I just thought I would have a quick whizz around the garden and see if anything was flowering on the first day of the year. In the front, by the door, is where my first snowdrop should be. G. Mrs Macnamara is being a bit slow this time, she is there but doesn’t want to open. I think maybe it is far too shady for her and I really ought to move her so that she has more light.
Just a couple of degrees warmer and I think she would open.
In the woodland is G. Little John, almost opening, I can’t remember if this one is supposed to be early or not.
Of course you have already see the state G. Farringdon Double is in, from my last post, I really can’t think what could have chewed the label?!
A lonely Meconopsis cambrica is flowering near to the bog garden, it survived the frost the other night, although one of the buds doesn’t seem too good.
Primroses are starting to flower, this one has seeded itself where the nearest ones are about 20 ft away, I like the way they are seeding around the garden all by themselves.
This is the Camellia which got an unexpected short back and sides from someone who was trimming the Laurel hedge behind! It doesn’t seem to have done it any harm and the shrub is covered with flower buds!
The Camellia, which I showed you earlier in December, hasn’t suffered any frost damage, thank goodness and is looking as good as ever.
The Chaenomeles by the back door also didn’t suffer any frost damage the other night, it is still flowering merrily away and is absolutely covered in buds.
Quite a few of the Polyanthus are flowering, but are also showing a bit of frost damage. I must remove the rotten flowers, there are plenty of buds to take over,
Under the dining room window, where I can keep an eye on it without going out into the cold, is Iris unguicularis Mary Barnard.
Some seedling Honesty that had got overlooked in the woodland, have decided to flower. Poor things, I really must get them planted!
The ubiquitous Campanula porscharskyana never seems to stop flowering, it is everywhere!
Garrya eliptica is covered in buds which will elongate into silver grey tassels. I’m so glad to see the tassels this year, last year it didn’t have any flowers at all, I think I pruned it too hard!
One tiny little forget me not is braving the cold temperatures. I wonder what makes one flower open and others nearby stay tightly closed?
Quite a few roses are still flowering, some looking decidedly worse for wear, R. Graham Thomas can represent them all as I think he is in the best condition.
Winter Jasmine is still flowering by the front door, I think it should be in more sun, but it was here before we were and I never got round to moving it, maybe I ought to try some cuttings.
I can remember saying last year that I must find out which this snowdrop is, flowering opposite the back door, I still haven’t done it! At least I know it is one of my early ones!
I thought this little group in the woodland look like baby birds in their nest, waiting for a parent to bring them some food.
It won’t be long before G. Atkinsii opens up properly, then the snowdrop season will have started!
But what is this in the back garden?! I have some early narcissus in the woodland, but this one has never flowered so early before. It is in a clump that I must have planted 20 yrs or more ago and they always flower in March, it is a bit battered with the wind that we had yesterday.
The weather today, January 2nd, is so much better than yesterday, it is bright sunshine and hardly any wind, I might be tempted out to do some much needed work in the garden. Is your weather tempting you out today?
If it weren’t for decorating duties I’d definitely be going out.
A lovely selection of flowers in bloom, your snowdrops are doing really well. I found a geum flowering the other day.. ‘Lemon Drops’. Now that IS one confused plant!
The sunshine is so lovely today, but yes Jessica, decorating is more important
Your Geum is certainly confused, I hope it doesn’t regret flowering so early!
What a promising New Year’s post! The blooms you have open and the blooms which are coming along really do warm things up in January.
I’m envious of your sunshine and lack of wind, it’s nothing like that here since winter appears to be settling in for a while with a cold wind blowing. Nice to see it’s not the same all over 🙂
We don’t have much of a rest from gardening here Frank, the grass keeps growing and the flowers keep coming! This SW corner of England is quite mild with hardly any frost or snow, however we do get lots of rain!
Not as pleasant here as yesterday but apart from one ramble I haven’t been able to get in the garden anyway – interesting that in the SW you have the better day today. I have really enjoyed looking at all your precious blooms – glad your camellias survived as that pink one is stupendous! My chaenomeles has been moved from a pot to the new shrub border so I am hopeful for future years. Do you know the name of yours? Lovely to see an open snowdrop (several in bud here, but not fully open yet), but what on earth had the label?! Graham Thomas is a charming man and clearly made of stern stuff, isn’t he?
I’m afraid the Chaenomeles was here when we moved here Cathy, it’s such a lovely colour, but all the ones I have looked up are red, white or pink and white. All I do is clip it tight to the wall to form flowering spurs, it should be covered in flowers until about April, so long as it isn’t too cold!
R. Graham Thomas is certainly a good plant, I feel I ought to prune all my roses back by half, so they don’t rock in the winter gales, so one day soon I will attack them!
I would have been tempted out to play today Pauline but for the wind. I wonder what has been chewing the label but you can certainly rule out any passing mollusc. Maybe a rat? Good luck with identifying the unknown snowdrop. I have a few unknowns and must post some photos in due course. I like the idea of the location where you planted ‘Mary Barnard’ – some well thought out forward planning 🙂
Somehow Anna, I seem to have collected 5 Snowdrop books, I should be able to find my mystery one somewhere!
It is so easy to check on Iris Mary Barnard as I’m passing the window, I believe in keeping warm in the winter!
A very heartening post for New Year Pauline, so many blooms to brighten the day. We’ ve had gale force winds for a week and freezing temperatures even during the day for a couple of days so your weather is definitely better than ours! I’ve been saying that some cold weather was needed but I could have managed without the wind! You must have placed your Camellias well so they don’t get the morning sun for them to be surviving the frost so well.
We have more rain coming tomorrow Christina, but at least it is fairly warm for this time of year.
I have tried to place all the Camellias in morning shade and it does seem to work when the sun doesn’t thaw frozen flowers out too quickly. Some of the flowers do still turn brown on double ones in spite of all this!
Hope your weather turns a little warmer for you.
I love the snowdrops coming up through the Cyclamen foliage – it really does look like little birds doesn’t it?
You’ve got lots going on there Pauline – I bought myself a winter flowering Jasmine from vouchers I got from Santa – as usual an impulse buy just need to find a home for it now!!
Gives me something to think about over the next few days I suppose.
Thanks for braving it outside for us.
If I was planting a Winter Jasmine Angie, I would plant it in more sunshine than mine is in, I’m sure it would have more flowers than mine does.
We are lucky in that our weather isn’t as cold as you have, but we do have a lot more rain!
You’ve so much blooming in your garden at this time of year! Your climate is a bit warmer than ours but we share the winter abundance of rain. Such a promising post; spring seems right around the corner!
Today is warm and wet Peter, which will encourage more flowers to open! Once the snowdrops start, I feel Spring can’t be far away.
Lovely Spring flowers out to welcome the new year in. I have several elwesii snowdrops out which I bought from the local farm shop last year. They were labeled nivalis. I think it is nearly impossible to sort them all out so I am trying to enjoy them without bothering about their names. I have the same problem each year, my enjoyment of my snowdrops is spoilt by worrying what their names are. What happens to the labels I can’ t imagine.
Our local Garden Centre sells pots of Nivalis Chloris, but they too are G Elwesii. I got my Snowdrop books out today (5 of them !) and think I might have found my early little one, a species. Once the flowers start opening, I know that Spring isn’t far away.
Pauline, you are living in paradise! We have a lot of snow, my snowdrops are still in the soil, nothing to see!
Sigrun
Thank you Sigrun, being warm and wet has its advantages sometimes! We love snow on the few occasions that we have some, but I suppose you have it for rather a long time , then it could be a problem. Just think, you will have your snowdrops to enjoy when ours are all over!
You have so much in the garden to welcome in 2015! I am smitten with your Garrya elliptic . I immediately had to pause to do some research. Will it grow for me? From what I read, it needs to be near the coast. Well, I am a couple hundred miles from a coast, but I meet other criteria. I have never seen one around here. Maybe worth a try if I buy one off the internet?
We have had over a foot ( 30.5 cm.) of rain in the past week, but today the sun is shining. I enjoyed a stroll around the garden immensely, planning and plotting future projects. I have a few camellias blooming, but they look bedraggled from the rain. Everything else is sensibly waiting, as bitter sub-freezing temps are headed our way.
Happy New Year to you! Your garden looks like it will be glorious this year!
A foot of rain is such a lot in a week Debs, I hope you didn’t float away!
We are about 10 miles from the coast, my Garrya elliptica is in a shady corner and was planted by the previous people. I think they prefer sun, my books tell me that it is frost hardy, but that a hard frost could damage the catkins. It seems it should be ok in a sheltered sunny spot.
Happy New Year to you and happy gardening in 2015.
This is really unfair – you have so much out! I’m impressed by your snowdrops, and really must pop out and examine mine for signs of any action (but I’m doing that on a daily basis, and there’s still not much).
I’ve got a bonkers penstemon; why, I wonder do things like that and your forget-me-not suddenly do this? To keep gardeners on our toes?
Some flowers just like to be contrary I think Kate!
Snowdrops are getting bigger every day and soon plenty will be opening. I go for a look in the woodland in between all the showers we are having at the moment and they are definitely increasing in size.
I stumble across many of your blog posts days after you publish them. Depending on my WordPress reader to alert me of your latest adventure in the garden doesn’t always work well. At any rate thanks for sharing your winter garden with us. Wonderful to see narcissus already. Susie
Sorry my posts are taking a long time to reach you Susie, I’m not sure what the answer would be to that problem.
That particular narcissus shouldn’t be out yet, it might regret opening up if the weather turns nasty!
We had beautiful white Christmas this year but by the new years eve, all snow was gone due to mild spell with rains. And I did see some emerging snowdrop buds in my garden too! But that was all that was there, hehe! Now everithing is covered with snow again.
You have incredibly lot of blooms in your garden, some I have to wait until the end of April or May, and with roses until June in that matter! 🙂
Happy new gardening year!
How wonderful to have a truly white Christmas Tistou.
The roses need pruning, I would say that Graham Thomas was a very late one from last year, not an early one from this year, whatever it is, it was good to see it.
Have a lovely year gardening in 2015!
Hi
I have nominated you for Liebster award. I do hope this is not a repeat of something you have done before I began to read your blog. Please see my blog at http://johnsviccellio.wordpress.com/2015/01/08/a-liebster-award/ and it should be clear what to do if you want to accept. I have found your blog interesting, informative, and enjoyable and appreciate your support of mine.
Hi John, what a surprise to find that you have nominated me for an award, I’m honoured! Unfortunately, I have always declined any award that I have been nominated for, as I’m a very private person and careful what I reveal on line, I hope you understand.
Happy New Year Pauline! The weather is definitely not tempting me to go out into the garden. It is -11 here and that does not factor in the temperature with the wild chill. The dogs want to go out no matter what the weather however, and so for them, I put on my warmest clothes and winter boots, and head out into the cold.
How envious I am of your scattering of blooms! I wish I had snowdrops and other early risers already in flower. The Garrya eliptica is really neat. I am unfamiliar with it and really like those tassels.
It sounds as though you are having a very cold spell at the moment Jennifer, I wouldn’t be tempted into the garden either. I can remember when we had our dog, she always wanted to go for a walk, no matter what the weather!
The tassels on Garrya eliptica are getting longer each day, but we also have a cold spell coming, so maybe they will go on hold for a while.
How fun that the snowdrops are beginning to bloom. I really must remember to plant more. I have some beautiful camellias that were just starting to open, but I’m afraid our cold snap is doing quite a bit of damage. We dropped to 11 degrees F on Wednesday night and tonight will not be much better. Your Garrya is especially handsome and the little forget me not is awfully sweet. I have some seeds I was going to scatter on the 1st but it was pouring rain and now I’m waiting for warmth.
The snowdrops are all pushing up now Marian, it won’t be too long before their lovely white flowers have me wandering in the woodland to see them all.
Our pink Camellia is getting better and better, it has never been so covered in blooms before, others are almost ready to flower showing lovely fat buds.