WINTER IN YELLOW AND WHITE

Nature is a great colourist, I think.  Each season of the year produces it's own harmonies.  The oranges and rusts of Autumn are widely celebrated, but Winter too has it's particular palette.  It is subtle shades of browns, greys and greens with small touches of white and yellow.  It is a quiet palette, but  a beautiful  one none the less.  

1. Phlomis russelliana

Before we get onto those whites and yellows, here is a little curiosity for you.  This is the seed head of Phlomis russelliana with what I assume are germinating seeds peeking out of these beautifully tessellated  compartments, arranged like an Islamic mosaic.

2. Long awaited

As soon as Christmas has passed, I begin to eagerly await the appearance of the snowdrops. They are a sign that the new gardening year is beginning.  Each day I visit them to see how they are progressing.  I missed the last two days because the weather has been rather wet, but then suddenly, today, the first of them were there.  

3. Yellow Aconites

I love the fancy green ruffs that encircle each flower head, and how each globe of flower is held upright above them.  They form themselves into little posies.  They are tougher than they look, as these have appeared through the bark path, and at the edge of the gravel drive another patch regularly appear despite their gravel covering.

4. Pale yellow Hellebores

These Hellebores will look even better when the flowers open up, so I should wait until they do before featuring them, but since these are another important contributor to the scheme of yellow and white, due to their beautiful creamy yellow colour, I've been impatient and included them regardless.  

5. Helleborus foetidus

I haven't planted these.  They just appeared last year in an area where overgrown shrubs had been cut back.  They flowered for the first time this week, but I'm sorry that forgot to check how foetidus they are. I will have to report back another time.

6. Mahonia Aquifolium

Those beautifully scented flowers are starting to appear. 

I hope my rather poor closeup captures something of their lovely cupped double rows of petals.  After I took these photos, a little group of blue tits seemed to be delighting in pecking these and tossing their petals around.  I couldn't be cross about it, as they looked so cute.

That's all from my garden for this week.  If you'd like to see what's happening in other gardens around the world then do visit The Propagator who kindly hosts Six on Saturday.