GINA PARKINSON plots for some colour to lighten up the grey skies.

It is easy to cheer up the garden with seasonal colour at this time of year. Primulas and daffodils fill shelves and trollies in nurseries and garden centres tempting us with their cheerful colours and promise of spring.

The three months since Christmas feel to have been one long cold snap, even though we have had a few nice days, so it is good to get outside for a while and plant up a pot or two.

We have a galvanised bin against a brick wall outside the back door which in summer overflows with a golden hop. This rampant plant really does need to be confined because even in a large garden it will take over a huge area within a couple of seasons.

Ours was a doorstep gift from a friend about ten years ago. It was kept in a small plastic bin for a while, until the roots split it in half in their bid for freedom. The galvanised container has fared better so far, although it will eventually rust.

The hop dies back completely in autumn and the bin remains bare apart from a self-seeded Linaria purpurea that suns itself against the wall and remains evergreen, no matter how cold the weather.

In early spring the top layer of soil is removed and replaced with a sprinkle of slow release fertiliser and thick layer of compost, before being planted with a few primulas.

New hop shoots have begun to pop through this month and are a couple of inches tall. They will soon take over once the primulas have died back, but for the moment we can enjoy their cheery flowers from the kitchen window.


Busy Lizzie in need of some sunshine ahead of Harrogate Spring Flower Show

York garden designer Lizzie Tulip is anxious about the weather.

There are only three weeks to go before building begins on her show garden at the Spring Flower Show at the Great Yorkshire Showground and the plants are in need of a good blast of warmth and sunshine to get them flowering in time.

Lizzie already has a few show gardens under her belt having won silver gilt in 2003 at Chelsea Flower Show and large gold and best in show at the Great Yorkshire Show last year, but it is always nerve-wracking getting everything ready in time.

Her garden for Harrogate this year in called The Rough With The Smooth and is a spring garden for Yorkshire and a couple who enjoy modern living and design.

Hard landscaping by contractors will include contrasts in texture with a Yorkshire stone wall, water feature and a bespoke oak bench.

Planting for the garden is to be a palette of purples and blues lit by occasional pink, including dark-leafed cotinus, aquilegias and possibly peonies. Johnsons of Whixley look after this side of the project and are nurturing the plants under a polytunnel. Like Lizzie, they will be hoping for a spell of warmth in the very near future.

Lizzie is a regular contributor on the Mark Forrest Show on Radio York, 9am on Sundays. Follow her blog and see more of her work by visiting lizzietulip.com The Spring Flower Show runs from April 25 to 28. Tickets can be bought at the gate or by phoning 01423 546157.


National Gardens Scheme

THIS weekend sees the National Gardens Scheme (NGS) in action in our area with Goldsborough Hall opening its garden gate to visitors tomorrow.

Now in its 86th year, the NGS has raised millions of pounds for charity with the first 609 gardens open in 1927 donating £8,000 to the Queens Nursing Institute.

This year the 3,800 gardens listed in the NGS Yellow Book are expected to attract about 750,000 visitors and raise more than £2.5million pounds for the charities supported by the scheme. These include Macmillan Support, Marie Curie Cancer Care, NT Gardening Careerships, Perennial and Carers Trust.

In the Yorkshire area there are a number of new gardens to the scheme, including four town gardens in Beverley, a country garden in Hartwith and a large informal garden with a miniature railway in Pilmore.

Owners in Yorkshire raised £127,000 last year and more than 100 gardens are listed in Yorkshire Gardens 2013 yellow booklet. It is available now in garden centres, nurseries and Tourist Information Centres.

Alternatively send an A5 (C5) size sae to Felicity Bowring, Lawkland Hall, Austwick, Lancaster, LA2 8AT. Dates and opening times of the gardens can also be seen by visiting www.ngs.org.uk

• Goldsborough Hall, Goldsborough, HG5 8NR, two miles south east of Knaresborough. 11-acre garden and grounds recently restored by the present owners and reopened for the NGS in 2010 after an 80-year break.

The grounds include 120ft double herbaceous borders inspired by Gertrude Jekyll, a lime tree walk under-planted with daffodils, a woodland walk and specimen trees. Open noon to 4pm, admission £5 adult (share to St Mary’s Church which is also open).


Gardening TV and radio

Sunday
8am: BBC Radio Humberside, The Great Oudoors. With Blair Jacobs and Doug Stewart.

9am: BBC Radio York, Mark Forrest. With gardening advice from Martin Fish, Nigel Harrison and Lizzie Tulip.

9am: BBC Radio Leeds, Tim Crowther and Joe Maiden.

2pm: BBC R4, Gardeners’ Question Time. Chairman Eric Robson and panellists Bob Flowerdew, Christing Walkden and James Wong answer question from visitors to the Edible Garden Show in Warwickshire. (Repeated from Friday).

Friday, March 29
8.30pm: BBC2, Gardeners’ World. Joe Swift looks at how to create a naturalistic garden and Carol Klein looks at spring colour, plus advice on bedding plants.