And still the storms continue. I think I said this last week…
I’m not a person who gets the blues very often and I soon shake them off, but this interminable weather is really starting to affect my mood. Not being able to visit a Cornish garden in spring is torture, and I can’t even get out into my own garden to help lift my spirits. And my house has developed another leak, which in context with those poor souls in Shropshire who have been badly flooded is a very minor irritation. Having lived previously in both Shrewsbury and Ludlow I know how fast those rivers can fill up when it rains in the Welsh hills.
Fortunately on Thursday we had a respite and the sun shone, the sky was blue and the sea sparkled. And I had a wander around my patch to check all was well. As well as it could be after the rain and wind.
More crocuses, this time outside where some of them put on a brave face and opened up to the sun. The only one I can name is the white one which is Jeanne d’Arc.
The green Hellebore which hides its pretty face is continuing to bloom. I’m not sure what those black dotty things are, pattern? Or bugs…? I shall have to investigate.
In one of the raised beds I noticed that the Forget-me-nots are beginning to flower, this patch is in the sunniest spot of the garden in winter, it is nice to notice that when the sun does shine more and more of the gravel garden is gaining the benefit. Alas all my sempervivums appear to have rotted away. Can’t blame them and I should have potted them up and brought them indoors, but they are supposed to be hardy! I guess even the hardiest of plants can’t put up with all this wet. Allium leaves are appearing (these are from last year so I don’t know quite how many will return) and hidden amongst them I found a little Iberis sempervirens Nevina which I planted out in the autumn, bravely flowering already though I need to think about a better location.
I have a few pots of Hyacinths, mostly old bulbs which seem to produce less flowers over the years and resemble a bluebell flower, I remove them from their pots once the leaves have died down and then replant them in the autumn along with other old bulbs. I notice that one pot has a very healthy parsley plant growing in it, why does parsley self-seed so easily and yet when I purposely plant it in a pot it fails to germinate? I bought a new Hyacinth for this year ‘Woodstock’ which is a pretty dark purple colour. The pot has been outdoors all winter, but as the bulbs have started to flower I have brought it inside the conservatory for the weekend so it doesn’t get damaged by the storm.
Whilst outside I noticed that my Gertrude Jekyll rose is putting out shoots. I am trying to convince it to grow as a climber so I can cover a fence at the back of the garden.
Finally Narcissus ‘Rip van Winkle’ has begun flowering. This double golden-yellow dwarf flower is often flushed with green and forms a lovely clump, though here it usually has its head hanging down as it is buffeted in the wind. I have a few clumps dotted around the garden, but this one in the shady woodland border is always the first to flower. I have just noticed that it has white tips.
Unusual to get five Saturdays in February and this date won’t come around for another four years. I wonder what the weather is going to be like by then? Maybe we’ll all be creating bog gardens! As always, if you want a peek over other people’s garden walls then please pop over to our host, the lovely Jon, AKA ‘The Propagator’ where you find links to many more wonderful garden enthusiasts from all over the world.
See here for the participant’s guide.
Cornwall in Colours 
Another leak?? How annoying for you. I hope it’s easily fixed. Meanwhile your garden does look gorgeous.
Nothing is easily fixed here Carol. Finding a decent tradesman who wants to do the job without ripping you off is the problem 😕
Love the descriptions of the flowers coming in. Didn’t know that crocuses have a white variety. That Woodstock purple looks gorgeous, as for hellebores, please show more – I thought they were all blue. Hope the weather clears. Devastating scenes of the flooding.
Looking forward to seeing your Gertrude Jekyll rose in flower….
What joy you have found, and what a winter we have had staying in England this year! We’ve concluded we won’t make it to Portugal now before the autumn, but we’ve booked a housesitter and will definitely be escaping come late September! Hope your leaks have been resolved xx
Your garden brings some relief from what seems so much bad weather for you all in the UK. It looks like nature can be resilient and so beautiful but dangerous too. I found you from Jo and she is now not so far from us but possibly warmer! We have had our rain in southern Spain but still not enough if we have a long summer drought. Hope weather improves for you all.
I had thought that the double daffodil in my garden was Rip van Winkle, until I researched it this week and decided it must be Narcissus van Sion. Your van Winkle has much finer petals and has a more delicate look to it. It’s been useful to compare the two.
We’ve had a dry day so I hope the rain has stopped for you as well.
Same old weather here, rain and hail showers and sunshine and very windy!
Good afternoon. We are in St Austell for a couple of days and don’t think we will be playing golf tomorrow. How far away are you? Would it be feasible to meet for a coffee in the morning if you are not busy? If you live in St Ives, it’s probably a non-starter. Anyway, if you let me know your email address, I can send you my phone number. My email address is mygardenlhw@gmail.com.
Ah, sorry GG, haven’t been looking at WP much today and tomorrow I am busy (and I do live nr St Ives 🙄) but I will contact your email tomorrow and we can exchange tel nos so next time you are down this way we can try and meet up.
Not to worry. We come down a couple of times a year so maybe another time. Just woken up to rain and gales so definitely no golf. I visited Jim Stephens last year and it was so nice to put a face to a name. I enjoyed going round his garden with him and GGHI enjoyed reading his book sitting on Jim’s bench in the sunshine.
I notice there is a good train service between St Austell and St Ives so may try that another time.
Have a good day – I think I will wrap up and have a walk along the beach, then a cream tea (just scones and a cup of tea) later.
The rain must stop sometime, surely! Your garden looking great despite the weather. I left some Sedums etc out until quite late and they’ve been slowly keeling over.