One New Year’s decision was to take part in GBBD for the first time. This time last year it wouldn’t have been possible because everywhere was under a foot of snow, this year it is a very different story, with temperatures far higher than they should be. Some plants have carried on flowering from last year, they just don’t want to stop, even though they were cut back last November. Others have been persuaded to flower much earlier than usual, just hope they don’t get caught out by the frosts that are forecast this weekend. This first photo is of the chaenomeles by the back door, which flowers on and off all winter, weather permitting.
Mahonia Charity is still carrying on flowering long after it should have stopped.
The wild snowdrop is only just starting to show above ground, all the ones that are flowering now are special ones. I did have them all labelled, very tastefully with black labels and silver writing, but most of them seem to be missing, where have they all gone!! Will have to get my large snowdrop book out and re-identify them all and then make a map of where they are all planted!
I think this one is John Gray.
Is this Atkinsii, I think so, a good one that increases quite quickly.
A clump of one of the Greatorex doubles, Hyppolyta or Desdemona, from its size, I think it is Desdemona. I won’t bore you with any more snowdrops until I have managed to re-identify them.
One of the Camellias has been flowering since December, the others have nice fat buds but are not showing any flowers yet.
Another that was in flower before Christmas is Narcissus Rijnveld’s Early Sensation.
Rosa Graham Thomas just refuses to stop flowering, and there are so many buds forming too. It was cut back by half in November, but has put out lots more new shoots, just hope it won’t regret it later.
The same has happened to the Anthemis in the front garden, it just doesn’t want to stop flowering!
Hellebores are now starting to flower in all the shady borders.
Some of them are the most delicious plum colour.
Some are double, pink outside and white within, absolutely gorgeous!
And some are spotted, will do a separate post about these lovely plants when they are all flowering in February.
The small Sarcococca bush that we have, just inside the woodland strip, might have rather insignificant flowers, but they certainly pump out the perfume! On a still day the perfume hangs around in the air and people wonder where it is coming from , not realising that it comes from such tiny flowers.
The summer snowflake, Leucojum aestivum, is another flower that was flowering before Christmas!! Have just noticed that the spring snowflake, L.vernum, has put out its first flower, but it has a lot of catching up to do.
The tassels on Garrya elliptica are getting longer each day. When we went to Rosemoor the other day , the RHS have a fantastic bush at the entrance with the most amazingly long tassels, put mine to shame!
Choisya ternata just gets better and better, it never seems to want to stop flowering.
Another little bush that is thoroughly confused, Convolvulous cneorum. This little plant just keeps forming more and more flower buds, how do I stop it!
One plant that should be flowering now is Iris unguicularis, this has put flowers out since December, they don’t last long, only a day or two, but with so many buds there are always flowers showing, brightening up a dull day.
I know there are a few flowers that I forgot to photograph, the Japanese azalea, is now covered in blooms for example, but these are most of what is in flower at the moment here in the SW corner of the UK. Thank you to Carol at Maydreams Garden for hosting this GBBD, to see more flowers, please go to http:// www.maydreamsgardens.com to see what is blooming around the world.
gosh Pauline it’s like your garden has skipped winter and autumn has blended with spring, so many beautiful flowers, Frances
You could well be right Frances, we are still waiting for our first frost, villages 3 miles away were white when I drove through the other day, but not us, we’re still green!
My summer snowflakes are in pots. Can’t seem to find a place where they are happy.
Diana, mine are in my strip of woodland, sunny at the moment while the leaves aren’t on the trees, dappled shade later when we have our summer. They are also in the more damp area of the woodland, hope that helps.
You have an amazing collection of plants flowering. I think your garden must be pretty sheltered as you have many things flowering, when mine have gone dormant! I do think the North Devon can be very mild! I have Mahonia Charity and I must have missed it when I was taking the photographs the other day. I must check on it, I love the perfume. Christina
Christina, we are more to the SE of Devon, but still mild compared to the rest of the country. We are also on the side of a hill so any frost lately has just rolled past and left us frost free for once! Do agree about the perfume of Mahonia Charity, gorgeous!
Some beautiful plants in bloom. I’m starting to think I need to work on my garden to get a bit more winter interest in it. I love the colour of your chaenomeles.
You can’t miss the Chaenomeles by the back door WW, it makes me smile each time I go in and out. I do have another, Apple Blossom, up on a fence in the veggie area, but that one doesn’t start flowering until spring. I find that having plants flowering now, tempts me out even when I don’t really feel like going outside, always feel better for it!
Hi and ‘welcome’ to GBBD for 2012 then! 🙂 I didn’t post anything this month because I don’t have that much in flower, I must provide some winter flowers for next year! Your snowdrops are beautiful, only slightly different one from another, how do you recognize them? I’ve planted leucojum aestivum last autumn for the first time, I’ve gathered some information before and I learned they must be planted very deep (more than 20cm) maybe that’s why some of yours are already in flower and some others aren’t out yet?
your Hellebores are always stunning. I am sure you are going to give us loads of beautiful posts for GBBD this year!!!
Alberto, you ask how do I tell snowdrops one from another, the same as we tell our children from each other !!! The all have subtle differences, some leaves are grey, or dark green, or twisted or pleated. Some flowers are tall, some very small, some have 2 flowers on each stem, some have green markings on the outer petals some have very distinguished markings on the inner petals. Some are yellow where most are green and some have double flowers!! Love them all! I don’t think I planted my Leucojum 20 cm deep, that’s quite deep isn’t it? Mine are in a moist spot in the woodland strip, they seem to like a heavy soil.
You have some lovely blooms at this time of year. Even though we have had a mild winter, there is not much blooming, right now. I do look forward to those dogwood blooms. Your photo reminds me of what is coming.
The weather has been ever so mild in this corner of the UK Sage Butterfly, just don’t know how long it can continue. I have to admit, I do prefer my winters to be cold and to have 4 distinct seasons, however it is lovely to see all the flowers that we have at the moment and so many more to come soon from all the buds that are showing.
Love your snowdrops and would love to see a post after you have them all re-labeled. Although I think your double hellebores are beautiful, the deep plum-colored petaloid form is gorgeous. I think the little inside ruffle makes this form of hellebore the most desirable. Very surprised by the blooming leucojum. We like all the same plants it seems.
I will do a post Carolyn, probably mid February when they are all out, that should give me time to look them up! Having a helpful hubby who sweeps the leaves up means that sometimes the labels come too and he replants the labels where he finds them, this means that I have snowdrops without labels and labels without snowdrops!! Some I am certain of what they are, I have had them so long, just the new ones to verify. It is a wonderful time of year with the hellebores as well as the snowdrops, really worth while going into the woodland strip every few days to see what else is now in flower.
Pauline, please, please bore me with the snowdrop pictures. I do so love them. I hope (one day) to participate in GBBD myself, I just need to be in my garden around the 15th of the month. What a great record to look back on.
Deborah, don’t worry, I’ve been taking plenty more photos, all identified, so a post about snowdrops will come fairly soon. This certainly has been an unusual winter so far here in this corner of the UK, weather wise, the opposite of last winter which was far colder than normal with snow and ice which we don’t usually have. I think plants are amazing, being able to cope with whatever the weather throws at them.
Hi Pauline,
Lovely photos and so nice to see you also have plenty in bloom.
I’ve wanted a Quince for a while now, but can never find the particular shade of pink that I want like the one my parents have… Such lovely blooms on quince 🙂
No Daffodils out here yet, but I think that’s likely because I don’t have many daffs – I’m not a big fan of them but I know every spring once I see their cheerful faces I realise just how nice they are to have around 😀
The quince by the back door lifts my spirits each time I see it Liz, so springlike even in winter. I can’t imagine spring without daffodils, but only grow the smaller ones as their leaves are not so noticable once flowering is over, some have the most delicious perfume too!
Spring flowers already! I am so jealous. Your snowdrops and hellebores are just beautiful. Love the plum and spotted hellebores especially.
Spring has come early in this corner of the UK Jennifer. I love snowdrop and hellebore time, look forward to this every year. It really is worth going to look in the woodland each day to see what else has opened up overnight.
Those are some good-looking hellebore!
In looking at your January blooms, I recognized a lot of the ones from my own area, and I was like… where is this garden? I checked your about page… no help… I checked your butterfly article, and you seem to be one of those lucky zone 8 gardeners in the UK where it rains, and the summers aren’t hot like they are here…
I’ve been looking for bush morning glory for some time… Very nice!
Must do something on my “about ” page, sorry about that! We are in Devon in the SW of the UK and yes, we do have lots of rain and the summers are usually between 25 and 30 degrees, just nice! Thank you for stopping by and commenting on my blog.
If you would like to read about the garden, may I suggest you click onto January 2010 in the Archives where you will find “A rural oasis”, this tells you all about the garden.