Winter flowers

Although it is still quite early for a lot of plants to be flowering, there are plants to enjoy. Above is Hellebore Winter Ballet Lulu, recovered after having a snowy hat.

Here is a Hellebore Credale double with just one flower so far, but a beautiful looking pink picotee edge to the petals.

Hellebore Hello Ruby just starting to flower.

Hellebore Ice and Roses Red looking very glamorous.

Cyclamen coum with its silvery leaves and pink buds.

Snowdrops, which really do need dividing this year.  They used to have lots of flowers but these have dwindled so I really need to dig them up, divide and replant them, giving them more room.  Of course, the heat in Summer is not really to their liking, so that won't have helped. 

Three more flowers.

Finally, Hellebore Ericsmithii Winter Sunshine, again flowering but perhaps not quite so happily as in previous years.  It may not have liked the heat either, but may need to be in a bigger pot now.  Lots for me to do when the weather is slightly less wet!

Hellebores in December and a new purchase

As you may know, I do like hellebores. I have some in the border, but most are in pots.  I didn't mean to start a collection, but I might have done so.  They are perennial, easy care and flower during winter and early spring. The flowers stay on until later in the spring, so they are really good value plants.   These are all in pots and all bloom earlier than the ones I have in the border.    Above is Winter Princess Victoria, with emerging leaves and flower buds.

This is one of the Ice and Roses series, much further ahead than any of the others, which is one of its selling points, I think. 

One of the Credale series, (either single white or double pink picotee) just tentatively showing new leaves and the tips of other leaves or possibly buds poking through the soil.

Reliable Eric Smithii Winter Sunshine, with lots of buds.  This one probably needs repotting now.

Here is my latest addition - Winter Ballet Lulu.  This series has larger flowers and the plants themselves are about 45 cm once fully grown.  In pots, they all remain a little smaller.  These flower earlier than many of the others and apparently stay flowering for a longer period.  I am in good company with my purchase as on Gardeners World last Friday evening, Adam Frost was planting some of the Winter Ballet series, but the white ones, in his garden. 

The flowers are big, bold and beautiful.  I look forward to seeing them through the Winter and into Spring.  

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.

In the garden late December/early January

I ventured into the garden to see what was braving late December/early January weather and then got sidetracked so am posting this now.  Above is one of the Nemesia Melody series...

...and here's another...

...and another.  They are good value plants.

Hellebores were in flower. Here is Hello White Pearl.

While Hellebore Ericsmithii Winter Sunshine was just opening up.  The hellebores in pots always seem to flower before the ones in the ground.

There was a cyclamen coum and the start of some snowdrops.

Jasminium nudiflorum (winter flowering jasmine) was bringing its own sunshine to a dull corner.

Camellia Yoimachi flowers enticed me down to the bottom of the garden to look at them more closely.

The ever faithful winter flowering honeysuckle was also in flower.  Of course, a week or so after taking these photos, we had a week of frost and temperatures only just above freezing during the day. Everything was flattened by it, but has recovered.

Autumn Colour

I have been enjoying the autumn colour in the garden. It has been rather dull and dry weather recently, but there is always something to lift the spirits.  Above is a hydrangea, with its gracefully ageing flowers, which remind me of old velvet.

This is Hydrangea paniculata 'Pinky Winky' with the flowers starting to turn.

The blueberry leaves are doing their fiery thing...

and I am enjoying these while I can - they will soon fall.

Salvia Cero Potosi has been flowering all summer and it still going.  The colour really is that vibrant - almost neon.

Then there is the elegance of the cyclamen hederifolium with the shades of green and silver on the leaves.

The 'cyclamen corner' on the patio is a very restful area.

There is always something to look forward to in the garden and here you can see the developing flowers of Hellebore Ericsmithii 'Winter Sunshine'.  

Finally, you may remember that I bought a large japanese anemone 'Ruffled Swan', which I had completely fallen in love with on someone else's blog.  I also bought two little plants online, just in case I couldn't find one locally, so now I have three.  One of the little ones has rewarded me with the prettiest flower now and this brings me joy every time I see it.  You can see the pale lilac/blue on the back of the petals.  Isn't it a beauty?

Welcome Hellebores

I love seeing the hellebores starting to flower. While Winter is not over, they are always a promise of Spring.  These are all grown in pots and are ahead of the hellebores in the border.  Above is the rich plum/pink of Hello Ruby.

The deep colour of the petals contrasts beautifully with the green/lemon stamens.

Hellebore Eric Smithii Winter Sunshine is proving itself to be a reliable and floriferous addition to the garden. 

The pink buds open to a white/pink flower, with a touch of green.

This is Hello White Pearl which is again a reliable performer. The pink speckling is so pretty - it almost looks like a lily flower.

There are more flowers to come.

Hellebore Princess Victoria is on the way - her flowers are a deep purply/red.

This is Hellebore Harvington Pink.  It is a really pretty pink but has seemed a little shy, not flowering last year.  There are three flowers on that stem, so I shall enjoy watching them grow.

My newly planted (in December) grape hyacinths are starting to grow too so I am watching them (with some excitement!).  They should have a pale blue flower.  I do like this time of year with the promise of lovely things to come.

First cards of 2024 and first plants in flower

I have started making cards for 2024 and these are first ones.  Some simple stamped thank you cards - I really like the sketchy style of these floral stamps.

This was a birthday card for a friend who likes pink.  I used die cut flowers in the background which was an idea I saw last week during a Sizzix die release by Tim Holtz. If you would like to know more, it is all available on his blog here. He shows fantastic ideas by his very talented makers team, so I always try to watch the releases and lives if I can.

In the garden this Rhodanthemum Casablanca has surprised me by flowering throughout December and now into January.  I have lost two of these plants before, so am doubly surprised by this one.

This snowdrop is the one nearest to being fully open.  It is in a pot and is Galanthus Elwesii.. The ones in the border are nearly there and will no doubt feature in a week or two.   

Here is Hellebore Ericsmithii Winter Sunshine, braving our colder temperatures.  We are due more frosts next week, so I shall be checking on the garden as the week progresses.