What’s looking good at RHS Bridgewater?

Drifts of more than 50,000 daffodils create a floral spectacle in the Orchard throughout spring. Planted over four years with help from our volunteers, 14 Narcissus cultivars give a succession of colour in soft cream, white and pastel yellow that complements the blossom of fruit trees and adds to the Orchard’s peaceful atmosphere. The bulb pageant begins with early-flowering Narcissus January Silver (‘Melyor’) and dwarf N. bulbocodium ‘Arctic Bells’. ‘Topolino’, ‘Frosty Snow’ and ‘Silver Chimes’ join the ensemble from March to April.

While the weather in March can still play a few tricks, spring is definitely in the air. There are delights to find lighting up the different garden rooms of our walled garden, with pockets of colour from primroses, daffodils, hellebores, dwarf iris and cyclamen. By the end of the month, cherry tree Prunus ‘The Bride’ is smothered with blossom in the Paradise Garden, and in the shelter of the Fruit House, large pink blooms adorn peach trees. In the Orchard, Magnolia kobus – a tree inherited from the original garden – puts on a show with its beautiful goblet-shaped flowers.

Pushing through the earth with glowing red stems, the Plant Heritage National Collection of rhubarb wakes up from its winter slumber this month. An impressive 107 cultivars make up the collection: ‘Baker’s All Season’ is the earliest to send up shoots yet continues producing up to autumn, ‘Timperley Early’ is a local variety from the south of Manchester, and ‘Champagne’ has a lighter, sweeter taste, similar to forced rhubarb. In early spring, the emerging stems mingle with golden daffodils, including Narcissus ‘Cheerfulness’ and ‘Dutch Master’.

Willow catkins are delightful during March, when Salix hookeriana (pictured) and S. purpurea ‘Nancy Saunders’ catch the eye in the Worsley Welcome Garden. Willows thrive in the wet conditions at RHS Bridgewater and are connected to the area – ‘Salford’ derives from Old English and means a ford by the willow trees. Discover more willows in Lower Middle Wood, including Salix gracilistyla ‘Melanostachys’, with its striking black catkins on red stems, and S. gracilistyla ‘Mount Aso’ adorned with fuzzy pink catkins.

As the weather begins to warm up, our Bee and Butterfly Garden is an enticing destination for both people and pollinators. Nectar- and pollen-rich plants fill the borders and pots, with the wide variety of flowers providing food for a diverse range of hungry insects. This month, look out for the sultry tones of Helleborus x hybridus ‘Harvington Shades of the Night’, alongside Erysimum ‘Bowles’s Mauve’, Primula vulgaris subsp. sibthorpii and Muscari armeniacum ‘Valerie Finnis’ – it’s a great place to get ideas to tempt bees and butterflies to your own garden.

On chilly days, warm up alongside tender and exotic plants in the Mediterranean Glasshouse. The stunning forms of Yucca filifera and Agave parryi stand out among the wide array of succulents. Seek out Euphorbia myrsinites, with its spirals of blue-green pointed leaves creeping over the red brickwork, and spiky Echinocactus grusonii. We’ve increased the different ways we display plants, adding hanging baskets and creating borders with undulating surfaces to provide different micro-environments and a more natural look.