Yesterday was the most beautiful sunny day, what a difference from Saturday when we had such torrential rain of biblical proportions! It was sunny, but the wind, that was definitely icy, coming from the north. Fortunately my early snowdrops are quite sheltered where they are and are flowering nicely still. Mrs McNamara has been multiplying , I think this is going to be the year when I have to do quite a bit of splitting of my bulbs to keep them happy, if they get too crowded they tend to stop flowering. Not bad from just one bulb a few years ago.
This little one is a species, Galanthus rizehensis, everything about this snowdrop is small, the stalk, the leaves and the flower.
Another species, G. caucasicus. Just one flower showing at the moment, but lots to come. It is the leaves that are different on this one, they are curly and twisted, easy to recognise at a distance.
Galanthus Atkinsii is an early tall variety which is known as a good snowdrop for naturalising. I think this could do with splitting to make a few more.
Just coming out, Galanthus Magnet, once more from just one bulb originally, another to be split I think. This one looks beautiful when fully out with the flowers dancing on their long pedicels in the breeze.
Galanthus Angelique is on the raised beds near to the house, but in the shade of Prunus Kojo no mai. I’m seeing too many snowdrops that need splitting, lots of work to do when they have finished flowering!
Now to all the hellebores that are out at the moment, more and more come out each day, I love this time of year.
Such a dark one, almost black until you get the sun shining through the petals, then it turns to maroon.
One of my favourites, a pink anemone centred hellebore – divine!
Another anemone centred one, this time white with a dusting of red spots, beautiful.
Beautifully marked veins, looks delicate, but just as hardy as the rest.
Double white with the daintiest of pink markings, how can I say which is my favourite when they are all so beautiful!
With it being so sunny yesterday, the woodland was filled with perfume, first of all from Hamamellis mollis Pallida. Walking by, I did a real double take, the perfume was so strong.
Mind you, it has never had so many flowers before. Last Autumn, when we were having non stop rain, I noticed that there were so many buds on all the twigs and hoped that this would mean a super flowering period, not just for the witch hazel but for all the other spring flowering shrubs, which usually abort their flower buds if they don’t have enough moisture.
Just further on from the witch hazel, my nose told me that another shrub was in flower and this one for the first time! Daphne bholua has the most beautiful perfume to match its lovely flowers.
I have another bush of Daphne bholua in a more shady area of the woodland and seeing this one in flower made me go and inspect the other. Sure enough it is covered in flower buds and the flowers will open soon, prolonging the gorgeous scent that hangs in the air.
Nearby is a Camellia, again flowering for the first time, thanks to all the rain no doubt. This is my first camellia to flower although the others won’t be far behind, this one is Cornish Snow and has very small flowers, but a lot of them, almost half hellebore size. The woodland garden is a very special place for me and just gets better and better for the next few months as each wave of flowers open in turn.
The ” powers that be” say that we are all going to have snow today here in the UK, I wonder, so far, no sign of the white stuff ?! Each day brings such different weather, its just as well that our plants are so adaptable.
