Tuesday, February 26, 2013

A flurry of February flowers

Where has the sunny weather gone again? I don't mind the cold so much, it's the grey dampness that I find can put me off a spot of garden pottering.

So, in order to cheer up proceedings, here's a few shots of some flowers that were taken a week or so ago when the sun was visiting.


Crocuses - unknown variety/cultivar. They've been popping up in my garden since we moved here. These were hiding beneath a pile of leaves at the foot of the strawberry tree. They've found a sunny corner and seem very happy there.



Snowdrops - again, variety unknown. Nestling beneath the Winter Nellis pear tree, slightly too close to the chicken fence for comfort so these were swiftly relocated after I took the photo. My chickens do not distinguish between weeds and lovely naturalised winter flowers... And you can really see my muddy clay soil in this shot. In no time at all it will be covered in wild geraniums (Geranium robertiatum, pratense and mollis).



Nectarine blossom - 'Big Top'. My patio tree is still in its overwintering residence in the greenhouse but is beginning to develop a multitude of delicate pale pink buds. As the sun comes out, the petals begin to slowly unfurl. I won't be moving it out of the greenhouse for a while yet, so I have an old blusher brush at the ready to help along the pollination. I know I really should be doing it with a rabbit's tail tied to a stick to give it the authentic touch...



And lastly, our elegant and unassuming native primrose (with a little cyclamen coum tucked in there). This wasn't taken in my garden but is on a large raised bed fronting a museum in St Albans that I passed by this morning. I have just sown some primrose seeds in a tray, so am hopeful that I shall have some of my own to photograph next year.

What's brightening up your garden this grey February week?

10 comments:

  1. Nice flower color especially during this time of the year. What's a strawberry plant?

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    2. A strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo) is an evergreen shrub or tree with a spreading habit, serrated glossy green leaves and lovely reddy-brown bark. In autumn it produces clusters of small white flowers that mature a year later into little rounded fruits that change from yellow to red - giving them the appearance of a strawberry. A more detailed link is here: http://www.pfaf.org/user/plant.aspx?latinname=Arbutus+unedo

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  2. Our nectarine is outside along with a peach and apricot so no buds yet. Not sure whether to expect any this year as it was newly planted last year.

    No open crocuses (croci) yet but yours look like an early variety and like yours our snowdrops are reluctant to open.

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    1. The two fruits we had last year were wonderfully sweet and ripe. We would have had more had the delivery guy been a bit more gentle - when I took the tree out of it's packaging there were a handful of fruitlets rolling around the bottom of the box...

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  3. The weather's playing nice today, blue skies and sunshine, makes a change. I've got irises, daffodils and crocuses which I planted in containers in autumn poking through, but no blooms yet. Not much colour in my garden at the moment, that's what I'm trying to rectify this year. Good luck with the primrose seeds, hope they germinate for you.

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    1. I'm excited to report that so far I have two tiny seedlings emerging!

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  4. Last time I looked (about a week ago!) there was a lot about to start happening but the only splash of colour is my good old cowslip, a reliable bloomer if ever there was, and a spreading patch of primulas. These slightly surprise me as they were a cheap indoor potted plant from the supermarket a couple of years ago; I planted them out after flowering as the leaves were still very green and they soldier on, battling clay soil and slugs, but still flowering!!

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    1. I love cowslips - they look amazing in lawns and grassed areas. It's just a shame my chickens have first dibs on those bits of the garden, so I wouldn't dare plant any out. Maybe the next garden *dreams of enough space for separate chicken run and grassy banks of wildflowers and spring bulbs...*

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  5. Funny because my garden doesn't seem much different to this now! February and March have been very 'samey' (just made that word up!!) but the bulbs and your photos really brighten my day!

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