Over a month of rain in December and for the first week of January, has left the woodland looking rather sodden and a bit flooded in places where the water can’t get away.
Standing water.
Standing Water.
Most of the water has drained away now, so the next job is to spread some bark chippings along the path for easier walking.
Beds mulched.
The borders have now all been tidied, dead material taken to the compost heap, leaves forming a thick carpet where bulbs should be coming through, have been removed and replaced with wonderful crumbly leaf mould. The snowdrops in the foreground are G. Little John.
Galanthus Little John.
Neatly mulched.
Hellebores and ferns.
G. Little John again with G. woronowii in the background.
Lots more bulbs
Galanthus Atkinsii with G. Magnet behind..
Snowdrops and evergreens, Cyclamen and Hellebore foliage.
Snowflakes and friends.
Summer snowflakes standing 4 ft tall !
A trio of goodies with G. Lapwing in the front, G. Wendy’s Gold in the middle and G. Diggory at the back.!
Snakeshead fritillaries.
I have never known the Fritillaria meleagris shoots to be up so soon, they had appeared before Christmas, I’ll have to put Rusty pheasant in place earlier this year.
This is the only area that I have managed to tidy, so next time it isn’t raining, I must make a start on another of the areas that have snowdrops and hellebores, not forgetting the front drive where we have quite a few wild snowdrops.
The weather is due to turn a lot colder next week, thanks to the jet stream moving to the south of us and allowing the cold air from the North Pole to come south to us, I hope all my little bulbs that have burst into growth, can cope with the change.
You had all the rain in December and we had an almost totally dry month! You are very organised to remove the leaves and replace with leaf mould, it isn’t surprising that your bulbs, snowdrops and Fritillaries, seed themselves around in such a hospitable soil. I saw some narcissus flowering in the background; mine have only just come through the ground.
Everywhere is very soggy at the moment Christina, hopefully we will dry out soon.
One year I wondered where my snowdrops had got to, there was no sign of them. When I investigated, I found they were under a thick duvet of leaves which had formed a sodden mass and were stopping the bulbs coming through, ever since we rake them off before the bulbs appear and replace with the leaf mould.
The Narcissus are Rinjvelds Early Sensation, which always appear by New Year, but this time they were flowering at the beginning of December. We have cold weather forecast for next week, I hope the bulbs can cope!
I think it turned cold here in the nick of time before everything started shooting and budding out. Hope your cold spell doesn’t do too much damage Pauline. I can’t get over the size of those Snowflake plants!
The Leucojums are ridiculously tall this year, although other clumps aren’t quite so tall, it must be all the rain Cathy! Temperatures were right down last night to almost freezing, much more like it should be for this time of year.
You really have been working hard! It is lovely to see developments in your garden especially in the absence of any in mine, other than the white layer in getting thicker by the minute. I love all the different Galanthus. I have to say, my little woodland garden is definitely my favourite part of the garden.
Our weather is gradually getting colder, it was almost freezing last night, more like January as it should be Denise. Woodland gardening makes for a lovely area for really pretty plants at a time of year when the rest of the garden is still sleeping!
I think your bulbs will be OK – so far they seem to have managed to cope with a wide range of challenges the weather has thrown at them. That tidying up process is so satisfying, isn’t it? You really see the difference, and hopefully the plants will feel pampered and grow well.
I know the hellebores and snowdrops will lie down when it freezes Catmint, but as soon as the temperature rises again, up they pop once more. I like to see the woodland when it has been mulched, the mulch shows off any flowers that open and of course the mulch also feeds them, they like it better than manure.
Wow, you really have had the rain Pauline. Glad you’ve had a chance to get outside a bit. The woodlands area is lovely.
We certainly have Susie, but nowhere near as bad as they have had further north. It just doesn’t know when to stop! There are only a couple more borders I can work on without going on the grass, if I walked on the grass at the moment it would ruin it, it will have to dry out a lot more before I can tidy the rest of the garden.
It is worrying re the weather suddenly turning, the plants and birds think it’s spring! Your woodland looks so pretty and how lovely to see all the snowdrops. The ground is totally water logged isn’t it and yet still it rains…xxx
Occasionally Dina, the rain stops and the sun comes out, and the birds are singing as if spring has arrived, I hope they don’t get too much of a shock next week. More snowdrops open each day, but I don’t need to worry about them or the hellebores, I know they can take the frost, they will just lie down until it warms up again! The lawn is so sodden, I can’t walk on it, so am limited as to where I can work in the garden…when will it all stop?!
Enough already. I hope you can dry out a bit and get the rest of the work done. The garden seems just fine, but the gardener needs a little sun now, right?
After a torrential day yesterday, today is a lovely blue sky without a cloud to be seen Frank, will we have a dry day at last! Yes, a little sun would be really lovely, for me and the plants!
I’m afraid I can’t bring myself to linger in the garden at the moment as it’s all so soggy. We just went out for a walk so that hubby could try out the new lens he got for his camera only for the heavens to open again! No snowdrop flowers here yet, but I might have the record for the earliest daffodil soon. Something a little more seasonal would be nice, although I should be careful what I wish for, don’t want to be knee deep in snow. Happy New Year!
We have actually had a wonderful sunny day today Louise, what a difference it has made! The birds are singing and when out of the north wind in the woodland, it is quite warm! Getting across the back lawn to the woodland is very slippery and I dread to think what my big feet are doing to the grass! No, no, we don’t want to be knee deep in snow, just a lot drier please!
The rain here is still relentless. Well done on getting that mulch down, the plants will be ever so grateful for the nourishment it provides.
It is early for the Fritilaria isn’t it? They are usually the last bulbs to come through up here. Good luck on getting the rest of your jobs done.
At last we have had a nice sunny day Angie, it is so long since we saw that yellow ball in the sky! I’m hoping that the plants enjoy their mulch, so far the rain hasn’t washed any of it away thank goodness!
The Fritilarias are very early, I hope they don’t regret it, the wind has swung round to the north today, it might have been sunny but it was much colder.
I have another couple of beds that can be tidied from paths, so guess they are next to get done.
Hi Pauline, I hope the weather is better there. We also have heavy storms here due to the hot weather. Good luck!
Sandra xx
This coming week Sandra, is due to get much colder, but still with showers. We need the ground to dry out a bit , it is absolutely sodden from weeks of rain. I hope your storms aren’t too severe!
Your snowdrops are looking good. I love Little John! It has been very wet here, too, though I think we should see the sun the next couple of days. But we are getting some sub-freezing temps too. That is not a bad thing; if the winter is too mild, the bugs will eat us alive come summer!
I agree Deb, we all need a bit of frost to kill off the nasties! Hopefully the rain will ease off this week as it’s going to be a lot colder and more like it should be temperature wise. Maybe I’ll be able to get more tidying done at last.
So many treasures coming up and blooming already! You’re a great inspiration as much tidying needs to be done in my garden still. Things have fallen apart a bit since the autumn clean up and now.
The problem Peter is that I didn’t get any autumn tidying up done, I’m now paying the price! The woodland is always the first place to be tidied as I want to be able to see the snowdrops when they come through, I always find that it’s worth it.
Your woodland area is looking really good Pauline. All that hard work pays off and you have such an interesting variety of plants. Like you, the garden here is really wet and every time I put a foot on the lawn I wonder what damage I’m doing.
I’m trying to keep off the lawn as much as possible Sue, but think we will need at least a week without rain, before it firms up again! I like to have a wander in the woodland each day at this time of year, to see what else has popped up overnight, this morning I noticed that the Winter Aconite have pushed through and will soon be in flower.
Lovely snowdrops. Mine emerged in late December but then were covered with a blanket of snow and ice.
I’m sure your snowdrops are keeping nice and warm under their duvet of snow Jason, mine are having to cope with being tossed by the wind from the North Pole! We actually had our first frost last night, but I’m sure everything will be fine, I haven’t ventured outside yet.
It is so lovely to have so many snowdrops and hellebores in bloom, but after the sog, now we have the cold and one doesn’ t feel like lingering outside. I like your snowdrop labels. Mine keep disappearing and I get confused; if I’ m honest, most of my snowdrops are quite similar.
My labels used to move around Chloris, is it the birds? The larger ones seem to be staying put, thank goodness, but some of my snowdrops are without labels even though they had one to start with, goodness knows which ones they are now! We are now back to mild weather which has brought more snowdrops flowering and opening their petals wide so I can see their markings.