A useful amount of rain this week and although it was cold there was no frost. Today I planted all the plants that have been waiting until I dug up the next area of lawn which I completed last weekend. It now looks like it will be dry for a while, so I will probably have to water the new plants until they are established.

I'm quite pleased that there is no gap this year between the early spring flowers and the main summer flowers, I still have daffodils and tulips out and the next round of flowers are already beginning to bloom.

Here is this weeks Six on Saturday, six things in the garden today, see the Propagator blog for a whole heap of other Sixes.

1 Tulipa 'Ballade'

This is the final tulip to flower for me. It has lasted well, perhaps as it hasn't been so warm …

You can compare with 2018 or 2017

The month started with a small covering of snow on the 3rd. There were 3 days when the temperature dropped below zero (which is more than February which only had one) with a minimum of -1.5C and the maximum temperature was 23C over the Easter weekend. So a very mixed month weather-wise. Not a lot of rain, only 2.8cm recorded on 9 days.

Flowering

Daffodils and tulips were the main focus of the month. I am pleased with the new ones I chose last year.

Here is Tulipa schrenkii

Three 'Orange brilliant' and two 'Cape cod' tulips. These returned from last year. These were the only two of the 'Cape cod' that flowered this year, and the leaves are being eaten just like last year, this may be why they are not doing well.

The double tulips that I planted when …

Six on Saturday is hosted by The Propagator blog and here are my six this week. Lovely warm day here so getting this out quickly.

1 Daffodils

I don't know what these are, they are supposed to be 'February gold' but those are all yellow. So they could be 'February silver' which might be the easy mistake to make, but since they are so late flowering they could be just something else entirely.

The trumpets are a pale yellow when they first open and they later darken to a creamy orange. Some of the stems have two flowers although most are single.

I like them so am not complaining, and in fact I was somewhat wishing that I had picked another kind. They early flowering was the main attraction.

2. Tulipa schrenkii

All three of these are now out. Possibly my favorite.

3. Brunnera macrophylla 'Hadspen cream'

This is looking …

Today it reached 17C which is the warmest day this year, tomorrow is likely to be warmer still. I started wonerdering how many warmest days there will be this year. So far there have been 9: on the 4 Jan 2019, 6 Jan 2019, 7 Jan 2019, 15 Feb 2019, 21 Feb 2019, 22 Feb 2019, 20 Mar 2019, 21 Mar 2019 and today.

There are several of the second set of daffodils now out. These are supposed to be N. 'February gold', but they are clearly not. When these first open they have a lemony yellow center, which then turns to a creamy orange. There are also a case where a single stem has two flowers, although they are mostly single.

The photo also shows all three of the Tulipa schrenkii and one of my Tiarella 'Spring symphony'.

All of the Tulipa kolpakowskiana at the back are now open …

Originally there was some Lonicera hedging in the shape of a cube. I cut it right back to a line of shrubs at the front of the right border. I've always been meaning to remove this and transfer it somewhere else, probably to replace the Laurel in the front garden.

I finally dug it up today, it is in temporary accommodation at the moment and will be moved once I've cut down more of the laurel.

The Geum 'Totally tangerine' was too near the path and it is also overshadowing the Nerines, so I chopped it up and moved it further back. The other pieces have been planted in different places to see how they do. They can be removed if the space is needed.

The Physostegia virginiana 'Crystal peak' needed to be moved forward because it is a short variety, so it is now nearer the path. It hasn't …

The first Tulipa kolpakowskiana flower opened today. The leaves are very narrow on this tulip and the flower is smaller than the Tulipa schrenkii and flatter when open.

The first Tulipa schrenkii flower fully opened today.

My Primula vialii has survived for another year. I'm especially pleased as I've been told that they typically do not survive very long.

Its in the wettest part of the garden in heavy clay soil. Still with the long dry spell last year even that part of the garden dried out.

Last years flower stems are visible. I leave them to keep track of where it is as the plant completely dies down over the winter leaving no other trace.