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Gardening

A glimmer of early spring! Colour in the garden

(58 Posts)
whitewave Fri 12-Dec-14 09:53:38

Saw some catkins today on our walk - about 1" long so waiting in the wings for early spring. Shall keep my eye on them.

The only colour in my garden is cream from winter clematis, which whilst not very showy is visited by loads of bumbles when the weather is OK, and the only other thing at the moment is winter iris which is a glorious shade of sky blue. Keep looking to see how the snowdrops are doing - about 11/2" above the ground at the moment.

Iam64 Tue 06-Jan-15 18:45:25

Oh No! I meant camellia, sorry whitewave, this is what happens when I take a phone call from my lovely daughter and press send before reading my post.

Can I ask again - camellia protection? I put a large sheet of plastic over the roots during the last spell of frost. Does that sound effective?

whitewave Tue 06-Jan-15 18:07:53

Should have thought that as long as your protect the roots - you don't need to protect the top unless it is a winter clematis in which case they are tender and will need the fleece and a few crossed fingers.

Iam64 Tue 06-Jan-15 17:50:04

I've just covered the clematis with fleece, having only taken it off 2 days ago. I thought it was a goner when we had lots of snow and freezing temps about 3 winters ago, but it rallied in response to lots of tlc and a good prune. We're in the north west and the warm summer and autumn have fooled lots of things that usually appear in February to pop their heads above the soil.

Any tips on protecting clematis?

annodomini Tue 06-Jan-15 17:35:48

I need to plant a new witch hazel because a man I employed to dig my garden managed to destroy it. Grrrrr

Rowantree Tue 06-Jan-15 17:22:53

I LOVE winter flowering plants- trying to plant more of them. Forgot the mahonias, which have done well but mine seem to be finishing now! I will go down to my little woodland garden tomorrow and see what else is happening smile

Rowantree Tue 06-Jan-15 17:21:12

I'm in Shirley, Surrey. My Viburnum is blooming too, but not prolifically. My Witch hazels are just bursting into flower and winter honeysuckle's been flowering its socks off for the last month. Lots of green bulb shoots - I'm keeping anxious watch for them as neighbourhood cats keep crapping on them and scratching them up angry

whenim64 Tue 06-Jan-15 10:40:52

Shoots all over my garden, wood pigeons hanging around in pairs and a blue tit looking in one of my bird boxes yesterday. It's very spring-like at the moment, quite warm today.

annodomini Tue 06-Jan-15 10:29:35

One single flower on my white Hellebore. The snowdrops look promising and the Viburnum Bodnantense has been glorious this winter - not bad considering that I forgot to prune it last spring.

whitewave Tue 06-Jan-15 09:53:28

Catkins have now grown since my post about a month ago and are now wriggling in the breeze.

Anyone seen any lambs yet?

whitewave Fri 02-Jan-15 19:24:50

We call our snowdrops "Thomas's" as our dear Westie passed away on the 8th February 6 years ago and we planted snowdrops in his memory and they have thrived and spread like mad.

MrsJamJam Fri 02-Jan-15 19:23:02

noticed the first snowdrops showing white buds. the flowers will be properly out in a few days which cheered me up no end.

whitewave Fri 02-Jan-15 18:53:50

Out doing a bit of earth stirring today around the bulbs coming up and listening to the bumbles in the clematis - delightful.

granjura Fri 02-Jan-15 18:15:45

Our garden is all white with a deep mantle of snow ;)

shysal Fri 02-Jan-15 17:35:27

I have primroses and roses flowering in Oxfordshire. I was also picking 'Autumn Bliss' raspberries right up until the recent sharp frosts. I noticed three robins this afternoon, each trying to outdo the other's song - it must be courting time!

Brendawymms Fri 02-Jan-15 16:40:55

A few daffodils are out here. Most are only an inch out of the ground but odd clumps are flowering.

rosesarered Fri 02-Jan-15 16:37:07

Here in Oxfordshire there isn't much out yet, it isn't cold enough for the snowdrops to come through, but we have had primulas out for 2 weeks now in the garden, and all the shoots of the Spring bulbs are showing .

Nelliemoser Fri 02-Jan-15 16:32:22

Some bulbs are showing though green in my patio pots in Cheshire.

it would be useful to give an idea of which county we live in with these what are you growing threads .

loopylou Fri 02-Jan-15 15:50:17

Yippee! First snowdrops out and roses still blooming! Lots of bulbs showing too, clematis has shoots, just hope not killed off by frosts. Primroses been out for several weeks.
Neighbour showed me a photo of daffodils out in Andover already, mine are only few inches high here in North Wiltshire.

durhamjen Sat 13-Dec-14 00:26:12

Jasmine in my garden, too. My gardener brother-in-law reckons that lots of his spring plants are out already. That's in Hull.

tiggypiro Fri 12-Dec-14 18:48:10

Primulas, hellebores and even a cowslip have all been out for a few weeks now. I was picking alpine strawberries until the frosts last week too.

Agus Fri 12-Dec-14 18:39:13

DD bought me a bunch of white tulips from Morrisons yesterday knowing I buy those and daffodils whenever they first appear in the shops.

I was delighted to receive them but this is always something I have looked forward to buying in February too NotTooOld. I had no idea they were available already.

Liz46 Fri 12-Dec-14 18:34:54

We have snowdrops coming through here on Wirral. A couple of them are in flower already.

annodomini Fri 12-Dec-14 18:30:36

Feeling hard done by in North Cheshire - not too far from Staffs, but lousy weather today. Even had a brief blizzard today.

NotTooOld Fri 12-Dec-14 17:32:21

Lovely day in Staffordshire today and the bulbs are well up in my garden. Has anyone else noticed the cut daffodils for sale in Morrisons? They have had them for a few weeks now and I wish they wouldn't as I love it when the daffs come in in February/March time - not December!

NotTooOld Fri 12-Dec-14 17:31:27

Lovely day in Staffordshire today and the bulbs are well up in my garden. Has anyone else noticed the cut daffodils for sale in Morrisons? They have had them for a few weeks now and I wish they wouldn't as I love it when the daffs come in in February/March time - not December!