Worcester College Gardeners 2009-2018: A New Winter To Spring Pot Display

Friday 27 April 2018

A New Winter To Spring Pot Display

Three Rusty Iron Crates, 4th June 2015

In June 2015 the team took delivery of three iron crates for use in the gardens, for the first time see blog entry 4th June 2015 'Three Rusty Iron Crates'. The following summer, rather than being used as part of a border display, they were used to showcase plants in pots at the entrance to the Nash Building, see blog entry 20th June 2016 'The Three Iron Crates Make An Unexpected Return'.


The Three Iron Crates Make An Unexpected Return, 20th June 2016

As the winter approached the display was dismantled, the crates removed and placed in to storage. Last summer the exhibit returned but, instead of putting them in to storage for the winter, the team decided to use to showcase bulbs and plants that are best during winter and spring.

15th January 2018

Heuchera 'Obsidian', Cyclamen coum, Arum italicum, Helleborus argutifolius

Pots of plants Heuchera 'Obsidian', Cyclamen coum, Ophiopogon planiscapus 'Nigrescens', Arum italicum, Matthiola incana 'Vintage Mix' (Winter Stocks) and Helleborus argutifolius (Corsican hellebore) were the mainstay of the display and for the first four months of the year different pots of bulbs were added and removed as they flowered and faded.
In January and February these pots were Galanthus nivalis and Galanthus nivalis 'Magnet' (Snowdrops) which were then replaced by Narcissus 'Mother Duck', Narcissus 'Peeping Jenny' and Narcissus jonquil 'Sweetness' as well as Fritillaria elwesii and Fritillaria hermonis Amana (Fritillary). Two pots of tulips were added in April but, due to the unseasonably high temperatures between the 18th and the 20th, flowered for just a few days and by the end of April the last pot in flower was Narcissus jonquil 'Bellsong'.
This new display has had numerous positive comments since its inception and will now become a regular fixture during the winter to spring months.