The Blooming Garden

Last week I showed some of my roses but I have two more beauties which bloom all summer. This week I am featuring a glorious rose named after a French chef. ‘Reine Sammut’ blooms all summer long and the flowers have a delicious fragrance.

The rose I bought as ‘Mareva’ is the palest pink. But as Mareva is supposed to be a carpet rose growing to between 60 and 90 cm, I think maybe it is wrongly labelled. It seems to be intent on climbing the external steps.

It is pretty though and it has masses of buds to come.

I find plant labelling here in France, incredibly frustrating. I bought Halimiocistus ‘Merrist Wood Cream’ a few weeks ago. This has cream flowers with maroon centres. It has started flowering now and it has pink flowers and looks like Cistus ‘Silver Pink’. If I hadn’t been in such a rush I would have noticed that the leaves weren’t right. When I complained, the man at the nursery said ‘Ça vous dérange?’ I told him it did derange me a little, so he asked if ‘les fleurs sont jolies?’ I had to admit that the flowers are ‘jolies’. So that was it, check mate, the end of the discussion.

And I have a magnificent white peony which was labelled ‘Sarah Bernhardt’. Sarah is the most exquisite peony with fabulous pink flowers so this white one does ‘derange’ me quite a lot even if it is beautiful.

It has loads more buds to come so I shall have to learn to love it and try not to resent it for not being pink.

The geum I bought a couple of years ago was not wrongly labelled; it wasn’t labelled at all. But I am not complaining as it is doing so well. The ones I grow in the UK always dwindle and fade away after a while. It looks great with Heuchera ‘Caramel’ which is enormous. The ones I grow in the UK always seem to get attacked by vine weevil and I have never managed to get one as big as this.

Another plant which flourishes here is Baptisia australis with its pea flowers. It would be even better if the horrible man-eating slugs and snails didn’t eat half the shoots. The beastly slimy things are the bane of my life. I thought they weren’t supposed to like coffee grounds or gravel. But they don’t seemto mind.

When I started the garden here I thought how pretty ferns would look along the bottom of the wall which is always in the shade. I didn’t have to do anything about it because the ferns had the same idea themselves. If only gardening was always this easy; just thinking something to make it happen and you don’t even have to get out of your hammock. I’m not terribly au fait with ferns but I think these are Athryium filix-femina. I also have some dinky little aspleniums growing on the wall.

When I am in France I love prowling round brocantes.

I have collected quite a few earthenware pots which I believe were used to store duck fat. I am using one to grow a Greek basil. I love these small leaved basil, they smell delicious and by the end of the summer they make nice bushy plants. I just hope I can keep the slimy beasts off it.

I wonder if anyone else had to read Keat’s tragic poem, Isabella or The Basil Pot at school. Poor Isabella and Lorenzo fell in love only to have her cruel brothers murder him and bury him in the woods as Isabella was supposed to marry ‘some high noble and his olive trees‘. Isabella had a vision and so discovered where her lover was buried. She dug him up and cut off his head and took it home as a memento. She planted it in a basil pot and watered it with her tears ‘whence thick and green and beautiful it grew‘. But her brothers got fed up with her mooning around and weeping over a basil pot so they stole it away. Poor Isabella’s last words on the subject were ‘oh cruelty, to steal my basil pot away from me!’ It’s all very tragic but as a teenager I found it hilarious. Anyway, I have not cut off the Pianist’s head and I will not be watering it with my tears but I hope my basil will grow green and beautiful.

I seem to have wandered off piste a bit here but I cannot look at my basil pot without thinking about poor tragic Isabella laboriously chopping off her dead lover’s head.

So there we have my Six on Saturday. You might think it is seven. But number one is roses and although there are two, I am counting them as one. Please check out Jim at Garden Ruminations to see other May delights.

Long before I grew up and started gardening I had a passion for wild flowers, in fact one of my first words was ‘celandine’ apparently. And to this day, wild flowers growing in their natural habitat remain a passion. I was alarmed to read in the newspaper the other day that wild flower tourism is now a thing. Already the world is teaming with tourists flocking round all the most beautiful and culturally significant sites in the world. Last year on a walk in the Pyrenees we found ourselves in a crocodile as we climbed. I believe the same thing happens if you want to climb Everest or visit the Alhambra or the Uffici or anywhere else of significance. People are out there with their infernal bucket lists going tick, tick, tick. Whoever invented the bucket list has a lot to answer for. And now they have turned their attention to wild flowers. Let us hope that this doesn’t mean that the world’s flora is about to be trampled on, dug up or picked by bored people keen to get into the latest bucket list trend.

But here in this beautiful corner of France we get to enjoy the most spectacular displays of wildflowers in peace. And of course, we get to enjoy the views too.

Our evening walk takes us high up to this seat, just below the castle where we can catch our breath and take advantage of the fabulous views.

Beautiful flowers grow on the rocks. The dianthus aren’t in bloom yet but they are full of buds and are so pretty when the pink flowers come out.

This next one is a dainty little antirrhinum.

The next photo is a bit out of focus but this dinky little globularia would be wonderful for a rockery with its little blue balls for flowers.

I love all forms of silene and Silene nutans grows in abundance here. In the UK its common name is Nottingham Catchfly because it was found growing on the walls of Nottingham Castle.

It is strange to see so many plants here that are garden plants at home such as honesty, valerian and these verbascums.

All sorts of little sedums grow on the rocks, I have several growing on my walls.

This one is enjoying the attentions of a Provençal Fritillary butterfly.

If we walk down the road to the river the fragrance of the acacia trees is intoxicating and they are everywhere. Actually, I just learnt that they are actually called Robinia pseudo-acacia or False Acacia, so they are not really acacias at all.

I was surprised to find this pretty Colutea arborescens growing wild.

I love Ragged Robin and here it grows in abundance. In France it is called ‘Fleur de coucou’ which is appropriate as it blooms in late April when you hear the first cuckoos here.

Near the river is a huge meadow full of meadow buttercups, Ragged Robin and Early Purple Orchids.

These Early Purples grow on all the verges round here, it is the commonest orchid. There are 54 different sorts of orchid in the Aveyron and I wrote about them last year. My chief delight here in late April and early May is to go orchid hunting. I have to say that the Pianist who finds it a bit of a bore is endlessly patient.

Today, I will show you just a few; the Military Orchid only appears on two closely guarded sites in the UK.

The Man Orchid is just coming out. When it is fully open, little fully equipped men dangle from each hood. Right now you can only see their legs beginning to emerge.

Lady orchids are much more decorous with pretty skirts.

There are several bee orchids, this one is Ophrys scolopax.

Right now we are heading down the road towards the gorge. On the way we pass a gorgeous clump of an unusual orchid, Serapias lingua.

Once we get down into the gorge and walk along the river it feels quite jungle-like.

Many trees are covered in lichen and sometimes you see wild boar.

I was surprised to find Lathraea clandestina growing on willow roots. This plant is parasitic on its host and has no leaves as it produces no chlorophyll. The only other place I have seen it growing is in the late Bernard Tickner’s garden Fuller’s Mill in Norfolk. Years ago he gave me a piece but I could never get it to grow.

Two kinds of pulmonaria grow here, both Pulmonaria affinis and Pulmonaria longifolia.

And then there are the fabulous ferns, but I think they can wait for another day.

May is such a fabulous time in the garden and here in south west France, roses are looking wonderful and they do really well. Although I am limited for space, each time I come I squeeze in just one more. I prefer to grow French roses here and one of the most famous rose growers is Meilland. One of my favourites looks rather like a David Austin rose with its fully quartered flowers. They are a lovely peachy-apricot colour although they fade a bit in very hot sun. They smell delicious and the blooms are long lasting in a vase. The foliage is always very healthy and there are hardly any thorns. I think Meilland must be very proud of this rose as it bears the family name of ‘Mademoiselle Meilland’.

My other Meilland rose is named after a well known French rock and roll star and actor called Eddy Mitchell. Apparently he chose the name Mitchell because he thought it sounded American. His band was called ‘Les Chausettes Noires’ ( the Black Socks.) This rose is supposed to be a rock and roll sort of rose which is so dark red that it is nearly black to represent the black socks. The reverse sides of the petals are gold, so it is quite striking. What I like about it is the fact that it is repeat flowering which is very important as I am not here all summer.

I have another lovely dark red rose which I have no name for. It didn’t have a label, which is often the case here. I was told that it was possibly ‘Nadine’ but as ‘Nadine’ is orange this can’t be right. I know that a rose by any other name would smell as sweet but I am keen on the naming of names. It’s like having a really good friend but not knowing what to call them. I love the colour of this and the flowers are such a pretty shape.

I have another lovely rose which is nameless but this is because my son grew it from a cutting of the rose on his house. I think it might be another Meilland rose introduced in 1957 called ‘Cocktail’. I love single roses and this is certainly eye- catching. Passers-by stop to take photos.

After saying that I only want French roses in this garden, I have to admit that I fell for the faded lilac colour of this next rose and had to buy it even though it is English. I have never heard of the breeder, Peter James, before. I believe this rose was originally sold as ‘Blue for You’ which would have put me off. I can’t think of anything more horrible than a blue rose. Anyway, it is not the slightest bit blue, but it is a very pretty shade. It is a floribunda and should keep flowering all summer. It is called ‘Pacific Dream’.

Well, this was going to be all about roses but I have some fireworks going off in the garden so I will finish with these. I love alliums and Allium schubertii is such fun, people who have never seen it before are astonished. It must be the largest allium; it certainly is a showstopper.

So that is my Six on Saturday to celebrate the arrival of beautiful May. At this time of the year, it is particularly difficult to stick with just six flowers but I have been very disciplined today. Thanks as usual to Jim at Garden Ruminations for hosting this popular meme.

We arrived in France a few days ago to find the garden totally overgrown of course, there has been endless rain here too. But I am happy because I am one of those weird people who love weeding. There are some losses, my beautiful rose ‘Pierre de Ronsard’ has turned up its toes and died for no discernible reason. But Rosa ‘Pompom de Paris’ is thriving and scrambling all over; there are lots of flowers and buds. I love this early- flowering rose but it only blooms once.

I am happy to see that my olive tree has survived the winter. It does need a haircut though, I have never pruned an olive tree and I am not sure how to do it. I will have to learn on the job.

In the corner you can see my Scilla peruviana which I hope will make a nice clump eventually. It is such a wonderful metallic blue.

The most flamboyant plant in the garden is the gorgeous pink tree peony Peaonia suffruticosa. I know these are fleeting beauties but when they are in bloom I feel like filling the garden with them.

My number five is not in my garden but I am enjoying it because it grows on the abandoned house across the road. I can enjoy it without having the trouble of trying to control it. Anybody who grows Wisteria floribunda knows what a battle it is to keep it within bounds.

I will finish with some fresh green foliage which is delighting me. I love Acer palmatum ‘Emerald Lace’ because it looks good all year round. It has a rounded shape with arching branches and is quite compact. I definitely need more acers here.

So there we have my quick Six on Saturday. I haven’t got time to write much today there is too much to do outside. The sun is shining, the birds are singing and the garden is calling me urgently. Thanks as usual to Jim at Garden Ruminations.

This is my favourite month. As Shakespeare called it: ‘ Proud-pied April dressed in all his trim‘. Spring flowers are here in abundance and are so delicately beautiful and refined compared to the blowsy charms of May and June blooms.

1. Erythroniums.

Having moved house, I have had to start again with my erythronium collection. They don’t like being moved. So for now I have only two of these beauties and they are the most commonly available. Erythronium ‘Pagoda’ has lovely nodding star-shaped heads with recurved petals.

And then I have Erythronium californicum ‘ White Beauty’. Next year I shall add some pink European Erythronium ‘Dens canis’. Because clearly I need more of these shade loving spring ephemerals.

2.Trilliums.

My other American woodlander is Trillium chloropetalum and this has travelled round with me and moved house several times in the last twenty years and I now have two large clumps.

This is all very well, but only one sort of trillium? I need to do something about this, especially after seeing Paddy Toibin’s amazing collection on his blog, An Irish Gardener.

3.Terrestrial orchids.

The lovely little April orchid Pleione formosana lives in a pot in the greenhouse because I am not quite confident that it can cope with my much frost. I have brought it into the house to enjoy its blooms inside. It is sometimes called ‘the windowsill orchid’ but although it needs plenty of light, it doesn’t like direct sun. It is quite easy to care for and spreads nicely in its pot, creating more nice plump pseudobulbs. Which is appropriate as this plant is named after Pleione who was a Greek nymph, the mother to the seven daughters known as the Pleiades. The name means ‘to increase in number’ and it will do just that as long as you give it a gritty compost that prevents the pseudobulbs from rotting. They need to be kept quite dry in winter whilst they are dormant.

4.The Chocolate Vine.

Akebia quinata is a vigorous climber. It is supposed to smell of chocolate, although I can’t say I have noticed this. But people do love flowers which are said to smell of food. I like it even when it is not in bloom because it has pretty palmate leaves which quickly covered the fence. I bought the cream form when I moved here as a change but I think I prefer the traditional reddish-purple one. I think I will buy a purple one to grow with it as the two together should look pretty. Also, if you have two plants you have more chance of getting the sumptuous huge lilac-coloured fruit.

I have to keep hacking this back as it has territorial ambitions and it has to compete with Clematis armandii which is just as greedy for space and a trachelospermum.

5. Clematis.

Here is the Clematis amandii which has to fight for space with the Akebia quinata. It is the third attempt to grow it and I am a bit miffed that it keeps dying on me when a house not far away from here is totally covered in it. Anyway, third time lucky. The previous one was a lovely pale pink one called ‘Apple Blossom’ but this one is a snowy white one called ‘Snowdrift’. I love this because it blooms so early, it has been in flower for ages now.

The other clematis in bloom now is Clematis alpina which I grow in a large pot. I have to admit that I copied this idea from Vita Sackville West. As this clematis doesn’t grow enormous I think it is a nice way to show it off, as it might get lost amongst more vigorous climbers. This plant probably had a name once but if it did I seem to have lost it. But it is a pretty violet-blue shade.

And now we are at number six and I am sad if I have to miss out fritillaries, wood anemones, epimediums, pulsatillas, brunnera and all the other April delights. But it is a lovely day and I have been sitting here far too long trying to decide which to mention and which to leave for another day.

6. Magnolias.

I have already mentioned that when we came three years ago this garden had no plants apart from a yew, some tatty conifers and two magnolias. Magnolia soulangeana is massive and in a small garden I resent the amount of room it takes up, room that could be given to my favourite ‘Star Wars.’ If you have plenty of magnolia room then please forget Magnolia soulangeana and grow fabulous Magnolia campbellii x liliflora ‘Star Wars’. The campbellii in its make up gives this magnolia massive rosy-pink flowers. The late Princess Sturdza of the wonderful Vasterival garden in Normandy told me years ago that this was her favourite magnolia and I grew it in my previous garden. It was a real show-stopper. But this is Six on Saturday so I really must stick to what I do grow and have in bloom and not go off onto tangents of what I would like to grow, or have grown in the past. But I do yearn particularly for Magnolia ‘Black Tulip’ and Magnolia ‘Susan which I used to grow. If only I had more room. But there is a huge Magnolia stellata here and I appreciate it even though the snowy white flowers on the top of the tree were browned by frost. Anyway, this is going over now and even though I lack the space I have planted lovely Magnolia x loebneri ‘Leonard Messel’ which I have always grown in every garden. It does grow to up to 8 metres tall but it is slow growing and this will take twenty years or more so it will be somebody else’s problem. You can tell that this tree has ‘stellata’ in its make up by its lovely tattery petals, or rather tepals. But ‘Leonard Messel’ is a bit later blooming, it is only just coming into flower now so it is less likely to get burnt by frost.

So here we are with beautiful Magnolia ‘Leonard Messel’ with its delicate pale pink flowers.

So that’s it for today, so many April beauties cruelly overlooked but rules are rules and this is Six on Saturday. Many thanks as usual to Jim at Garden Ruminations who is now a national television personality.

In the UK, we gardeners have been feeling in our bones that spring is here for some time now. But yesterday it became official. And with glorious sun and temperatures reaching 17 degrees on Thursday, it is time to dance around the lawn and to sing: ‘Hey ding a ding a ding’ and to celebrate ‘with a hey and a ho and a hey nonino’. Except I haven’t got a lawn and I have neighbours. But still I am celebrating. My winter garden now looks like a spring garden.

Prunus subhirtella ‘Autumnalis rosea’ which bloomed in November and then had a long winter rest is in full bloom again. I can’t think of any other prunus which does this. But the tree I want to show you right now is my dwarf peach tree which lives in a pot. It is Prunus persica ‘Melred’ and I grow it for its beautitul vivid pink blossom. In August it bears delicious fruit but I grow it for the lovely blossom.

At the moment you see forsythia everywhere in strident yellow. Much prettier in my mind are the dainty primrose-yellow flowers of Corylopsis pauciflora. I have to admit that I have killed two of these lovely shrubs in my time, so third time lucky. They like neutral to acid soil so I am growing this in a pot. Well, I have to, I seem to have run out of garden space and this is quite a spreading shrub. But it is slow growing. I think my previous two might have died of drought and I think it is easier to remember to water plants in pots. If I had loads of room I think I would go for Corylopsis spicata as it is even more beautiful, but it is very spreading and needs plenty of space.

Also in a pot because it needs the ericaceous soil which I can’t provide for in the garden is Camellia ‘Jury’s Yellow’. I am very fond of this camellia because of the unusual colour and the rosette- like shape of the flowers.

The wealth of spring flowers spangling the garden right now makes it difficult to pick out just one or two. But I have a new ipheion which is such a pretty shade of pink. I used to grow ‘Charlotte Bishop’ but I think Ipheion ‘Dusky Pink’ is more striking. The leaves of this plant smell of onions but the flowers are sweetly scented.

I love corydalis and have quite a few different ones so I had to try one called ‘Berry Exciting’ which apparently was a mutation of ‘Blackberry Wine’ which I already have. The foliage of this one is said to be golden which of course translates as yellow. I can’t make up my mind whether the foliage looks nice and fresh and bright or slightly diseased. The flowers are quite pretty, but not as far as I’m concerned, ‘berry exciting’. I wonder what you think.

With so many beautiful spring flowers looking fabulous in the garden it seems a bit perverse to come into the conservatory for number six. But my bougainvillea has been in bloom for ages now and it is so pretty despite its neglect. In fact I thought it was dead as it had lost all its leaves but it is remarkably resilient. This plant was named after Louis Antoine, Comte de Bougainville who was the first Frenchman to circumnavigate the world. He was joined on the voyage by the naturalist, Philibert Commerson who named this lovely plant found in Brazil after the Captain. The interesting part of this story is that Commerson was accompanied by his ‘valet’, ‘assistant’ ‘lover’, ‘nurse’, call her what you will, Jeanne Baret. Jeanne bound up her breasts and disguised herself as a man to get on board and was the first woman to circumnavigate the world. She collected 6000 plant specimens, including Bougainvillea. It was not until they arrived in Tahiti that it was realised that she was a woman. Her remarkable story is told in a fascinating book: ‘The Discovery of Jeanne Baret’ by Glynis Ridley. I can recommend it as it is a fascinating read.

So there we are, just Six on Saturday, which does seem a shame as there are so many pretty things showing their spring faces right now. Do check our host Jim at Garden Ruminations to see more spring beauties.

As readers of my blog will probably know I am a stickler for using the correct botanical nomenclature when talking about plants. But in its native Chile, Azara microphylla is known as Chin-chin tree, and I couldn’t resist the cute name, even though the name is shared by the deadly Manchineel tree in other parts of the world. Azara microphylla produces edible fruit unlike the ‘apples of death’ you find on the Manchineel tree. Actually, Azara microphylla doesn’t seem to produce fruit at all in the UK. In its native Chile the fruit is eaten and the seeds dispersed by the sweetest little marsupial imaginable called the Monito del Monte or the monkey of the mountains. Its proper name is Dromiociops gliroides but you can’t be on formal terms with something as cute as this.

Anyway, I have grown this tree for years but in my present garden I thought I would try the variegated form Azara microphylla ‘Variegata’ and I love it even more than the plain green one. It has pairs of tiny and tinier leaves in a herringbone arrangement. The baby leaves are actually stipules and I can’t see what purpose they serve apart from looking cute. Along with its year-round golden-silvery good looks, in March it has the most delicious smelling flowers and the scent is so intense it reaches every corner of my winter garden. The yellow flowers, like tiny mimosa flowers, may look insignificant but they actually smell strongly of vanilla. Some people say it is chocolate but I stick with vanilla. However you describe the scent, it is pervasively delicious and this is definitely a must-have tree for me.

I don’t grow rhododendrons in the garden because I have neither the space for them, nor the acid soil they require. But I do have a couple of early bloomers in pots. Rhododendron ‘Christmas Cheer’ is just coming out but the one I want to feature this week is Rhododendron cilipenense which is a nice compact plant with funnel-shaped, very early pale pink blooms. I think it is ideal for a pot.

We are threatened with frost tonight and as usual Magnolia soulangeana is coming out far earlier than is good for it. I have a huge one in my garden and although it is a wonderful sight when it is in bloom, it is never a variety I would choose for three reasons. One, you see it in every suburban garden and I am a plant snob. Two, there are far more exciting hybrids available, and three, it blooms in March and far too often the petals turn brown after a frost. Still this is a massive tree and if it can get away without too much browning it is certainly eye-catching.

One of the joys of March is finding banks of the lovely native primrose blooming when we go out for our daily walk. I have made a primrose path under my rose tunnel and it is delighting me right now. I am always complaining about vulgar, big, blowsy, modern primrose hybrids and indeed the common primrose can’t be improved upon. I used to collect heritage doubles which always disappeared after a year or two and I grew gorgeous Barnhaven primroses in delicious colours which were never garish. But I have to admit I am a convert to the fabulous Belarina doubles which are long lasting and bloom for weeks on end and they are fragrant. OK, they are big and blowsy and come in bright colours but I can no longer resist them or try to convince myself that I disapprove of them. Gradually, I seem to be collecting them because I fall for every one I see. My latest is this one called ‘Rosalina’.

And a couple of weeks ago Primula belarina ”Tangerine Twist’ fell into my trolley.

Along with ‘Candy Floss’.

As well as primroses, the verges and field edges are spangled with Viola odorata and the deliciously elusive scent epitomises spring for me. First you sniff it, then you don’t because the ionone molecule in violets temporarily shuts down the receptors in your nose. That is what makes the scent so elusive.

I love violets so much and I have them in shades of pinks, purples and lilac but as I got a bit carried away with the primroses and sneaked in some extra photos, I will stick to just one violet for today which is an unusual apricot colour. It is generally known as Viola odorata ‘Sulphurea’. But in my book ‘Violets’, written by Roy Coombs, he says that the correct name is Viola sulfurea and it is probably a different species and not Viola odorata at all. This makes sense as it has very little scent. Although it doesn’t have the delicious violet scent it is so pretty and spreads around obligingly too.

I will finish with pulmonaria, or lungwort as it was known as by our ancestors who had a weird belief in the doctrine of signatures. God had made the pulmonaria leaf to look like a diseased lung to indicate that this plant would be a cure. I find the naievety of our ancestors incredible. Primitive Amazonian tribes knew which plants to use for healing, even some animals can pick plants to self heal but here in England we used silly superstition. Wise women, the female herbalists who did have some real knowledge of healing plants were burnt as witches. I have several different good named varieties of pulmonarias but they all self seed prolifically and I am always happy with the babies. I think the best pink form is ‘Shrimps on the Barbie’.

For the clearest, purest gentian blue, Pulmonaria ‘Blue Ensign’ takes some beating. It’s probably no good for curing lung disease though as it has nice, fresh green leaves.

‘Trevi Fountain’ is another lovely blue-flowered one. I seem to be slipping in too many pulmonarias here but how to choose just one is beyond me. Perhaps nobody will notice. Before I finish, I must mention a lovely silver-leafed pulmonaria called Pulmonaria ‘Silver Bouquet’.

Aren’t those leaves just gorgeous? And just the thing for that nasty chesty cough. Well, I am done now, and not before time, I can hear you say. But do admit, I was very restrained with my violets, I’m saving some for another day. Meanwhile, as usual, thanks to Jim at Garden Ruminations who encourages everyone to pick out just six beauties each Saturday. One of these days I might manage it.

At last Spring has arrived, and we have had some lovely, warm sunny days with birds singing and bees buzzing. Spending time in the garden is an absolute joy right now after a long gloomy winter. Suddenly we have loads of colour and it is difficult to keep to just six blooms to celebrate the most exciting horticultural season.

In my tiny garden I don’t have enough room for loads of frothy pink cherry blossom but the early March-blooming Prunus ‘Kursar’ is a small tree and it is full of bloom right now. The flowers are single but vivid pink and the bees love them.

I have a mimosa tree in a large pot and this year I risked leaving it outside against the front wall and it has come through the winter unscathed. I did throw a table cloth over it on the coldest nights of the winter. The frothy yellow balls have a lovely dusty fragrance and they remind me of the magical mimosa forests of the Massif de l’Esterel in the south of France.

I have been waiting for the lovely clusters of woolly buds on my Edgeworthia chrysantha to open for weeks. They are downward-facing so you don’t get to enjoy the yellow flowers until they are fully open. They are custard-yellow with a really sweet scent. I like the way the flowers appear before the leaves so they don’t get hidden by foliage.

I always look forward to the Corydalis solida in pinks and mauve making their appearance. They disappear when they have finished blooming. The brick red ‘George Baker’ doesn’t stay around very long for me but ‘Beth Evans’ who is pretty in pink is very reliable and seeds around nicely.

I have a pretty early flowering woodlander which like the corydalis disappears when the summer gets going. It is Cardamine quinquefolia.

In my previous garden I waged constant war with the celandines which refused to be eliminated from one of my borders. And yet, I can’t help being drawn to their bright shiny faces in early spring. I have several cultivated forms, including double ones, but one of my favourites is Ranunculus ficaria Brazen Hussy’ which Christopher Lloyd discovered and named. I find the shiny black leaves irresistible.

And that is my lot. Instead of writing about early daffodils or dwarf tulips which are delighting me right now I have highlighted three little plants which bloom and then disappear completely. But these ephemeral beauties deserve a mention. My Six on Saturday come to you a little late today as I have been out grubbing all day. It is the first time doing a full day since I hurt my back and it is wonderful to be out there in my own little paradise. I hope you are all enjoying your spring gardens. Do check out Jim at Garden Ruminations and all the other SoSers

And to mark the occasion my true love bought me a pink pussy willow, Salix gracilistyla ‘Mount Aso’. He didn’t go out and choose it, that would be really weird. But he did come with me to a nursery and stood around patiently while I browsed. I have had this beauty before in my last garden and I feel it is a winter essential. It is grown as a standard so it doesn’t take up too much room.

I adore green flowers and the green racemes of Ribes Laurifolium are pure chartreuse. Many people find the sugar-pink flowering currant a bit too much, especially as it is everywhere in the spring but this lesser known variety is a bit more refined and it blooms much earlier. It sprawls rather, but it likes to grow upright if it has anything to lean on. It is dioecious which means male and female plants are quite separate and like hollies you have to have both in order for berries to appear. It has leathery green leaves as its name suggests. I wish I had removed that dead leaf before I took the photograph.

Many people don’t grow flowering currant because it smells quite strongly, some people think it smells of cat pee. I don’t agree, I always associate the smell with spring. But the flowers of Ribes laurifolium are fragrant, or so I have read. To be honest I have never noticed a scent. But many February flowers are sweetly scented to attract passing bees. One shrub whose fragrance drifts about deliciously in the breeze is sarcococca. I have Sarcococca hookeriana ‘Winter Gem’ and I am delighted that it is suckering to make quite a large shrub. The little tufty flowers are quite inconspicuous but the scent is pervasive. I know some people don’t like the smell because it is so strong but I love it.

It’s daffodil time at last and the first of my Narcissus ‘Rijnveld’s Early Sensation’ is in bloom. But I am rather disappointed with it, as I grow it purely for its very early flowers which should appear in January. I have seen it in gardens round and about blooming several weeks ago so I think that the middle of February is a bit dilatory. There is only one bloom, the rest are still in bud and look as if they will open up when the rest of the tribe start. This is really not good enough. If they don’t pull themselves together I will discard them and try again with some fresh bulbs.

But Narcissus ‘Polar Hunter’ is very early. I like this beauty which comes from New Zealand. It has a greenish tinge because it has the green Narcissus viridiflorus in its make up. I have been looking for bulbs of the fabulous green daffodil for years but now I have this which is the next best thing. Its other parent is the deliciously fragrant Narcissus jonquilla. ‘Polar Hunter ‘smells wonderful and I am looking forward to my back permitting me to bend down and sniff it.

Snowdrops and early crocuses are everywhere now and I have several clumps of Iris reticulata making a repeat appearance. For anyone who has tried to grow these little jewels, you will know that the corms tend to split up after flowering and they rarely reappear after a year or two. I like the sky blue ‘ Blue Planet’.

Good old Iris ‘Harmony’ might be common but it is a gorgeous vivid blue and stays around much more readily than any other Iris reticulata. That is because it was crossed with the more reliable Iris histrioides.

I love it when these small jewel-like treasures appear in February. As a change from the snowdrops the tiny Leucojum vernum are quite distinctive with glossy leaves and bell-shaped flowers tipped with green. I also have Leucojum vernum var. Carpathicum which has yellow tips to the petals.

I love this time of the year as the birds have started singing, afternoons are lighter and every day there is something exciting happening in the garden. Mind you, we would all be happier if only it would stop raining. But today, we have had sun so maybe things are about to change. I hope that whatever the weather, you have things to enjoy in the February garden. To see what other people are enjoying, check out Garden Ruminations where people from all over the globe gather to show what they have in bloom.

The first month of the year is a long dismal one, and particularly so for me this year with a pulled muscle in my back. But yippee, tomorrow is February and everything is waking up, the sun is higher in the sky, late afternoons are lighter and the birds are singing. And my back is unlocking at last. I can’t get out and grub in the garden yet but I’m sure it won’t be long.

The greatest joy though is my winter garden which gets prettier by the day. There are a few plants in pots waiting to be planted but I hope to be able to deal with them soon.

Snowdrops and aconites are everywhere and the first of my little irises are out. This one is Iris ‘Katharine’s Gold’. It is a sport of the lovely ‘Katharine Hodgkin’. It is more lemon than gold but still pretty with its little dabs of blue looking as though they have been splattered with ink.

More lovely hellebores are coming out every day. Here are just a few of the beauties I am enjoying just now. This first one is an anemone- flowered one.

I love speckled ones.

And the dark plum ones are fabulous.

I am generally not a great fan of double flowers but double hellebores look just like the sort of party dresses I longed for as a child.

I get excited when the first primroses open up and nothing can compare with their lemony beauty. Whilst one part of me thinks that colourful, over-hybridised primroses are rather vulgar, I couldn’t resist this double one that I bought at the Bury St. Edmunds market today. It is called ‘Maple Sugar”. If we have another cold snap it probably won’t be happy but meanwhile I rather like it.

And I have another double flower out which makes me feel that spring really is just round the corner. It is the first of my camellias to bloom and it is a great favourite of mine called ‘Debbie’.

Witch hazels are out and fragrant sarcococcas but I have already cheated by slipping in some extra hellebores so they must wait until next week. Meanwhile I have another flower on my Solandra maxima. I showed it last week but the massive golden blooms are so richly opulent that I can’t resist giving the plant another outing. I don’t usually like non-horticultural names for plants but Golden Chalice Vine suits this very well.

So there we have my Six on Saturday, with a few extra hellebores, but then how can you choose just one when they are all so gorgeous? January is dreary but I do love winter flowers and from now on the winter garden gets better and better. I hope you are enjoying the best that winter can offer and I am looking forward to seeing what other SoSers have to show. If you would like to see then visit Jim at Garden Ruminations.