Spring is all about yellow for me. It is the main accent colour in all corners of the garden right now.  The last three days have seen no sunshine at all where I live.  I find the cloud cover oppressive, which is why a revere yellow.  On dull days it glows and on sunny days it shines.  Priceless.

Narcissus ‘Minnow’

This is such a pretty narcissus.  It is a multi-headed scented variety.  Each flower is only 3cm in diameter and the flower spikes only 15-20cm tall.  I planted these in small groups in a border but now I’ve seen the flower I’ve decided they would look fantastic in pots.  These could be placed on an outside table, giving you the chance to smell them without lying on the ground.

Narcissus ‘Jetfire’

I know the Six on Saturday host The Propagator is growing some of these and is a big fan.  It’s easy to see why.  The trumpet is a very attractive tangerine orange and the bright yellow petals slightly reflexed. Generally with narcissi, a contrast between the sepals (petals) and the trumpet makes for a more interesting plant, either blatant like ‘Jetfire’ or more subtle as in ‘Minnow’

Hoop petticoat narcissus – Narcissus bulbocodium

I planted 300 of these in an undulating band alongside a hedge in my side lawn last autumn.  I was captivated at the sight of them en masse in the Alpine Meadow at RHS Wisley last spring.  Thousands of these flowers, scarcely bigger than a thimble, pop up here every year.  Particularly charming is the fact that these come up and face in random directions.  I think they look like gramaphone horns announcing spring to all points of the globe.

I couldn’t wait to share a picture as I’m so excited about them.  I’m sure I’ll share further pictures later as there are plenty more buds waiting to open.

If you want to know how I planted these or to see pictures of Wisley’s alpine lawn, click here.

Forsythia

No summary of yellow plants would be complete at this time of year without a mention of Forsythia but sadly I don’t think it’s a  particularly popular plant in people’s hearts.  I’ve seen talk on social media of it being boring after flowering but there are plenty of other ‘flash in the pan’ plants that share this characteristic.

What Forsythia brings to the party is colour and versatility.  Its bright yellow brings cheer on the dullest of days and it can be pruned tightly to make a hedge, or left wild and billowy.  For more pictures of Forsythia click here.

Here’s a picture of my lovely forsythia bringing a splash of colour to this corner by my bench.  You can also see here some of the Narcissus bulbocodium peeping through the grass.

Erythronium ‘Pagoda’

These plants are excellent value for colour and indeed glamour at this time of year.  They grow well in shady places as well as brighter ones and clump up over the years.

I planted tuburs of these back in autumn, in pots, and left them in my open cold frames.  I’d ordered the tuburs but hadn’t decided where to plant them.  They are now planted out in the garden along my shaded top path.  They are flowering beautifully and are taking over from the hellebores at adding interest here.  I think I’ll add some more next autumn.

Primrose – Primula vulgarisprimrose primula vulgaris

As the latin suffix vulgaris indicates, these aren’t at all unusual but are common.  I just love them though.  They pop up all over the place in my garden adding delicate yellow hummocks in beds, borders and under hedges.

Sometimes common is just what you need.

 

If you want to read other contributions to the Six on Saturday link up of gardeners click here to go to the page of host The Propagator.