This is a busy time of year producing early Spring Baskets for QVC and the local businesses in Bembridge where I live. It starts at the beginning of February visiting the local nurseries to see what plants are available. This year the cold weather in November/December delayed planting at the nurseries so everything was a couple of weeks late particularly the Violas. Nevertheless we achieved our objectives as the pictures below will testify.
Red & Yellow Feb 2011
Pink & Purple just planted Feb 2011
The standard planting pattern for early spring is 7 ivies, 8 primroses and three small pots of Tete a Tete daffodils. Euonymus silver queen or similar may be substituted for a couple of ivies and two or three violas/pansies for primroses if they carry enough flowers this early in the year. Plant three ivies and two primroses in the bottom layer, two ivies and three primroses in the middle and top layers and the daffodils in the centre. These can be replaced by later flowering varieties when they die off, which will be sooner than the primroses.
With Euonymus Spring 2011
The Green Cafe Spring 2011