Good things to come

I am enjoying wandering round the garden at the moment.  Above are some snowdrops in the border, tantalisingly close to being fully open.  These tall ones, probably Elwesii or something similar were from my Mum's garden many years ago.  They may need to be divided, if I could ever remember to do this at the right time!

More promise of things to come. Here is a camellia, probably a japonica  which was a present from Mum and I have no idea what variety it is. It is a double and has nice plump flower buds.  It needs to be in a bigger pot now.

I was pruning some of my roses this afternoon and the scent from the winter flowering honeysuckle was lovely. The scent is best on a sunny day and it is like lily of the valley - a fresh, delicious scent.  As I have said before, this is a straggly birds' nest of a shrub but all is forgiven when it is flowering on a sunny day!

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.

Flowers in February

These first two photos are a bit of a cheat as they are flowers we were given last weekend when a friend came round to the house (first time in two years!)

They are a lovely combination of happy colours.

Out in the garden, hellebore 'Hello White Pearl' is flowering away beautifully. 

I also have some snowdrops which make me smile when I see them.  They are one of my favourite flowers, which I admire for their tenacity. The one above is an Elwesii, and I like the extra green colouring.

My clumps of normal snowdrops - Galanthus nivalis but they are a bit taller than the normal ones, so may be a different type - really need splitting up now.  Originally, they came from my Mum's garden.

Such a delicate looking flower.

Camellia Yoimachi is flowering away at last.  I like the very delicate edge of pink to the petals on this flower.

While this flower has much more pink.

My newest Camellia 'Yuletide' is still flowering nicely, adding a bright pop of colour to the sometimes grey days.

Winter flowering honeysuckle is also in bloom.  There haven't been that many sunny days recently, when the perfume really wafts round the garden, but if you manage to get your nose close to the flower, the perfume is definitely there.  It's a straggly shrub, but I am very fond of it.

More snowdrops to finish, just because.  I am hoping to have a snowdrop garden visit at the weekend, all being well.  More snowdrops to follow in that case...

Snowdrop progress and a blue sky

 As yesterday was such a beautiful day, I thought I would go out and check on the snowdrops.  There was sunshine and a lovely blue sky (something we haven't seen too much of this dull and grey winter).

 Definite progress made now, but still not open flowers.

 I think they were all from my Mum's garden.  They are quite tall with large flowers, but I don't know the variety.

 Nearly open...just a bit more sunshine needed, I think.

Again, I'm not sure which variety this is.  I did have some galanthus elwesii, but that has thicker leaves than this one.  As I have said many times before, snowdrops are one of my favourite plants.  Their delicate and elegant form belies their toughness.

Easton Walled Gardens and snowdrops

I spent a very happy few hours at Easton Walled Gardens today, with my friends Katy and Alison, on our first garden visit of the year. We usually go to Hodsock to look at the snowdrops, but we decided to break with tradition and go somewhere else this year. Although we had all visited Easton before, it was a number of years ago.  There was once a grand house on the site, but during the 1950s, it was demolished and the gatehouse is all that is left.  When the current owners took it over the land in 1994, it was like a jungle and has taken a lot of work to get it to what it is today.  Even the weather was helpful as the fog lifted and we enjoyed beautiful warm sunshine.

 There were some beautiful upright hellebores in amongst the snowdrops.

 Following the path round and looking up, the snowdrops appeared to be like a river...

 ...and were then joined by aconites.

 It almost looked like snow.

 There were so many.

 I liked this urn perched on the edge of the wall.

 On the formal bridge, someone had left a heart of gravel - possibly a tribute to St Valentine? - which I couldn't resist taking a photo of.  I liked the way it had been left there.

 Looking back up towards where the house once was. The terraced banks are planted with wildflowers. On the flat area before the bridge, there were once some formal bedding displays.  You can see them in photos from a visit to the house made by 'Country Life' magazine in 1901, which are displayed in the history room and the tea room.

 Looking back down across what was the walled kitchen garden, with the edge of the massive yew hedge.

 Back by the terrace again - I love an open doorway.

 This was on top of a wall by the area where there was once a peach house.  It is the remains of a sundial and you can see the hole where the gnomen was fixed.

 MC's initials feature a lot in the remaining ironwork - a previous member of the Cholmeley family who owned the house.

 This display of primulas gave a welcome bit of colour in the stableyard, where the shop and toilets are.

Of course I came away with a couple of plants, courtesy of Katy.  This is the rather beautiful Galanthus Elwesii with lovely markings on the petals, which will be planted in my garden as a reminder of the very enjoyable visit to Easton.

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.