Plants for Free

That’s what I like, freebies, plants that don’t cost anything, that can fill an odd space here or there or if you’re doing a new bed, then they can fill the space between the permanent planting for now. They can be disposable, to be replaced later when you have decided on more permanent planting, but in the meantime, enjoy! I am thinking wild snowdrops, primroses, foxgloves, claytonia and forget me nots, these are the plants that like my soil and seed around everywhere with gay abandon and I therefore have plenty to play around with.

This is where a conifer suddenly died a couple of years ago and the space has been frustrating me ever since. I should have photographed it before I started planting!

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Is March over already?

How time flies, this last month has flown by with an assortment of weather thrown at us and the latest lockdown has been responsible for me working in the garden practically every day, twice a day usually . I can’t remember when I last did so much physical work! Every day new treasures are emerging to please us and the bees, but I really wish I had a pause button as I would like to catch up with everything. I seem to say this every year, but never seem to be more organised, no matter how hard I try. The flowers won’t wait for us, so let’s go for a wander.

From the back door I can see that more flowers are opening on the rockery each day.

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The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Normally I would start with the good, but not in this case.  I think I’ll start with the bad, then the ugly and end on a high with the good. When I went into the woodland this morning I was greeted with a sight that I never wanted to see again, Fritillaria meleagris flowers ripped from their stalks!

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March Bounty for GBBD

Having missed a few Bloom Days due to being really busy in the garden getting everything ready for the snowdrop season, I can now take a breath and take a general view of the whole garden and realise that half is looking rather nice and half still has a long way to go. I will show you the better half!

Thank goodness Derek, the gardener, was able to cut the grass and do the edges before I took my photos!

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Guardian of the Snowdrops

An early Mother’s Day parcel arrived the other day, in the UK, Mother’s Day is this coming Sunday, 14th March. It was with great excitement that I unwrapped masses of bubble wrap and found……..a giant metal snowdrop!

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All change.

The woodland is changing, now much more yellow than before, the snowdrops are almost over, but the rockery is waking up and providing quite a bit of colour which I can see from the house. All the dwarf shrubs that I planted last year are waking up and starting to flower, bulbs are coming through, more bulbs are sitting in pots waiting to be planted as I couldn’t remember where any spaces were! No excuse any more, I must get on planting them now that I can see where they can go.

Thr first shrub to flower on the rockery is Rhododendron praecox which is looking ever so pretty.

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Colour in the Woodland

After a freezing cold week followed by a week of torrential rain of biblical proportions, we now have  warm sunshine! This has made the snowdrops and crocus open up and the woodland is buzzing, I couldn’t help but smile when a huge bumble bee tried to help itself to some nectar from a dainty wild single snowdrop, poor snowdrop was weighed down to the ground with its passenger. The sunshine has brought on lots of other flowers of different colours, so the whole effect is very pretty, or I think so anyway. Come and have a wander with me.

Narcissus are starting to flower in the border by the woodland.

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A virtual tour of the Snowdrops for WI Members.

Ladies, you are invited to a virtual tour of my snowdrops as unfortunately we still can’t be together, hopefully by next year I will be able to invite you all to come  round once more  to see the snowdrops .I know the heading says “for WI Members” but my usual readers are also invited to come with us as we wander round my tiny woodland looking at snowdrops and other flowers which are braving the winter weather at the moment, so far just frost or torrential rain for us while the rest of the country is struggling with snow. Your visits usually happen at this time of year and start with  coffee and cake, but I’m afraid this time you will have to make it yourself,  it might be a good idea to have your mug of coffee with you as this could take some time! We will start with the flowers by the drive where you usually park your cars.

Hellebore standing up very well to all our rain.

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Out at last.

No, not me, I’m still safely tucked up at home, I mean my first narcissus, Rijnveld’s Early Sensation which has always been out by Christmas Day in previous years. This time though it was still in tight bud by the end of the year and has only just opened now. It is strange that it is late when most of the special snowdrops are early.

Looking very cheerful in the woodland at the moment, N. Rijnveld’s Early Sensation.

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So many snouts and noses!

Cards and presents are written , wrapped and posted so once more I can concentrate on the garden and my wander round this morning showed me a very wet and soggy garden, but with lots of little snowdrop snouts and noses peeping up above all the leaves that still need clearing away. Usually I clear away the leaves in the garden first and then tackle the leaves in the woodland after New Year, but this year everything seems to be starting earlier than usual, so I will have to be very careful when working in the woodland.

G. Faringdon Double was my first snowdrop to appear at the end of November, I have deliberately not bought any snowdrops that are supposed to flower in the autumn as I feel they really belong in the winter, but this one seems determined to get earlier and earlier each year!

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