Spring has certainly arrived in the garden here, it is washing over the garden and changing the colour from white to yellow. Early snowdrops are now almost finished and the colour white that was everywhere a few days ago is gradually changing to the yellow of the first narcissus and primroses.
In the border by the archway into the woodland are Narcissus Tete a Tete, Hellebores, Cyclamen coum, pulmonaria and snowdrops.
Looking into the woodland from the archway, the colour has definitely changed from white to yellow. And yes, the rusty pheasant fools me, I just hope it fools the real pheasant!
Little Tete a Tete narcissus are popping up everywhere making pools of sunshine throughout the woodland and other borders.
We have cowslips and primroses in the woodland, where they cross, this is the result, a False Oxlip. The colouring and size of the flower is from the primrose and the tall stem and arrangement of flowers is from the cowslip.
Corydalis Beth Evans is starting to flower in the woodland, it forms a lovely dome of beautiful leaves which are then enhanced by pretty pink flowers.
My only witch hazel to flower this year is Hamamellis Robert. I have checked the other two and they are still alive, thank goodness. I must remember to water them if we have a hot summer!
A lovely little Viola which I have dotted round the garden.
My Camellia, which started flowering in November, is still flowering away in the corner of the back garden. Non stop flowering for 5 months is pretty good for any plant.
Primula sibthorpii up near the veggie garden is putting out more and more flowers each day. I would love some of it in the woodland but wouldn’t want them to cross with the wild primroses there, otherwise seedlings might turn out a really wishy-washy colour and that would be a shame.
Wild primroses are popping up everywhere in the garden and in the lanes round about. They grow on the banks that form the boundaries of all the properties, it is a pleasure to drive along the lanes at the moment.
Things are stirring in the bog garden. Primula denticulata is always the first to flower in this area of very boggy soil. The candelabra primulas are only just pushing through the very wet soil, hard to believe at the moment, that they will be flowering in another month.
Little Scilla siberica are starting to flower, soon there will be a lot more, but I should have planted 100s more as they are so tiny!
Still flowering over by the field at the side is Verbena bodnantense Dawn. This is another shrub that has been flowering on and off since November, good value!
Another one still flowering from November is the Chaenomeles by the back door, this has flowered non stop in spite of all the frosts that we have had. The frost didn’t seem to make any difference to it, it just carried on regardless.
And yet another that has been flowering for such a long time. Daphne bholua Jaqueline Postill is still pumping out her perfume and working in the woodland these days is such a pleasure, with the sun on my back and her beautiful perfume filling my nostrils.
More and more flowers are coming each day now on the Leucojum aestivum, they usually end up with 6 or 8 flowers per stem and look wonderful when all the flowers are out at the same time.
Also increasing nicely is its cousin Leucojum vernum, I split a clump last year and they have all come back as good as ever.
In the alpine scree bulbs of Chionodoxa Pink Giant are almost out, the ones on the left are a deeper pink than the ones on the right, I wonder why? I must buy more for the woodland, I think they would look nice in there on the slope at the end where they can seed happily downhill.
Crocus tommasinianus Ruby Giant. I think this one is sterile, it doesn’t seem to be seeding about.
Growing on the sloping sides of the ditch is Euphorbia amygdaloides robbiae. This is spreading but I am glad that something will grow on the slope which is full of tree roots.
I can’t remember Cyclamen repandum flowering this early before, what started as just one corm is slowly spreading courtesy of my ants carrying the seed away to lick the sugary coating from the seed.
I think my species narcissus are starting to seed around as I have never planted my bulbs singly like this. It is only Narcissus pseudonarcissus that I leave to go to seed, this narcissus is one of our natives with a darker trumpet within paler outer petals.
Our Japanese Azalea near the house has decided that spring has arrived, usually it is at least a month later before flowering starts.
A few years ago, when we opened the garden for a snowdrop day, I put some extra colour on the rockery with some brightly coloured Polyanthus. They never seem to be out of flower and are now in desperate need of splitting.
In the front garden Iris unguicularis Walter Butt is still putting up new flowers, this was flowering before Christmas, it’s nice to see the occasional flower open now and then.
In the back by the house, Iris unguicularis has been flowering since Christmas. Since then it has always had 4 or 6 flowers on it, its a pity the foliage is so shaggy!
I noticed a few holes in the leaves of Cardamine pratensis, which means that something has been nibbling. I’m hoping it is the caterpillars of the Orange Tip butterfly as this is the food that they like.
Hellebores are getting better each day, I think they are rather late to get going this year, some are only just pushing through the surface of the soil.
You didn’t think I could leave the snowdrops out did you?! There are plenty still flowering but G. Augustus can represent them all as it is looking so lovely at the moment.
Soon my fickle heart will desert the snowdrops because the fritillaries are almost flowering, I swear they have grown 6 inches overnight!
That is my selection of March flowers, thanks to Carol for hosting this meme every month, do pay her a visit to see all the other spring and autumn flowers around the world.
