Floral February Foray

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.