…. not me, but the Lanky Lodger, whom I found sprawled out on his bench earlier in the week. wailing and gnashing his teeth. Sadly, he has proved to be a short-lived sculpture, despite the number of coats of primer and paint I covered the Modroc (plaster of Paris) skin of his wire skeleton with. I have temporarily cheered him up by giving him a woolly scarf, which discreetly ties him to the bench and holds him upright…
Meanwhile, I am pleased to report that bringing some of the bulbs from the Coop into the house to speed up the flowering paid off, and was just the boost needed for the hyacinth, Narcissus bulbicodum and Iris reticulata to break into bright and cheery bloom.
Likewise, some sunny days this week have encouraged more Crocus tommasinianus to pop up in the streamside grass, their leaves camouflaged by the mossy grass; they are also beginning to flower in the adjacent shrub border.
Although still much later than other recent years, at least there are a number of hellebores now in bloom for our visitors to admire tomorrow. This one is ‘Penny’s Pink’, with its upward-facing flowers; sadly her sister ‘Anna’s Red’, a more mature plant, was one I overenthusiastically cut the leaves from and blooms look as if they will be absent this year.
Inspired by Sandra of Wild Daffodil, I recently created a little moss garden in a large pot saucer, which sits on top of one of the water butt. The downside in its current form is that when it rains it collects water, and the butt it is placed on is where I usually rest my coffee mug and anything else going from the house to another part of the garden, when I go to visit the Coop in the morning – a rethink may see drainage holes drilled, as well as a new location!
Finally, the sixth of my Six on Saturday, the meme kindly hosted by Jon the Propagator, is what many people braving the heavy rain forecast for tomorrow will have particularly come to see – snowdrops, which have duly got to flowering stage in the nick of time, although unlikely to actually open tomorrow in the absence of sun….
Rambling in the Garden 
That is a nice colony of snowdrops. I still grow none, and many never get any. I am more likely to procure snowflake before ever getting snowdrop, just because it is more common here. Although white is my favorite color, I do not understand the allure of the many cultivars of snowdrop. If I ever get one, I would prefer a plain and simple cultivar, and leave it as a single cultivar, rather than collecting a few or several as if they were bearded iris or something more variable. There happens to be a white garden here that could accommodate them very well . . . in moderation.
Haha – we all have our own favoured and less favoured plants, Tony!
Oh yes; I still totally dig California poppies, and likely always will, even though I know that they are not so great elsewhere or in refined gardens, . . . . and they are not white. (The so-called ‘white’ sorts are just very pale yellow.)
That last photo is so pretty Cathy! I do like your Lanky Lodger. Hope he can pull himself together for your visitors, and I also hope that forecast is wrong and all goes well. 😃
He is well restrained, Cathy, but I will try and replace him with a more long-lived lodger in due course! 😉 The forecast was not wrong, but all went well, thank you, and I shall write about it later
I LOVE the Lanky Lodger!! Will he survive the rain? And your snowdrop garden is really enchanting – your visitors will be happy I predict. (Do you ever need to dig up baby bulbils that find themselves growing between the stones along the path?
Thanks Chris and yes, snowdrops do appear in random places and I have to remember that just using a trowel to try and lift them tends to give me just leaves and no bulb!!
I’m so glad that it isn’t you that is falling apart! Glad that you managed to get your bulbs flowering ready for today and that your snowdrops are flowering, even if they are tightly closed due to the weather., I’m sure everything will be fine!
Thanks Pauline, and even though the natives other than the floro pleno were not open yesterday, visitors could still appreciate the white carpet
A bit of sun does wonders, the plants really appreciate it. Fun sculpture.
Yes, and sun with a hint of warmth is even better! We have had a relatively mild winter actually, so far that is!!
Did you make the Lanky Lodger? What a shame he is collapsing. He looks a great addition to the garden and you may just have inspired me! Good luck wioth the Open Day even if it has to be postponed. Noah would boarding if he lived here!
Yes, The LL was my creation and was not actually meant to be lanky – the rough dimensions I used included the flesh that we humans have, but the Lodger hasn’t!! I will probably try again with just a wire framework. Will write about the open day soon, but we had rain too!
I am sorry to hear it rained on your day but hope that didn’t put people off too badly. I shall look forward to reading about it.
I think the ones who would appreciate it the most still came…
Lanky Lodger is being a tad melodramatic there – perhaps he was thinking about the weather to come.
Thanks so much for the mention, it always makes me skip for joy when inspiration scatters like seeds in the breeze! Hope you find just the right spot for your dish. I am going to see if I can create one for outside as well – looking for the right container/surface.
I think I will try drilling drainage holes in it
Lanky Lodger looks as if he needs a good square meal to cheer him up. Your winter garden looks wonderful, I’m sure your visitors enjoyed it.
People seemed to linger just as much Chloris, despite the weather
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The snowdrop day I was planning on going to on Sunday was cancelled sadly.
I suppose conditons underfoot would make a difference, Cathy – in our garden there are hard surfaced paths around the garden, so it can be accessed throughout the year. If the garden was covered in snow it would be a different matter, but this year certainly showed that people will come despite the weather. Sorry that your anticipated event was cancelled though… 🙄
Your garden looks like a magical fairy woodland at this time of year! ❤ Love the moss garden.
Thanks Sarah 😊