At last !

Nearly a month late, but never mind, the snakeshead fritillaries, Fritillaria meleagris,  are flowering in the woodland at last.  Today was a beautifully sunny day with a cold wind,  the woodland is quite sheltered so  it was a pleasure to be there, looking at all the flowers, listening to the birds and the buzzing of the bees, a real spring day at last.

I thought with so much non stop rain all through March, I thought the plants would revel in the wet soil, but strangely, they are only half the height that they normally reach.

Rusty pheasant doing his duty.

With sprinkling the seed each year, we get quite a few different shades from white through to deep purple.

There were so many different varieties of bees buzzing all around me while I was taking the photos, obviously plenty of pollen and nectar on offer. They have waited such a long time for Spring to arrive with slightly higher temperatures, they were obviously making the most of today. It felt really good to be out in the garden today, I think we have shrugged winter off for good now, or at least I hope so!

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4 Responses to At last !

  1. snowbird says:

    Oh my goodness, what a divine sight! I love all the different colors. My favourite spring plant ever! How I wish I had a carpet of them like you! I have one……I think the peacock has ate them all! xxx

    • Pauline says:

      What a lovely reaction Dina! I started off many years ago with just one packet of 20 bulbs, the rest have come when I sprinkle the seed each year. We don’t have peacocks here, but the local pheasant is rather partial to them, hence the rusty pheasant trying to convince any visitors that this territory is taken!

  2. Denise says:

    What a fantastic display Pauline! I do love the chequered pattern on the snakeshead fritillary. And it looks like Rusty Pheasant has done a good job!

    • Pauline says:

      Thanks Denise, the pattern is lovely isn’t it. Rusty pheasant was a bit late being put in place, a couple of the flowers on the outside have had lumps taken out of them, but I’ve only heard the pheasant a couple of times, haven’t seen him in the garden yet, he must sneek in when I’m out!

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