Six on Saturday - 4 February 2023

 Since I visited two interesting gardens this week both with views, other plants, shrubs and trees, as well as beautiful snowdrops, it hardly feels right to show what is going on in the garden here.  However  I was delighted to see what had grown here in the garden in just a few days of warmer temperatures and a little sunshine.  Here we go:

1. I am not persuaded that 'grasses' would be right here.  Having bought a couple of Pheasant's tail grasses at the HPS last autumn, I failed miserably in planting them out.  They have been in a sort of quarantine..and look what is popping up around the base.  Some grass weed and what could be a celandine.   There are no 'weed' celandines in the garden, but I shall wait to see if this a special.

 2.  I purposely asked that the compost and manure delivery be next week...I reckon they didn't want to carry it round the back of the house as they have done previously, so on our return what should we find but bags by the front door.  Mr S bless him and moved them to strategic points around the garden.

Two bags are fine composted bark has already been spread as a mulch.  One more to go, and then this stuff to be spread too.

3. I can't help myself, I love stones, and these few found along the beach will find some way of enhancing a plant somewhere in the garden.

4.  One of the gardens we visited with Brenda and Peter was Elworthy Cottage, and in addition to Galanthus Three Ships which was on order, I was tempted further..

5. This snowdrop was new in the garden last year, it has good strong flowers which are out whilst their leaves are shorter.  It is really the 'classical' white snowdrop and is supposed to be a good doer.

Another snowdrop which is easy to spot, and is quite happy in the garden here is Galanthus Diggory, as the flowers open and age a day or two they take on the characteristic balloon shape with heavy seersucking. I gratefully received one bulb from Anna in Spring 2019 and last year dug up the bulbs to space them out. I shall be out later with the watering can full of dilute seaweed feed to help new and older snowdrop clumps.

6.  One of the snowdrops I admired at Elworthy Cottage was Jenny Spiller's Galanthus gracilis Kew Form

I do have Galanthus gracilis here in the garden doing very nicely and I just wonder what the difference could be? Mr S learnt quite a bit from Mr W about 'those white flowers', however I did so much enjoy looking at snowdrops with a friend Mrs W, who appreciated their differences.  Comparing the inners and their outers, I would say that the blooms on my form are more elongated, but it could well be down to the type of soil, orientation, local climate etc.  They would really have to be growing side by side for any difference to be observed correctly! They are different from the other snowdrops in the garden though, with their finer twisted leaves, and small olive green ovaries. 

Everything I would want to know about Galanthus species, but won't remember much is on John Lonsdale's website.

There will be so much more than snowdrops over on Jim's lead post, probably camelias etc.