Tales from the Garden. Spring at Redcroft

We are now well in to Spring and the birds are singing here in Edinburgh. I think our lowest temperature this winter has been -5.4 degrees C. The frosts haven’t done much damage but Storm Eowyn on 4th January, and more high winds a few days later tore down several large branches and two of the four major stems of a very old lilac. We were lucky not to have trees down but there has certainly been a lot of clearing up. We are back to being cold after a welcome warm couple of days a week ago but we have had lovely sunshine which is good for photos.

This combination, taken on 27th February is a reminder of the recent past. The crocuses seem to have been better than ever and there is little to touch them now for intensity of colour.

I think my prize at this time of year goes to this Pulmonaria ‘Sissinghurst White’. Seen here behind the leaves of the Nerines on the south of the house, it starts flowering early and goes on getting better and better – it spreads and the flowers grow taller. You have to get rid of last year’s dead leaves and then do nothing else. It is unaffected by frost and you can divide it easily too.

Our rockery wants a bit of fine tuning to justify its name for the purists of the Scottish Rock Garden Club. Here amongst the moss is one of its earliest performers, Erythronium dens- canis, or dog’s tooth violet. Dens canis refers to the shape of the bulbs but I don’t know how it came to be called a violet. It has seeded itself in several different places. I love the combination of patterned leaves and delicate pink flowers. The flowers don’t last long though.

Anemone blanda also spreads itself and only opens like this in response to the sun. It has chosen the base of a fuchsia here, ignoring better spaces nearby.

In contrast these small irises tow the line. They are very uniform, perform in perfect unison, and there is never a petal out of place. This is Iris ‘Harmony’, one of many beautiful dwarf irises, (Harmony is a cross between a reticulata and a histrioides) mostly blue, yellow or purple – but I have a feeling that none are as disciplined as Harmony. Here there are 100 of them standing to attention at the front of a narrow channel as you enter our yard. The wallflowers behind will take over in a few weeks, together with wonderful Narcissus Pipit.

I have mentioned Pachyphragma macrophyllum before and I like it more and more. As it says in a magazine I came across, ‘A tough, shade-tolerant perennial, the round scallop-edged, green foliage may persist over winter. In spring, showy heads of small, white flowers appear on slender stems’. Also, it makes very good ground cover.

You know spring has arrived when Ribes ‘White Icicle’ flowers. It is a very reliable, robust, easy to prune shrub which will fit in anywhere.

You see around Edinburgh some beautiful Cornus mas mature trees covered in these yellow pompoms. This, Cornus mas ‘Aurea’ is described in The Hillier Gardener’s Guide to Trees and Shrubs as a large shrub. It was planted here in 2004 and has taken all this time to get to about 4 feet with these very spindly branches. This year it has flowered better than ever and I am pleased to have captured it in this photo.

We are making a few changes to our time-honoured garden opening formula this year. The date is Saturday 7th June, and this is about three weeks later than usual and the time is 4pm to 7pm. We are not offering tea but there will be refreshments. There will be a plant sale and we love seeing children and dogs on leads.

All photos taken recently at Redcroft. Anna Buxton 20th March 2025