower in Week 2011/17, but ours has only just been planted and is a little late. It is the blur of yellow at the bottom of the picture. The white behind it is Spiraea 'Arguta' and a John Downie apple tree. The main dash of yellow is of course Forsythia.

At left is a Berberis x stenophylla which seems to resent having been moved a few weeks ago: it is going smoky. Perhaps it is just the shock. It should be able to handle full sun. [It did: it survived.]

The grey trunk in the distance is the neighbour's walnut tree. The red is an azalea which I have not yet typed [and which later succumbed to sickness]. There is also a small white-pink rhododendron next to it, planted last week.

Here is the new growth of Pieris 'Red Mill' at the start of the week. Pieris flowers are not big eye-catchers: the new leaves in red are.

Amelanchier Week

A little earlier than other years, the Amelanchier rotundifolia attracts attention on Monday of 2011/16, seems to peak on Tuesday and Wednesday, and by Friday has already faded in the midst of the plant's new green leaves. A plan to plant Amelanchier ovalis has been held up by a lack of supply: my understanding is that this does not flower till much later in the cycle. By the end of the week, the Magnolia stellata has also lost all its flowers: just watering with the hose knocks them off. The brevity of these shows contrasts with the sturdy endurance of the daffodils. Spiraea 'Arguta' is a fine mass of hard white flowers. But Halimiocistus sahucii, which always has such a fine display of white flowers, looks all but dead after the winter.

Magnolia Week

I almost want to call week 2011/15 "moss week": the garden work has focussed on scratching a mountain of moss (about 400 litres of the stuff, hard packed in the bins) out of the lawn. The daffodils are looking fine on the street side and various cultivars of Forsythia are peaking. All along Stockflethweg, the big Crataegus are in glorious white flower (picture), which looks great now before the leaf canopy above them has re-established. The reference books say Crataegus monogyna never flowers till May, but the type that grows almost wild around here always blooms in April and is quickly spent . It certainly does not seem to be C. laevigata: this is the common European hawthorn. Very few branches of it are actually thorny, but the ones that are well defended have brutal splines about 5 centimetres long. The blossoms generally have six petals (pictured above). A Prunus on the other side of the street bursts into pink late in the week, but none of the Tulipa are up yet. Ribes sanguineum 'Atrorubens' has finally made it into bloom after long promise. Late in the week, our little Magnolia stellata comes into bloom. There are several of these in Stockflethweg, the biggest about 4 metres tall. Some tulip magnolias are blooming by the end of the week.

Forsythia Week

Thanks to a very warm weekend with temperatures topping out at 24 degrees on Saturday afternoon as we took part in Hamburg räumt auf, a city-wide spring-cleaning tidy-up campaign on the streets and in parks, the Forsythia has got away to an early start in week 2011/14. The purebred F. 'Linwood' was a couple of days earlier off the mark this year than the mongrel types we adopted from surrounding gardens. By contrast, the Abeliophyllum distichum seems slower to blossom. It is in any case much smaller than the vigorous Forsythia shrubs. The daffodils are also in full bloom.

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.

Budding Week

At the end of Week 2011/12, I go out with the camera and capture some fine close-up shots of what I cannot actually see with the naked eye: the new blossoms. This has been a picture-book spring, with nothing bursting through the gate in December because of five weeks of snow cover, but a mild first quarter nudging bloom times up to the earliest possible point. That means a great display of Jasminum nudifolium with big fat blossoms on its green strands: Chimonanthus praecox is also doing its display nice and early this year. It tends to be pale, and in a forest of bare twigs you may not see it at first, but the display is worth searching for:

Then there is the fine display this year on Cornus mas. We were impressed at big groves of this in the royal gardens at Potsdam, and our example seems to be coming up well. It flowers on the more mature wood: the newest tips do not have any blossoms:

And finally there are the buds of Ribes. Even before it comes into blossom, this fine little bush usually pinkens up over a period lasting about two weeks with these incredibly coloured shoots:

Hamamelis Week

With the Hamamelis back in flower in week 2011/10, we are reflecting on how it and its like can be better situated. In the bleak, washed-out colours of a winter landscape, it really needs a background of dark or saturated colour to stand out. In the midst of a motley, moss-addled lawn, it looks like more of the same. Hamamelis looks effective against a clear blue sky, and against a background of lush green yew. We may plant one in front of the Thuja on the front boundary, where it would at least cheer pedestrians as they pass, and perhaps an underplanting of Eranthis hyemalis, now coming out, would add to the delight.

Magnolia Week

Our tiny Magnolia stellata flowers at last in week 2010/16, and this is the week when so many other low plants begin to develop green buds. Forsythia is still at the height of bloom. It is handy to have several of them at the back of screens, where it can still be easily admired through the bare twigs in the foreground. Later those bare twigs will fill with growth. The Nipponanthemum nipponicum resembles Hydrangea macrophylla at this stage, with fleshy green buds quickly unfolding on the branches. Lilies have had a lucky start this year, with very little slug damage, but the Tulipa seem a tad late, only beginning to bloom late in this week. On April 19, one of the garden denizens, Flecki the rabbit, dies of a heart attack just after he has been syringed at the vet's. No doubt his odour tags will persist for a few weeks and be noticed by his surviving brother, rabbit Chip.

Forsythia Week

As we enjoy the Forsythia bloom in Week 2010/15, we begin to notice the extreme damage done by two solid months of snow cover. Leptospermum grandiflora, which I tried to bring through without winter protection, has died back almost to the base with only a few green outrunners at ground level. A few daffodils bloom, but those on the street berm seem to be all snatched away by young lovers as soon as they unfold, and there is not much to see. I notice one Pieris in the neighbourhood blooming, but this seems to be a no-show year for ours.

Forsythia Week

This looks to be another early Forsythia year: these shrubs are now well into a great display of yellow blossom in 2010/14. This is our first season with an Abeliophyllum distichum in the garden: it is sometimes called "snow forsythia". It has a very impressive, hard-white blossom. It is giving its name to this week. Some gardens and traffic islands are already showing impressive displays of daffodils, but ours are all holding back. And Pieris, which has flowered in week 14 in the past? This year it seems to be calling a bye.

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.

Budding Week

The gardens are changing fast in 2010/12 with daffodil green 15 centimetres out of the ground and tulips coming up almost as high, but neither is yet in bloom. The first flowers are on the Lonicera, the Jasminum nudifolium has resumed its display that broke off before Christmas and buds are evident on many shrubs. The crocus flowers (the field of the at right (photo taken March 18) shows of an area where we grew pumpkins last year) suddenly disappear when heavy rain knocks off the petals late in the week.

After the melt

And suddenly the snow melts, and spring begins in Week 2010/11. With the last piles of shovelled snow still standing after the three-month whiteover of the 2009-2010 winter, the crocuses are up, the white "snowbells" are about to open, the wonderful yellow Eranthis hyemalis are forming a carpet in a neighbour's garden (top) and the Hamamelis rushes into blossom in six bare days (bottom).

The mauve crocus seems to be the the most stubborn of these early bloomers: it grew (from seed?) in a ploughed-over bed, sending up shoots 5-centimetre within two days of the snow briefly melting in 2010/09, and surviving a dumping with 25 centimetres of fresh snow two days later.

Kolkwitzia Week

Key features of 2009/22 are Pyracantha and its sprays of white flowers and Cotinus, which has its auburn "wigs" towering over the dark red leaves, and Kolkwitzia amabilis with its sprays of more delicate pink flowers. Oriental poppies suddenly burst into flower. These grow well on our sandy soil, and most gardeners prefer the giant form to achieve the maximum colour effect. But two medium-height flowering Allium simply vanish: some predator - a slug? a rabbit? - has eaten the leaves and flower stems complete, and when I weed over the bed, I accidentally dig out the roots that are left.

Weigela Week

In fact, both of our Weigela began flowering last week, but by late in week 2009/21 the colourful effect is complete, and these two shrubs are simply covered with flowers. Weigela's natural habit is to look like a fountain, with arching fronds spreading from the middle, but with a little help from stakes, one can train it to become a little more cylindrical and vertical. This is also the week when we see the first of the Eschscholzia californica 'Mission Bells' poppies, and the other Sorbus, S. aucuparia, comes into fine white flower. Late in the week, Magnolia sieboldii shyly offers two blooms. A specimen at the Arboretum is altogether more generous, with a couple of dozen white blooms, but these magnolias are high-strung and not always reliable. At the close of the week, I plant a Magnolia grandiflora, which is vigorously unfolding new leaves, practically day by day. The leaves begin as tight white tubes, rather like roll-your-own cigarettes, which then unfurl to reveal a glossy green upper side.

Amelanchier Week

The arrival of spring has been so rapid this year that apple trees come into blossom in the middle of week 2009/16, while Chaenomeles bushes are also in delightful orangey-red flower (this is the Friesdorfer Typ 205 hybrid). By the Friday, after 16 days of dry warmth, even the Amelanchier rotundifolia has rushed into white blossom, causing this blog to skip a step this year: week 16 embraces two succession events, both the Magnolia and Amelanchier flowering. Amelanchier rotundifolia hits a peak midway through the week. One of the big occasions for Hamburg gardeners, the Pflanzenmarkt or spring market at the Kiekeberg farm-life museum, closes the week. This is always a delight because everyone who attends this rambling outdoor show is a plant nut, and the vendors are mostly specialists willing to talk at length about plant characteristics. I let myself be talked into buying a Magnolia grandiflora like one I saw a few weeks ago in New Zealand, although I may not even be alive to see it flower: many need 20 years to establish themselves in a new home before they produce a bloom. I also come home with a Romneya coulteri from K. Arborealis. Web research reveals that a "near" neighbour, Klaus Flintermann, up at Bordesholm 100 kilometres away, has created a Romneya website, and perhaps this will offer guidance. But I pass up the temptation to buy a New Zealand native, Corokia, which is not hardy enough for this Zone's winters.

Cytisus Week

In week 2009/20, the finest flowering effect comes from Cytisus. Pope Benedict is visiting the Holy Land and a news feature by Paul Badde in Die Welt informs us that the yellow of the broom bushes is succeeding the blue of rosemary flowers on Mount Herzl overlooking Jerusalem. It is good to know we are in step with one another. Here in Hamburg, the Syringa vulgaris is fading, whereas its relation Syringa hungaricus with its thicker petals is now flowering. Robinia hispida begins to flower late in the week, and Clematis montana becomes more perfect. This is the week when Hibiscus finally comes into leaf, and the crepe myrtle finally starts to green again after barely surviving the winter.

Sorbus, Week

Common Sorbus, with its white flower heads, is one of the dominant flowering trees in week 2009/19. Plainly, this is unfolding as a very different year from 2008. Laburnum is in full flower in week 19, and the Crataegus all white, whereas the Paulownia has failed this year to produce its blue flowers: we have to be content with the tufts of blue in the Rosmarinus bushes. Mid-week, Clematis montana comes into flower. This climber has an astonishing habit of bringing on all its flowers and once, yet they all seem to perfectly spaced and never overlap. It reminds one of ballet, with all the dancers perfectly positioned. Though the species is said to be happy with shade, at the close of the week, we see a healthy specimen romping over a rusty, chain-link fence at the Umweltzentrum Karlshöhe, a 19th-century country estate which is now surrounded by the city of Hamburg.

Syringa Week

In week 2009/18, we are a solid week ahead of the usual schedule, and Syringa vulgaris is back in flower, along with the different varieties of Prunus laurocerasus. We have three, or perhaps four, varieties of the latter growing here: a 'Caucasica' which I bought for its enormous, glossy, pale green leaves. Locally, there are people who plant Caucasica as hedges, which I consider an aesthetic disgrace, since the plants are so ungainly, so strange... so eccentric. They need a "normal" context - some rhododendrons, some perennials - so that you can appreciate their special character. Misusing them as a wall makes little sense. One cannot clip them into a flat surface, and they are too vigorous to keep as an unruly thicket. So I just have one, solitary Caucasica. It stands next to some Thuja, which allows it to enjoy its own showiness. Close by, at ground level, are a couple of 'Macrophylla' bushes. Their flowers are impressive, but I was not expecting their spreading habit, and am disappointed that they will not grow tall. Nearby is an 'Otto Luyken' which I was expecting to stay low. I have surrounded it with Astilbe and they seem to co-exist happily. Then there is a huge, very old P. laurocerasus of indeterminate ancestry. It may be an 'Otto Luyken' that curved up about 1.4 metres in height, but a more likely identification is that it is a 'Van Nes'. It has been remarkably robust, absorbing a couple of transplantings at an advanced age and now lives on top of a dessicated sandbank. Its only signs of stress are fungal attacks every winter that make its leaves look as if they have been shot through with small-calibre bullets, but it always recovers well in spring. The transplantings proved that it has a very shallow root system, andI shall be acting on that knowledge soon, using a Macrophylla to green up a difficult location above a soil drainage pipe. The general care advice is that all P. laurocerasus varieties should be pruned now, as they come into flower, so that they can recover during the summer. Out and about, we find that the woods finally turn green this week, and that the big Aesculus trees are putting up their candles. When one pays attention, one sees a lot of the peculiar little upward-pointing tufts that are the bud breaks of Cotoneaster x 'Watererii" or C. bullata. These shrubs seem to be out of fashion at the moment, as I hardly ever see them offered at nurseries, but one notices a lot of well-established examples. At my son's school, there is an enormous one, maybe 10 metres tall, with its long overhanging branches. The school probably dates from the late 1960s, so this one would be about 40 years old.