Gardener’s Corner: February 2025
January was colder than last year with an average temperature of about 4.5c but it was another extremely wet, and at times very windy month with around 6 inches of rain. The rain tended to fall in intense bursts and there were some lengthy drier spells that were great for gardening.
Many of the early spring bulbs appeared during the month despite a week of colder frostier weather and that was partly because December was very mild. February will bring carpets of Snowdrops and Crocus and the first daffodils and Magnolia flowers. The snowdrops will be at their best for our Snowdrop talk and winter garden tour on the 13th February (some tickets are still available)
February is the month for our Winter Borders to shine, they are such a cheerful splash of colour and structural interest even on the dullest, coldest days. If you visit you will be rewarded with beautiful, bright dogwood ‘Midwinter Fire’ with shades of red, orange and yellow. The dogwood ‘Pallida’ is bright yellow and underplanted with Hellebore ‘Harringtons Pink’ and Carex grass looks stunning.. Providing it does not dry out the witch hazel can be grown in a large pot. The dogwoods do require more space at the back of a border. I have attached a picture of the new winter border behind the Wells border and a beautiful early morning pink sky in the Community Garden last month.
This month we will continue to clear and prune within our beds and borders, finish pruning the apple and pear trees and where necessary start mulching at the end of the month. You can cut lawns on drier days and we cut all of our lawns in January. Jo will be busy with some of our volunteers giving the greenhouse a deep clean, this is the best time of year for that task. We look forward to welcoming you in February.
James Cross, Head Gardener