Flourish and Nourish in February

Spring-like Hopefulness. Lengthening of days. Waning Winter. Stirring of the Land

Issue 4 February 2020

When the weather is grim in February and the last few weeks of the winter season are stretching out, it seems to me you have two choices.  One, hole up and hibernate under the duvet until spring; or two, get out and find reasons to be cheerful.  

I definitely fall into the latter camp (on most days) and although February can sometimes feel like wading through treacle there are beautiful things to see and embrace this month. Plus it's my birthday today so another reason to retain some enthusiasm about February!!!

I've been using these last weeks of winter to work on an exciting new nature-based project which I'll tell you more about over the coming weeks. Exciting.

Meanwhile, in this blog I'm looking at plants that bring cheer to the garden right now AND delicious seasonal foods to eat. Plants and food - double whammy!!!

"There is always in February some one day, at least when one smells the yet distant, but surely coming summer."  - Gertrude Jekyll

FLOURISH

Hellebores are still going strong in the February garden. 

Hellebores

Remove the ugly old leaves from your plants to reveal the blooms and always cut a few to bring inside where you can enjoy the detailing. I like to trim some of the downward facing flower heads and float them face up in a wide shallow bowl of water on the kitchen table. 

Chaenomeles

Chaenomeles (flowering quince) can also bring a welcome flush of colour in February. I have a red Chaenomeles x superba 'Crimson & Gold' growing on an east facing house wall and last February it was flowering profusely. This year it's a little later but the buds look promising. It's an unusual plant because the blooms open before the leaves grow, so you get unadulterated flowers on bare stems. I'm coveting the white version 'Nivalis' to grow on a boundary fence this year too - it's on my ever growing Plant Wishlist!

The sweetly smelling winter shrubs are still going strong in my garden. In my opinion, these are real PLANT HEROES, releasing fragrant clouds into the winter garden from November right through to March. My favourites are: 

1. Sarcoccoa confusa (winter flowering box) insignificant white flowers emitting hard hitting winter scent. If you only try one of these shrubs, make it this one as it's tolerant of sun & shade. Make sure you plant it near a door or path where you can really enjoy the scent through winter.
2. Hamamelis - any witch hazel is a great addition to the winter garden  but I have 'Arnold's Promise',

   

   Witch Hazel 

   with spidery yellow, highly fragrant flowers on bare dark stems. Great autumn leaf colour too.
3. Winter honeysuckle Lonicera x purpusii 'Winter Beauty' -  a heady winter scent from white tubular flowers. This shrub is invaluable for its scent at this time of year but is pretty insignificant over the summer, so plant alongside summer interest plants. 
4. Viburnum bodnantense 'Dawn' -  these bright pink flowers have been blooming since November and probably have another month  of perfume left. So long flowering. 
5. Daphne bhluoa 'Jacqueline Postill' - daphnes  are fantastic shrubs with a scent I've never seen replicated in the perfume industry. I wonder if it's difficult to recreate. Anyway that just seems to make the scent more precious. This variety is a tried and tested favourite but it is slow growing and expensive. You'll have to patiently wait for the couple of small sticks in a pot to grow - but it's worth the wait!

Galanthus

All the small bulbs are pushing through now too with the first of the Iris reticulata now in flower and crocus ready to open in the sun. This year I planted extras in gravel topped pots and have placed where I can see them from the back door. The joy they bring is so much more than the few pence the bulbs cost at the back end of last year. I highly recommend you try planting some this coming autumn.

Remember to select a few flowering blooms from your garden to cut and bring inside, to add cheer. Could be daffodils, catkins, crocus, snowdrops or flowering quince.

NOURISH

Rhubarb in February is conditional on the plants having been forced. That means the rhubarb has been covered up at the start of January to encourage early cropping. That being the case you should now have strong pink stems ready for eating. Non forced rhubarb will just be ready later in the year.

I like to roast 5cm lengths (not an exact science!) of rhubarb in the oven so they retain their lovely pink colour and splash orange juice and honey on to sweeten. Then it's great on porridge, with yogurt or ice-cream. This year I'm going to trying roasting it with star anise - always something new to try!

Homemade Marmalade

Citrus fruits, imported from warmer climes, are wonderful in February. They bring a welcome injection of zingy taste, Vitamin C and colour. I’m a sucker for marmalade on buttery toast, and this month made a few jars while the Seville oranges are in season. I'm also tempted to try making lemon curd and use up some of the large stash of empty jars I’ve been collecting all year!

Kale is also in season now. I love it (kids not so much) but always struggle to grow any useful quantities myself. Kale always succumb to slugs, caterpillars or pigeons in my garden. Maybe it's because the plants need tending at the end of the season when I'm tired of growing and am ready to lay down tools for the winter. Even if you don't grow it yourself you can support local growers by buying local kale from farm shops etc.  

So that's it for February, the month is drawing to a close but there's still Pancake Day to celebrate tomorrow!  

If you can do get outside and explore your local countryside this week. Looking at the details is a wonderful way to reconnect to the seasons. Let me know what February highlights you spot and/or photograph.

If you have any questions you can reach me via my website  www.plotgardendesign.co.uk and please follow/like PLOT Garden Design on social media to receive my seasonal updates and photos.