Spring flowers

Spring is one of my favourite times of year. To be more precise, the time between April and the end of May is one of my favourite times of year.  Everything looks new and fresh.  Primroses are in flower.

I bought mixed grape hyacinths last autumn and planted them in various pots in both the front and back gardens.  I do like this lighter blue one.

The shape of this one is rather fabulous too.

The scillas are flowering away now.

Another 'mixed blue' grape hyacinth.  I like the different shades of blue in this one.

My little standard cherry is in full flower now and I am really enjoying the flowers. They don't last that long, but are a beautiful sight.

Finally, these tulips are the earliest into flower in the border.  I think they must be Brown Sugar (although they may be Cairo).  There are lots of others on the way, so they will probably get a blog post to themselves.

Here's a close up of one of the flowers.  I hope we don't get a prolonged cold snap this month, like there was last year.  There is a lot more to enjoy in the next few weeks.

Easter weekend

From temperatures around 20 degrees C earlier in the week, it feels as if we are back in Winter this weekend here in the UK.  However, the garden is coming to life and seems to be coping with the downward temperatures.  My standard cherry Kojo-no-mai is flowering well.  I treated myself to it last year, at the beginning of lockdown, but it had just finished flowering when I received it.   

A year on and it is looking lovely.

Some tulips in the border are starting to bloom too - i am not sure if this is Brown Sugar or Cairo!

A little self seeded purple primula is flowering  under the patio table.

More tulips.

Bright blue scillas.

The beautiful native primrose which has seeded itself at the base of a rose in a pot.

A violet which has seeded itself everywhere, but is welcome nonetheless (unless it is where I really don't want it to be).

Beautiful Lathyrus vernus which is a joy every year.  This one is in a pot and features on my blog every year, because it is always a delight to see it.

Happy Easter to you and keep warm. I believe snow is forecast for tomorrow!

Almost Spring?

 I spent a very happy couple of hours in the garden yesterday, pruning, cutting down, cutting back, having a good look at plants and then tidying all the prunings.  You could be forgiven for thinking that it might, just might, be almost Spring.  I'm not convinced Winter is quite over yet though.  Above is Camellia St Ewe, bought last year.

 It has a vibrant combination of bright pink flowers with egg yolk yellow,  almost orange stamens.

 Cardamine Quinquifolia is settling in and starting to spread, but as it is so pretty and delicate, I am happy to let it do just that (for now).

You can see the five lobed leaves which is what the 'quinquifolia' refers to, I think. 

The hellebores are still flowering too and are such good value plants for this time of year.  This is Harvington Pink Speckled and it is making a lovely clump now.  The others are getting there, but this is the first one I bought. 

 A primrose, albeit a little nibbled by something, but a joy to see.

Crocuses too, looking a little battered, but with some lovely stripes and a vibrant combination of purple and orange.

 Tete a tete daffodils bringing their welcome splash of yellow.

Crocus Jeanne D'Arc, in a pot.  It has a delicate purple stripe down the inside of the petals, probably to guide the bees.

I love seeing these plants in flower and despite it being a little cold, I had a very enjoyable time yesterday and came in feeling I had actually achieved something.

Winter into Spring

 

There are quite a few photos on this post, but when there is so much happening in the garden, it isn't surprising.  The two daffodils above seem to be sharing some gossip.

The crocuses took a while, but have now graced us with their elegant presence...in purple

...and white.

 I love to see primroses - simple but beautiful.

 The blue of a scilla just doesn't show on this photo.

 Then there are the hellebores...speckled pink

 Picotee pink...

 Not sure, but pretty anyway...

lovely pure white...

 ...and the latest addition 'Hello Ruby', not in the border yet but acclimatising to the garden.

 Pale and beautiful narcissus Elka.

 Camellia St Ewe.

 Cardamine Quinquifolia (three flower stems this year and slowly spreading.

 It has been really windy this week, but Spring is on the way.

The Spring Garden - tulip time (part one)

 The promised hot weather did appear for a few days and brought the garden on very quickly.  My tulips, which had been shivering and tightly in bud, suddenly grew and flowered.  Above is the ever faithful Ballerina with the citrus scent.  (However, the new Ballerina bulbs I planted last autumn have been thrown by the cold and are just leaves, with no sign of flowers at all.  Some of the other tulips are a bit stunted too, but I hope that if I plant them in the border this autumn, they might be better next year).

 My erythronium Pagoda has gradually grown and spread and is looking wonderful this year.

 This is tulip Brown Sugar, which also has a scent and is rapidly becoming my second favourite tulip...

here it is in flower...

...and a close up of the inside of the flower...

 ...and fully open - really beautiful.  I need more of these.

 This self sown primrose is keeping a rose in a pot company although I think I will have to remove and divide it soon.

I couldn't resist capturing these jewel like raindrops one morning.  Here they are on the winter flowering honeysuckle.

 While one single droplet stayed in the centre of this aquilegia leaf.

My camassias have enjoyed the recent wet weather.

 There are flower buds (even though the leaves look a bit battered).

The lathyrus vernus plants have put on a lovely show this Spring, despite the unpredictable weather.