Yesterday when I was in the greenhouse I glanced out and was horrified to see that the Cypress by the gate was billowing with smoke; I thought someone must have set the tree on fire – but no as I looked at all the Cypresses they all looked as if smoke was blowing away from them. Then, of course, I realised that it wasn’t smoke but the fine dust-like pollen! I pity anyone with an allergy, the pollen is so fine it filled the air and there would be no way of avoiding inhaling the pollen. Stranger still was the fact that the day seemed to be completely still (after days of strong wind), yet the pollen didn’t stream off the trees constantly but in gusts.
Today was cloudy but not cold; ideal for taking some photographs showing the advance of spring.
More Anemones are opening their buds around the garden; I have sown the seed I saved last year; I want to be able to have them all around the garden and have enough to pick for a vase.
The white Anemones remain with short stems; they are the most prolific Anemone in the garden but grow with consistently short stems – very annoying.
You can see Anemone coronaria ‘The Bride’ on the left and Euphorbia rigida peeping out between evergreen shrubs giving a shot of early colour all around the garden.
Rosemary has been flowering since the autumn but there seem to be even more flowers at the moment.
Hyacinths have been in the ground for several years now, I planted more last autumn too. They reliably return each year giving a punch of strong colour just when we need it most.
Grevillia rosmarinifolia, another plant that has been flowering for most of February. This Grevillia is very hardy, I would like to try some of the other varieties but I rarely see them in nurseries here.
You can tell it is winter by the patch of bright green in the field beyond the garden, it would be golden or brown in summer.
I think there are more blooms on the wonderful fragrant Lonicera than I’ve ever seen before. Maybe due in part to more rain last summer.
So much perfume from such tiny flowers.
Iris reticulata ‘Harmony’ are blooming all around the garden at the moment; I love them. This variety returns well each year but other varieties are less sure. After seeing the wonderful selection of varieties Chloris at The Blooming Garden has, I hope to try some different ones next year.
I hope the good gardening weather continues everywhere. Readers in the UK might like to contemplate that their temperatures this past week have been between 5 to 15 degrees higher than here in central Italy where last weekend we had a icy winds from the north. Even yesterday, which was a glorious day our temperatures didn’t rise above 18°C.