I’ve managed to get my three sessions of gardening in this week, sometimes short, at least one was a couple of hours! I find that once I’m out there, all wrapped up, it’s actually quite pleasant!
I’m still waiting for my wine hellebore to bloom, there’s lots of buds now though, a couple of the other hellebores are just starting to flower too, this is a pretty double one I grew from a little plug plant a few years ago…
…I think I’ve a bit more tidying up to do round the pond! Those are old iris and crocosmia leaves which need a good trim.
Whilst I’m tidying the beds up I uncover all sorts of bulbs just starting to make an appearance, in particular daffodils and snowdrops.
I’m concentrating on the patio area at the moment, down by the conservatory. I’ve pulled up all the dead geranium and brunnera leaves, cut back all the irises, weeded and generally tidied. My next area to tackle is the raised bed, it’s about 6′ deep and about 18′ long, I’ve planted lots of shrubs but I think I need a few more smaller ones. It always looks a mess at this time of year! At one end there’s a large choisya which I think needs a good prune as it’s being a bit of a bully to nearby shrubs. The rose is getting swamped and there’s a poor artemisia just to the right of the shrub which looked like it was being pushed off the wall last year!
The pots still need sorting a bit but I did notice an early iris reticulata, it’s been fairly mild over the last couple of weeks and I think a few plants are earlier than usual.
Hopefully next week I’ll be able to show you a tidy patio and maybe some wine red hellebores!
thecraftycreek 
The iris looks stunning. You have inspired me to go out and do some tidying up in my garden, I had better make it quick as cold weather is on the horizon!
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I love Iris and Hellebore time. Your garden is way ahead of mine. I will go out today to see if any hellebore buds are showing. I rather doubt it though.
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Love that iris! So nice to see blooms…my garden is under a blanket of snow and frost.
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I always find your winter gardening posts astounding, because here the ground is frozen solid, even though we are having temperatures in the 30-40 degree range. The iris in bloom in January, amazing!
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That iris made me smile…it is winter here in Indiana, USA.Everything is brown and hibernating. I have the card for the tulips in the back of my coffee cup cabinet to remind me that spring will be here and I will have those prettys to look forward to.
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Just love the hellebores – especially the doubles and your iris is stunning. Roll on spring!
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I’m a hellebore fan and collect white and black doubles and ruffles. Yours are looking lovely. What have you got layered around them like a mulch? It looks like pine needles…
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I’m not sure which bit you’re looking at, round the hellebores are just dead iris leaves waiting to be pulled up, on the ground near the snowdrop shoots the green stuff is moss.
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Ah. I think it’s the dead iris leaves forming a little mulch-like bed.
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Yes it does seem a little early for an iris!
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