Spring seems to be everyone’s favourite times of year. New beginnings in the form of the spring bulbs and emerging blossom on our trees helps to wake us from our winter hibernation with a smile. Mother nature starts to wake from its winter slumber bringing with her longer and warmer days which are ideal for getting out in the garden. Don’t be tempted to plant tender plants out too early though but make sure to make the best of the sunny spring days and sow those seeds, plant those plants, generally potter around getting your garden ready for the summer months to come.

If you were to say ‘wallflowers’ to most people, they’d think of the spring-flowering bedding plants - Erysimum cheiri for example. But there are also numerous short-lived perennial types that flower for several months in spring, summer and even well into autumn, such as the very popular Erysimum Bowles Mauve.

Erysimum Bowles Mauve provides a wealth of colour to beds, borders and containers, producing delightfully scented flowers. It’s a bushy evergreen perennial growing up to 75/90cm, with narrow, dark grey-green leaves and erect racemes of beautiful mauve flowers about 2cm across. It was shortlisted for the Chelsea Plant of the Centenary for the decade 1973-1982 and it positively thrives in the gardens located around the South Downs National Park.

In fact, Erysimum is found in a range of habitats across the northern hemisphere and has developed diverse morphology and growth habits (herbaceous annual or perennial, and woody perennial). Different Erysimum species are used as food plants by the larvae of some butterflies and moth species. Many species of beetles, bugs and grasshoppers eat the leaves and stalks. Most wallflowers are pollinator-generalists, their flowers being visited by many different species of bees, bee flies, hoverflies, butterflies, beetles, and ants.

All wallflowers prefer to be grown in full sun but will tolerate light or dappled shade. For best results they prefer fertile soil enriched with lots of organic matter which holds plenty of moisture in spring and summer and doesn’t dry out or become waterlogged. However, they will tolerate poorer soil too, and you could add a general or high potash granular feed to the soil before planting out.

To care for wallflowers: keep the soil or compost moist, especially when plants are flowering. Regular liquid feeds will help prolong the flowering period. After flowering, cut back perennial wallflowers to keep them compact. This, along with liquid feeds, will also help encourage further flushes of flowers well into autumn.

Erysuimum Bowles mauve is a great little plant that works well on its own as a specimen in a pot. It also looks great in a mixed planting scheme and if mixed with the Orange of something like Geum Totally Tangterine of the Lime Green of Euphorbia you will get a striking contrasting combination that will provide a dramatic display in your borders or pot displays. While its not the most long lived perennial its definitely one that’s worth including in the garden and will bring a little bit of something special providing colour and interest for months of the summer season.

Jobs to be done in March:
Ornamental Garden:
• A general fertiliser could be applied over borders if felt necessary. If leaves look yellow on shrubs then give them a folate feed (liquid feed via watering can).
• Aerate lawn with a wire rake if mild and not waterlogged.
• Remove any dead, diseased or damaged growth from trees and shrubs.
• Finish mulching if not done in Autumn.
• Put manure / rose feed around all roses and check for dead, diseased or dying shoots.
• Deadhead bulbs regularly.
• Now is a good time to plant new Perennials and summer-flowering bulbs, top-dress all containers.
• Weed regularly.
• Edge / define all borders if not done already.
• Plant Roses.
• Sow hardy annuals for summer colour.
• Repair damage to lawns if necessary.
• Harden off hardy annuals sown under glass.
• Cut back any remaining growth from herbaceous / grasses left over from the winter.
• Divide summer flowering perennials like astrantia, hemorocallis, hosta etc.
• Coppice dogwoods / willows etc if not done before now.

Vegetable Garden:
• Prune Gooseberries and red and white currants. Remove deadwood and then spur prune all sideshoots back to 2 – 3 buds from the base. Shorten branch tips by one quarter.
• Direct sow shallots and onion setts.
• Harvest the last of the winter crops and compost any un- diseased debris.
• Sow aubergines, cucumbers, tomatoes and chillies in an indoor heated propagator.