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.  

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.

Hello hellebores!

I have been cheered by some happy things in the garden, so though I would share them.  My snowdrops are only just starting to bud up, so more on them when there is more to see. In the meantime, here are two hellebores. Hello Ruby above, growing in a pot near to the back door.

This is Hello White Pearl, also in a pot.  I am really pleased to see them again and perhaps I would like a couple more...  They seem to be coping admirably with the frosts at night, so I am looking forward to seeing those flowers.  In other news, I received a new plant today, which I needed to buy to cheer myself up, after a pretty rubbish week at work last week (that's my excuse, anyway!)

The January Garden

 January always seems to be such a long month.  It is often grey and dreary, but then you get frosty nights and beautiful blue skies with sunshine which make up for it.  Over the years, I have been trying to include plants for this time of year so I had a look round the garden the other day to see how things were going.  Above is a hellebore, 'Hello Ruby' , which I bought from a shop called 'the range' (which does indeed have a wide range of things and is one of my favourites).  This plant is still in the pot it came in and I will pot it on shortly.  I was so pleased to see it in flower.

 One of my favourites is Winter flowering honeysuckle, a shrubby plant which looks a bit tousled and even a bit scruffy in its form.  However, in the winter, on a sunny day, the small white flowers release the most beautiful fragrance which smells like lily of the valley to me.

 They may be small, but they pack a punch!

 The ever reliable snowdrops are starting to make an appearance.

 So are these patio peonies - I have planted two in the borders, but this one is still in a pot.

 Camellia Yoimachi is looking lovely and is flowering away, giving a highlight to the bottom of the garden.

 Lovely white flowers edged with pink.

 A beautiful plant.

 I think these may be alliums with crocuses or daffodils or grape hyacinths but it will be easier to tell in a week or two.

To finish, here's 'Hello Ruby' again.  The hellebores in the borders are in bud but I don't think they are quite flowering yet.  I probably should go and check...

First garden visit of 2019 - Brightwater Gardens - snowdrops and friends

Last Sunday, my garden visiting friends Katy and Alison and I headed out for our annual pilgrimage to see snowdrops.  This is the start of the gardening season for us and we always look forward to it.  We were undecided where to go as there were quite a few snowdrop gardens open locally.  In the end, we plumped for Brightwater Gardens .  It is a relatively recent garden but every time we visit, there is something else to see.  There aren't the ancient wooded areas that some places are lucky to have, but we found plenty to enjoy.  Above is a lovely area full of white crocuses.

This wooded area was really beautiful.

 The snowdrops were nodding in the breeze (and I was glad I had taken my woolly hat!)

 A lot of planting has taken place.

 There were crocuses enjoying the sunshine.

 They just say 'Spring', don't they? (Even though it is still Winter).

 The cornus Midwinter Fire was shining brilliantly in the sun.

 Different coloured stems of cornus and willow were working well in this border.

 There were some hellebores...

 ...with different shades of purple.

 We hadn't noticed this little group under the tree before - Badger, Toad and Ratty -  but where was Mole?

 There he is, on the left.

 The crocus bank was full of colour.

 One garden I glanced at had me intrigued by the pale blue flowers.  When we got closer, we found they were clumps of irises in pale blue and creamy white/green, with the beautiful speckled markings.

 One of my favourite gardens, surprisingly, as it has such a meditative and peaceful feeling once yo are inside.  Hedges, pleached trees and grass are the only ingredients.

Looking through the vegetable gardens with a vista which draws the visitor onward.
We had a lovely visit and it was a perfect start to the garden visiting year.

Snowdrops at Doddington Hall

 

A couple of weekends ago, my friends Katy, Alison and I went to Doddington Hall, just outside Lincoln, for the start of their snowdrop season.  The weather was reasonably kind but the wind was bitterly cold.  Doddington Hall is a beautiful red brick Elizabethan house and well worth a visit, though on this occasion, it was all about the gardens.

 I was struck by the topiary - like a chess set - which immediately made me think of Alice in Wonderland (apparently, there was an Alice event there last year).

A very kind person had made this very photogenic arrangement with the old pump, a hellebore and some horseshoes.

 The kitchen garden had some amazingly knobbly fruit trees with gnarled branches.

 They almost looked alive.

 In the main garden are some venerable sweet chestnut trees which (the information stated) were 450 years old.  It is amazing to imagine what they have lived through.

 Under the trees we saw snowdrops, cyclamen, crocuses, aconites and the occasional daffodil.  A lovely spring flower carpet.

 Just beautiful.

 There were some lovely vistas with early rhododendrons, and a splash of colour from the witch hazels.

 More snowdrops and crocuses, with some lovely shadows...

 ...twirling shapes created by the sweet chestnut branches.

 More witch hazels, lighting up the scene.

 I particularly liked the smooth trunks of these paper bark maples (I think).  The bark had been peeling away and left a beautifully smooth surface underneath.  I like the way the snowdrops echo the white bark.

 I had a go at this grass maze.

 The wire unicorn sculptures echo the topiary ones at the front of the house.

 Mistletoe was growing on these trees - we assumed they were apple trees.

 Another lovely vista (the wind was really cold at this point - the crocuses are remaining firmly shut here)

 Everywhere we looked, there was another enticing view.

 This clematis seemed very happy on the wall.

A final view of those sweet chestnuts.

Here are the topiary unicorns at the front of the house, standing guard.

It was a lovely visit with lots of beautiful early spring flowers to enjoy.