It seems stupid to be saying so, but the modest amount of rain we had today was very welcome. It’s not that the ground is dry, just that if it does turn dry very early I worry that when growth takes off in the spring and the plants expect there to be plenty of moisture available, they can get badly caught out.
I’m gambling we’ve seen the last frost for this winter and have started to move plants out from winter protection. I hope I don’t have to move them back in again; it seems unlikely.
The weather is improving, the light is getting much stronger and the days longer, there’s plenty to talk about. As ever, you are invited to join us in Six on Saturday, where we all post images and notes about six things happening in our gardens each Saturday. There’s a participant’s guide should you be tempted to contribute.
One.
I’m always very keen to move out any Agaves we’ve had in the greenhouses over winter. Not only do I regularly stab myself on them but I live in dread of poking an eye out with my eyesight not being anywhere near what it used to be. I’ve had a few close calls and they’re very unnerving. For now they’re at the front of the house, with Yuccas and Mangaves for company. Taller things will go in front of the water butts in due course.
Two.
Another thing to go out, in this case planted, was Begonia heracleifolia. I grew this from seed sown in 2023 and it is one of a dozen or more young plants I have of it. This seedling grew away much quicker than any of the others but perhaps doesn’t have quite as attractive a leaf as some of its siblings, which are still in 9cm pots in the greenhouse. It could get swapped at some point. It is supposedly hardy to temperatures far lower than anything we get here. I would have trimmed the fronds off the fern and planted it further back but there is a hibernating hedgehog under it.
Three.
I fancy that my efforts to control slugs lie behind a much better performance from the masses of self sown Scillas that we’ve had this year. I put traps mong them when I saw the buds were being nibbled as fast as they opened and the damage stopped almost completely. I was looking at the bulletin that Wisley produced years ago about the “little blue bulbs” and I can’t work out which they are. Maybe the solid blues are Scilla sardensis (was Chionodoxa sardensis), those with white eye Chionodoxa luciliae or C. siehei or very possibly hybrids. They’re all Scillas now I believe.
Four.
Magnolia ‘Vulcan’ started to open at the beginning of the week and looks to have escaped significant frost damage in the buds. The first few flowers seem to have the best colour; by next week it will have many more blooms but will likely be duller.
Five.
Bergenia ciliata hasn’t graced these posts very often for the simple reason that most years it’s a disappointment. It’s not exactly excelling itself this year but I’ll give it credit for trying.
Six.
I showed you a close-up of a single bloom of Camellia reticulata ‘Mystique’ three weeks ago. Sadly it’s planted between a path and the garden boundary and I have had to trim it on the path side so we can get up the path. As a result our neighbours and the birds overhead get a better view of it than we do. From the bedroom window though, it looks like this. Sadly I’m getting Camellia petal blight on this and at least one other Camellia so will have to clear every fallen bloom to try to supress it.
And that’s it for another week. Happy gardening. (The header picture is ‘Annette Carol’)
garden ruminations 
My amusement of the week was this: “It’s not exactly excelling itself this year but I’ll give it credit for trying.”
I’m glad you have empathy for your plants.
“
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We had to get the hose out for various plants this week, as they were so dry from wind, sun and lack of rain. I am also certain that we are not clear of frosts yet here in fenland! Your camellia and magnolia both look fantastic. To see the colour of M. ‘Vulcan’ against that blue sky is quite a sight!
Here are my six: https://wp.me/pM8Y1-9md
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I have been noticing the dryness here too, and on checking our weather monitor records find we have had only a few mms of rain this month so far, so as you say even the lightest of showers will make a difference. I too am hopeful of an end to frosts and have begun moving things out of the greenhouse – I need the space! Your camellias are both lovely shades of pink – but I am still looking forward to picking my not-pink one up from Elder Daughter next week. As you might see in my post if you have time to read it, I did order some oriental lilies from Harts after reading your post last week! Thanks for all your suggestions, intended or otherwise 👍https://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com/2025/03/22/six-on-saturday-excitement-mounts-2/
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Wow for the Camellia. I have a similar Agave fear and finally pulled them out with my Jeep after a particularly bad stabbing incident. Vulcan is beautiful, I hope it stays brilliant.
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Getting an Agave big enough outside here to need a Jeep to pull it out is the stuff of dreams. My Agave montana might make it but I doubt I shall be here to see it.
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The Blue Agaves used for tequila get huge here and Sisal Agaves as well. 4-5 feet and sharp. I should do a giant houseplants in my garden post!
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Lucky you being able to get your succulents out now. It’s a bit early for Suffolk and I just can’t wait to get mine out. I love your Magnolia ‘Vulcan’. Magnolia stellata is coming out here but that is always the first for us. Fabulous camellia as we have come to expect from you.
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It’s no problem moving the succulents out, just have to keep a close eye on the weather forecast. Usually we get away with it, but there have been a few vicious exceptions over the years.
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The Camellia is spectacular. A lovely shrub even if it is growing in a tight spot. I’m impressed with your Begonia and your courage at bringing it out already. Our Begonias remain indoors, but perhaps I’ll start bringing some out next week. We still have a night in the high 30s in the forecast and I’ve seen snow here in early April. I agree with you about wanting plenty of rain to get everything off to a good start in spring and hope yours comes regularly in the weeks ahead. It does make all the difference for the season ahead, doesn’t it? Lovely flowers on the Bergenia!
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I’m expecting that Begonia to be hardy enough to stay out, though I will keep some of the other seedlings under protection next winter in case I lose it. I left out a couple of other Begonias out for the first time this winter, ‘Connie Boswell’ and luxurians, still too early to say whether they’ve survived but I’m reasonably hopeful. Then it’s a question of how quickly they grow away, if they’re very slow I shall go back to keeping them in over winter and planting them out when they’ve made plenty of new growth.
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My hardy Begonias performed much better when left in the ground over winter when I lived in Virginia Beach, 1 zone warmer and close to the Atlantic coast. They also grew in a very protected area, beside the house, and we had no deer. I leave out B. grandis ‘Heron’s Pirouette’ here and it comes back reliably each year. But if often doesn’t grow large enough during the season to bloom well or produce its full potential for foliage. The one’s that overwinter in the garage come back much more rapidly once I put them outside. I hope the ones you left outside come back strong and perform well for you this summer. As our climate warms, it will be easier and easier to leave marginal plants outside over winter.
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That very much chimes with my experience. Left out a lot of them come into growth late and/or grow painfully slowly to begin with, so they’re no bigger at the end of the year than they were the year before and sometimes smaller.
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Six on Saturday from Williamsburg, VA: https://woodlandgnome.wordpress.com/2025/03/22/six-on-saturday-springtime-magic/
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I have been enjoying magnolia fever this week having visited three of the NT gardens – Lanhydrock by far the best though there are several trees that are past their sell by date. Your Vulcan has the most gorgeous colour. My Bergenia (3) were bought as bare roots last year and appeared to have died, but I am seeing new shoots appearing, I think mine are white, but whether I get any flowers this year is debatable. Good job on the anti-slug measures!
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Last time we went to Lanhydrock the garden was shut. Really must make an effort to visit, it’s our nearest big garden and they have a superb Magnolia collection.
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The garden opened at February half term.
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I think the Bergenia is kinda cute –maybe one of those plants that, if you frame the photo just right, will look incredibly exotic. Then those of us who don’t grow it will be envious, because we don’t know it is small and easy to overlook (see also, Epimedium).
Here are my six:
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The Bergenia would do itself a favour by flowering later. Last years leaves have all but gone and when the new ones grow they are impressively large and exotic looking but I don’t get flowers and leaves together. (pretty much like Epimedium)
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We are short on rain this year too. I hope its not becoming a pattern. The Magnolia ‘Vulcan’ is beautiful as is the camellia. Camellias seem to take to pruning well. I have had to prune some that were damaged by a ‘flash freeze’ a few years ago and it responded.
well.https://mensgardenvestavia.wordpress.com/2025/03/21/spring-officially-arrives-21-march-2025/
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Most gardening books seem to say that Camellias don’t need pruning, which is true if you have enough space to just let them grow; unhelpful for the rest of us. I have had to prune almost all of mine.
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Lovely camellia and magnolia, glad to be back after such a long time away!
My link ……..https://www.leadupthegardenpath.com/
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Nice agaves! I have been poked and it is not fun. The Safety Professional in me might recommend safety glasses, but then, I hate wearing safety glasses and probably would not at home, but I usually have sunglasses on in the garden. Careful with your eyes! I love those pink magnolias. I remember the first time I ever saw one. It was a gorgeous specimen planted in front of the building that housed my major department at University of California, Davis. The camellias look good too despite any blight.
Here are my six, courtesy of Centennial and the Birge Greenhouse.
https://wisconsingarden.wordpress.com/2025/03/22/march-22-2025-six-on-saturday/
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I’m hoping for rain this afternoon, the garden doesn’t seem to dry but a little of the magic water wouldn’t go amiss. I’ve been away in Sussex for a few days where the scillas were out in force. They looked fabulous and I was able to purchase a few in pots. I just knew the slugs would love them! Traps will be set. They are on my bulb list as are the beautiful tulips and narcissi that I am sharing from my trip. https://n20gardener.com/2025/03/22/six-on-saturday-miniature-tulips-and-daffodils/
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Beautiful agaves – I always admire the ones at RHS Bridgewater but know I can’t grow them here (no greenhouses).
Here’s my six – https://thegarrett.garden/2025/03/22/six-on-saturday-22-march-2025/
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I quite see the problem with being poked in the eye or less worryingly in the flesh by those Agaves. I love the forms and you have a nice collection, and even though I do wear glasses which is a help as compared to contact lenses, I would rather just admire them in other gardens. Here are my six this week: https://noellemace.blogspot.com/2025/03/six-on-saturday-22-march-2025.html
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Wow for that camellia ! My link : https://fredgardenerblog2.wordpress.com/2025/03/22/six-on-saturday-22-03-25/
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’Vulcan’ is a beauty, how wonderful to be able to see it every day. Your Bergenia has made much more of an effort than mine. It won’t be in a Six any time soon.
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I love to see colour in the garden at this time of the year. Your Magnolia ‘Vulcan’ is a beauty, and I’d be blissfully happy if that was the only thing flowering in my garden. I doubt if frosts have finished here, so tender plants are still in hiding.
My Six for this week are here:
https://notesfrommygarden.co.uk/2025/03/22/rain-please/
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That’s a wonderful collection of agaves but they do look vicious! Vulcan is beautiful, may it live long and prosper:-)
Here’s my six for this week: https://mysanctuarygarden.wordpress.com/2025/03/22/six-on-saturday-22-03-2025/
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Vulcan has lived fairly long but hasn’t always prospered. Some years back it had gone over to about 45° and I cut it off a foot from the ground. It put up a new vertical shoot which is what you see now.
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‘Vulcan’ looks lovely https://onemanandhisgardentrowel.wordpress.com/2025/03/22/six-on-saturday-22-march-2025/
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The overnight rain was very welcome here too as things have gone suddenly dry with the first weeks on March.
I found enough for another six, Spring is making it easier to find more plants now.
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Gee, your Agave, Yucca and Mangave are exemplary. I tend to take mine for granted, so do not maintain them so carefully. ‘Vulcan’ magnolia is also exemplary.
Here are my six.
https://tonytomeo.com/2025/03/22/six-on-saturday-nimby/
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Do you also grow Bergenia crassifolia or Bergenia cordifolia?
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I’ve grown Bergenia cordifolia forms in the past but they’ve never done very well and have died out after a few years; not at all sure why.
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Gee, I would expect them to be at least as happy there as they are here, and they never die here. Bergenia crassifolia is rare in nurseries, but common in old landscapes, where it has been since it was popular during the 1950s. Bergenia cordifolia is uncommon, but just as sustainable. I think that it is more common in Southern California than it is here.
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