A WEEK IN MY GARDEN - 21 FEBRUARY

The snowdrops finally opened on this windy afternoon. Because of the weather, I did not dally long to admire them, but hopefully the sun will come out tomorrow (as Annie once sang).

When we moved here this part of the garden was rather neglected.  I do not know whether it had been gardened in the past, but if it had been, there were few signs of it now.  The snowdrops, however, made a good display right from the start, and with splitting and dividing their compass has been extended over the subsequent years.

The aconites have flung their petals open despite the lack of sun in one last hope of attracting a passing pollinator.  They too were here, and have also increased, although more slowly than the snowdrops.

We put in the path which winds between the trees and covered it with bark to maintain the natural look.  The trees are a mixture of sycamore (presumably self seeded) and cherry and silver birch, which were presumably planted deliberately.  

The crocus are beginning to appear too.  These golden yellow ones were a delightful surprise.  I had quite forgotten I'd planted them in the trough outside the back door.

Self seeded purple Crocus tommasinianus appear in the grass each year.  If I try to move them the squirrels seem to find them and dig them up, so I've learnt to leave them were they are.

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned admiring some Galanthus Elwesii at Gravetye Manor.  So I had to order some, of course, for the borders in the Rose Garden.  They arrived very promptly, and I planted them out straight away according to the instructions.  At the moment they do look very much like the Galanthus nivalis we have here anyway, so at present I'm reserving my judgement.

Another snowdrop flowering this week is Galanthus Fieldgate Tiffany.  If I recall correctly the outer petals of these were large, white and slightly crinkled when I bought it.  I think two years later they look rather less striking.  So perhaps my dalliance with fancy snowdrops is over and I will stick to the common single and doubles.

That's all from my garden for this week.  Thank you for stopping by.  I'm off to begin the seed sowing.  I'm going to start with the tomatoes and go from there. See you next time.