A new season in the dry garden

I’m besotted by the dry garden here at Lambley. In a quiet way it has been beautiful all winter long. The small miracles of the bulb world such as Iris reticulata, Narcissus cantabricus, Galanthus elwesii and all the others which flower in the coldest and wettest months brought such delight to this besotted nurseryman.

The first weeks of spring brings a plethora of flowers. Each and every day there is some new jewel to set the heart aflutter. The yellow-orange of Ixia maculate, the tangerine orange of Tulipa vvedenskyi, the graceful narrow petalled flowers of the wild form of Cyclamen persicum, the precursor of the florists Cyclamen, smaller in flower but so much more beautiful. Rhodanthemum ‘African Eyes’ with its silver leaves a foil for the chocolate eyed white daisies.

The tiny pink flowered Tulipa aucheriana, the main clump of which was stolen two years ago, flowering undaunted through a clump of Penstemon barbatus.

How blessed we gardeners are.

Some of the scenes and plants from a rewarding week in the dry garden

Rhodanthemum 'African Eyes'	Cyclamen persicum	Tulipa vvedenskyi 'Tangerine Beauty'
The bright torches of Bulbinella	Orizopsis rigida and Anemone coronaria	Euphorbia x martini 'Ascot Rainbow'
Cyclamen persicum	Tulipa aucheriana	Dry Garden in late afternoon