Six on Saturday: Promise

The garden screams ‘Promise’ at every turn, offering up joy on every ramble. Buds of Prunus mume ‘Beni Chidori’, tight little pink balls for several weeks, have begun opening and allowing yet another fragrant winter plant to delight us in these leaner months. A picture of the tree, below, does not give a good indication of its real impact, but at least the close up of some of the blooms does.

In the Coop, more of the bulbs are flowering or getting close, like Iris ‘Clairette’, Narcissus bulbocodium, bought-in hyacinths and Narcissus ‘Grand Soleil d’Or’

In the Coop Corner, Corydalis ‘Beth Evans’ has just appeared out of bare ground and will be flowering in no time:

On the nearby fence, Clematis armandii ‘Snowdrift’ is covered in buds, with the promise of fragrant white blooms to contrast with its glossy green leaves, and in the woodland edge border a pulmonaria delights the rambler with its unassuming bicoloured flowers.

The greatest promise, however, is of the impending carpet of snowdrops in this border, watched over by some of the remaining witch hazels and peppered with the individual intricacies of numerous hellebores – and it will only get better…

I am joining in with Jim’s Six on Saturday meme – do check it out at his Garden Ruminations blog