The weather over the past few days has been typically grey so little opportunity to capture any wildlife pics so I spent a few hours in the garden doing some much needed tidying up, pruning etc.
The Hellebores (Orientalis hybrids) which continue to self seed either side of the path are slowly opening up and showing off their varied petal forms. I'm still waiting for the really dark forms to open up to see if any new patterns emerge.
Elsewhere there are a few early Narcissus starting to bloom, Cyclamen hederifolium, various small clumps of Snowdrops; this one is Galathus woronowii and the Lion Mask (hand-pressed by you know who ... courtesy of Whichford Pottery) is now uncovered and patiently waiting for the sun to shine.
Just for a bit of fun I took this close up of something that needed serious pruning as most of its entaglement was hanging into my neighbours garden although it will mean a reduction in flowers this spring it will benefit in the long run. I'm sure all the gardeners out there will easily identify this climber from the cross-section of this very old stem. FAB.
What lovely early flowers. You are ahead of our home in Ohio.
ReplyDeleteSuch beauties and so early!! I'm not sure - a clematis, perhap? ~karen
ReplyDeleteGreat to see your flowers coming into bloom. We will be a long time before we see anything. I'll just have to enjoy your flowers. Yesterday our high was minus 21 C.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful flowers! We're still in the dead of winter here!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful Frank!!! My Linten Roses have begun to bloom and yesterday they were my surprise of the day. Our Snowdrops have not opened yet, but their green stems have come up through the earth. Did you say tidy your garden...ugh, I saw such a mess and must get to cleaning ours up as well~
ReplyDeleteI like the creative image as well, nature is the best!
Nice to see Spring is round the corner. It will be a while before my daffs will be in flower though.
ReplyDeleteThis is a wonderful set of images. I love checked log end, very interesting. And, you really got my juices going with the hellebores. I'm a gardener by trade,but with three feet of snow pack, I'm confined to pushing dirt around in my greenhouse for the time being. I could almost smell the ground with your hellebore images. Cruel, cruel man you are to torture me so! And, I just adore the grebe butt on the banner. Very cute and so characteristic of them, too. Nice go!
ReplyDeleteWelcome splashes of colour Frank, after dull days.
ReplyDeleteHi Frank...Well I not going so far as to bet, but I believe that your serious pruning job was on a Clematis!!
ReplyDeleteI am so envious of your beautiful Hellebores..the colors are wonderful!!
Lovely photos of your garden..thanks for a spark of spring !!
It was 10 degrees this morning, but the is not one cloud in the sky..blue as far as the eye can see!!
Lovely flowers for February! I haven't seen any blooming here yet - maybe in another month or so.
ReplyDeleteThanks Lois. I expect Ohio is a lot, lot colder!
ReplyDeleteHi Karen. Top marks - Clematis montana.
Hi Red. I'll try to find some more in a week or two to brighten up your very cold days.
Thanks Mona. There are times of the year when we would all like to be somewhere else.
Hi Mary. Tidy up was just a generalisation and it's only a very small plot.
Hi John. Yes, still a lot of bunches of green leaves here as well.
Hi Robin. How could I be cruel to a lovely lady who wanders around in her bathrobe! I'll look forward to viewing your blooms once the snow has disappeared.
Cheers Keith.
Hi Grammie. Absolutely right - Clematis. We can match the temperature just BUT no blue in the sky .... where is the sun?
Thanks Kerri. I know you'll share some when they appear.
No flowers here yet either, Frank. This is a beautiful collection and I like them very much.
ReplyDeleteThanks Willard. Delighted you could enjoy some of our early blooms.
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh...to see flowers again. Our daffodils have just pushed green shoots through the topsoil. Thank goodness!
ReplyDeleteThese are lovely captures, Frank. I love the first one with the pavers in the background. It makes me think of spring. the design in the last photo is cool...
Hi Kelly. I know you are some way behind ... lots more snow and a longer, colder winter than us but I can never resist posting the first flush of colour from the Hellebores.
ReplyDeleteThe design is all natures own work ... marvellous.
great mosaics of the flowers, lots of good color in there. Also like that last photo, some neat textures!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful flowers -- your photos are every bit as impressive as your bird ones!
ReplyDeleteThe flowers (and their time of bloom) remind me of western Oregon (where we used to live) -- here in Florida where we now live in the Winter season, we miss all those beautiful early spring flowers. (The trade-off for no cold rainy winters.)
Johnny Nutcase. Thanks Jill.
ReplyDeleteHi Sallie. Thanks very much.
I envy you being able to migrate south to miss the cold and wet.
Hi,
ReplyDeleteGreat site, lovely pics too.
How do you get the multiple pictures?
Feel free to look at my blog and let me know what you think,
at: http://iow-birder.blogspot.com/
Thanks,
Dave
Hi Dave. Thanks for the visit and compliment. I use Picasa 3 (from Google) to produce the collages.
ReplyDelete