Sunday 27 February 2011

Sunday Safari - end of month

*Edited to add end of month, I didn't realise the date when I posted!

I’ve noticed over the weeks that the Snowdrops seem to have quite a lot of variation, one in particular seems to be quite yellow rather than green:

Yellow

Green

Clematis buds are getting larger, ‘willy’ is just getting started, but ‘blue eyes’ is much more advanced (not shown)


The white heather is almost finished, am I supposed to trim it after flowering?


Rhubarb, shame I don’t eat it! I usually give it away to friends/colleagues

A variety of Crocus are still flowering, ‘Miss Vain’ has pretty much finished for now but I think more are coming up.



‘Prinz Clauz’

On Thursday we had our first Bees visiting… A bumble and what I believe is a Honey Bee.

The Bumble even checked out the vent as a good home… I wonder if she liked it in there.

Poor photo of Honey Bee

I managed to find some Primula Vulgaris, at last… The sun made it difficult to catch the colour properly though - trust me, they are yellowy.

I also got these nice Dianthus as a contrast to the Primula, again the colour isn’t quite right. They’re a deep wine red.


Oh yes, and we have blossom!





28 comments:

ShySongbird said...

Lovely photos again Liz and there is such lovely light in them! The blossom is gorgeous.

Is it me or is it early for Dianthus?

I wonder if the variation in colour on the Snowdrops could be to do with age?

I'm very envious of your bee sightings! We have rain today :(

Laura Bloomsbury said...

Don't know how you create your shots but they always seem to capture the mellow beauty of plants and wildlife. A beautiful Sunday Safari - and what a lovely Primula. These softer yellows are surely more fitting to announce Spring than the shout out loud yellows of Forsythia and some Daffs.
Laura

Tatyana@MySecretGarden said...

I can not even chose my favorite image here, they all are fascinating! Sorry for your irises Liz. I might be sorry for my daffodils... It's snowing again here... Why not in December-January???

Donna said...

beautiful spring bloom pictures and lovely bees...ours would die of frost bite, but we hope to be finally warming a bit this week..

Liz said...

Hi Jan,

Since those photos the tree is now full of blossom - I couldn't believe the difference in just a day or two!
Yes I believe it is early for Dianthus, they had it at the garden centre though, so I got it........ Not usually a fan, but I did like the deep red against the yellowish Primula.

I agree, the variation of the Snowdrops may be an age thing, I have been noticing this particular one is lighter in photos for a couple of weeks now, but definitely, it was one of the first to flower!

We've had mixed weather over the weekend, both Saturday and Sunday began grey/raining and then cleared up around lunchtime-2pm. I assume the Bees are back in hiding, although it isn't actually very cold, just wet.

Liz said...

Hi Laura,

The photos are generally as they come from the camera, all I do is crop them and then sometimes lighten/darken and a touch of sharpning just to make them pop a little more. I don't like to do a lot of photoshopping to photos and try to keep it to a minimum, so really it's the camera and lens that do all the hard work!

I'm no fan of yellow, the closest I get is usually the creamy shades, but will go for the louder shades as long as they are good for wildlife! The creamy yellow of this 'wild' primula are definitly more fitting than the fuchsia purple/pink ones we have in the front garden which I think have self seeded from my neighbour's.

Liz said...

Hi Tatyana,

Thanks, I'm glad you liked the photos :)
I hope your Daffodils survive, I think they will though as they're generally quite hardy plants compared to the Irises. Some forecasts say snow here at the end of the week, others say not. We'll just have to see how it goes!

Liz said...

Hi Donna,

I hope you get some warmer weather soon, cold weather is nice for a couple of weeks but quickly becomes very boring! :D
Spring will arrive, and let's hope it's soon enough for you.

Anonymous said...

I enjoyed your photo safari. Such pretty images and blossoms. Your bees are busy early it seems. A long wait for them here, but I love to see them arrive.

Shady Gardener said...

Liz, Yea! You're having early Spring weather! We will, too, before very long. Such a nice post!

Janet/Plantaliscious said...

I love Miss Vain - I may have to plant me some of that for next year. Gorgeous blossom. Mine is not yet out. I keep staring at it hopefully... But hey, I have some anemone blanda flowers to look forward to ;-) Thanks for the plant ID help.

Layanee said...

And I have just some gnarly iris stems. Oh well, at least your blooms and buds have brightened my day.

Curbstone Valley Farm said...

Gorgeous blossoms, especially in your last few shots! I can't believe you don't eat your rhubarb! Shame shame. I had to hunt some down especially this year for the garden as it's been years since I've indulged in a strawberry and rhubarb crumble. Most here don't even know what rhubarb is ;)

Esther Montgomery said...

Surprised too about the dianthus. In my garden, it would be too dark for this time of year (though lovely in the summer). I wonder if there are spring flowering ones with flowers of a lighter colour,

Esther

Ronnie Tyler said...

What absolute fabulous photos! It is such inspiration - I have lots of white heather and will look at it with a different view next time. Thank you - Ronnie

Bub said...

It's a pity you don't like rhubarb, although I must admit I'm not a great fan of it when it's cooked - I much prefer eating it raw.

You have blossom already? Wow! I haven't seen any bees, but I did come across a wasp the other day.

Totally gorgeous photos again. Btw, I've left you a present on my blog - go have a look!

Laura Bloomsbury said...

p.s. Hi Liz, Is that a white Forsythia the bumble is heading for. Spotted one on a recent garden visit - so much more sophisticated than the loud yellow version
Laura

Nutty Gnome said...

It amazes me that you're 10 miles north of me, yet about a fortnight ahead! My crocuses have only just come into bud, my cherry blossom is only just emerging and the primulas are only thinking about blooming!

Do you fancy joining us for a bevy next time me, Woody at Allotment 81, Michelle from duck,Dinner,Dash and Rob from A Plot Too Far meet up?

Liz said...

Hi SG,

Our early Spring weather seems to have disappeared and been replaced with grey clouds... Constantly. Barely seen the sun at all in the past week, short glimpses here and there, usually in the evening.
I hope the warmer temperatures have returned for you and will for us soon!

Liz said...

Hi Janet,

I buy the Crocuses in bulk off a website and they're really very cheap but I do get a good success rate from them. I'm not one for counting my bulbs I would say most come up from every pack, even the Snowdrops have an ok rate and I would think around 80% or more come up from bulb.
I think the Crocus were around £5 for 100...
No problem re: plant identification.I planted 200 of the Anemones in Autumn under the Cherry tree, and I can see quite a few coming up now, so I think I'll have flowers in the next week or two as well.

Liz said...

Hi Layanee,

Sorry to hear about your gnarled Irises, hopefully you'll get some flowers from them at the very least!

Liz said...

Hi CV,

I've never been much of a fan of Rhubarb, but also am guilty of having never actually experimented with it.
It's only kept in the garden because it provides some interest in areas which are otherwise empty/boring, but it may not stay around much longer... But I do also enjoy giving it to people!

Liz said...

Hi Esther,

The Dianthus was bought, so no doubt has been kept in a nice warm greenhouse - although it doesn't seem upset that I've placed it outside, still flowering and buds are fattening up.
There were a few shades, I only chose this red one because it contrasted nicely with the yellow of the primulas.

Liz said...

Hi Ronnie,

Thank you for visiting, I'm glad you enjoyed the photos! :)

Liz said...

Hi Bub,

I haven't even tried it raw, I thought it was toxic or something? I've no idea if I'm honest! ha ha.

The Blossom is on an Autumn flowering Cherry, which is supposed to flower throughout Autumn and Winter and then in Spring puts on a much more impressive show along with the other blossoms. It hasn't flowered in Autumn for the past two years, but at least it flowered in December the year before last... This time round it didn't even flower in December and has only just started now.

Thank you for the lovely present on your blog! lol.

Liz said...

Hi Laura,

Yep the Bumble was going for a White Forsythia - photos will follow soon as I have a blog lined up dedicated to its wonderful flowers.

Liz said...

Hi Liz,

I think it depends on which side of Chessie you're on... My parents used to live in Barlborough and mum always moans about how much colder it was there compared to everywhere else, Spring would be weeks behind because of the winds that cut across. She'd visit my dad's mum in Eckington and there'd be leaves on trees, flowers out, then go home and everything was still bare.
Whenever I go to Dobbies at Barlborough I always know the weather will be the absolute opposite of here, like I went last saturday... Wore some ballerina style pumps, went to Tesco at Clowne and just walking from the car into the shop my feet were soaked. I had to buy new socks and shoes because there was no way I could walk around Dobbies soaked through.
It was ok in Sheffield when I left and bright and sunny when I got home!It's crazy out there in the countryside :P

Let me know when you're off for a drink, I might not be able to go though - Uni is crazy mental atm. Take this past two weeks... 5 assignments due! 5!!! It's beyond ridiculous, can't believe they all decided to have their deadlines at the same time.

Catherine@AGardenerinProgress said...

You have so much blooming there, all of them so pretty! I haven't seen any bees yet, even on the days that the sun has been out.