Taking a quick walk around the garden this morning showed that lots of flowers are still confused with the mild weather we are still having and lots have decided to flower much earlier than usual. Windy conditions have made taking photographs rather difficult, some just wouldn’t sit still to have their photo taken! We had a beautiful start to the day with a wonderful pink sunrise at 7.45am. , then the wind and the rain started, so was dodging the showers to take these photos. Yes, I did stay up to welcome in the New Year but was wide awake at 6.30 am, so got up!
The Chaenomeles by the back door flowers on and off from November until April as long as there is no frost, we are still waiting for our first proper one, in the meantime we enjoy the flowers each time we go out.
These snowdrops, Mrs. Macnamara, are by the front door and just wouldn’t sit still to be photographed, dancing about everywhere, they were, but somehow I managed to catch them. Mrs.Macnamara was mother in law to Dylan Thomas.
Winter jasmine, also by the front door, looks a bit bruised here, lots more lovely buds to come though and make a splash of yellow in a dark corner.
A few primrose have been out for some time now, flowering away in shady corners. If any bees are tempted to come out of their nests, at least there will be nectar and pollen ready for them. This is a white one, but there are lots of wild yellow ones flowering at the moment.
What is this Anthemis doing, still flowering in the bee and butterfly border? I had cut it back to give it a rest but it is determined to carry on and is still putting out more buds. I have taken quite a few cuttings, so if it does flower itself to death, then I have replacements handy, hope this doesn’t happen though.
Rosa Graham Thomas still looking good. Most of the roses have been cut back by half to try and prevent wind rock, Graham Thomas is determined to flower and is forming lots more buds.
Erysimum Bowles Mauve is another determined little plant. As with the rose, it was cut back in November, but has put up lots of new stems for us to enjoy.
Cyclamen hederifolium still doesn’t want to stop flowering, 5 long months this particular corm has been flowering, when will it give up?
My first Narcissus, doesn’t seem right to have it flowering in December, but there it is, Rijnveld’s Early Sensation.
One of the first Hellebores to flower, argutifolius, always looks strong and perky, no matter what the weather is doing, more pollen and nectar for early bees.
A lovely anemone centred Hellebore which has been flowering for a couple of months now, hope it will have plenty more buds so that it can flower at the correct time.
Lots of the hybrid hellebores are just getting going, quite a few are showing their flowers, but I will do a separate post about them when they are flowering at full strength.
This is the summer snowflake, Leucojum aestivum which should normally flower after the spring snowflake. No sign of the spring snowflake yet, but 2 clumps of the summer snowflakes started putting out their flowers in December.
The tassels on Garrya elliptica are elongating and starting to open up, they will look good for about a month in the corner of the back garden.
Choisya ternata almost hasn’t stopped flowering since last spring. This is it’s third flowering for last year, or is it the first for this year?!
This japanese azalea is covered in buds, just hope it flowers at the correct time in May!
A beautiful snowdrop, all green on the inside tube, have lost its label so will have to get my big snowdrop book out to try and identify it properly.
More lovely snowdrops, more are opening each day. Lots more to come soon, showing way above the soil and pushing their buds upright at the moment, soon they will curl over and start opening.
Couldn’t believe it, Convolvulous cneorum flowering away, utterly ridiculous at this time of year!
A few Fuchsias are still flowering, brightening up the borders. In a couple of months it will be time to cut them right down so that they can start all over again.This one is Delta Sarah.
Iris unguicularis is flowering in the bee and butterfly border, never more than one flower at a time, but always something to look at when going in and out.
Campanula poscharskyana never seems to stop flowering, every clump always has a flower or two, no wonder it manages to spread so much!
The Camellia, at the side of the garden (by the school!) is flowering 2 months earlier than usual. It is covered in buds so should be in flower for quite some time and will brighten up that corner which we can see from the dining room.
That was a much longer list than I was expecting, all due to the mild weather that we have been having all winter. We have had one apology for a frost, only found a couple of frosted leaves, nothing worth photographing. If the weather continues like this, then soon all the winter bulbs will be flowering in the woodland and the new gardening year will be well and truly under way.
Happy New Year and Happy Gardening for 2012 to you all !
It must still be mild where you are, Pauline. We only have the hellebores, The Iceberg rose and some snowdrops pushing through. Good to see the Garrya elliptica featuring.
It is unbelievably mild Janet, at least 12 degrees C and not much cooler at night time! Garrya was here when we moved here so can’t take any credit for it, except that I have learned to prune it straight away when it finishes flowering as it flowers on new wood, always look forward to it in January.
Well done for getting out and taking photos in the rain! Like you I was up at 6.45 but not a sniff of sunshine. Leaden skies have turned to rain. Still, it’s affording me the time to sit and catch up on blogs! Happy new year! (Lovely hellebores by the way, hope the rest of your flowers don’t get too confused!)
Sun soon went Caro, just a very grey day now with steady rain, just as well I photographed them when I did! Happy New Year and I hope you have a wonderful year gardening in 2012!
Hi Pauline, your snowdrops are amazing and I love h. argutifolius: it’s the best of all.
The Garrya is terrific and the yellow narcissus looks so… exotic at this time of the year, more than roses and other stuff that look more weird than exotic… So strange weather…
If you’re starting the year like this I have great expectations on your 2012 blooming!!! Happy new year!
Alberto.
Happy New Year Alberto, the weather is much colder today with gales, sleet and torrential rain! Lots more snowdrops opening, soon the woodland will be covered in flowers, worth having a look every few days to see what the new flowers are. Hope my garden can live up to your expectations!!
Wow your garden must be pretty colourful even in the depths of winter. I spotted my first snowdrop a couple of days ago and there are bulbs pushing up all over the place I just hope this weather doesn’t encourage plants to come to life to quickly and then they caught by some late winter weather.
I agree WW,hope the weather doesn’t spoil the party! Yesterday was pretty horrendous with gales, sleet and torrential rain, but today is a lot calmer and a bit warmer again. Most of the flowers are in the shady borders, making the most of the light before the canopy closes over in a couple of months time. I think this is a lovely time of year, the garden holds such promise of what is to come later.
Wow, I can’t believe everything that is blooming in your garden! I always hold my breath this time of year, when confused plants start putting out buds. I know we are going to get some hard frosts, as we have had the last couple of nights!
Still waiting for our first frost Debs,one day it will get a lot colder and catch a few plants out !In the meantime we are just enjoying all the flowers that we have at the moment.
Wow, it’s like spring there. Gorgeous snowdrops and hellebores. I am not a snowdrop expert even though I sell them because not that many varieties are available for viewing in the US, and I haven’t made it over there. G. elwesii can have its two spots fused into one long spot. ‘Merlin’ is a cultivar with a very large blotch, but I am sure there are many more. Your climate is so different: H. argutifolius is one of the last hellebores to flower here. I just planted 50 daffodils ‘RES’ and am very excitedly anticipating the bloom.
We have rather a lot of different snowdrops Carolyn, they can be quite addictive! There are so many different ones for sale and some of them at quite ridiculous prices, would you believe some sell for £50 upwards!!!I don’t think you can beat a drift of the simple wild ones and they multiply so quickly, a lovely time of year.
lovely pics Pauline, what this makes me think of is someone talking on the radio the other day about how if you look at things in deep geological time then all the plants we have are incredible survivors. And the climate is still changing and plants are changing their behaviour to cope. cheers, cm
Plants certainly are survivors Catmint, their job is to reproduce at all costs and to do that they have to respond to whatever the weather is doing. I have never known such a mild winter, now having said that, we will probably have sub zero temperatures soon!