What a difference a week makes! I wrote a post here last Friday about the unseasonably late arrival of spring flowers, especially crocuses and daffodils. Well, in a week at least some things have happened. We had top temperature of 17 degrees Celsius in the middle of the week, and that certainly made a difference.
 |
My garden Wednesday, the sun was not present as often as it was Monday and Tuesday, but the warm weather was lovely.
|
 |
My woodland corner a week ago.
|
 |
My woodland corner Wednesday this week! There are anemones popping up everywhere too, weather permitting they will be flowering soon. Note the daffodil which looks exactly the same...
|
 |
Crocus species, Tomasinianus 'Ruby Giant'
|
 |
Crocus species, Tomasinianus 'Ruby Giant'
|
 |
My new hellebore, Helleborus hybridus 'Double White Spotted' is finally flowering too. It doesn’t have as many spots as in the photo where I bought it, a bit disappointing. I hope it will produce many lovely babies for me!
|
 |
Helleborus hybridus 'Double White Spotted'
|
 |
My other Helleborus hybridus is still flowering, but the remaining 3 are still just some shoots barely out of the ground.
|
 |
One more shoot of the crocus 'Ruby Giant'
|
 |
And this crocus is from a mix of different colours.
|
The daffodils have still not opened up, although it can’t be more than a day or two before the first one is fully open. It has been such a horrible weather today that I haven’t even been out in the garden, it has rained all day and it is going to be the same weather tomorrow. I might just take an umbrella with me and take some photos, to record what we have so far over the week-end, as next week it is back to winter again for us! We are getting temperatures around 0-5 degrees Celsius and might even see some snow. They said on the BBC weather forecast today that it is more chances in England of seeing snow in March than in December. Well, I can do without snow in March, thank you very much, although I have even had snow in April once! A whole week of day temperatures below 5 degrees C is going to slow things down considerably again. Might have to put spring on hold for a while! Good thing my camellia is late too and hasn’t started flowering yet, if it had, all the flowers would be ruined by the night frost next week so that’s one good thing at least. Next Friday is Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day, I wonder what I have flowering in my garden to show you....Until next time, take care.
Hi Helene
ReplyDeleteThe flowers you already have are gorgeous! The purple crocus and the lovely hellebores are such harbingers of spring. I realize that the day it hit 17C was probably the day everything opened. We get freak heat waves here in Ontario as well but nothing so far this year. But last year we got very warm weather early and then it froze right up again. My magnolia was ruined and did not bloom last spring. Hopefully that doesn't happen to you or me. (Hasn't Mother Nature heard of moderation? :)
Hi Astrid, the spring flowers are very welcome in my garden, I feel I have waited a long time this year! March is a month of big contrasts here in Britain, and both night frost and well over 15 degrees C during the day is quite normal. Last year however we had a week of 25-27 degrees in March, that’s a bit more unusual – it was lovely…and turned out to be the best week of the year! This year I would like to have summer when it’s supposed to :-)
DeleteAh, so pretty! That is amazing how things change so fast in springtime. I didn't realize Camellias are so sensitive to frost. Good to know! I thought I noticed that Europe was headed for a warm-up next week? We're stuck around 0C (32F) to 3C (38F) for the foreseeable future, which is a warm-up for us. ;-)
ReplyDeleteCamellias can tolerate quite low temperatures when in bud and even when the flowers are half opened, but as soon as the flowers are fully open the petals will get frost damage. The brown petals are quite unsightly if you have hundreds of camellia flowers, so the only thing to do is to pick them all off and hope there won’t be more frost for the remaining buds.
DeleteThe forecast for Northern Europe is colder weather for at least the next 10 days, no warm spring weather for us yet, that little whiff of spring we had was just a tease!
I love the color of the crocus! The hellebores are so delicate. I've learned that there are a few we can grow here but I never see them on offer at our nurseries so I may need to order.
ReplyDeleteI order all my plants and bulbs, I have a few nurseries and companies I keep ordering from that I trust and have used for years. Very convenient.
DeleteI love the crocus. I can't wait for my own to be in bloom, but the snow has to melt first!
ReplyDeleteNot long to go now :-)
DeleteWhat a beautiful photho's you did make of the springflowers. Overhere it's the same next week temperatures of -7 are forecasted during the nights and snow to come. I thought king winter should be gone now.
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful weekend Helene.
Hello Marjike, yes I have had enough of the winter too, so this new cold period was not on my plan! We could even get more snow, although here in London it won’t stay for long if we get any.
DeleteHave a wonderful week-end you too.
Helene, the spring make us surprising every time! The flowers wait for warmth and grow very fast during the night.
ReplyDeleteNice pictures taken with your new lens!
Thank you Nadezda, I think my new lens was a good investment!
DeleteEven though I have lived in England all my life it never ceases to amaze me how the weather can change so much so quickly. I loved the little warm spell we had and did as much as I could in the garden - back to staring out of the window again. Lovely shots of all your flowers Helene. The only thing I have are a few crocus at the moment - a lot of them seem to have disappeared - something must have been eating them maybe.
ReplyDeleteHi Elaine, I am have been staring out of my window for the last two days too, it’s been raining non-stop. It seems like I have lost a lot of crocuses since last year, looking at the picture compared to the same area last year there are about half the amount of crocuses. They were supposed to multiply, not the opposite...I wonder if the squirrels have eaten the rest, they are very interested in this particular area of my garden.
DeleteWe had a lovely weather week too, but next week.......o no, winter again. Your garden looks very nice and tidy, it is amazing how soon crocus have got to flower. Every year it surprises me again. I think your Hellebore looks delicate with just a few spots.
ReplyDeleteHi Janneke, my garden looks nice and tidy all year round, mainly because I use bark chippings in all the beds. It is a bit expensive, but it saves me a lot of weeding and it also helps retaining water so I don’t have to water so much in the summer. Having a proper border around all the beds also help to give a tidy look, I am glad I invested in the log-border when I revamped my garden in 2011.
DeleteI love hellebores, can’t get enough of them, I have two more on order, a pink one and a double almost black. Photos will come if they are still in flower when they arrive, if not it will have to be next year :-)
No such sweltering temperatures for us
ReplyDeleteLet’s hope for some sweltering temperatures for all of us soon!
DeleteIt's not looking good for next week is it!! Your crocus are looking good and that double white hellebore is lovely. I've a couple of single white spotted, most of which are no where near flowering.
ReplyDeleteHope the weather doesn't affect us too much next week!
I have just seen the updated weather forecast...not looking good! Snow even here in London. None of my flowering plants will be affected of some minus degrees, everything will just slow down so no harm done I think, just me longing for warmth!!
DeleteBeautiful blooms!
ReplyDeleteThey were just waiting for the perfect time!
Have a wonderful week-end!
Lea
Lea's Menagerie
Yes, the sun and warm weather made such a difference, and now it's back to winter weather again for the foreseeable future! But hopefully I will still be able to be out in the garden, just as I have been all winter, as long as it’s not raining. It’s just a matter of choosing the right kind of clothes :-)
DeleteHave a great week-end you too!
Hi Helene, those hellebores are lovely. I did get some in the end but it wasn't an entirely happy ending as they are not the colour as described on the label. Had quite a few more things out in my garden this week but it's all gone cold again unfortunately. I have this week off work and was planning to tackle a whole raft of things like soil prep and moving plants around but not sure it's going to happen if it stays this cold. I'm not an entirely fair weather gardener but there has to be a limit!
ReplyDeleteHi Claire, I think getting hellebores exactly as labelled or pictured means we have to buy them in flower, as with hybrids it apparently can be some variations. I bought one years ago that was supposed to be pink but turned out to be purple. Nice enough but not what I expected since I already had a purple. The weather…ugh, not what I had ordered! I wanted some nice warm weather now. But as long as it’s not raining I will continue to go out in the garden, even if it’s for just 30-40 minutes, as I have done all winter. Can’t keep away :-)
DeleteMore or less same weather in Northern France. After a spell of relative warmth beginning of March, we have freezing temperatures. But it seems we are over with high level of snow. Yet, the garden is awakening (visible buds on some bushes, plants); it smells of Spring and I also cannot help going to the garden several times a day to appreciate – warmly dressed - the arrival of the new season and admire daffodils, snow drops and crocus. For next year I also intend to get blue crocuses ... like yours.
ReplyDeleteI can't help going out in the garden too, with layers and layers of clothes, just can't keep away! It's been snow and sleet several days in a row, and today all my pots are frozen solid, it's 25th March! When will this end....
DeleteI would like to visit your blog, but you didn't leave your blog address so I don't know how to find you!