I have however been thinking a little bit about my rabbit problem. This remains - there are hundreds on site - despite the appearance of our very willing head huntsman and his sons - various shots were fired but no injuries to rabbits were reported. For Christmas a friend very thoughtfully gave me a book entitled 'Gardening with the Enemy; a Guide to Rabbit-proof Gardening' by Janet Thomson (ISBN 0 9530013 0X) . It is quite amusing, though in the end not quite as helpful as I had hoped. The problem is that, like humans, rabbits are not entirely predictable so that a plant that might not be eaten in one garden, seems to go down very well in another. For instance, they are not supposed to like aromatic plants, which would include rosemary and fennel, but in my garden both these plants have been attacked, though the former at least not systematically. The truth is that nothing is safe, but especially just after planting. Rabbits, like most of us, are very curious, so whether they actually like the flavour or not, they are eager to give a new plant a try. The result is often a half-eaten plant which has been dug out of the ground and left to die, this very easy for a rabbit to achieve if what has been planted has come out of what is called here a godet, which is to say anything small. So I suppose one bit of advice would be; plant big if at all possible.
In my experience none of what one might call the 'green solutions' work: smells and noises are not in the end an effective deterrent. Serious hunting with ferrets, etc is probably the best solution, though I have so far failed to organize this. Instead I have resorted to a lot of chicken wire, in my view less unsightly than any form of plastic, but not a thing of beauty. Plants that have survived well in my garden would include, among the bulbs the narcissus family, to my great surprise dahlias, which of course slugs adore, and peonies, which incidentally are more or less resistant to every thing, including cold and wind, despite their exotic appearance, and penstemons. It is probably also true that once settled in, leaves with strong flavours are not their favourite fodder. On the other hand all young trees and shrubs, including roses, are possible targets, but especially when first planted.
Meanwhile it is of course an exciting time in the garden, even if much of my planting is hidden by weeds. I saw today a marvellous Exochorda, almost 3 metres high and covered in white blossom. Mine, alas, is about 30cms! What is looking very good at this moment is Buddleja officinalis. I have praised it before, but will do so again, since it is plant that I believe everybody should possess. Reputedly a little tender mine has come through the winter very happily. Less happy is Buddleja agathosma (farreri), also in flower now, and like B officinalis, in the the lilac range, but I suspect that this is due more to summer drought than winter cold. Still well grown it is a beautiful plant. About to flower, this a first for me, is Syringa pekinensis, but what excites me about it is not the flowers which I have yet to see, or indeed to smell - they should be white and smelly - but the form, which is very elegant, unlike the bog standard S. vulgaris with all its many hybrids, which is a pretty dreary shrub when not in flower. Incidentally mine has grown fast, and appears to be problem free.
Do not forget the Plant Fairs, some of which have already happened, but Gaujacq (May 8/9) is yet to happen,while Fources is not this but next weekend. And good luck in your fight against our terrible weeds, and indeed rabbits, if you suffer from them.
