“There is always in February some one day, at least, when one smells the yet distant, but surely coming, summer” Gertrude Jekyll
February this year has been extremely dry and unseasonally warm. It follows a cold, dry January with night-time temperatures dropping down to below -10C on a number of occasions, but with a lack of snow to provide a blanket for the soil.
The flowers of the hellebore, a classic plant for late winter interest, have started to appear. Some of my hellebores struggled in the heatwave last summer so I am interested to see whether this will impact their flowering over the next few months. Hellebores are sometimes known as Christmas or Lenten roses as they flower from late winter into spring. The catkins of Salix caprea Kilmarnock are starting to smoother the tree and will start to attract the attention of the local muntjac deer who likes to nibble them.
Salix chaenomeloides Mount Aso has pink catkins. This shrub, situated in my front garden, is pruned every spring to encourage the catkins in the following winter. The leaves of Sorbaria sorbifolia Sem are always one of the first to appear. This shrubs is extremely happy in my front garden, that if I didn’t contain it each winter by removing all the suckers it would very quickly take over the whole area.
I have a few different varieties of Chaenomeles, the flowering quince, within my shrubbery near the pond. The leaves are a particular favourite of the muntjac deer during the winter, even though the shrub tries to defend itself with its spiny branches.
Also within the shrubbery is Photinia serratifolia Pink Crispy which has just started to produce its new leaves which are bright pink when young, becoming a marbled green later in the year.
Lonicera fragrantissima, winter-flowering honeysuckle, is a bush honeysuckle in my front garden and although its flower are small, they are very fragrant with a lemony scent.
Pinus mugo Wintergold has a very apt name. A low-growing conifer which turns a golden-yellow during the winter months. The evergreen leaves of Bergenia turn a deeper colour in winter before the flowers appear later in the spring. Forsythia intermedia Mini Gold, in my new raised beds, have just started to bloom.
The small bulbs have started to flower near the front door – snowdrops (galanthus), winter aconite (eranthis hyemalis), cyclamen and iris reticulata.
By my patio doors I have planted up containers with bulbs in what is known as lasagne planting. The bulbs are layered on top of one another, with largest and latest flowering bulbs at the bottom moving up to the smallest and earliest flowering bulbs in the top layer. I use iris reticulata, puschkinia and crocus at the top, with daffodils at the bottom. The bees are appreciating my efforts.
The first daffodil is just about the flower, 3 weeks later than last year. Iris reticulata Katherines Gold in my new raised beds near the gazebo is the first of the spring bulbs within these beds to flower. I’ve had my first visit of the year by a mallard – they tend to visit my garden between February and May each year. The regular feathered visitors to my garden, like this blue tit, are already starting to explore the various nest boxes that I have put up for them.