Blooms for all Seasons

You would be mistaken if you thought beautiful flowers were restricted to the summer months. Year round interest can easily be created with something to enjoy every month. This not only benefits us, but our pollinators too, as they need a food source throughout the year.

Call me biased, but at Clare, we have one of the most beautiful spring bulb displays in Cambridge. Our main thoroughfare, which runs from Queens Road to Old Court, known as “The Avenue” (once upon a time it had trees lining both sides), is awash with beautiful blooms from January through to April and it never fails to lift the spirits! It starts with the subtlety of snowdrops and winter aconites in January, followed by delightful crocus in February, and come March the daffodils are fully out and looking fabulous for all to enjoy.

As the daffodils fade, the tulips take over and we love to pop a splash of colour where we can. We use pots to place anywhere that needs a temporary brightening up, and an autumn planting of bulbs in the gaps of the borders ensures early interest before the perennials have woken up; this really highlights the vibrancy of spring!

No border would be complete without a healthy sprinkling of Alliums running through it. Flowering in spring and early summer, they are a great way to bridge the gap between the spring bulb displays and the summer perennials. Their upright form with bold, pompom like flowers gives architectural structure to the border while the herbaceous perennials are putting on growth.

Not all herbaceous perennials are created equal either. Try not to limit yourself to a mid-summer flowering border. There are early flowering specimens such as Lilacs, Lupins and poppies, which roll nicely into Delphiniums, Geraniums and Rudbeckias, succeeded by the late summer and autumn blooms of Japanese anemone, Salvias and Asters.

Let us not forget the wonder of flowering shrubs through the winter months. Firm favourites are Viburnum x bodnantense ‘Dawn’ (arrowwood ‘Dawn’), Lonicera fragrantissima (winter honeysuckle), Daphne, Mahonia and Sarcococca sp. (sweet box). The flowers may be small but they pack an aromatic punch! Place strategically near doorways or walkways for incredible olfactory delights. If scent heavy plants are not to your liking, there are evergreen perennials like Hellebores (Christmas rose) and evergreen climbers such as Clematis cirrhosa ‘Wisley Cream’ with long winter flowering periods to see you through to next spring.