flowers in the garden

 Cyclamen, looks a bit lonely, I think there is a bigger clump elsewhere in the garden, but I forgot to look for it.

Leucojum, they are usually quite tall. so I'm not sure why these are so little.

Hellebore, not opened

Hellebore, again not opened.
I tagged this with spring and winter flowers, as it seems like spring , but winter is surely not over yet. As I've had more time this week I've been collecting a bag of the well rotted manure from the farm every day and I tip it into my compost bins. One bin was mostly filled with weeds, the other mostly with grass clippings and then autumn leaves. I eat a lot of fruit and veg so any peelings, skins, cores etc... all go in as well. I have three bins and a fourth one is dismantled , in future I'm going to place the empty bin right on top of a veggy bed.. so once its 'cooked' I can just lift it and spread the compost.. currently when I have to empty the bins.. not likely till the end of this summer... I'll have to get them tipped over and mostly onto a tarpaulin and then move it to where its needed. More thought.. less lifting.

starting to get spring fever

greenhouse glass washed inside and out, so you can see right through now! it was a warm enough day yesterday to get this done, I think its still a bit cold to start planting but I'll probably start fairly soon. my seed order has arrived and the garden plan made.
and the snowdrops are out, they tend to be closed tight in the freezing mornings and open out a bit as the day goes on. its forecast to be really cold this weekend.
the underneath view of a double snowdrop, very pretty.
the helleborus are still not fully open, pretty to look at the undeneath though, like the snowdrops.

nearly snowdrops!

slowly, slowly the snowdrops start to peep out, there are some up at the farm in flower already-in a sheltered bit of woodland.

the catkins come out on the twisted hazel.

no flowers yet

in previous years there has been more to photograph at this time of year, perhaps last years constant rain has rotted things away, or the very cold temperatures are holding things back a while. hmmmm.....not to mention my guilty neglect of the garden last year. this helebore is holding very tightly to its buds, but not opening. I have two others who are looking decidedly neglected, have very poor stems and no flowers at all, will see how they fare this summer and remove them after next winter if they no longer perform.

I think these are 'snowflakes' Leucojum vernum, usually flowering a bit later than the snowdrops but there are no snowdrops to be seen....

and I think these are crocus, as usual I have not labled things so its more of a surprise!

the greenhouse temperature gauge, which I haven't checked for weeks, was showing a low of -10C and a high of 11C. so it must have been much colder outside, well I'll just have to get an outside thermometer too if I really need to know!

an hour of weeding

my first snowdrop appears under the hedge

and my new gardening gloves get their first outing, they were a present at christmas

these leaves have been growing since last year, I haven't the faintest idea what it is. I did plant it but can't remember if it had a name or was a gifted 'bit'
closer to the centre, you can see the furry leaves

closer in still.....
thats the gloves officially part of the garden

searching for colour

theres not much happening in the garden now, a careful search found very little to photograph, a late flowering borage, suffering a bit round the edges from the frosts.

the pernytta gives a good display of berries, the birds dont seem to eat them. we've had some snow but it didn't lie for long.

winter tidying

I've started to move the pots off my doorstep and put them in Billy's coldframes to keep them through the winter, if it gets really bad I can out their covers on for extra protection.

my leeks are doing good and there have been some nice pots of soup already, thanks Wildside for the seeds!!

a little rose doing its best in the sun, its blown away now...

a collection of autumn multi-coloured leaves, its a never ending thing... I used to keep them separate to compost but am too busy just now so have stuffed them in with everything else.

I ran into the garden in-between rain showers

hiding in the corner a little helbore gets ready to flower
lifted up for a peek inside
here is a pot of 'orange surprise' and 'happy birthday', which I think are tulips.
and the pot marked simply 'bulbs' has turned into a nice pot of snowdrops. fab!

a little colour

this mahonia is flowering all on its own. lat year there was sllightly more colour at this time
but it had been much milder than this year.

chilly November morning

a spider bravely defends the greenhouse doorway
a little chamomile, surviving in the greenhouse
this fennel never made it out to the garden, its scenting the greenhouse quite nicely

and the last of the marigolds
I haven't the heart to throw them out while they're still flowering
out in the garden there is a pink monarda
and a blue one, just a few cheery flowers
persicaria
and on the doorstep a pink geranium
and a red one, they won't last much longer in the cold

a sunny bright day

one little rosebud

in the greenhouse there is one lonely fuschia flower
a couple of geranium flowers keeping it company
out in the coldframe, spring bulbs are starting to peek through the crocus, I think they will be yellow.

in amongst other stuff I found this unlabled, obviously some kind of bulb, possibly an iris reticulata? a sure sign of the stones meaning 'something's in here, don't throw this away!' but I have no idea what it is
decorations in my 'girly greenhouse'
and this one I put in today, I did have it on a window in the house for a while.
this bush has come down from May's caravan garden, it can have a temporary home in this sink till I get another idea in my head of what to do with it. there is an unknown in the pot sitting there too, quite sure its not weeds or May wouldn't have earmarked it for removal.
it'll be a nice bright thing for a shady spot, almost totally sure it is an Euonymus japonicus 'ovatus aureus'.

in case I don't post much or visit often over the holiday period-

many blessings and a good new year!!