Proud primulas

FEBRUARY left with a covering of snow, at least for some of us, and an icy blast of northerly wind for all.

In our sheltered garden near the centre of York, we are protected from the worst of the weather by brick walls and a southerly aspect at the back of the house, although the front is more exposed.

This means that plants tend to survive in even the coldest of winters because the garden has its own microclimate a few degrees higher than that more exposed sites. Even so, I notice a shrubby euphorbia 'Humpty Dumpty' is drooping and its usually soft, greenish grey leaves have darkened.

On some plants this would be sign of approaching demise but with this euphorbia it seems to be a defence mechanism against the cold, and it should recover as the weather warms up.

The primulas are taking pride of place in our garden at the moment, although the snowdrops continue to put on a good show.

We have several primula types here at the moment, from small, pale ones to large flowered ones planted in pots and placed in a row on a shelf below the kitchen window.

I decided to keep the colours subtle this year and tried to make the front garden look like a small wild area planted with Primula vulgaris, the small-flowered lemon yellow primrose, and the dark- leafed wanda varieties that come from the same branch of the family.

To add a bit of zest, a few larger-flowered, magenta-coloured ones are nestling with Euphorbia amygdaloides 'Purpurea'.

Looking back, I see I wrote about this combination of plants in this column at the beginning of February and they are still giving a good show. The euphorbia will flower in a few weeks, the lime green flowers are always something to look forward to, and if the primula lasts that long they will give a startling blast of colour.

The primulas by the kitchen window have been planted in individual terracotta pots and put on a shelf I made last summer from three old hanging-basket brackets, a couple of pieces of wood left from some other DIY project and several old garden tiles originally rescued from a skip.

The pots vary in size and some have been knocking about the garden for years, gradually becoming algae encrusted so the whole effect is pleasingly rustic.

The primulas were bought in a tray and are in shades of purplish-blue from a pale, clear lavender to a rich deep hue and picotee, which has yellow-centred white petals edged in varying amounts with dark blue.

Boring kitchen chores don't seem so bad when I catch sight of this line of lovely blooms.

The last Down To Earth...

THE gardening charity Perennial will be holding a fund-raising event on Wednesday March 22 at Askham Bryan College in conjunction with BBC Radio York's weekly programme, Down To Earth.

Doors open at 7pm for a 7.30pm start and the event is due to finish at about 9.30pm. Tickets cost £5 and can be booked in advance by ringing 01372 384048. They will also be on sale at the door subject to availability.

Originally named the Gardeners' Royal Benevolent Society, Perennial was started in 1839 and offers financial help, retirement accommodation and a team of nationwide caseworkers to give advice and support to horticulturists.

This can be anything from help with employment and financial difficulties to support during emotional and family crises.

The event will consist of a panel of gardening experts including Alan Mason, Sarah Hopps, Nigel Harrison and David Beardall, the head gardener from Perennial's York Gate in Adel, Leeds, answering questions from the audience.

The chairman will be Down To Earth's presenter and producer William Jenkyns, who will be feeling a mixture of emotions that evening since, he tells me, it will be the last recording for the programme. William will be announcing this news in his broadcast tomorrow.

The award-winning Down To Earth began life at Radio York more than ten years ago in September 1995 after William identified a gap in the schedules.

Over the years, he says it has built up a loyal and stable audience that regularly tunes in to the station at noon on a Sunday.

During that time the panel has included many well-known gardening experts such as Geoffrey Smith and Alan Mason as well as regular contributors - horticulturist and nursery owner Sarah Hopps and lecturer, radio presenter and photographer Nigel Harrison.

The demise of the programme, William says, is the result of budget cuts which have also forced several redundancies at the station.

William is now working for the BBC in London, organising live public events around the country. He says that although he would have been happy to carry on producing and presenting Down To Earth, budget limitations would have made that difficult. William adds that the final programme, which will be the Perennial recording, is due to be broadcast on Sunday, April 2.

Garden talk

ASKHAM Bryan College (ABC) Gardening Club is holding a talk on Tuesday entitled Better Treatment For Lawns. The speaker will be Henry Bechelet, who is a Turfgrass agronomist, and it will begin at 7.30pm in the Conference Hall at Askham Bryan College. ABC Gardening Club members are free, non-members £5 on the door.

Gardening TV and radio

Sunday, March 5

9am, Radio Leeds, Tim Crowther, Joe Maiden.

Noon, Radio York, Down To Earth. With William Jenkyns. (Repeated on Wednesday 8pm).

2pm, R4, Gardeners' Question Time. John Cushnie, Bob Flowerdew, Carol Klein and chairman Eric Robson help gardeners from Oxfordshire with their horticultural problems. Meanwhile Anne Swithinbank looks at how to grow gerberas.

Open garden

Sunday, March 5

In aid of the National Gardens' Scheme

Londesborogh Cross, Shiptonthorpe, off the A1079 York-Hull road. Former railways goods yard transformed into a garden filled with ponds, bog area, island beds, large herbaceous borders, pergolas, arches and a woodland garden with ferns and a collection of woodland plants. Open 1-4pm. Admission £3. (Also open on Wednesday 1-4pm).

Updated: 16:24 Friday, March 03, 2006