Spring Indoors

There's nothing more lovely than the start of spring. We've passed the 1st March, the official start of spring according to the Met Office and also the Spring Equinox, so spring is well and truly underway.  The daffodils are out in full force, tulips and bluebells are bursting through ready to follow and many spring garden plants like the forsythia, are either blooming or preparing to bloom. 

The weather is always so changeable in spring though, with warm sunny days where you can be outdoors and enjoy the garden and the birdsong to cold, wet, windy and even snowy days where it's not as easy to be outdoors for too long. This is why I love to have some plants and flowers indoors, to both cheer up the house on those changeable spring days and to reflect a little of the outside indoors. 

I find spring flowers so cheerful and uplifting and love filling vases of daffodils and tulips to spread a little spring cheer around the house. I also love orchids and colourful plants in the conservatory which add to the array of spring colours and make the conservatory a bright and sunny extension of the garden. 

Spring Plants and Flowers in April

The garden has burst into flower this last few weeks. It seems to happen all of a sudden as soon as the daffodils start to fade back. Here are a few that are out at the moment - those April ones that I always look forward to seeing. It doesn't stop now, the garden just becomes brighter and fuller as one plant fades and another plant buds as the days become longer and warmer. 

My young and deep pink magnolia bush is opening up.  I try and enjoy its flowers while they last - a strong frost and they can be burned and spoilt, but for now they're enjoying the sunshine and showers. 

The bluebells are up and coming out - these are the Spanish variety and they do brighten up my garden both back and front. They start on pushing through their shoots as early as January and it's interesting to watch them at each stage until they're out in full bloom. 

The pansies in my pots and baskets have almost bubbled up and over in full colour after those gloomy winter months when they flower and try to brighten the days, but keep being swept back by the weather. Now they're bursting full again as they feel the warmth of the sun. 

I love the golden forsythias and the bright white of the bridal wreath shrubs. 

Forget-me-nots always give a splash of strong colour, I tend to let them seed and run riot amongst the borders!

Quince is another spring favourite too with its pretty red flowers tumbling and spilling against the front wall - I like to see a glimpse of it from the front window. 

Lugwort always makes for some welcome bright patches of colour in the borders in this early part af the season. It has interesting spotted foliage too. 

Pretty clusters of saxifrage colour the front of the borders. 

My wallflowers persist in flowering all year round - through all the seasons, but they are putting on a really lovely show of colour this April. And the last of the daffodils just crossing over with the growth and new blooms. Most of them have faded, but I have a few late flowering types. The daffodils have lasted for ever this spring, which has been uplifting on the colder days. 

More April Plants...

There is so much colour now in the garden - the forget-me-nots have seeded themselves more and more and are making bright ground cover in all the empty nooks and crannies. The wallflowers have sprung back into life and will usually carry on flowering right through the season. 

The 'bridal wreath' shrubs or 'foam of May' as they are also known are in full bloom and look stunning. Geums we have planted here and there are also flowering and will continue to do so now as the summer comes and goes. 

Pink and white saxifrages are dotted around and have spread since we newly planted them and then divided them again last autumn. There are also some late flowering daffodils with multiple dainty flowers, as the earlier daffodils begin to die back.

We have a few more shrubs that I have to mention, as they add so much intetest to the garden at this time of year. A couple of forsythias add a strong yellow zest to the borders and we have a couple of small magnolia bushes flowering in crimson and pale pink, which I'm pleased about as they were recently planted and one didn't flower last year. 

That's the fun in gardening - it's hard work that pays off if you are lucky and you get to enjoy the delights and look forward to more. I'm hoping the magnolias will make spectacular specimen shrubs in years to come. 

A couple more plants that are giving so much pleasure in the garden at the moment are the forget-me-nots, white alyssum and the bluebells. Our first bluebells are flowering now, bright blue and fresh - they are in a sunny spot on the front garden, but we have many in the back garden in shady corners, which are now coming up fast on their heels. I always look forward to the blue bells. 

The garden really is so uplifting at this time of year, adding to the exciting anticipation of summer and warm days - and so far, so good with the sunny, milder weather!