For over a week now we have had lovely warm sunshine, it has been wonderful working in the garden without a coat and feeling the sun on my back once more. Bit by bit, all the tidying jobs that we weren’t able to do because of the non stop rain over the winter, are now getting done. I think I can say that half the garden is looking nice and tidy. If the lovely weather continues, then maybe in another week I will have a tidy garden once more! The sunshine has made such a difference to the flowers, lots are now flowering, but most of the snowdrops are now over, they don’t like the hot sun! I will start with G.Baxendales Late, the only one that is still looking bright and perky.
Spreading more and more in the woodland is Cardamine pratensis, the bees are loving this. Can’t see any nibbles on the leaves which would be from the Orange Tip butterfly caterpillars, I hope they are there somewhere.
Still pumping out her perfume in the woodland is Daphne bholua Jacqueline Postill, when the wind is in the right direction, the perfume is almost overpowering!
At last, my Hamamellis mollis is starting to flower. Normally this is the first of my Witch Hazels to flower, but not this year, it is lagging far behind.
Lots of the ordinary spotty dotty pulmonarias are keeping the bees very happy. This has seeded around so much, each year when I need a space to plant something new, a few come out to make room, but we always seem to still have plenty.
A pretty Prunus which was planted long before we arrived on the scene. This tree was planted in the bog garden, which is always very wet, it was too big to move when we came, I expected it to die from drowning, but it is doing better each year, maybe because I have planted so many other plants round it to soak up all the water!
This Camellia was one of the first plants I bought when we moved here, it is now a very large shrub which we can see from the house, it now forms a screen between us and the new neighbours!
Starting to run around quite a bit so I will need to keep an eye on Euphorbia amygdaloides var. robbiae. It’s good for covering soil in dry shade.
Cheery little Narcissus Tete a Tete are opening up everywhere in the garden making pools of sunshine in the shade.
Down by the entrance, double Kerriya japonica is now flowering, there are lots more buds to open, so the shrub should be flowering for quite some time.
The first primula to flower in the garden here is Primula sibthorpii, this can now be split so that I can plant some of it elsewhere in the garden.
Chionodoxas are now flowering, this one is on the alpine scree and is seeding about nicely, making more flowers for me.
Corydalis Beth Evans in the woodland looks like a shrub in this photo, she is only 6inches high!
Anemone blanda likes the sunny patches in the woodland, turning their little faces to the sun.
Also in the woodland are cowslips (in the background) and false oxlips. The false oxlips are formed when a primrose is crossed with a cowslip, we have lots of both in the woodland. The false oxlips have the height and the flower cluster from the cowslip and the colouring and size of each individual flower from the primrose.
More dainty blue flowers of Scilla siberica, I really must buy more of these, the blue is such a stunning colour.
I know I have been showing you this Chaenomeles by the back door for months now, it has been absolutely fantastic this winter, with virtually no frost to stop it flowering, it really has been amazing, needless to say, the bees love it.
Wild primroses in the front garden, this is where we get loads of seedlings that can be spread round the garden, there always seem to be a never ending supply of them!
Just outside the entrance is a hedge of Blackthorn deposited here by the birds I think. They weren’t here when we moved in , they just came gradually, spreading down the side of the field, they’re very pretty at this time of year.
By our garage is a Berberis bush, another that the bees are loving at the moment.
Along with the chaenomeles by the backdoor, Viburnum Dawn has been flowering all winter in our hedge by the field. This has to cope with the north and east winds so some of the flowers do go brown, but there are always lots that escape the winds.
Ypsilandra always amazes me by flowering in March with its 6 inch high bottlebrush flowers. This looks as if it might be big enough to split now so that I can have some in the woodland, they are a shade loving flower.
Erysimum Bowles Mauve just doesn’t know when to stop flowering, this is another that has benefited from our mild winter and the bees have benefited from the flowers.
The little shrub Prunus Kojo no mai has just started flowering, another week and it should be covered in flowers. Such a pretty shrub.
More blue flowers on Brunnera Jack Frost, the leaves are so pretty too, they usually feature in Garden Bloggers Foliage Day.
Tiny flowers on Lithodora Heavenly Blue nestling between the bronze leaves of Celandine Brazen Huzzy.
More tiny pale blue flowers on a violet in the woodland. Violet leaves are used by the Silver Washed Fritillary butterfly for laying their eggs.
In the woodland Narcissus pseudo narcissus have taken over from the snowdrops, making everywhere yellow where once it was white.
Still in the woodland, the wood Anemone is spreading around the woodland floor showing its star like flowers.
Euphorbia mellifera flowers have the most divine honey perfume that travels quite a distance on the breeze. My bush is in the back garden, but at this time of year, if the wind is coming from the west, I can smell it by the garage when putting my car away, approx 80ft away.
Lovely little Veronica which grows over a small wall edging the patio, another of my small blue flowers, there seem to be quite a few of them at this time of year.
Having just done a post about Hellebores, this can be my token Hellebore, representing all the others. They certainly bring colour to shady borders at this time of year.
I was cutting back my Rosemary the other day and didn’t want to just put the flowers on the compost heap, so they came inside with me!
The lovely sunshine has tempted all sorts of wildlife out of hibernation, this is the first ladybird that I have seen this year.
Then, I was cutting down the dead seedheads of Acanthus mollis when I saw another!
A huge amount of frogspawn was noticed in the pond on March 8th, I’m not sure when it arrived but I hope it doesn’t get frosted like last year when we didn’t seem to have any tadpoles.
While waiting the other night for my husband to get his car out, I was standing by the garage, when suddenly , flashing by, were 3 or 4 Pipistrelle bats. Sorry, no photos, I wouldn’t have been quick enough anyway. It’s nice to know that they are still around.
I think that winds up GBBD for another month, what a difference in the weather since last month! The garden is now drying out and we are able to do more and more each day, trying to catch up on all the jobs that we should have done months ago.
Thanks must go to Carol at May Dreams Gardens for hosting this meme once more so that we can see flowers from all over the world, please pop over and have a look.
Pauline, thanks for a lovely post. So much variety now. Interesting to see how far ahead you are, of us. You have lots in flower that we are still waiting for. Love the blue of the Scilla. That is now on the wish list .
Jane, the sunshine has brought so much on in the last week, every day there is something new. The Scilla is such an intense blue, must have more of it!
Beautiful pictures Pauline.
You say that your Hamamellis mollis is just starting to flower when it is usually the first one to do so. It is interesting how some plants are very flexible in their flowing times but other not. Last summer I realized reading a French blog that catalpa trees were blooming at exactly the same time in France as they were here. It is amazing given the very different climates.
Yes alain, H.mollis is usually out at the end of January, this time it was H.Arnold Promise that was in flower then, so it has taken mollis a long time to catch up. Weather and climate have a lot to do with flowering times, we are in the SW corner of the UK and are about a month ahead of people further north east of us.
Lovely Photos. My pulmonarias are also beginning to show, and they are most welcome to spread. The Chionodoxas are so pretty. I have some in my driveway. Corydalis I must get this year. I have never heard of false oxlips, but they sound interesting. We had some strong winds yesterday and also today. Hopefully spring will definitely arrive now.
Hello Gitte, pulmonarias are very promiscuous aren’t they, very free with their offspring! I hope your strong winds stop soon and that you have the wonderful sunny weather we are enjoying at the moment. All the sunshine is making the flowers open and the birds to sing, I think spring has arrived in the UK!
You have an amazing variety of blossoms for March. That sunny narcissus just makes me smile. Happy Bloom Day.
Nice to hear from you Dorothy, all the flowers that we have at the moment make me very happy, it is so good to see the sunshine too, after all the rain we had over the winter.
I really enjoyed this spring tour of your garden Pauline; so much to enjoy.
Like you I have been working hard all week but I think it will take me at least 2 weeks to catch up. I do hope the lovely weather will last, it is a joy to be outside. I don’t know G. Baxendale’s Late. It is clearly a Plicatus, they are the last to bloom for me too.
Your photos are always so good.
We still have a lot of catching up to do, I have almost finished cutting down the dead stems from the winter, then we have to start on the weeding. Maybe in a months time, with a bit of luck and some more good weather, we might be up to date once more!
Yes, G. Baxendale’s Late is a plicatus, I’m so glad I have it as all the others are well and truly over with all the warm sunshine!
Hi Pauline,
Lovely to see so much going on, such a relief after all that rain we had!
I haven’t spotted any violets here yet, although I have seen the plants – will have to check them out although if I remember correctly mine don’t usually bloom for a while yet. Nice to see kojo no mai blooming, mine isn’t yet and I lost the other last spring/summer rather suddenly.
Ooh, you’ve just reminded me that I must look out for bats; I think it might still be a bit cold/early on in the season to see them here but I’ll try to remember to go out at dusk over the next few days. I love sitting out and watching them, they even fly right by my head sometimes.
Hi Liz, all the rain doesn’t seem to have done any lasting damage, thank goodness.
It was a surprise to see the bats the other evening, I thought it would be too soon for them, but with all the lovely sunshine, I suppose they were tempted out. It’s wonderful watching them zooming round the house, I can remember one evening last summer when we had visitors, we just sat in the dusk, with a glass or two of wine, watching the pipistrelles!
Pauline, you’ve so many blooms – some of them very special. For the first time last week I caught a whiff of Daphne bholua in Dr Steven’s garden….wow! The scent was incredible. It’s now on the very top of my wish list!
Happy Bloom Day 🙂 and I hope you manage to get the rest of the garden tidied, it has been marvellous weather for it.
Angie, the perfume from the Daphne is so fantastic, once sniffed, it just has to have a spot found for it!
If the good weather holds, we hope to get a lot mor tidying done, we managed to cut the grass and that makes such a difference!
How odd that your H mollis is so much later than usual…. Your posts give me lots of ideas for new things to try in my woodland edge border in particular – thanks!
Better late than never Cathy, I’m just so happy that it has flowered at last! Woodland edge planting is our favourite isn’t it Cathy, I love this time of year!
I went back and forth a couple of times, drinking in your garden vicariously! My own Hamamellis mollis is also very tardy this year (along with most everything else!); I was wondering if one of our frosts got the buds. Your camellia is lovely. My camellias are not looking great this year; also a result of our bitter January, I think. But spring is finally here!
We couldn’t blame any frost Deb, for the lateness of the flowers, we haven’t had any! I’m so glad spring has finally arrived for you, you have certainly had it very cold this winter.
If all that goo hatches out, you should be quite well set up with tadpoles this year! Spring really has arrived for you, it must feel great. I love the look of all the primulas and the daffodils are sure to put in a show for quite a while! Enjoy 🙂
Frank, if they all hatch out, we’ll be over run with frogs! They have so many predators we’ll be lucky if a few survive. Some years we find a grass snake in the pond, they like a lunch of tadpoles! The weather is so lovely after all the torrential rain we had all winter, but it doesn’t seem to have done any harm, thank goodness.
The perfect spring garden Pauline, lovely. I didn’t realise that the scillas were such an intense blue, I planted some last year, but no signs yet.
Thank you Christina. The blue of the Scilla is so vibrant, but as they are such tiny little flowers I think you have to think of a number then multiply by 100, otherwise you won’t see them! I will be buying a lot more in the autumn, to make a bigger clump.
Love Prunus Kojo, what a beauty that is. Just like in the autumn the ladybirds are becoming quite a liability.. I feel I need to rescue them when they are on something I want to cut down, yet they never want to be caught. Very time consuming!
The little Prunus is so pretty Jessica, another week of good weather and she will be covered with tiny flowers. I know the feeling regarding the ladybirds, we have to keep them safe don’t we, it was good to see them again!
Glad to read that you are enjoying sun Pauline – it seems to have disappeared from here but the weather has been perfect for gardening. I love that blackthorn hedge – what a considerate gift from the birds. I must look out for ‘Baxendale’s Late’ to extend my snowdrop season. I think that your butterflies must be up here nibbling my cardamine pratensis, the leaves of which are full of the tiniest holes.
We’ve had a cold wind today Anna, I think the best of the weather has gone. The blackthorn hedge is lovely at this time of year and then I’m sure the birds enjoy the fruit in the autumn, that’s how the hedge spreads!
G. Baxendale’s Late is the only snowdrop which is still looking pristine, the warm sunshine has finished the others off!
I keep checking the leaves of my cardamine, still no holes, I hope this doesn’t mean that we won’t get any butterflies!
Your garden is full of blooms! The blue of the Scilla is spectacular. I think I definitely need to add it to my garden! Our Jack Frost isn’t doing a thing yet. You have so much amazing color–lucky you! Happy Bloom Day to you!
Nice to hear from you Julie, thanks for stopping by!
The tiny Scillas are such a vibrant blue, I must buy more of them in the autumn, they are now seedling around but i need more in other places. Also Brunnera Jack Frost is seeding so I should be able to move some seedlings soon.
Just catching up on reading blogs and am overwhelmed by the variety of blooms you have shared. The hellebore is divine. I’ve never grown primroses and when someone offered me some last year I hesitated because she told me they spread. Yours are really amazing so I would reconsider! Are they easily managed or do they crowd other things out? susie
Primroses are very easily managed Susie, if they pop up where you don’t want them, they are so easy to move. To get seedlings you need a male and female plant-thrum eyed and pin eyed! So , if you just have one, theoretically, you shouldn’t get any seedlings! They are fine for backs of borders and under deciduous shrubs where nothing else will grow, they like semi shade, I wouldn’t be without mine.
It has been glorious and much needed after the wet winter. I do feel a little nervous that the weather will catch us out but lets hope not. You have so much in flower, it’s very impressive.
The weather has been so good lately WW, but now it is so cold again! Everywhere is looking very springlike, maybe the flowers will last longer if the heat has gone out of the sun for a bit!
Lots and lots of fab flowers – isn’t it a splendid time oy year, but it all goes so fast! That’s a very nice burgundy red hellebore, Pauline. I have Chionodoxa too and look forward to them seeding about. Enjoy the fine gardening weather 🙂
It’s a wonderful time of year Annette, every day there is something new opening its flowers to the sunshine. We have been enjoying the weather, catching up with all the jobs that couldn’t be done because of all the rain, still a way to go though. It’s good when bulbs start seeding around, I do like flowers for free!
What an amazing array of flowers you have. It’s lovely, isn’t it, that it’s finally getting warmer. My meconopsis seedlings are growing really well now that it’s milder, it’s like waiting for Christmas 🙂 waiting for them to come into flower some time later in spring.
The warm weather Helle, has brought lots of flowers out, unfortunately it finished the snowdrops off early, but then, we can’t have everything! I’m worried about my meconopsis seeds, we haven’t had any frost!! I have brought them into the greenhouse and so far only 2 tiny little seedlings are showing, maybe I should have given them a spell in the freezer! The ones planted in the garden a few years ago are showing nicely so I should still have some thank goodness!
So many flowers and different colors. I can not wait until spring is in full swing here. The Kerria is one that I always love seeing bloom. Due to her large and spreading nature it unfortunately would get too big for my little yard. Thank you for the photos they all look wonderful!
We have had such a nice warm spell Erica, which has brought all the flowers on quickly, the weather is changing back to cold and frosty this weekend though, so maybe the flowers will last longer.
Thanks for visiting and leaving a message, it’s always good to hear from someone new!
I was away from home last week, so I’m late reading your March GBBD post. What a display! It looks like the growing season is well underway in your garden. So many l0vely things to admire, but I’m a viburnum lover and your Dawn is spectacular. One of the plants I miss most in my shady garden, however, is rosemary. I try to keep it in a pot on the front stoop, which gets a couple hours of light, but it rarely survives more than a few months. Fingers crossed you have lots of tadpoles soon. Happy spring, Pauline!
Spring came suddenly two weeks ago Marian and the warm sunshine brought lots of flowers on quickly. The temperatures are now much lower as the wind has changed from the south to the north. Viburnum Dawn is a super shrub, flowering on and off all winter as long as the frost doesn’t get it. It must be frustrating not being able to grow rosemary, we use such a lot of it, for me to grow it, it has to be in a raised bed with excellent drainage, not like my normal soil.