Every month, Chloris of The Blooming Garden invites us to share our top ten blooms; for some of us, even in February it is hard to select just ten, despite grouping our hellebores or snowdrops as one. I am not sure how many I have photographed for this post, and they may not necessarily be the best of them – after all, what is ‘the best’? The ones that make the most impact? The ones that bring the most pleasure? The ones that have crept up behind me and whispered ”boo!”? I don’t know, but here they are, starting with the glorious Prunus mume ‘Beni Chidori’ above…
Growing in what is a particularly fragrant corner of the shrub border, the prunus rubs shoulders with Viburnum bodnantense ‘Dawn’ and Lonicera x purpusii ‘Winter Beauty’ (below), all three contributing a delicious hint of perfume when the sun chances to grant us a little warmth on the occasional February day.
Down in the Coop Corner I thought I detected a faint hint of perfume from Clematis armandii ‘Snowdrift’ too:
Newly gracing the same corner with their blooms are Corydalis ‘Beth Evans’ and C ‘George Baker’; there should have been a blue variety too but I made a mistake when I ordered them last year and ended up with two Georges:
Making an impact in various big pots and tubs are colourful primroses from Aldi, surprisingly still undamaged by pigeons and seemingly a deterrent to squirrels who had previously taken great delight in excavating the same pots looking for lost nuts or, where none were to be found, tasty tulip bulbs. The demure native primrose, albeit the complete opposite of bold and bright, also makes an impact, but in a gentler way.
Rarely out of flower, comfrey Symphytum ‘ Hidcote Blue’ defies all weather conditions:
My Wordless Wednesday this week showed the first of the indoor narcissus in bloom in the Coop, and outside dwarf variety ‘Snow Baby’ is opening in the snowdrop border, its creamy yellow blooms quickly changing to white, joining forces with groupings of ‘Tête-à-Tête’ elsewhere to take up the baton as the garden races towards spring:
Perhaps past their peak, February’s top blooms must still include snowdrops as they continue to provide such pleasure, not just the specials of which a selection are shown below, but the commons too, a magic carpet for the woodland edge border:
And last, but undoubtedly not least, are the hellebores, thrilling any observer with their range of colours and shape and embellishment; not yet at their peak, the stems push the blooms ever skyward, with no chance of them keeping a low profile. No wonder these inherently shy retiring blooms hang their heads!
Thank you, Chloris, for hosting.
That native primrose looks cool precisely because it is not such an unnaturally bright color. I happen to like them all, but those cartoonish colors of the common garden varieties are not appropriate for every application.
Quite right, Tony
Glorious!
Thanks Sandra!
either I am unlucky, or I live in the wrong part of the world, but all I have are daffodils!
Ah, but have you made sure you have planted a range of things that might flower over winter and early spring…? It’s definitely a worthwhile exercise if you want things of interest in the garden all year round
I inherited the garden, such as it is, but thinking of adding some interest…
That’s the way to do it… I am sure you can find lots of ideas on blogs like this and others like it, and do ask if you want any advice
Thanks Cathy!
What a beautiful garden! And such lovely photographs. x
Thanks Joy
Wow, Cathy! Beautiful.
Thank you Cynthia
Wow! How fortunate you are. All I have here in the states is a tiny snowdrop that has been blooming for a few weeks, but still won’t lift its head. Now it is covered in snow. Even in a few weeks, we wont’ have that much blooming. Next will be the crocus, then the forsythia, then the daffodils. Not much else is brave enough to come out before April.
I love that little short comfrey! Mine goes totally dormant and disappears altogether. It won’t peek out until sometime in April, blooms in May or June, and then turns into a floppy giant monster that is several feet across.
It’s perhaps worth looking out for this comfrey then, Cindy, although I dont know how it would cope with your longer winters. I suppose you are used to several months with little to show in the garden – her, I have something to do in the garden or for the garden all year round but I suppose there are all sorts of other activities I could have done if I hadn’t, so I can blame the garden for the fact I have done any real craft activity for years!
The ones that shout ‘Boo!’ are the ones to go for. And Benny certainly does that. Isn’t he glorious? My corydalis aren’t quite out yet, I love the way they seed so quickly to make tapestries and so it doesn’t matter what you start off with. But I can’t keep the blue ones for more than a few years. Narcissus, hellebores, snowdrops, they all shout boo although hellebores don’t exactly surprise you, as you’ve watched their progress from the first little shoots. Thank you for joining me and sharing your February beauties Cathy.
It amazes me that there are still thise that shout ‘boo’ despite the frequency of my rambles and the hours I spend gazing at the garden… That’s interesting to read about the corydalis as I didn’t know they seeded about, nor that the blue ones tend not to last long. I am absolutely thrilled with Benny, who is definitely up there with the witch hazels (which sadly were all over early this year…were yours?)
Yes. except for ‘Arnold Promise’ and he is still looking good.
Actually, AP was still in bloom for the opening, but he was the only one – sometimes he is later to open than the others, but so this year but he is virtually a goner now
We cannot touch the beauty… Only we can feel.. This is the masterpiece made by God… Seeing this I feel God is the biggest Artist..
Perhaps you are right, Ketki
Thanks cathy!! Best Wishes..
Benny would certainly make my head turn Cathy. How old is he now? I’m looking forward to my ‘Snow Baby’ flowering here.
Benny only arrived this time last year, Anna; he is a standard with a main stem of 1m which is why I could fit him in. I am sure my Snow Baby are premature babies and haven’t flowered alongside thesnowdrops before
Your Hellebores are always such a delight to see. But i think I’m starting to envy your ability to grow Snowdrops. We just don’t have them here!
In the right areas they are trouble free and spread readily, but I guess by trial and error people accept they won’t grow where you are
Oh they’ll grow in my zone. But not my general location; they’re a little finicky here because of our large amounts of rainfall in spring, and the reduced sunshine, so I haven’t had much success with them.
Yes, they need dryness in the summer when they go dormant, so they perhaps rot if the ground is too wet?
That’s been my guess. I’ve tried cactus soil, and a half-and-half blend, but it always either remains too wet, or lets too much of the water out for them to be happy. So I’ve just resigned myself to being without snowdrops, lol. Ah, well!
But I am sure there are things you can grow that people in some areas can’t…!
That’s very true!