Celebrating creation in Lent - Part 3: 2nd Sunday in Lent to Saturday 4th March

 Sunday 5th March

Our winter flowering cherry has been blooming for a few weeks now, only now reaching its peak close to our front door. It is Prunus x subhirtella ‘Autumnalis Rosea’ - another Japanese cherry, with shocking pink blossom on bare twigs. It is frequented by early bees, and regularly visited by Bull finches, which peck at its buds, but that doesn't seem to diminsh its display with us. 

When I planted it in 2001, I had really intended to get the straight P. 'Autumnalis', which grows in many old gardens locally and flowers sporadically with white flowers from November through winter to spring, but the nursery trade seems to have delisted that in favour of 'Atumnalis Rosea', which starts to bloom in February, and is much showier.

Monday 6th March

So often, I fear, we overlook common wildflowers in our gardens, or even root them out. These lovely golden shuttlecocks are the flowers of the wild native Lesser Celandine, growing at the base of a lime tree in our wildflower meadow. I also like the marbling on the glossy leaves, more marked on some plants than others. The scientific name is Ficaria verna. It is the first of the many wild native buttercups to flower.

A ruder common name for this lovely plant is Pilewort. Herbalists following the doctrine of signatures used it to treat piles, as the knobbly roots reminded them of haemerrhoids.

Tuesday 7th March

My wife Marty likes hellebores, and she bought several different plants years ago. Now they are spreading by seed, producing even more different kinds, providing plenty of interest at this time of year. Most are 'Lenten Roses', not roses at all of course, but cultivars of Helleborus x hybridus in shades running through dark maroon, almost black, through pink and yellow to green and white. But even prettier to my eye are plants of Stinking Hellebore, H. foetidus, with its tall sprays of drooping green bells tipped with maroon, set off by  lovely palmate dark leaves.

Wednesday 8th March

The native yellow primroses (Primula vulgaris ssp vulgaris) are starting to bloom at last, on the hedge bank behind our house. They are quite a bit later than their purple cousin the Sibthorp primrose, with which they hybridise. They were here when we bought the house, almost new and un-gardened in 2000, so they are truly wild, and spreading from seed, well away from their purple cousins.  As you can see, someone has been eating petals - I don't know if it is slugs, or insects, or birds pecking. How generous nature is to bless us with such beautiful wildflowers!

Thursday 9th March

Today has not been conducive to wandering about the garden taking photos! This is what greeted us through the windows when we got up in the morning - a winter wonderland. Sleet and snow alternated throughout the day, and I fear tomorrow will be no better. Take care everybody...

How grateful we were this evening for our little Morsø Squirrel woodburning stove, as we watched Adam Dalgleish and the lights flickered!

Friday 10th March

I learned the name of this pretty plant as 'Soldiers & Sailors' as a child, and we still grow it in our garden. The red flowers turn blue as they age. Army officers' full dress uniforms are red, while sailors' are blue - hence the name.

Another common name is Lungwort, and its scientific name is Pulmonaria officianalis. It is not a native plant in Britain and Ireland, but is widely naturalised in Britain, much less so in Ireland, as you can see from the recently published Plant Atlas 2020 (https://plantatlas2020.org/atlas/2cd4p9h.vs2).

Saturday 11th March

A very drisly, dank and overcast day, but that hasn't stopped these hyacinths from opening their glorious blue bells, as if to shame the heavens. These look ready to shake themselves like wet dogs!

After hyacinths in pots have bloomed, they are always planted out in Marty's Labyrinth garden. Over the years the bulbs tend to produce more stems with fewer flowers, which we can pick and bring into the house to enjoy their heady perfume.