February is really becoming hellebore time in my garden although unusually I haven’t added to the collection yet this year although I am sure there is still time. Above is a selection of some of those that are looking good this week. Interestingly the colours don’t seem as strong this year with Anna’s Red looking no darker than my long-established dark pink hellebore and the yellows seem very pale.
I need to relocate some of the hellebores so the flowers are easier to see and I don’t have to step into border to take photos.
I do like the yellows so I might see about adding to these instead of more purple and pinks.
Crocus tommasinianus are beginning to spread under the Field Maple which is very satisfying. Sadly this year with the seemingly endless overcast days it is rare that the flowers are actually open so I was lucky to catch these crocus open the other day.
I’m also really pleased to find some hepaticas flowering this year. I planted two groups last year in opposite sides of the garden to try to work out what was the right environment for them. It seems that the more shady damper area is preferred to the dry shade area so I will relocate the hepaticas from the less desirable spot.
The snowdrops are also slowly but surely spreading around the garden and are beginning to form a white haze on the back slope.
I have a growing number of named varieties in the garden, acquiring a few more each year. I think this is one I got some years ago but I have lost the label so I have no idea what it is but the flowers seem larger than Galanthus nivalis, in particular the outer petals are longer. I will have to see if I can find a record on this blog or in my label box of what it might be.
The last of my favourites this week is this unknown camellia which although quite a small shrub is smothered in bloom, luckily we have not had many frosts so the flowers haven’t gone brown.
Also flowering in the garden are pulmonaria, cyclamen, witch hazel, and slowly but surely the various narcissus. This is Narcissus ‘Tete a Tete’.
