Have decided to keep a record of the floral highlights of our garden from month to month as this year progresses. Obviously this is going to take a lot of observation, and then remembering to then write it up! We'll have to see how my memory holds up, but here goes.
January 2016
We have had a very mild and wet autumn/winter so far with very few frosty nights, and only one significant fall of snow. As a result there are many plants looking much healthier than they should be at this time of year! Polyanthus and primula have been flowering all through autumn/winter and the pink, red and yellow blooms really cheered up the dismal, dark days. Unfortunately the birds seem to like them too - there have been bits of leaf all over the path some days after they have been pecking at the nice new green shoots. I notice the purple globular primulas are pushing through the ground too. I have also had cowslips flowering just outside the conservatory door, just where I can see them! One of my favourite spring flowers. In recent years it has been nice to see lots of them flowering in verges by the side of some parts of the motorways - presumably seeded deliberately by councils.
The oriental poppies have been very confused this year, flowering again in the autumn after their dead heading at the usual time of year. They are really greening up now though and contrast nicely with the darker greens of evergreen plants within the garden.The holly bush has just about lost all its red berries - to the birds! - but gives some nice green backbone to the garden, and the ivy still has berries that the birds are obviously not desperate for!
Another flower that has been showing off recently are the Christmas roses. They quietly do their thing until one day you look and find they are covered in blooms!
The viburnum is looking close to flowering too with it's pink buds that are actually white when in flower.
The bergenias are just showing the first signs of their pink flowers. Not much longer and they should be cheering us up.
Mahonia is another early flower that is worth every penny spent on buying it. We had a very old bush that we had to chop down last year and it will be sadly missed this year. The fragrance when in bloom is overpowering and the bees love it! We did leave the root in the ground to see if it would resprout - and there are a few small leaves! - but went out and bought a new one to replace it. That is obviously rather small so we are not expecting great things this year. One interesting observation of the chopped down bush was the bright yellow colour of the wood when cut. It has now gone onto our wood pile so will be around for a while longer.
Daffodil spears are appearing all over the garden, along with crocus and snowdrop tips.
I was given a big clump of snowdrops last year, dug up after they had flowered but before the leaves had gone over. Digging and planting them "in the green" is the way to go when dividing snowdrops. The Snowdrop Festival is something we look forward to at this time of year too. Gardens with good shows of snowdrops open to the public at this time of year just so we can see their snowdrops! We always try to find a new garden to go to during this time and have not been disappointed yet! Everyone we've ever been to has had carpets of snowdrops looking just like snow. Talking of which - only one covering of snow - so far - this year, but it disappeared quite quickly so didn't really cause us any problems.
Looking around the garden as January draws to a close, buds are swelling and new green growth is developing on many plants. The garden seems to think Spring is on it's way. If only the weather would agree!
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