PHOTO: SARAH CUTTLE
This month marks the first outing of the year for one of my favourite words. We have struggled through the dingy dog-end days of winter, and one day, early this month, we will open the door to the first proper spring day – a day when the birds will be going full blast, the tulips will be flowering and leaves will be popping out. The first day when you can sit on a bench and feel the warmth of the sun on your skin after so many cold months. This magnificent moment can be referred to as Apricity, and despite the word being specific to winter, it works for me here and it feels so good.
“April, the angel of the months, the young love of the year”
STAR OF THE MONTH
Dodecatheon pulchellum ‘Red Wings’
One of our more curious-looking garden flowers, they look as if they have been turned inside out, which gives them a par ticular aerodynamic profile – like a flock of determined (but friendly) garden birds descending on full feeders from an azure sky. You can see why they have the common name of Alpine Shooting Star. Getting away from the whimsical stuff for a moment , they are, in fact, one of the joys of a spring shade garden: a plant that adds fizz to ferns, heft to hostas and pinky pep to primroses. Closely related to the cyclamen.
Plant as bulbs. In colder areas, protect plants with mulch over winter.
Height x Spread 30cm x 15cm
STAR OF THE MONTH
Dodecatheon pulchellum ‘Red Wings’
One of our more curious-looking garden flowers, they look as if they have been turned inside out, which gives them a par ticular aerodynamic profile – like a flock of determined (but friendly) garden birds descending on full feeders from an azure sky. You can see why they have the common name of Alpine Shooting Star. Getting away from the whimsical stuff for a moment , they are, in fact, one of the joys of a spring shade garden: a plant that adds fizz to ferns, heft to hostas and pinky pep to primroses. Closely related to the cyclamen.