I’ve been busy, out in the woodland, whenever I could this last week, frantically trying to clear all the leaves so that the snowdrops and other small bulbs can breathe! I have also found that if the leaves are left then the little slugs are able to chew away at the flowers without the birds seeing them and clearing them up for me. I have made a bit of a difference, but there are still more to clear and weeds to pull. My six for this week will show that I am about half way through.
No 1
This was the first area to get tidied and weeded as this is what I see through the archway from the house and this has the most “special” snowdrops in it.
And this is the same area photographed from the other side.
No 2.
A smaller area on the right has Cardamine quinquifolia as ground cover with the lilac flowers, Narcissus Rijnveld’s Early Sensation at the back and Narcissus pseudonarcissus just starting to open along with Leucojum aestivum on the left.
No 3.
At the left hand end of the woodland is this small area which has a few special snowdrops, the main clump is Hobson’s Choice with a little clump of Ivy Cottage Corporal next to it. I’m hoping that all the greenery is from Honesty seedlings.
No 4
Snowdrop Hill where there are a lot of specials, I can see Lapwing, Wendy’s Gold and Diggory standing out from the rest. These last 2 areas have had the leaves raked off, just the weeds to tackle now.
No 5
I still have to start work on this area, there will be lots of ivy and brambles to pull out as well as all the other weeds and the leaves. The snowdrops at the front are Cedric’s Prolific and at the back, the large clump is of Magnet. I’ll have to be very carefull raking leaves here as Crocus tommasinianus are now up and flowering.
No 6
This area will be left to last because it is so wet and therefore I haven’t planted many specials here, just the wild ones to see if they can cope with all the water. This is where the snakeshead fritillaries flower in about a months time. I have a horrible feeling that most of the green you can see is grass and not fritillary foliage!
Eventually it will all be clear of leaves and weeds then I have the job of mulching it all with last years leaf mould! The last time I was here working I had 2 robins for company, diving down as soon as they could see anything that wriggles, nice to have company while I’m working!
Thanks go again to Jon The Propagator for hosting, do pop over to him to see what is on offer around the world.
With the shelter of the trees, you have the most lovely arrangement of snowdrops. Isn’t lovely to have an excuse to get out amongst them?
With the leaves off the trees and the sun shining, it is a wonderful place to work Noelle, so sheltered from the cold wind. The snowdrops are spreading nicely, specials as well as the wild ones.
Looking forward to seeing the fritillaries.
So am I Rosie, but please let me enjoy my snowdrops and narcissus first!
I like the look of Cardamine quinquifolia, hadn’t realised it was a very early riser. When does it die down? I’m thinking of what could follow it.
It goes very dark in the woodland once the leaves come on the oaks, ash and horse chestnuts,Jim. The cardamine disappears by June so I just have a few hosta, heuchera and ferns for later, too dark for any flowers. I grow it as it feeds the caterpillars of the Orange Tip butterflies.
Your snowdrops are looking quite magical Pauline. Here my cardamine has just appeared in the last week or so but no flowers yet. It looks so lovely with snowdrops and hellebores too.
Thanks Anna,they get better day by day, I’m sure I’ll be showing them again soon! Nice to know that someone elsa has cardamine, lovely plant and it encorages the the Orange Tip Butterfly to lay its eggs here.
You do have nice healthy clumps of snowdrops. It is so satisfying to get everything nicely cleaned up and clear of leaves. I wish I could come and have a good look.
The clumps are increasing year on year Liz, some need splitting to make more, but that comes later. To see it looking more tidy is very satisfying at the moment and you can see the snowdrops better without all the winter detritus around them. If you are ever down this way in February, you would be very welcome!
How exciting to see all the snowdrops up again, and probably just as exciting to have parts of the woodland all tidied up for the year! It looks great. Amazing to see them grow in more every spring.
I’m a cheater when it comes to my bed cleanups. I spread all the chopped leaves from the mower in the fall, and hope the plants don’t notice everything that probably should have been cleaned out before the leaves were thrown on everything. I do have the plus of few if any slugs though. I’m not sure why but of course will never complain.
Enjoy yours springtime show!
Glad you are enjoying my snowdrops Frank, another week or so and most of them should be out by then. I think it is the large leaves from the horse chestnuts that are the problem, they form such a solid mass on top of the bulbs, they just can’t get through, so have to be cleared away. Lucky you , not having many slugs!!
Lovely scenes from your garden this week! As well as the snowdrops, I’m rather taken with the Cardamine – nice to have a bit of flowering ground cover so early in the year.
Thank you Andrew! The Cardamine is rather lovely flowering at snowdrop time, it retreats underground by the end of spring, but I’m always glad to see it return the following year. It is spreading rather a lot now so I think some can be moved elsewhere soon.
It was interesting to hear about the maintenance of your woidland, especially relating to your special snowdrops as I now plan to move all mine, thanks to some comments we shared last year. The ones I trialled were planted bordering the bark path, but I still needed to cut back ivy and pull out lamium. It is lovely to see big happy clumps in your woodland 😊
I think your specials will be happier in your woodland border Cathy, I have just followed the instructions that Avon Bulbs send with their bulbs where they say not to leave tham in pots and not to plant summer bedding above them as they don’t like to be disturbed. Ivy is a never ending problem in my woodland, always loads to pull out each year!
Oh, you have such beautiful varieties of snowdrops. Love that pheasant! I do hope it keeps away from your fritts.xxx
Thanks Dina, lots of “specials” are now opening up each day, I have to make sure I have my daily wander even if I’m not doing any work in the garden. I hope rusty pheasant does his duty and keeps the other pheasant away, not heard him yet this year, thank goodness!x