Collared doves

Two visitors.

Camellia sinensis

I will choose the first spring camellia for today's picture. This one grows in the ground, but needs a lime-free coriaceous bed to keep healthy. You will be able to see some pieris in the same bed soon.

Scilla and Iris

Saturday 25th - a good gardening day, digging out bindweed. And found some cheap Hollyhocks and lupids in Lechlade - frost damaged, they said, but look absolutely fine now.

Sunday 26th - another beautiful day. Theses little light blue irises have just popped out, 'Catherine Hodkin'.

Foliage

Flowers are few and far between but winter is the time for lovely foliage.

Crinodendron hookerianum

Crinodendron hookerianum - crino = lily, dendron = tree, discovered by the plant-hunter Hooker. This one did poorly last year because of the savage frosts, but this year looks very promising. These fruit/flowers will enlarge and turn scarlet. It is planted next to a white flowered cousin, crinodendron patagua, about which more anon. Both require acid soil, so need special treatment in our garden, which is heavily alkali.

AND the first frogs were spotted in the pond today, looking cold but affectionate. Plus newts aplenty.

Wallflowers

Excellent value across the year are wallflowers - this one has flowered throughout summer, autumn and winter. I have planted dozens more for this summer and particularly like the bright orangy colours, although also have reds, whites and creams.

Iris, for a bit of colour

Iris reticulata,

and a spectacular one from Colesbourne Park.

Also, its nice to have finger nails - you can tell its not the gardening season.

Colesbourne Park Snowdrops.

These pictures start with two of our own unusual snowdrops, and then I am including some of the treasures of Colesbourne Park between Cirencester and Cheltenham. The species name for snowdrop is galanthus. There are hundreds of named cultivars, some chance finds and some bred by cross pollination. Weekend opening until 4th March.

 First, galanthus 'John Gray' from Roman Court. Medium size, with three large outer petals. This plant is 20 years old, but has never bulked up (that is, grown into a larger clump).

This one is a large double, galanthus Hippolyta - first in Roman Court, and below a clump from Colesbourne.

The Blue Lake

A tiny and tidy double, Galanthus 'Lady Beatrix Stanley'

Yellow colouring is greatly favoured. Galanthus 'Lady Elphinstone'

and with yellow tops, Galanthus plicatus 'Wendy's Gold'.

and galanthus 'Primrose Warburg'

So are green tips.

A green tipped double, 'Pusey Green Tips'

and a green tipped single, galanthus 'viridapice'

 This one below appropriately called 'Wasp'.

and 'Mighty Atom', with enormous flowers.

Dafs

After a few showed early,  the rest of the daffodils are now showing willing.

Snowdrops

Off today to Colesbourne Park near Cirencester which has a specialist snowdrop collection in the park. See www.snowdrop.org.uk. Here are a couple of our own - first the tall snowdrop galanthus elwesii

And the double flowered variety which multiplies well with us (galanthus flora plene) - I had to hold up the flower to photograph the double centre.

PS Never got there because of the rain, Went on Sunday instead.

Macros

Lovely striped hellebore - exploring macro settings for the next few pictures.

Still struggling on

The conservatory...

Raider

Fortunately a pleasurable pest here.

Jenny Wren

I have been trying to photograph a pair of wrens for a couple of weeks now. They scuttle about and, by the time the camera has focused, they have gone. This was the one shot that was not blurred.

Publish Post

Better than ever

Nice double cream hellebore

Set Off by Snow

Hellebore, set off by the white stuff

Narnia

The second lone pine, ex-Christmas tree. Can you have two lone pines?

Making tracks

Snow again

More fieldfares

At rest.

Stocking up

An urgent snack to cope with the cold...

Sleeping

Not all the garden looks good in winter - in fact most is rather messy. This bit of the bog garden is full of sleeping day lilies. There is a climbing rose in there I need to dig out and move before spring. No peace for the wicked.

The Lone Pine.

The snow is gone. The front of the garden is marked by this lone pine sentinel - if the sign of the lone pine means anything to you, leave a comment. This one was a Christmas tree for the lounge in the late 1980s, bought with roots (though these were unlovingly hacked out of the ground). This one survived and is now 30 foot.

Let it Snow

Snow viewed through the branches of the Winter Honeysuckle. It won't stay long.

Fieldfares

A flock of more than 60 fieldfares descended to eat apples this morning. A sign that they are feeling the cold. This photo is taken through glass, otherwise they would have flown.

Burst pipes

The front of the garden from the road. A water main had burst at the top of the hill, in the middle of the night causing this sea of ice. Snowdrops and daffodils are lying flat on the ground.

More promise

Heavy frost overnight. Burst water main in village caused mayhem with frozen water on the roads. Anyhow, a more optimistic picture

Promise

The promise of things to come - this is magnolia stellata. As always, click picture for more detail. I notice that two thirds of my audience lives in Russia - greetings to you all. Our weather must look tame in comparison.