It’s lovely how one phone call can lift the spirits. Friday was the coldest day of the year for my garden and I was thinking about presenting a six shades of brown. There were some truly great contenders but in the blink of phone screen my mind set changed and some colours came into focus.
One
Shouting most loudly to be included this week is the lovely hellebore double ‘Pretty Ellen’. Even with the downward aspect of the flowers the colour gives a warming glow to a shady corner of the garden. I think I should have more of these and so I shall look into how to propagate them. I imagine it will be a slow process.
Two
The viburnums in the back garden are fairing rather better than those in the front garden. One is a large and oldish looking tree which has the pinker flower and the other is a smaller tree with more consistently white flowers. Both are much loved by viburnum beetle – which I’ve never seen, just the holey evidence of their presence.
Three
It may be cold out there but the rosemary bush has a gentle dusting of pretty purple flowers.
Four
The iberis sempervirens that covers the rocky wall of the north facing border is also beginning to flower.
Five
The leaves of Arum italicum looking beautifully glossy and untroubled by slugs. I read that these combine well with snowdrops. My snowdrops are being very shy this year. It looks like I may have lost some which is very careless of me. I think it will be another week before a snowdrop picture graces one of my posts.
Six
The last of my six gives the clue to my delightful phone call. Last weekend I tackled a good part of the cutting that back that was needed. Roses were pruned, geraniums and alchemilla mollis cut back and the builder’s bag that is serving as my temporary compost heap was overflowing. I was longing for the day when the brick structure would be demolished. I pushed over a few of the less stable bricks and poked and prodded the rest. Hurrah, no more waiting. My delightful builder has two free days and will arrive next week with an array of suitably destructive tools and a skip. I will spend the weekend ferreting out all the debris that accumulates in the garden and down the side of the shed. All will be well with the world.
For more stories from gardens around the world go to the links on The Propagator site. Now there’s a man who loves his compost!
n20gardener 
Rosemary flowering now – amazing! Should that be happening? Lovely post.
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I do remember it being early last year inall that cold weather! Mine is up against a brick wall so maybe there is a micro climate, but it’s definitely cold here today.
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What are you going to put in place of your brick structure?
Beautiful hellebores – I need more, can’t resist them.
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The old brick walls were my compost heap, but it was falling down and not very easy to manage. Once it’s gone I will be puttting it three new wooden bins and hopefully I will get a hard standing in front to give me better access. But it’s all a bit ‘let’s see how it goes’. 🙂
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I’m looking forward to knowing what you will put in place of the brick structure … I have the same thing here and I don’t know what to do …
Very beautiful arum leaves. If you saw mine … it will be a thread of the next Six, I guess.
Beautiful double hellebores flowers! I just love the dark color !
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Mine brick walls were crumbling away but even so it was so tempting to walk on them to get around the heap. The walls weren’t very high so I used pallets to give me the extra height. It was not a pretty sight. I’m going to use some wooden bins in the same space. I’ll probably have to put a brick edge around everything to finish it off.
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We’ll see what it’s going to do!
My brick structure (6 * 4m) looks like yours and I keep there old branches, leaves, … My idea was to build a new greenhouse but the place isn’t clear enough because under the trees . That’s why every idea is good to take.
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Gorgeous pictures — I guess even the last shot of the bricks since you have happy news about them going away! Those hellebores are beautiful with their deep color. Iberis Sempervirens is one of my favorite plants! Ours won’t bloom for a couple more months.
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Very happy to see end of bricks and new compost bins will go in their place. Can’t wait!
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Funnily enough I saw a rosemary flowering when I was on my way into town this morning. Our rosemary has never flowered. Do we cut and eat it too often? That hellebore is a stunning colour.
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I have a sage plant here that has never flowered and yet the sage in the old house flowered every spring.
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After No. 6 I can’t wait to see what you post next week! The hellebore is beautiful, I have a sister-in-law named Ellen, I think I can see a gift coming on ….. Are the viburnum fragrant? They are very pretty, especially the pink. As for the arum, what wonderful leaves, is it a named cultivar? Glad your spirits were lifted, and you are quite right, it can take just one small thing to change everything around. A lesson for us all really. 🙂
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Barely any scent from the viburnums but the pink one is pretty. The arum came with the garden so I don’t know the variety. I have come across old plant labels when I dig but none for that one! I seem to only find labels for plants that have disappeared. Skip arrives today – very exciting!!
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So what are you going to build in the space?
and Arum italicum – just wow…
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The old brick thing was the compost heap but it was crumbling away. In its place will go three new wooden bins. They’ll be much higher so I hope to build up a bit more heat and get faster composting going.
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Lots of us are thinking about composting right now! I added more to my hellebore bed too, they are so lovely! Now about that arum, absolutely beautiful! I may have to see if I can grow it in my yarden! I look forward to seeing what comes next in your garden!
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Your garden is definately further on than mine with rosemary flowering. What will you be building?
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A new compost area is coming. I’ve got three wooden bins to go in, just hoping the sizes all work out. I’ll have to do some tidy up work when the bins are in, maybe there’s a chance for a bit more brick work on the path front.
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I’m impressed with the rosemary flowers, is that the normal time it should be flowering (I’ve never grown that before)?
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I lose track of when rosemary flowers but it does feel early. It is growing against a south facing brick wall so perhaps the sheltered position is helping it along.
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AWay replaces the brick? A compost bin arrangement i would guess! I would love an excuse for a skip. Always loads to get rid of…
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Spent Sunday therapeutically throwing almost everything in garage into a pile ready for skip, possibly now no room for the bricks! I’ll have to make sure bricks go in first! You are right – new bins are waiting patiently to be installed.
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It is amusing to see an appreciation for plants that I do not have much regard for. Hellebores, although admired by some, do not do well here. The various viburnum do well here, but do not bloom very impressively. Rosemary and candytuft (Iberis) are just common. Italian arum is a (sometimes) invasive exotic. I really did not think much of it until others started posting pictures of it. I am getting to like it now.
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The six does introduce us to new ways of seeing! I was expecting the arum to be invasive but so far it has behaved well! I could do with it spreading out a bit further but I’ll be careful what I wish for.
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I was thinking the same. There is some arum that I should remove from the edge of a landscape where it runs into the forest. I will likely plant it back into a more contained spot in the landscape, but am rather hesitant to do so. I suppose that if I can grow montbretias that I know to be invasive, I can grow arums that I don’t quite know about.
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Beautiful colour flowers on your Hellebore. Mine are mostly self seeders and pale coloured but I love them all. Mind the Arum. I planted it quite a few years ago and admired the foliage for years. Then I suddenly realised it was everywhere!
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Yes I do keep an eye on the arum, it seems to be behaving well so far. It’s in a dry dark corner on north side where not much else gets going. I would be happy if it spread out a little bit…
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