In the garden: Planting pulmonarias

Pulmonarias (lungwort) are a woodland spring perennial. They contrast really well with other early spring plants and flowers such as hellebores, ferns and dwarf daffodils (see photo). The foliage is usually green and sometimes has white spots resembling a diseased lung, hence its alternative name, but don’t let this put you off. The plant is used to treat many respiratory ailments. Pulmonarias have pink/violet flowers which later fade to blue. They require a cool shady place and must not be left dry out in summer. If you don’t deadhead, seedlings will pop up here and there in no time.

In the vegetable garden I am harvesting spinach, kale and leeks. I grew green manure in one whole bed and will be digging that in soon. I am looking forward to reaping the benefits from the improved soil. My purple sprouting broccoli is coming on really well now despite having been under constant attack from caterpillars in the autumn. We have raked and cleaned up the strawberry bed. My next job is to cut down last years raspberry canes, which I will keep to support peas later on. I will also toss in heaps of manure around the raspberry plants for a better crop next year.  Tomatoes and chillies can be sown this month. I sow these in seed plugs for easy transplanting later. Leeks can be sown this month to give the earliest crops. You can make your own little pots for seedlings using a variety of material. Newspaper is ideal as it is biodegrable. Mould the paper around a wooden tool such as a rolling pin or you could use a small round jar. Recycle your yogurt pots, toilet roll tubes (also biodegradable) and baked bean tins for the same purpose, punch some drainage holes in the bottom of the tins with a screwdriver first. Biodegradable pots give the added advantage of allowing you to plant straight into the ground without disturbing the roots.

This week you could also: 

- Feed your roses a slow release fertilizer which dissolves slowly this will insure healthy growth, beautiful blooms and will give your plants the best chance of withstanding disease.

 - Cut back summer flowering clematis to the fat green buds developing lower on the stems. If you have one trained onto a trellis cut to varying heights so the new shoots will flower here and there rather than in the one spot. 

- Replant your indoor potted hyacinths, daffodils and other spring bulbs once they have finished flowering. Cut off the faded flowers but leave all foliage in place allowing to die down naturally. Water with liquid feed and keep an eye out for them next spring!

- Lift and divide snow drops.

- Check variegated plants and cut out from the base any plain green ‘reverted’ shoots.