Six on Sunday. Harbingers of Spring.

I was busy yesterday so I lack Six on Saturday , so I ’m afraid today it has to be Six on Sunday . It is such a joy to walk down the garden on a gay February day as it was on Friday and to hear the blackbird in full voice , the peckerwood industriously practice into trees and to find a sea of silky , lilacCrocus tommasinianushas as if by magic open up up . These little Tommies need the total to open but when they do , early bees appear and spring seems to be showing a tentative look at last . They are the first crocus to bloom and I love them more than their big , productive , glossy Dutch first cousin .

And amongst the lilac I have the odd one which is yellow tinged with lilac .

The adorable small lamp shade ofLeucojum vernumhave come out all of a sudden and surprised me too , I had n’t notice that they were in bud .

And of course , I ca n’t permit February go by without show a couple more snowdrops . They are terrific this yr and despite the lack of severe frosts , they have not been eaten by bullet as they sometimes are when it is balmy . Galanthus‘Anglesey Abbey ’ is distinctive because it has shiny , apple green leaves and dainty flowers with either no fleeceable marking , or just the merest spot sometimes as these have this yr .

I am very fond ofGalanthus‘Augustus ’ which was name after E. A.Bowles . It is a plicatus snowdrop and has panoptic leaves with a pale stripe down the center and nice , chunky , dimpled flower . It spreads well in my garden .

I have three snowdrop with yellow ovaries and marks on the petals ; ‘ Madelaine ’ , Spindlestone Surprise ’ and ‘ Wendy ’s Gold ’ and they all make nice lump . This is ‘ Wendy ’s amber ’ .

It ’s funny how many yellowed flowers are called Au . It is the same with foliage ; yellowed foliation is usually described as gold , which I guess fathom more telling than chicken . I once had a big garden where I could indulge all my horticultural whims . So in a sheltered recess , I made a little ‘ gold ’ garden with ‘ amber ’ foliage and ‘ Au ’ flowers . It was enwrap by hedges and had a round pool in the middle with a little fountain . One day when I was sit smugly contemplate it , it suddenly dawned on me that what I had was a yellow garden , it was n’t gold at all . It was all very xanthous , every leaf and petal of it was yellow . It all turned to custard in my eyes and I could n’t love it as much after this Apocalypse . Anyway , this piffling sword lily is a hybrid of ‘ Katharine Hodgkin ’ and it is called ‘ Katharine ’s atomic number 79 ’ . And as you see it is yellow .

And this isIris unguiculariswhich has been blooming all winter . It looks far too fragile for the coldest day . It is howling for vases if you clean it in bud .

I do n’t really have the soil for camellias and the ones I have planted in the garden look quite miserable aside from this one which grows and flourishes and has beautiful pink and white flower in February . I wish I could remember its name . Usually frost turns the flowers brown but this year they are unscathed . It is a mystery why this camellia does so well , it grows right next to a walnut , Juglia regiawhich I always thought poisoned the soil . In front of it isSkimmia japonica‘Rubella ’ which is also extremely goodish . For some reason , I seem to have a little Zen air hole in this corner . And with the elephant ’s luggage compartment grey of the bare walnut tree , it is a pleasing group .

Fragrance is very important for the winter garden . It tempts out the bees and delight elapse humankind . I particularly value flowers that you do n’t want to bury your nose into because the aroma roll on the breeze . For this reason I have sarcococca dotted here and there . I think the most fragrant motley isSarococca hookerianavar . digyna which comes from China . Its little creamy tufts are pinkish at the alkali and they are not very noticable , but the scent is amazing . It is difficult to describe but I ’d call it a musky sorting of dear .

So those are my six , but every daytime there is more happening . February is a short calendar month that can be cold but usually you get a few delightfully sunny daytime and every day there are more beautiful surprises in the garden . Six on Saturday is hosted byThe Propagatorand I hope my Six on Sunday does n’t founder the rule too much by being a day latterly .

32 Responses toSix on Sunday. Harbingers of Spring.

Spring is wizardly , as your garden prove . Spring usually starts early here but , much to my discouragement , this year we seemed to be brushing right through it into summer .

I call back that ‘ Augustus ’ was one of my first named snowdrop leverage Chloris and it is a favourite with me too . As you say ‘ Wendy ’ is most chickenhearted and not gold . I ’m sometimes perplex by flowers that are draw as bronze . Your tommies are making a splendiferous show . Mine have been distressingly slow to establish and I require that the squirrel have devour many that I planted .

Six on Sunday. Harbingers of Spring.