First garden visit of the year 2017 and more of my plants

We had the first garden visit of the year and chose possibly one of the worst days we could to visit.  It was cold, drizzly, wet and windy and really not conducive to being out for any length of time, even for hardy gardeners.  However, we braved the weather and went to Brightwater Gardens, which is one of my favourite local gardens.  Some of the snowdrops can be seen in the distance in the top photo, but on that day, even they weren't very keen to be out.

 There is some lovely winter planting with various colours of dogwood stems.

 In better weather, this would have been an enticing walk.

 My hands were shaking, hence the blurry image of the sorbus berries with raindrops.

 The bust of Capability Brown gazes towards the church he is said to have designed.

 You can see the church better in this closer view.

 In winter, you can get a very clear idea of the hard landscaping in a garden and this one has some beautiful areas which add a lot of interest.

One of my favourite parts of the garden is the 'Cathedral Garden' with the pleached trees, hedges and grass.  A lovely calm space, but a bit too cold to linger here for too long on this visit.

 In my own garden, the snowdrops have finally opened to show their patterns.  A bit of warmth and sunshine will do wonders!

 These are in a pot and I will need to divide them once they have finished flowering.

 I have only noticed two double snowdrops this year and this is the one that hadn't been nibbled by something.

 Along with the snowdrops, my winter flowering honeysuckle is doing well and has a beautiful scent of lily of the valley.  Considering that some of the wall collapsed on it and it needed some remedial pruning, it has survived remarkably well.

 More snowdrops. (They have probably been a bit battered by Storm Doris by now!)

The violas I planted last autumn greet me with their cheerful faces whenever I go in or out.  They make me smile.

Enjoying the sunshine

We have actually enjoyed some sunshine today, which has been lovely.  This was the sky this morning.

I had a look in the garden and saw a small number of double snowdrops.  They always need to be lifted up in order to appreciate their lovely markings.

 One of my hellebores is flowering too, but also needs to have its head lifted up.

 This is the best clump this year.  I do have two other plants, but they are still in bud.

 Cyclamen coum and snowdrops in a pot together.

 Snowdrops, crocus and a grape hyacinth also in a pot together.  I should probably divide the snowdrops once they have finished flowering.

Finally, a second double snowdrop with the lovely green and white combination.  I think the flowers were as pleased to see the sunshine as I was!

Happy Things

I thought I'd share some things currently making me happy and thankful.  A yummy Victorian sandwich cake...

 ...and flapjack.

 Some cheerful yellow daffodils.

 Crocuses coming out in the garden.

 Buds of Prunus Incisa 'Kojo-no-mai' starting to green up in the sunshine.

 Silky flower buds of Magnolia 'Susan' against a beautiful blue sky.

Snowdrops in the garden - this one is a double.

 Tulip buds hopefully promising a colourful Spring.

Flower buds from Blueberry 'Blue Pearl'.  

 A little china pot bought for £1.00 in a local antiques shop.  It was so pretty, I just had to buy it.  It will look lovely with primroses and grape hyacinths in it.

 My seasonal tree, full of wintry-coloured decorations.

Finally, a pretty mug from my friend Alison.  Lots of happy things.

First garden visit of 2014

On Sunday, my good friends Katy and Alison and I set off for our first garden visit of the year to Hodsock Priory, to look at the snowdrops.  We have been visiting there for quite a number of years now. Above is the lovely gatehouse.

The woodland walk with the drifts of snowdrops is what Hodsock is known for and they are very beautiful.  There were a lot of the double snowdrops this year. 

 This bit of woodland made me think of fairies or hobbits!

 There are also a lot of cyclamen coum in their lovely shades of pink and white.

 This was one of the larger snowdrops - S. Arnott.

 Narcissus Cedric Morris was flowering away on this bank.

 The spidery flowers of witch hazel looked vibrant against the blue sky (when it eventually appeared).

These trees looked as though they were going to be felled, but made a statuesque addition against the sky. They reminded me of the totem sculptures by Henry Moore which I saw at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park back in 2008.

Here's a photo I took from the 2008 visit - can you see why the trees reminded me of these?

The bare trunks do look rather majestic.

 More of Henry Moore's sculptures at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park in 2008.

When the sun came out, it did make some rather nice shadows across the clumps of cyclamen.

 Here's a snowdrop which Katy very kindly bought for me - I love the blob of green (no, I won't be turning into a galanthophile, but I did like this pattern).  This one is Galanthus Elwesii and will be added to my garden soon.  It was lovely to be out and about.

Gardening Plans

 I have been busy making plans for my little garden this year.  I have decided that I am going to attempt to grow a few more edible things so have bought two more blueberry plants (compact and designed for pots) called Blue Pearl, from Marshalls, which arrived safely and are waiting for the weather to be a bit warmer before being planted in their larger pots.  I have also been inspired by the RHS book Grow your own crops in Pots (which I bought very cheaply from The Book People ) ...

...and also ordered three autumn fruiting raspberry canes (variety Joan J) which arrived yesterday and I am considering braving the cold to get them in a pot too.  Apparently, according to the book, autumn fruiting raspberries will grow well in a large tub and should last about ten years, which is fantastic. 

 I am also going to have a go at growing beetroot too, because I discovered that I really like raw beetroot grated in a salad (but I do not like pickled beetroot at all!). 
Not forgetting the flowers, however, I have ordered phlox plants as I have two in the garden which did really well despite the awful summer last year.  I have also treated myself to an oriental Poppy, Plum Pudding, from Thompson and Morgan.  There will also be cosmos, sweet peas (my first time growing from seed) and a multitude of other things which are in my seed box.  I pruned my clematis and roses last Saturday, on a gloriously sunny afternoon, so got things underway.

I am really looking forward to this growing season and I hope it will be a successful one for all of us gardeners. 
In my excitement, I nearly forgot to mention the photos - the top one is a double snowdrop from my garden and the daffodil and hyacinth planter was a belated but extremely welcome birthday present which is reminding me that Spring isn't too far away.  There were also some Lindt chocolate rabbits and a Lindt carrot nestled in the moss as well! Chocolate and plants - does life get much better than this?