…when it’s a snowflake, or Leucojum, probably L vernalis as this one is quite short in stature, unlike the taller and slightly later L aestivum. Often mistaken for snowdrops by those with more limited plant knowledge, they are commonly known as spring and summer snowflakes respectively. They seem to be pretty trouble-free and I really ought to add more.
With daytime temperatures of around 9°C for most of the week the ‘real’ snowdrops are beginning to open up. The double G flore pleno always begin flowering a week or two ahead of the single G nivalis, but the prospect of a ‘carpet of snowdrops’ is beginning to look more likely. I would usually have started splitting clumps before now, but with the ground being frozen for so long that task can easily wait.
As for my named ‘specials’, I think any that have survived their move will have made themselves known by know, and I have been able to make an assessment of where my collection now stands. It’s a little depleted, but I knew it was a risk and, with broad shoulders (all that swimming!), I can take it. There are some varieties I will actively seek to replace, largely for emotional reasons, but I have probably now learned not to keep replacing those that just don’t want to make themselves at home. I have come to the conclusion that Galanthus ‘Trumps’ is now my current favourite, so distinctive in character and bulking up well.
Now spreading nicely in the woodland edge border is an unnamed pulmonaria, probably a distant relative of the plant I brought from my parents’ house to my first marital home in 1976. I have a soft spot for all pulmonaria, probably for that very reason, just as I do with all geranium, with a plant of G magnificum coming to me at the same time from the same source. I am pleased to see the pulmonaria flowering now, as it is generally a little later.
A number of hellebores are also in bloom, although many are not. I am not convinced how much I like the over-abundance of blooms on H x ericsmithii ‘Pirouette’ though, which I think is likely to trip over its skirts if it attempts any twirling around:
Much more ladylike and practical is the unnamed variety below, probably one of the first in the garden and having lost its label many years ago; it obligingly holds its head up too. The stick to her right is Daphne mezereum, with tiny pinpricks of pink visible when inspected closely.
These are my promising six for today, and if you pop over to the blog of Six on Saturday host Jim you can see a wide range of other sixes from gardens around the world.