This post will be done in bits and pieces between my son and DIL going back home from here after Christmas and me coming back from a couple of days with the rest of my family in Bristol. I’m finding that plants flowering now are much better than previously, I’m thinking because of the heat and sun in the summer, they had a really good baking which they obviously liked, but also while wandering round I’ve noticed that all my hardy fuchsias are looking very sorry for themselves, presumably because of our freezing temperatures for 2 weeks recently, but they will sprout from the ground again, I’m sure.
No 1
Iris unguicularis under the dining room window. This plant faces south and benefits from the warmth of the wall behind it. This is its best year for flowering, I’m assuming because it got baked last summer in the heat, I’ve never before had so many flowers out all at once.
Altogether there are 11 flowers open at the same time, but I can’t get them all in the same photo! I first saw this plant outside the Doctor’s surgery and once I looked it up, just had to have it for winter interest.
No 2
Galanthus Little John is flowering away nicely and increasing very well, this is a large snowdrop.
No 3.
G. Mrs. Mcnamara has moved well, yes, I did remember to move her at last! She now lives very happily in the woodland where the soil is much more to her liking than by the front door. Must pull the ivy out and cut the fern back so that Mrs. M. doesn’t get strangled!
No 4
G. Faringdon Double has also settled in well after me splitting it and spreading the clumps around the garden.
No 5
My first hellebore to open properly, so many are almost there but not quite. This is a very pale spotted variety and also very small in stature.
No 6
My Chaenomeles hedge by the back door has recovered from our freezing 2 weeks and is looking very springlike once more., hundreds of buds still to open.
A few more photos, hope I’ll be excused!
Viburnum Dawn is still recovering from the frost, previous flowers have turned to brown mush but new buds are opening all the time.
Iris unguicularis Walter Butt has opened in the driveway border, I thought I had better photograph it before any slugs get at it!
I wondered if I would get a photo of the opened flower before I went away on Wednesday.
No, it wasn’t open before I went away, but when I got back this is what I found, perfect Walter Butt!
And what did I see by the front door when coming back in, but a few bulbs of Mrs. Mcnamara, I must have missed a few when moving her! She seems to be determined to stay in the front, I wouldn’t have thought the soil was very good there, maybe I had better give her a mulch of my leaf mould.
My first primrose, lots more buds almost ready to open , soon there will be a drift!
And a new little friend came back from Bristol with me, will just have to decide which border will be his permanent home now. Thanks Rachael!
So many more buds are on the point of opening, Witch Hazel, Daphne, Camellia and Garrya eliptica just to name a few, and lots more varieties of snowdrop are on the point of opening, but I will have to be patient for a little longer. I will check round again as this will be my record of flowers for New Year. Happy New Year everyone, I hope it will be a happy and healthy gardening 2023!
Thanks to Jim, our organiser at Garden Ruminations, do pop over to visit him where you will see gardens from around the world.
Lots of lovely winter flowers and that robin is great. Hmm, I don’t think my snowdrops have even poked up above the soil yet – I’ll have a nose later. All the best for the New Year.
Thanks Graeme, the snowdrops out at the moment are early flowering ones to get the season started. Happy New Year to you and yours!
Impressive winter flowering ! I don’t have all that right now… even if I’m further south… Bravo and Happy New Year!
I usually have a few more flowering Fred, at this time of year, I think our 2 weeks freeze has delayed quite a few from opening their buds. Happy New Year to you too!
You have some choice early flowering plants out, and many thanks for sharing them with us. Wishing you and your family a Happy New Year.
Thank you Noelle, I like to have some flowers out for Christmas and New Year, they are so welcome when the weather is so very grey! A very Happy New Year to you and yours!
I think I might have to get one of those little robins to add to my collection of corten steel ornaments.
“Walter Butt” isn’t a particularly pretty name for such a stunning little flower! I love seeing the progress from bud to fully opened.
I was very pleased to be given my robin Helen, he will join the snowdrop that my daughter gave me last year! I’m not sure who Walter Butt was or is, but I think his little iris is beautiful!
Happy New Year. Lovely to see all your blooms.
And a Happy New Year to you Rosie! I love my early flowers, they make winter seem a lot better than it is. I always look forward to them.
I’m glad to hear the hot dry summer has paid dividends Pauline! The iris are putting on a good show. I look forward to seeing all those listed as on the point of opening. Love that little Robin. Wishing you a very happy New Year Pauline!
I’m glad something good has come from the very high temperatures that we had to endure last summer, obviously the plants are better able to cope than I am! Ye, there will soon be lots more to show you. Happy New Year to you and yours.
Oh it’s so exciting to see the snowdrops coming out Pauline 😂 I like your new feathered friend. Wishing you a Happy New Year and many happy days pottering in the garden xxx
I can see some of the snowdrops from the house Anna, this makes me go and look for the others, lots of little noses peeping up, so lots more to come. Hope the New Year brings you lots of gardening opportunities! x
It’s wonderful to see your winter garden selections–so many nice blooms already. I’m particularly fond of your irises. Happy New Year!
New little flowers at this time of year lift the spirits on a dull winters day Susie, they encourage me to get out there and do something! The iris make me think that spring can’t be all that far away!
There seems to be plenty of colour in your garden despite the cold weather. Spring flowers are always so uplifting, especially those first few tentative ones. Happy new year to you!
I love all the early flowers Jane, full of promise and so hardy when the weather changes to snow and ice! They encourage me to get out in the garden and do much needed work.
Such a nice start to the new year after ending the old with such a freeze. I love that your garden keeps blooming along throughout the winter, it’s more like our spring except it lasts months rather than weeks!
Perhaps there will be a witch hazel open this week. Mrs Macnamara did not like the cold, but Faringdon double appears unfazed and likely to open during this week’s warmth. Even with the ups and downs it’s still fun.
Happy New Year!
Frank, I was thinking about you and your plants when I saw your weather on our news, were you under 6ft or more of snow and with temperatures as low as -50C? I hope not, I hope that you and your family are safe and warm and your plants are too! Gardening never seems to stop here and the new flowers are a delight, so brave to open when it is so cold and miserable. I hope 2023 brings you lots of lovely gardening weather!
Loving your new bird. Wonderful to see your early blooms, especially the iris and snowdrops.xxx
The robin will be a nice addition to the garden, I’m still deciding which border will be his permanent home. The Iris get better day by day, so many flowers out this year compared to previously, its quite amazing! x