Friday 1 January 2010

Hellebore

And now time for the first posting of the New Year...

I trust everyone had a pleasant and enjoyable time over the past week or so?

I have enjoyed my time off and as work slowly looms I’m beginning to get more and more depressed… This is why I never usually take two weeks off, it makes it so much more difficult to go back.

We were due snow over the past few days but nothing ever arrived, a sigh of relief there! As we’d only just got rid of the last lot…

My nan bought me a Hellibore for Christmas, very nice of her indeed. I ought to have seen it coming to be honest, I knew something fishy was going on when we were at Rufford Park and my mum went back in to the garden centre shop buy it, nan said something along the lines of ‘it’s for me’ so I stupidly believed mum had bought it literally for her, even though I know she’s not into plants!


Ha ha.


So yay, I have a Hellibore in flower :)


Now I just need the others to appear that I planted a month or so ago... No signs of them breaking the soil yet, but they had begun to grow when I planted them dry root... I wonder if that upset them...


I popped out yesterday to take update shots of the bulbs and discovered much to my delight alongside the tulip bulbs:


Does anyone know what it is?


G’won, I’m sure you all must!

I think these may be Alliums??


So, what do you have coming up in your gardens? Any signs of life yet??

The Aquilega's ready to go with some new growth down at the crown and the Roses in the front garden still haven't died! Oh and did I mention I have a magical Sweet Pea which refuses to die?

Oh well, photos for next time...

23 comments:

Lona said...

Hi Liz, my daughter pulled that same stunt on me for a Christmas present of a snowman made of a gourd I had eyed. Sneaky and thoughtful aren't they. LOL.
My hellebore's are babies yet so I do not know if there will be any blooms or not. Such beautiful macro shots of your blooms.
Hope you had a wonderful Christmas and I am looking forward to your postings in this new year.

Rebecca @ In The Garden said...

Wonderful pictures, it's especially nice to see your bulbs emerging. I have at least 4 months longer to see mine, so I have to live vicariously through others. Happy 2010. :)

Corner Gardener Sue said...

Hi Liz,
I love that hellebore bloom color! I hope your other ones come up and bloom. I just planted some last summer, and am so excited to see when they will bloom. Of course, they are currently buried in snow.

Your bulbs look familiar, but I'm not sure what they are.

Happy New Year!

Cheryl said...

Liz....you must have a very sheltered garden. I have daffs beginning to peep through but not much else. Snow has settle again in this area.......yuk....

Love the hellebore........they do take a while to settle into their new home. I am sure yours will bloom at some point, but maybe a bit later than they should....something to look forward to.

Hope work is okay on Monday.....I remember that feeling of going back after a holiday.....

Happy New Year.....

Liz said...

Hi Lona,

The Hellebores I'm waiting on will be surprises as they were simply listed as being Harvington Doubles... I wait to see what colours they turn out to be! :)

(although I don't think I'll expect to see their faces this year from what I've read)

Liz said...

Hi Rebecca,

4 Months before bulbs appear? Wow that's a long time to wait for Spring!!

I guess England is good for one thing... Our relatively poor winters where things never fully stop, yet they're no longer fully productive.

ginny said...

Happy New Year to you!
looking forward to enjoying more of your beautiful photos this year,
with warmest wishes
ginny x

Liz said...

Hi Sue,

Ooooh, you're waiting for Hellebores too?! How exciting, I'm worried mine won't show their faces this year since they were planted so late on... I can hope though!!!

Must also mark the pot they're planted in otherwise I'm likely to forget and throw them away...

The 'mystery' bulb is a Snowdrop and the others I'm pretty certain are Allium as they have the typical Onion look :)

Happy New Year to you too!

Liz said...

Hi Cheryl,

Hmmm perhaps the garden is sheltered, the wind does rip right up it though at times!

No Daffs here, but I've discovered last year the 'silver chimes' are quite late bloomers, so it's no surprise yet.

Thanks for reassuring me re the Hellebores, it'll be a massive shame if they don't bloom as I was looking forward to them *since someone, mentioning no names has got me hooked on them...cough* but I am fairly patient and will hold no grudge if they don't.

No snow here, we've been due some for a while now... But today there's been sleet with suspicious large flakes of snow mixed in, so no doubt it's only a matter of time before it settles.

Bah.

Happy New Year Cheryl, I hope you had a relaxing and peaceful time :)

Liz said...

Hi Ginny,

Happy New Year! :)

The new year has certainly started off well, with snow, sleet, frost... I want the sun back that we had yesterday, snow just doesn't seem as wonderful when Christmas has been and gone.

Carol said...

My garden is sleeping under a blanket of snow! Your bulbs look like a small tulip to me... Good luck with the Christmas Rose... one of my favorite flowers! What a nice gift! Happy New Year Liz! All Best in 2010! Carol

Rebecca @ In The Garden said...

Yes, it *is* a long time :(. Hellebores are on my unofficial list, I always look for them when out shopping.

Town Mouse said...

Happy New Year! What a great gift, that hellebore! I hope it will grow and prosper for you.

Rosie Nixon Fluerty said...

beautiful photos Liz

as for my garden its under a load of snow - thankfully its not waist deep as it is further north at Aviemore

Rosie

Liz said...

Hi Carol,

Happy New Year to you too, I hope 2010 is a great year :)

Yep some of the bulbs are Tulips, next to them there are Snowdrops! Woo hoo, so glad to see them... Although they're once again under a blanket of snow and will remain there most likely for another few days or so.

I'm thrilled to have the Hellebore, I'm surprised Nan picked up on it... Probably something to do with my telling my mum there were some outside - pink ones! :D

Liz said...

Hi Rebecca,

I couldn't imagine having winter lasting so long, we've had unusually cold weather recently and I'm already thoroughly fed up of it all.

Hellebores are so expensive and I'm yet to understand why... They average around £13 here, with some being even more... That's around $25... Crazy.

Liz said...

Hi TM,

Happy New Year too! :)

I hope 2010 has got off to a good start for you already!

Liz said...

Hi Rosie,

We have snow again too, although also not as much as Aviemore!

(I've always wanted to spend Christmas in our Cottage at Grantown, I imagine the snow is wonderful... As long as you have the transport to cope!!!)

There's more snow due, and I am seriously considering taking the rest of the week off to avoid all the snow and ice. Although saying that today is beautiful, sunny and it's surprisingly warm in the sun - as long as the wind isn't blowing at you!

I hope the snow isn't too bad for you...

Cheryl said...

Hi Liz....I know what you mean. Someone, whose name I won't mention, has me hooked on clematis. I am planning some for the spring/summer. I will not tell her which variety....I am sure she will like the suspense.....

Nutty Gnome said...

Hi Liz - hellebores grow like weeds in our garden so feel free to pop over and take a couple!
Mind you, you'll never find 'em under all the snow - I've just been out to measure it (how sad am I eh?!) and we've got just over 4 inches!
Stay safe in the snow :)

ShySongbird said...

Hi Liz and a very happy and healthy New Year to you! Sorry to have missed commenting on some of your great posts but I am having some difficulties at the moment. I loved seeing the snowy pictures on the previous post though.

It has been too cold to snow here for the last week but it is trying to as I type this! I fear we may get more later.

I do like Hellebores and there seem to be so many different ones around now, I must find out how mine are doing before they get covered with snow which is already getting heavier!!

I think your bulb looked like a Snowdrop to me? I really must plant some more as mine deserted me last year.

VW said...

Oh, there is NO sign of spring in my garden yet. How nice to have a hellebore in bloom. I'm so excited to see several of the babies I planted last year in bloom. I hope they put out a couple, at least. Probably not until March, though.

garden plants fan said...

those rasberry buds are fantastic great effort.