What will this new decade bring I wonder, there are bound to be changes, hopefully for the good of all. Will there be changes in the garden here, hopefully not many, just the planting that needs improving in places. The structure that I made with the undergardener many years ago still makes me happy, so won’t be getting changed. I think any changes will be for ease of mmaintainance, as I know that eventually it will be the size of the garden that will defeat me and make me move house, hopefully not for a few years yet.
In the meantime there are flowers to count on this first day of the new year!
Iris unguicularis flowering under the dining room window, this is it’s best year yet.
Brightly coloured primula which never seems to be without a flower or two.
Arabis on the rock garden always seems to start flowering early in the year.
Galanthus Midwinter brings me over to the border which backs on to the woodland.
Narcissus Rijnveld’s Early Sensation didn’t make it for Christmas Day as it usually does, would it be open for New Year’s Day?
No, it hasn’t quite made it, it still refuses to open and I can’t say I blame it, it is cold, wet and miserable today!
Galanthus Little John flowering beautifully and the clump is increasing in size.
Red campion is another flower which is usually flowering somewhere in the garden, no matter what time of year it is.
Galanthus Faringdon Double has almost finished flowering, it has been out for a month now so will soon have a well deserved rest.
G. Lapwing is increasing nicely, this one now is a reliable new year flower.
Daphne odora is almost open, but not quite pumping out its delicious perfume yet.
There was such a strong honey perfume in the woodland when I was taking my photos, and it was the Sarcococca which was perfuming the air. such tiny insignificant flowers, but what a perfume!
Garrya elliptica has its moment of glory at the moment. The shrub is covered with its long tassels and stands out in the corner of the back garden.
There are always some flowers on the Campanula poscharskyana, they are never difficult to find.
At last my chaenomeles is flowering, a month late this time.
Lots of lovely flowers and lots more to come.
Jasminum nudiflorum is flowering by the front door, in deep shade. I’m sure it would do better in more sunshine, but it was here 30 yrs ago when we moved here.
Mahonia Charity is still flowering and the other day I saw a few bees enjoying the nectar.
The lovely English wild flower, the primrose, is starting to flower in various places in the garden, soon there will be drifts of them.
Iris unguicularis Walter Butt by the front drive is producing plenty of flowers this year, this one seems to have escaped being nibbled!
A dreadful photo of Viburnum bodnantense Dawn, but look at the colour of the sky, we don’t usually have such blue skies in December, usually it is just grey! This photo was taken yesterday31st December, today is so different, wet and miserable!
Symphitum forming ground cover in a dark corner of the garden
Hammamellis mollis really wants more sunshine to flower well. I must cut the bay bush back that is putting it in the shade or maybe I should try moving it.
Daisies are popping up in the lawn, I must get the grass cut as it is getting rather long. It has been impossible to get onto the grass for weeks now because of all our rain.
Like the chaenomeles, my Camellia is flowering a month late this time, but suddenly the shrub is covered with flowers and loads of buds so there will be plenty of flowers to come.
Last year there were a few hellebores flowering on New Years Day, but this year they are still in bud, I don’t think it will be long though before they burst open.
I think that is all my flowers for this first day of 2020, which I think is about the same as last year. We are having a mild spell at the moment so buds are forming and showing promise of lots of flowers to come. This will all come to a halt however if we suddenly get a blast of freezing weather from the north or east like we had last year, will there be a repeat of the “Beast from the East”, I hope not! Our worst months are usually January and February, so will have to wait and see what the weather has in store for us this year.
I hope the weather is kind to you and your gardens for 2020 and I wish you all a very Peaceful & Happy Gardening Year.
Happy New Year Pauline! You and your gardening enthusiasm are inspirational.
Thank you Susie, I hope you have a really good year!
You have some lovely clumps of snowdrops, Pauline – it’s always a relief when the specials clump up, isn’t it? Winter flowers are so precious and you have some lovelies – I hope it will be many many years before you have to downsize and leave your lovely garden.
I love to see the snowdrop clumps increasing Cathy, I usually look for that in the description before buying specials. I really love getting out and seeing all the winter flowers, so nice to have something to look forward to in the cold dreary months of winter.
Happy New Year Pauline! I can see your gardening year is well under way again. I hope this year your garden will excel itself!
The gardening never really stops down here Denise, it was different when I lived in the north weat! I have been busy in the greenhouse this morning, but I don’t know about the garden excelling itself, I will try! Happy New Year to you and your garden!x
That’s a brilliant amount of flowers. My camellia was very early and some hellebores are flowering – but no sign of any snowdrops yet.
Happy New Year
Thank you Sue, the camellia is a bit late this time but hopefully it will be back to normal next november! I found a hellebore that was almost open this morning and the narcissus is starting to open at last. Happy New Year to you and your family.
What a wonderful variety of blooms. Yes, here’s to a good winter. All the very best for 2020.xxx
I really do hope that this winter isn’t as bad as the last one Dina, so many buds are opening and showing so much promise, I would hate them to be frozen solid! Happy New Year to you and your lovely family!x