In the garden the winter Aconites, Witch Hazel and Sarcococca are in flower, regarded as some of the first to flower and the harbingers of spring. Being out in the garden you notice that it never really stops. It quietens down but is never still. Buds are fattening as the remnants of last seasons flowers still hang on, the bulbs are pushing up as the herbaceous plants are dying back down. There is always something on the move. The recent cold spell we had here, down to around -5, is becoming a rare phenomenon, and the milder winters of recent years have exaggerated the fact the garden never stops. It feels right to have a cold spell and is of benefit to the garden. The cold helps keep pest numbers in check, initiates better flowering in some plants and breaks the dormancy of some seeds for better germination. Not all the plants enjoy it, especially combined with the very wet conditions that are more the usual in the winter here. In the gardens we try and grow a good variety of plants. The vagaries of the Irish summer mean that you are never quite sure what you are going to get, and we try a variety of plants in our displays and beds so that we have a good display if it is a cool wet summer or if we are fortunate to have a dry warm spell. It is a balance between the use of ‘good doers’ that get on with it regardless and more fickle plants that require specific conditions to thrive. In the gardens here at Lismore we are fortunate to have several areas with their own microclimate. This is an area in the garden that due to certain features creates an environment that is different and allows conditions that are conducive to plants that would not thrive elsewhere in the garden. We can take advantage of these microclimates and allow us to expand the variety of plants grown. It may be a south facing wall, where the heatsink of the stone keeps temperature slightly higher, or under the canopy of mature trees, or the rain shadow of a building keeping an area dryer.
The Cyathea in the lower garden, taking advantage of a microclimate under the edge of a canopy of mature Yew have been out for several years now, The Banksias and Proteas on the top terrace tucked into a south facing corner have also been out for a number of years. Isoplexis and Dodonea in the courtyard along with Pseudopanax and some of the more tender Osmanthus are all doing well due to their position in pockets of different microclimates. Right plant, right place is the mantra for successful gardening but by looking around your own garden or home you will find areas that allow you to grow plants that you would not necessarily think you could or be advised against.
Still, with the mild winters of late you can get complacent and push the boundaries too far. The cold winters of 2009, 2010 are a reminder that we still have those particularly harsh spells that take a toll on the less hardy. Microclimates will mitigate against this but its always good to have some fleece to hand.
