Shhhh….I think Spring might have sprung!

I might be speaking too soon, but I hope not. The garden has an air about it that speaks to me of spring, leaf buds are starting to unfurl and more flowers are opening up each day. The birds are making so much noise defending their territories and bees are starting to buzz each day. Our days and nights are a bit warmer and our mole is playing havoc with the back lawn while he searches for a mate! Yes, Spring is in the air!

The border by the driveway is full of primroses at the moment.

Drifts have been forming where so many seedlings are now growing, I think I must move some of them to the back garden to start a drift there.

The Camellia flowers , also by the drive, have survived all the snow, ice and frost and are now opening in the milder temperatures.

It took a while for these Tete a Tete daffodils to stand up again after the snow. I was on the point of cutting them for the house, rather than leave them lying on the soil, but eventually they have managed to right themselves.

The hellebores just say “Snow – what snow” and carry on regardless!

The Meconopsis bed is looking very springlike, but no sign of the meconopsis yet.

The lilac flower is Corydalis solida growing on the side of the ditch by the woodland. The other colours around it are it’s seedlings.

This one looks very similar to C. Beth Evans.

This was the original plant which has given rise to coloured seedlings which look very pretty.

I’m not sure if this is the same pink or slightly darker, whatever it is it is very welcome.

New hellebores are doing very well.

Adding more burgundy to what is becoming more yellow as the daffodils open in the woodland.

Acer Sango Kaku is shining brightly in the woodland, like a beacon that we can see from the house. The new leaf growth is really beautiful in the sunshine.

The new leaves are such a beautiful mixture of colours before becoming pale green for the summer.

This is the real C. Beth Evans planted many years ago. I have never found any seedlings around her.

Studding the woodland floor are little Anemone nemorosa, looking so beautiful.

Scilla siberica at the end of the woodland are starting to seed around with little blue flowers spreading nicely.

Snowdrops are nearly finished, this one is G. Polar Bear, it should have felt well at home last week with all the snow!

Fritillaries are starting to flower, only about a dozen so far, but soon there will be lots more, there will be another post soon.

In the gravel sitting area at the back, Anemone blanda have opened up to the sunshine today.

Making themselves at home on the alpine scree are the Scilla siberica. They are seeding about a lot, coming up everywhere, we will soon have a proper drift!

Also doing well on the scree are the pink Chionodoxa, increasing nicely. I think I must get some blue ones to plant among the primroses in the front.

A dwarf tulip again on the scree, the only place I have good drainage for it, it seems happy and is increasing.

Still on the scree, tiny dwarf narcissus flowers.

In a shady part of the rockery, transplanted Primrose sibthorpii looks very happy, so I will move some more from under the pergola.

colourful Polyanthus doing its thing, flowering on and off all winter, but putting out nice new flowers after all the snow.

Prunus Kojo no mai is later than usual, just starting to flower now.

Cyclamen coum still contributing to the colour in the garden.

My old faithful Chaenomeles by the back door, still flowering and still looking wonderful!

And my other old faithful Camellia which has also been flowering from November.

Do you agree with me, is spring here to stay do you think, I really hope so, as it has been a long time coming after various spells of winter returning.

Usually by this time we have the woodland changing from the white of the snowdrops to the yellows of the narcissus. This year though we only have a few narcissus flowering so far, N. Thalia are almost out but N. St. Patricks Day and N. Geranium are still in tight bud. Blossom on a few trees is also behind previous years but I’m sure they will soon catch up.

How is your garden behaving, is it behind like mine because of different weather patterns or is it flowering as normal?

 

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18 Responses to Shhhh….I think Spring might have sprung!

  1. Peter says:

    It’s beginning to look like spring has arrived in earnest in your garden and your secret is safe with me. While it’s a bit cold and wet here, some warm days earlier seem to have spring back on track after our February freezes. Such an exciting time to see all of our old friends returning from their winter slumber!

    • Pauline says:

      I think so too Peter, although more snow is forecast for further north over Easter. Hopefully we will escape this time and the flowers can continue to brighten up the garden. They are old friends aren’t they, nice to know they have survived the winter weather.

  2. Alison says:

    Oh yes, I definitely think spring has arrived there. Not just the flowers but also those leaves on the Japanese maple are far enough along to say winter is gone. I haven’t seen any leaves that big on any of our deciduous trees here yet.

    • Pauline says:

      I’m glad you agree Alison, my Philadelphus and one of the silver birches now have new leaves bursting open, hopefully,soon the garden will be mass of green once more.

  3. Christina says:

    It is all looking wonderfully spring-like Pauline; you have so many different spring bulbs in your garden. Your images of the Hellebores are amazingly clear and beautiful. Yes, my garden is also feeling spring-like at last- it is very late arriving this year.

    • Pauline says:

      The bulbs have recovered amazingly well after all the snow Christina.I think the only casualty are the drumstick primulas which have had their flowers frosted and are now a mess! I think spring is late for most of us in Europe this year, thanks to the Russian weather!

  4. Denise says:

    It’s lovely to see all your Spring flowers Pauline and it certainly looks like Spring is there to stay at last. Here we had a few days with plus degrees which melted a bit of the snow but now it is cold again -11c last night so Spring feels like a million miles away!

    • Pauline says:

      Denise, -11C seems awfully cold, I really hope it warms up for you soon! I think the north of the UK is going to get more snow over Easter, we should just have more rain. I just wish the garden would dry out so that I can get working once more, water is lying everywhere.

  5. rusty duck says:

    Gosh, you are well ahead of me. Apart from a new acer stashed in the greenhouse over winter I have no leaves yet. I’ve just purchased Prunus Kojo no mai. What a beauty it is, only just breaking bud as yet though. I hope we don’t get any more snow, but it’s going to be a chilly weekend by the sound of it.
    How are the pheasants? 😉

    • Pauline says:

      My other Acers are still in tight bud Jessica, just one brave enough to open up, although now my golden Philadelphus and a few other shrubs are starting to show their leaves. I love Prunus Kojo no mai, but she has grown taller than I thought she would be.
      I can cope with cold, just not more snow and rain please! Strange you should mention the pheasants, I would have said that I haven’t seen or heard any for a while. However yesterday when I went into the woodland, 2 fritillaries by the path had their flowers chewed off, now I’m not accusing anyone, but……?

  6. debsgarden says:

    Oh, I love to see your early spring bulbs! The dwarf narcissus flowers are so charming. Your plants must be happy; they seem to spread so easily. I love your primroses! I thought my handful of primroses had perished but was pleased to find three of them emerging today. I dream of a drift of them…

    • Pauline says:

      I spoke too soon Deb, yesterday we had another blizzard! This time though, it didn’t stick, but driving home once more was certainly another experience. The primroses are increasing nicely, you have to have male and female flowers to get lots of seedlings. I can remember learning about thrum eyed and pin eyed flowers at school, hundreds of years ago! I seem to have mostly female flowers, but all you need is one male flower for the bees to visit in each area and the result is lots of seedlings.

  7. Ali says:

    Hi Pauline, yes, my garden is very slowly getting going too. It feels much further behind than it should be at Easter. I love all your corydalis – I just have the yellow sort, and have only really started to notice all the pink and lilac forms this year. it’s funny how a plant can have been doing its thing and suddenly you become aware of it. The maple foliage too is captivating.

    • Pauline says:

      I spoke too soon Ali, we had more snow on Good Friday, I drove home from church in another blizzard! Thank goodness it didn’t stay very long this time.
      I must try and find the yellow corydalis, maybe I will have to grow it from seed as I never seem to see it for sale. My other maples will soon be joining Sango Kaku, theie buds are swelling nicely.

  8. Susie says:

    Spring, it’s time!

    • Pauline says:

      It should be Susie, but the weather keeps forgetting and slips back into winter! We now have so much rain, everywhere is sodden and no gardening will be done for quite some time!

  9. Jason says:

    Spring has sprung much further there than here. Not a single blooming Daffodil as of yet. We may have some Hellebores blooming soon. Love that blue Primrose!

    • Pauline says:

      Spring keeps trying Jason, but winter keeps returning, my poor plants don’t know where they are! Temperatures are rising slowly though so hopefully the worst is over. The blue primrose was a rescue last year costing just 50p, well worth it! Hope your daffodils soon appear and you have some good weather too.

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