As I wrote yesterday in my In a vase on Monday post yesterday, when I was walking around the garden looking for things to pick for a vase I was very surprised to find that the yellow Crocus were flowering; as there are so few flowers around at the moment they made my heart jump with pleasure.
This morning I walked around again to see if there were any other treasures.
Yellow Crocus
It is cloudy today and the Crocus haven’t opened their petals but maybe that will mean they will last a while longer.
When I saw the Crocus yesterday I thought they were early but sometimes when I check back I find things have flowered more or less the same day – but in this case I was correct, last year they flowered on February 6th which makes them about 3 weeks early. I think this may be due to our cold autumn and early winter providing an early stimulus for growth.
Yellow Crocus with Euphorbia myrsinites
All the Euphorbia around the garden are showing signs that they are about to flower.
Euphorbia rigida
Euphorbia rigida
Teucrium fruticans never disappoints, it reliably flowers from November through to April
Th stripey bumble bee flitted from flower to flower, rather quickly, maybe she didn’t find as much nectar as she would have liked.
Teucrium with stripey bumble bee
Snow drops
I planted a small number (25) of snowdrops in autumn 2016, some but not all flowered last year; this year there seem to be more plus they began flowering in December.
Snow drops
Arbutus unedo
I have been worried about the above Arbutus, it has been struggling to survive since it was planted in April 2015. This winter it has put on more leaves but the number of flowers makes me think it is still very stressed and this flowering is its last gasp attempt at propagating itself.
Iris unguicularis
Iris unguicularis
I am so pleased that Iris unguicularis has established itself in the garden, it is now reliably flowering from November to spring.
What treasures are you finding in your winter garden. Are there plants that you wouldn’t be without?
Creating my own garden of the Hesperides 
It is good to see that your garden is reawakening, although it never really sleeps in your part of the world I suppose. The crocus and Euphorbia make a lovely pair. Hope you are wrong about the Arbutus and it makes a recovery. It would be a shame to lose it. I keep stumbling over more and more Teucriums – the silvey foliage of this one is very attractive. Hooe you get some sunshine later! 🙂
The sun’s just peeping through the cloud now Cathy so it must have read your message just before I did!
☀️😎😃
Those crocus are a fine sight for those of us who are only seeing white in our gardens 🙂 . They’re so bright. Most of mine have brown feathering on the outer petals, and don’t look nearly as colorful when not fully open.
Of course I can’t pass on commenting on the snowdrops. They look very happy and it seems they just needed some time to settle in and recover, I can see that a few are already beginning to multiply! What are the seedlings which are coming up around them. They look promising.
Here there are only a few browned grasses to look at, but whenever the weather warms enough to melt the snow I race off through the mud to search out any snowdrop sprouts which might be snowing signs of life.
I think some of the snowdrops may have seeded last year, but I suppose they will take a couple of years before they flower.
You have many garden surprises. It looks like spring is getting close for you. We are below freezing for two days, then back to 70f by the weekend. The plants don’t know what to do.
Neither do we; what do we put on in the morning when we don’t know what the weather will be.
Your crocus are beautiful, just the colour of sunshine. My crocus are nowhere near ready yet! Bulbs are waking up though, so far just the special snowdrops, but the rest can’t be far behind.
I was very surprised to see the Crocus so early Pauline, but they were certainly a very pleasant surprise.
Hooray for flowers and bees. So glad to see both.
indeed
Oh those crocuses look so cheerful and beautiful with the euphorbia. Do you find birds peck them at all? I gave up on the yellow ones only for that reason.
So far, there’s no damage from the birds; sometimes they peck buds because there are water droplets for them to drink; in the past I’ve had problems with them doing that to the Wisteria buds.
I must try Iris unguicularis. I’ve seen it blooming happily in December elsewhere in Devon so perhaps that gives me a chance. Spring and summer irises really don’t like it here. I’ve almost given up.
Zcertainly mne thrives in free draining soil which perhaps you don’t have, bit it is very easy.
It likes the dry conditions here but it isn’t a difficult plant, but it does take a while to establish and flower prolifically.
The crocus are lovely. It is so special to see what is popping through in January. We are still getting a lot of rain and have an untypically covered sky. I am not complaining about the rain. Amelia
It is very easy to get used to the lack of overcast days, it hate it when it is grey here which realistically isn’t really very often in comparison to the UK.
We’ve had some lovely days, unseasonably warm, but I’m realizing that I need to plant more with this time of year in mind. As is so often the case, I will take a few tips from you.
There are a lot of plants that give good winter interest, I don’t have enough of them!
How delightful that your early bulbs have started blooming, and 3 weeks earlier at that. As you could guess from my recent posts, NOTHING much is happening in my gardens. 😉
As it has been a cold winter (for here) I didn’t expect the Crocus to be early. I can’t imagine what it is like to have the garden under snow for months.
It does get long, that is for sure! We feel quite starved by the time the first green shoots appear.
I can understand that.
Your garden is promising a lovely year. I always seem to find more color than I imagine is there. I love the Euphorbias, they are great winter interest and the perfect foil for the gloom breaking crocus!
I use Euphorbia all around the garden as ground-cover and winter interest.
I’m glad to hear that your garden is giving you such joy, Christina. My own Arbutus (‘Marina’) flower heavily this time of year so perhaps A. unedo’s heavy bloom isn’t a bad sign at all. Amazingly, although none of my other bulbs are blooming yet, I saw a few crocus blooms yesterday myself. A grower sent me the crocus as a gift with purchase and I planted them, even though those bulbs never last long here (too little winter chill). They had almost no stem and the flowers literally seemed to have opened as they broke through the surface of the ground. Pleasant, even if not long-lasting.
My Crocus often behave as you describe, Kris; I have to admit I’m not a great fan of them as they never flower for very long but they do add a splash of early colour. I think mine have flowered early due to the cold weather in autumn that we don’t usually have. My other Arbutus are also flowering and have been since October, but the tree I showed in ALL flowers, you can hardly see the foliage at all, so my fingers are crossed that it doesn’t just keel over and die
Lots of excitement in your garden. Just began snowing here and ground is quickly turning white. Everything shuts down here when it snows. University classes are cancelled. Expecting two to six inches but warming up to 60s by weekend.
That’s a lot of snow! Keep warm and safe.
Christina I love your yellow crocuses next to the euphorbia. Actually I like all your euphorbias. All the photos are magnificent, but the Teucrium with the bee is beautiful. The Snow Bells are beautiful. The Iris unguicularis are divine and I am happy that they have blossomed more this year. It’s a shame if your suspicions about the Arbutus unedo are fulfilled, with how beautiful it is. Hopefully it will recover little by little. You have a garden full of flowers. Have a good week. Greetings from Margarita.
I wish it were true that I have a garden full of flowers, but for now these are enough.
The euphorbias look elegant. I have winter crocuses, but they like the sun as you say, and grey skies and rain predominate here. My snowdrops are late ones, so just peeping through. Tiny iris , hellebores are flowering. But nothing likes the rain!
Here it is just cold, today is bright sun but not warm. There was frost again last night. I can’t believe how cold this winter is!!!
Thanks for showing us the crocus – they really do brighten a winter garden although as they are notoriously prone to bird damage in the UK the lack of birds in your garden will be a benefit as far as yours are concerned!
I’ve yellow Crocus coming up right now and not far from flowering. Must make sure to put a wire cloche over them as the blackbirds love ripping them to pieces. Weather is so rotten these days that one welcome every little flower. I’ve similar ones to yours as well as Hellebores about to open, Hamamelis, Clematis cirrhosa…
I seem to be quite lucky that birds don’t peck my crocus. Sadly it’s too hot and dry for Hellebores here but I should look for a Clematis cirrhosa
Is your Iris unguicularis fragrant? I’ve read that it typically is when I came upon it at a local Arboretum I couldn’t detect a fragrance.
You have a lot in bloom for the middle of winter! The only thing I’ve got blooming is a witch hazel. Even the buds on my Prunus mume got killed off by cold and that hasn’t happened since it started blooming 15 years ago.
No, I can’t detect any fragrance from the Iris although many people seem to! I usually can’t detect perfume on most witch hazels either!
We also have snowdrops in flower but in other gardens I have seen snowflake and three-cornered leek, all brightening the gloom with their white flowers.
Looks like spring! Can’t wait until I can see my own Crocuses. Love the Teucrim, which is not a plant we see much around here.
This weekend it has truly felt like spring, I’ve been outside weeding and tidying. I’ve seen lots of bulbs pushing up so it does make me think of spring.
It’s probably too wet and cold where you are.
Yes! We could use some of those early blooms here!
Love the euphorbia rigida.
They self-seed everywhere in the garden and put themselves in just the right position most of the time!