Six on Saturday - 1 February 2025

When I took these pictures yesterday I was thinking January, but today is the first day of February.  It felt that 'February fill dyke'* came a month early, but at least it did not rain yesterday, though we had had heavy rain again but overnight.  I'm joining in this weekly report on Six things from the garden, led by our chief Jim.

1. As well as snowdrops I love other early winter flowering plants, and this Eranthis  hyemalis is the first off the blocks.  Opening and hopefully attracting the Queen Bumblebee that I saw flying across the garden from the upstairs window. If I had been in the garden I would have not only seen her but heard her.

Eranthis hyemalis

2. In the same Conservatory bed are some early crocus still covered in raindrops but trying really hard to open.  They are gradually increasing, and I ought to add 'move some bulbs to the sunnier position' on my to do list. I read that six weeks after flowering is the time, maybe as the leaves die down. If you have any other views, please leave them in the comments box below.

Crocus sieberi Firefly

3. I do like little flowers and this is another one of my smaller snowdrops: Galanthus Margaret Billington with the two more rounded drops having four outer petals.  We are going to visit Elworthy Cottage for one of their open days, where I bought this snowdrop a couple of years ago, where the snowdrops are scattered around the sloping garden.  Nearby is a private valley full of snowdrops open during February. 

Galanthus rizehensis 'Margaret Billington'

 

4.  Another easily recognised snowdrop at the opposite end of this bed is Galanthus Diggory. This is just as they start to puff out their petals and the seersuckering is starting to develop.

Galanthus Diggory

5. The roses were starting to show signs of shooting, and therefore I decided it was time to get the pruning done. I usually get this done around Valentine's Day, but the whole garden seems to be in advance.  I shall wait to feed and mulch until the start of March.

6.  I love unusual bits and pieces and when walking past a house with some pieces of wood, some charred dumped outside on the pavement, I didn't just see this as an inconvenience but an opportunity to bring an attractive piece home.   It was so burnt I thought of it as a decorative piece of 'charcoal type' piece of wood, and used it to pose as a black background near small plants which it did very effectively.  Year ago I had seen an arrangement of charred trees in a landscaped setting on the shore of Lake Windermere. 

It can't have been completely dead and consumed by fire as for the last couple of years it has been sprouting the fruiting bodies of a fungi. A question on British Mycological Society Facebook identified it and it is a type of Turkey Tail: Trametes or Stereum species

Let us hope that a few days of dryish weather will allow a little more time gardening, or at least tidying up.