Into the Garden (March)

As winter gives way to spring, the garden truly begins to come to life. March is a wonderful month in the garden, as colour hidden away through the winter starts to creep through. The first burst comes from the daffodils, which spread through our gardens and woodlands like a golden carpet.

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Come spring, flowers of all colours return to our gardens

If you didn't plant bulbs last autumn, visit your local garden centre for instant colour and choose from the many varieties of ready-planted bulbs. Remove them from their plastic containers and plant them in your borders, or simply in terracotta pots for an instant burst of vibrant colour.

Choosing a Spring Colour Palette

Spring is traditionally all about yellow, but a more elegant palette of mauves, purples and burgundies, offset by lime green and silver foliage, sets the scene for a summer border in waiting. These colours work beautifully in the golden spring light and bring excitement to the border.

Keep the planting simple: choose three or four different plants and plant them in odd numbers, from three to nine, adjusting the number to the size of the border. Avoid straight lines; aim instead for a wave effect, with the plants slightly separated from each other.

If space is limited, the same palette looks just as good in pots. Soften the edges with plenty of trailing ivy, which links the container to the ground.

Plants to Choose

• Tulipa ‘Arabian Mystery’ - Flowers in late spring, deep mauve with a silver edging to every petal.
• Centaurea ‘Jordy’ - A perennial cornflower with dark purple flowers and soft grey-green leaves. This is hardy and will flower from May until autumn.
• Viola ‘Belmont Blue’ - A long-flowering, pale blue perennial with delicate flowers. This will flower from April right through to autumn.
• Euphorbia polychroma - This produces striking acid-yellow flowers from mid-spring onwards.
• Artemisia ludoviciana - This is known as white sage and has silver leaves that are aromatic and distinctive to look at.
• Stachys byzantina - ‘Lamb’s Tongue’ - One of the most popular evergreen perennials which has woolly silver-grey foliage with mauve-pink flower spikes in summer.

Welcome the new season with this striking combination of mauves and purples against zesty greens and silver foliage, and enjoy your March garden as it awakens.