For me, February means just one thing, making time to go to the little woodland at the back to see all the snowdrops that are flowering, no matter how cold it is. By the time we are half way through February, the wild single snowdrops have joined in with the doubles and ” specials “. As well as the snowdrops there are lots of other flowers joining them by the second half of the month.
It really is back to winter again with the temperatures plummeting to below zero at night and feeling like it during the day, with the easterly wind. When I eventually got myself all wrapped up to take the photos for this post, it felt most strange to go into the woodland and photograph foliage, when I was surrounded by hundreds of lovely little flowers, never mind their turn will come. To start with, I have just bought a delicious hellebore to fill a space, Winter Moonbeam, I thought that even when the plant isn’t flowering, the leaves will still look interesting.
Helleborus “Winter Moonbeam”
What a difference a day makes, don’t know how long exactly our spell of lovely mild weather will last, but we decided to make the most of it and go garden visiting to admire snowdrops!! We went to East Lambrook Manor in Somerset which has a Grade I listed cottage garden created by Margery Fish between 1938 and 1969. Margery Fish was a celebrated plantswoman in her time and is a well known author of gardening books, some of which I have read over and over again.
Planting trough at the entrance to the garden
February means just one thing for me, lots and lots of snowdrops flowering in the garden. This is the month when the wild ones, Galanthus nivalis, join in with the specials which are already flowering. Usually by the middle of the month, in the UK, the snowdrops reach their climax, depending on the weather of course.
The little woodland strip at the back of the house is beginning to look really pretty with all the early flowers starting to open.
Saurday started out beautifully sunny and the temperature was soon up to a balmy plus 12C so we decided to make the most of it as we knew that the garden here would still be far too wet to do any work, that was my excuse anyway! We got some new metal parts, you can see Diversified Bronze & Manufacturing for a full selection. We knew that the garden at RHS Rosemoor was holding its annual sculpture exhibition and having enjoyed it so much last year, off we went with son and dil who were staying with us for the weekend. We were greeted at the entrance by this wonderfully lifelike ram.
Yesterday, Wednesday, it just snowed and snowed, all day long. Did it amount to anything, not really. In between each snow shower, the temperature rose and started thawing what had fallen. The snowflakes were huge, but it took a long time before they were sticking. I’m a child still at heart and love the snow, well, for a couple of days anyway! I love to see the garden totally transformed into a white wilderness, that doesn’t often happen here in the SW of the UK, 2010 was the most snow that we have ever had, if you would like to see those photos click here.
From the warmth of the conservatory looking towards the woodland.
At this time of year we look to all the evergreens that we have in the garden to provide interest and structure. Although there are quite a few flowers out at the moment, they are usually small like snowdrops, so you have to make an effort to go out into the garden to enjoy them. Strategically placed evergreens , golds or silvers can be seen from the warmth of the house and enjoyed for their various shapes, colours and textures.
Well, the forecasters got it right this time. I think we in our little part of Devon, got off lightly, compared to the north of the county and further east. When I got up this morning, everywhere was white and the snowdrops and hellebores nowhere to be seen.
This is when the structure in the garden shows if you have got it right or not. This is the view from the kitchen window, no I wasn’t going out, it was snowing heavily at the time! I think the box balls and the lonicera hedge look nice with their sprinkling of snow.
The terracotta urn in the gravel area in the back garden shows up well with its snow cover. The mound to the right of the urn is the spreading mass of ophiopogon planiscapus nigrescens, it looks very different covered in snow.
The hydrangea by the front door has collapsed, I wonder why. Looking up the garden, non of the others have collapsed, so I hope it is ok and will right itself soon.
This little hellebore was photographed yesterday, before the snow………
…….this is it now, collapsed under the snow. I know from previous years that as soon as the temperature rises, the stems will stand upright once more, but don’t know if the flower will be ok, that is another matter, the buds will open as usual so there will still be more flowers.
These snowdrops are Mrs MacNamara which I showed in a previous post, nicely upright with lots of flowers……..
……this is Mrs MacNamara today, flowers all bent down to the ground on the right, but like the hellebores, they will right themselves and be upright once more when it gets a degree or two warmer.
We can’t say we weren’t warned about this lot of snow, not sure how long it will last, sleet is falling at the moment, hope it doesn’t freeze on all this tonight. The cold weather from the east has brought winter bird visitors from the continent, we had our first redwings and fieldfares this morning, but I don’t think we had any berries for them, they didn’t stay long. I don’t plan to go out again today and think we will stay at home tomorrow too, light the woodburner and curl up with a good book!!
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.
