Hello Hellebores 2025!

The hellebores are putting on a lovely show at the moment and it is always a joy to see them. Most of them are in pots in shady areas and seem quite happy.  (I may have added three more to the collection this year, so let me show them to you first.) Above is a single white hellebore in the Credale series.

My most recent purchase was this beauty - double pink picotee in the Credale series.

Here is Ice and Roses in flower now and yes, as promised, it does have a red flower.

These are the hellebores I have had for a while.  This is Harvington Pink...

...and here is Winter Princess Victoria.

Hello Ruby has proved to be a great addition to the collection and is a reliable flowerer.

Helebore ericsmithii Winter Sunshine is still flowering and does provide sunshine on a dull winter day.

Hello White Pearl is also a reliable flowerer and has put on a wonderful show this year. I was pleased to see the little ladybird busily hoovering up some pesky aphids.

Harvington Pink spotted, I think.

Finally, Harvington Pink Picotee.  These last two are in the shady border, but don't seem to do quite as well as the ones in pots.  However, they are spreading around and I now have two speckled ones.  There is also a white one which is growing in amongst Hydrangea Annabelle, but isn't quite in flower yet. 

They are a good source of pollen and nectar for early bees, so are a great addition to the garden.

Inchie Challenge 2025

I enjoyed taking part in the Inchie Challenge again this year.  Run by Amy Maricle of Mindful Art Studio, it is a prompt a day for twelve days, working on small pieces of paper/card, in my case, 2 inches x 2 inches watercolour card.  I made them into an accordion book, but took some photos of some of the individual pieces.

'Lift' had to be a piece that could be lifted and the front of the lifted piece can be seen on the left of the photo above.

'Rebel' was lots of patterns all together.

'Shrouded' has a piece of decorated tracing paper over the top.

'Stamen' was a fun shape to make - I think I had a plantain flower in my head when I thought of this one.

Here are 'Under', 'Galactic' and 'Braided'.

This is the piece which is underneath all the other pieces for 'Under' - I really enjoyed creating that one.

'Braided' includes a plait of embroidery thread - that was Chris' idea.

'Dots'. 'Doorway' and 'Contrast'.

I made the door so that it could be opened and added a trailing vine behind.

'Contrast' is just that.

'Three' is on the left, with three flowers and 'Chequered' was another fun pattern.

The challenge is a good one to join in with, as it doesn't last too long and is easily manageable, working on such small pieces each day.  I have ended up with a really sweet little accordion journal.

Snowdrops and other delights - part two

While I thoroughly enjoyed seeing all the snowdrops on our visit, Doddington Hall gardens have some lovely vistas, like this, looking up to the house.

I am always intrigued by views through gates and doorways - what is around that corner?  You can just make out a rhododendron in flower.

Imposing gateways leading to more formal areas near the house.

A view looking the other way, down to the eyecatcher in the distance.

This little corner caught my eye with the mossy tree and the snowdrops and cyclamen leaves nestled beneath.

I managed to capture a slice of spring here with early daffodils, snowdrops, cyclamen coum, and pulmonaria.  There will also be a primrose or primula soon.

In the kitchen garden, we were impressed by these sculptural bug hotels which we are going to copy, possibly in a slightly smaller form, up at our allotment.

This water bowl would be another nice idea up there too.   We thoroughly enjoyed our visit, which ended, as all garden visits should, with tea and cake!

Snowdrops and other delights - part one

I love to see snowdrops, as they are the heralds of Spring and a sign that winter is nearly over (and one of my favourite flowers).  I visited the little churchyard in the city last week and enjoyed a few minutes of peace, listening to the birds singing and enjoying just wandering amongst the trees. 

The aconites were also in flower.

It was another dull and grey day, but still lovely.  You can read about previous visits here and here.

Last Sunday, Chris and I collected our friend Alison and we headed out to Doddington Hall to get another snowdrop fix.  We have visited for their snowdrops before, here. We also visited last year for the sculpture event here, here and the gardens here.  We were lucky with the weather as we actually had some sunshine.

There were other plants such as cyclamen coum...

..vividly coloured witch hazel in shades of orange...

...and yellow...

...and beautiful drifts of snowdrops.

There were views like this to enjoy.

We could see the witch hazels shining out across the lawns.  More to come in the next post.

'Time' by Luxmuralis at Lincoln Cathedral

('Time' at Lincoln Cathedral from Luxmuralis Youtube channel)

We went to the latest offering, 'Time' by Luxmuralis at Lincoln Cathedral last night.  For those not familiar with this, it is a sound and light experience, based around a particular theme.  It is on from 11th - 15th February 2025 at Lincoln Cathedral.  There are different performances at different venues - see here for the schedule. 

As always, my camera struggled with the low lighting, but I did take a few photos.  The video above by Luxmuralis on their Youtube channel gives much more of a flavour of what to expect.

It is a feast for the senses and can feel a bit overwhelming at times.

There is a specially composed soundtrack to go with each area, but these can all get somewhat muddled together.  I did hear Richard Burton several times, I think.

I particularly enjoyed the art of different cultures which was on the altar wall. I noticed Burne-Jones angels and a portrait by Ingres amongst the many images in this projection. 

The projection is the nave was really impressive.

This pattern is made from the icons on a mobile phone.

As we left, I took this rather atmospheric photo of the cathedral, in the drizzle and mist.

My previous visits in 2023 and 2024 are posted  - 'Science' here and 'Life' here.

New and old

I may have purchased a couple of new hellebores - it's that time of year when I really want to do some gardening, but the weather doesn't always play ball. So, to cheer myself up, new plants need to be bought!  I do have a few hellebores now, but I don't think I have a white one, or if I do, it doesn't make its presence known very often. I saw this one online and ordered it.  It came very well packaged, in really good condition and I was very pleased.

It is such a pretty plant. It is a single white hellebore in the Credale series.

The other one I bought is called Ice and Roses and is still in bud, but again, it is a good quality plant. It should have red flowers.

The snowdrops in the garden are in flower - these are large ones, originally from my Mum's garden, so always make me think of her. 

Hellebore Hello White Pearl is still flowering away...

...as is hellebore Winter Sunshine.  Hellebores can be relied on to brighten the dull, grey winter days.