What on earth will I find for this weekend? Finding six things to share brings home hard the reality that those gardening jobs are quietly building up – gooseberries to be pruned, raspberries to be cut down, the passion flower, long ago condemned, is still twining its way round the arch and the mild weather is doing the weeds the power of good. Everything is shooting away and gloomily I fear the worst. A prolonged cold spell must be on its way, I am postponing any cut backs in anticipation of a blast of icy weather but am I deluding myself? Shame over and done with, here’s the six good things I found this morning.
One
More hellebore love as the hybridised ones begin to open up. Irresistible.
Two
The beautiful unfurling of the aquilegia leaves has begun, and diamond drops of rain add to its charm.
Three
The first flowers of the bergenia have appeared. I’m one of those who underated these plants but I’m working around them, adding in some other leaf forms to create a textured area. It’s a work in progress and I’ll share more as the other plants grow on. I found an interesting blog from the Beth Chatto garden which mounts a strong defence for the their use in the garden.
Four
The climbing hydrangeas, planted last year to cover the brown fence, are sending out buds right, left and centre. I’m hoping for a good display of flowers this year but I think it will be a while before the fence is hidden.
Five
This brachyglottis also falls into the bergenia category for me. Not much loved but once again I am beginning to appreciate it for being a good doer. It had become very leggy but some serious cutting back last year has perked it up no end and it is looking very healthy. It sits well under-planted between a mahonia and a viburnum.
Six
The iberis sempervirens is another flower making an early appearance. Billed as a mid-spring reliable, its appearance in what is still mid-winter seems a little odd. It is in a sunny corner in a sheltered spot so perhaps this is all normal.
I just need a few more weeks before spring really appears. I will make another promise to myself to get out into the garden and do some jobs. Sounds like the shame is making a re-appearance. But not to worry, I’ll ignore it until next week’s six.
Thanks to Mr P for instituting this regime – no, really I do mean that. I am sure my garden is a better place for it. If you’d like to be kept on your toes take a look at the blog and see what is going on in everyone else’s gardens.
n20gardener 
Hello, yes .. I too was able to discover with joy the young shoots of aquilegia in the garden this morning! Nice to see this “looking-like taste” of spring. One of my bergenias has become an imposing tuft and this weekend’s project is to cut it in half. Still 3 blogs to read and I’m going to cut it. It will recover.
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My bergenias need to be encouraged to clump up. I had a busy week out of the garden and did not manage to read anything!
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I’ve not started chopping things back or tidying things up yet either. It’s still January. Plenty of time for a long cold spell yet (that’s my excuse anyway). I look forward to seeing the climbing hydrangea in flower. There’s something very pleasing about new aquilega foliage.
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We have rather scrappy bergenias but they do fill a space which I’m not sure anything else would. Will read the Beth Chatto post with interest.
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The two climbing hydrangeas I started last year are doing the same. I have one established covering the opposite fence and that I reckon took many years. Slow to get going but super once they do.
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Patience required then!
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I’m a big Bergenia fan as I have some areas in my garden where they provide useful groundcover – An evergreen with interesting rounded leaves and pink flowers is always a winner if you ask me…
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It is doing a good job of providing ground cover in a difficult area so it will definitely be staying
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I think Bergenia is a very under-rated plant. I have one that are from my Dad’s garden many years ago. It’s at about the same stage as yours. We both chose to show a beautiful Hellebore
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I am catching up on my blog reading after a busy week so I will stop by and admire your hellebore. I love having plants from family gardens. I have a good clump of Dad’s delphiniums which are a joy each year.
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I can understand why some people like it and some don’t. Bergenia is one of those plants that needs tidying up. If you pull out the dead and tatty leaves it looks nice, if you don’t it can look awful.
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It’s winning a place with me!
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