The garden was relatively unscathed by the ferocious winds that blew through yesterday. But elsewhere, sadly, there was loss of life as well as trees down and damage to property. This morning’s patrol revealed a few twiggy branches scattered across the lawn and the loss of some ancient fleece wrapped around the agapanthus but otherwise there was an eerie calm. I count myself lucky. Here’s six from the garden that withstood the storm.
One
The hellebores are in their stride so I start with three of the best. First ‘Pretty Ellen’ white. I think this is a mix of the single and the double version.
Two
Then the moodiness of ‘Pretty Ellen’ Red, the double version. It smoulders in a dark shady corner of the garden.
Three
Finally, Helleborus x hybridus. It’s a shame that hellebores don’t like being divided but this one does seem to be self seeding. There are one or two promising leaves emerging near the parent plant so I will lift a few to pot on and see if I can spread them that way.
Four
Suddenly the first Tête-à-tête daffodils have pushed through, there may be stormy weather now but spring is definitely on its way.
Five
Another spring front runner is the pulmonaria, happily hunkered down against the storm, it looked very comfortable in the shade of the rhododendron.
Six
I was just about able to reach up to take this photo of the first clematis armandii flower. The new growth that I felt sure would be blown off survived the onslaught of the winds but I know if I try to bend it down in the direction I want it grow there will be a sudden snap.
The Propagator suffered a lost fence panel and a felt roof torn off, and so has some non gardening jobs to do. I hope there’s not too much damage in other SOS gardens in the UK. It was a wild day. Wishing everyone well, and hoping that the weather settles down so that we can get out into our gardens safely.
n20gardener 
All these flowers … Superb! It’s as if the storm had not passed by there… and yet the UK has suffered the worst damage…
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Thank you for showing us pulmonaria. I have this but didn’t know its name.
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So useful for some early interest and on a warm day the bees love it!
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Ooh I like the smouldering hellebore! You must be ahead of me by a few days – both C. armandii and N. tête à tête are on the cusp here…sadly I don’t think I will have such a show with the clematis, quite a few stems died back and many leaves are browning – has this ever happened to yours?
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I’ve had browning leaves. I think mine dries out in the summer, so I tried to water it more last year. I did pull out some dried up stems and there has been good regrowth. There are plenty more buds now but it’s not yet in full steam ahead flowering.
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I think it could be the same water issue here. Will try to remember to water it in summer but my rain butt runs out too quickly!
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Your Hellebores are huge! How old are they? Still very windy here today, but not as bad as yesterday which was quite dramatic.
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I am glad to see that your beautiful flowers survived the storm. The clematis is my favorite – such a delicate, fresh blush.
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We have had a range of hellebores on offer here over the last few years called “Double Ellen” which were very good. They were a little unpredictable as you couldn’t be sure what colour they were, just that they were doubles. By chance, we got a particularly lovely one and it is a good healthy plant.
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It must be nice. Although winter continues here, with occasional cool weather overnight, the rainy season ended with last year. There was merely a brief rain shower on the third or fourth of January. This is supposed to be our rainy season. We hope for a bit more rain into spring. Otherwise, no more moisture is expected until next autumn. Perhaps that is why our hellebores do not look anything like yours.
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Such beautiful Hellebores. I have ‘Pretty Ellen’ in pink but there aren’t many flowering stems this year.
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Interesting.My PE white double is doing so well this year. I’ve bought a few more PEs this year but I’ve been good and bought singles for the bees. I hope they do as well. I also have PE red and in the same patch some are very good and some a little thin!
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