Six on Saturday: Always Something

I feel sorry for gardeners who have no incentive to spend time in their gardens in January, especially on the more clement days like those we have had this week – with colder days due soon, however, it might be a matter of looking for tasks that can be carried out inside for a while! Now that the working greenhouse is up and running again (albeit currently sharing the space with the remnants of reconstruction and unpacked bags and crates) I can at least begin sowing seeds, starting them inside the house before moving them into the greenhouse upon germination.

It’s not just about the seasonal tasks though, as it is a continued pleasure spotting and admiring anything coming into bloom for the first time. With five weeks to go till we open our garden, the witch hazels are all currently in bloom and will be past their best by then, but the hellebores are mostly just coming into bud,  the named snowdrops are the same, and the natives will probably be coming into their main display, so I shall just enjoy their progress towards that point. I have recently cut the leaves from most of my hellebores, and the first to bloom,  H Spring Promise ‘Anja Oudolf’ (above) has now pushed her stem up higher and more proudly,  hopefully soon giving us a better view of the pretty interior of her petals. Below, H ‘Pure Pink Double’, is also much further advanced than any of the others, showing too that hellebores can thrive in a woodland setting.

Also in the woodland, tucked into the bank of the path less travelled, this week I found the first Cyclamen coum, a massive clump I moved from elsewhere after hearing that they can lose out if they have to compete with H hederifolium (or perhaps it’s the other way round!).

I let out a little squeal when I