What’s looking good in February 2020

I popped out in the garden, in the lovely sunshine, to take photos. Within a matter of minutes it started drizzling and when I got further away from the house the heavens opened! So here are some rushed photos.

I haven't got around to tidying up the dead leaves


We've been cutting back the grasses (lots of them) as the new shoots are already growing






This new part of a bed has some lovely Ajuga (large purple leaves) ground cover that is certainly living up to its name of ground cover. It has covered about 40 sq ft in a year


This is a part of the more mature section of the same bed and has 47 clumps of snowdrops but they're fairly well hidden by other plants


These have recovered from being completely covered in very fine soil after the red ants decided to nest there. I kept hosing it away until they gave up and moved elsewhere - mainly in one of the laens!


I've shown this Hebe a number of times through the winter as it hasn't stopped flowering since early last year




The tree Peony is already budding up


We're going to have to dig out the section of this golden Euonymous nearest the camera as it is beginning to swamp the shrubs around it. It may end up in the garden of the village hall as that needs brightening up

 

Still need to remove last year's debris from amongst the plants




I've just started on this area. Top left of picture is the purple fennel starting to grow and middle and bottom right of the picture are salvia turkestanica starting to show some healthy leaves




The Ophiopogon planiscapus nigrescens (black grass) didn't do very well last year but seems to be recovering. The Euphorbia mellifera (green bush in the middle) we cut to the ground last summer as it had gone very leggy (it grows up to 10ft anyway but didn't look happy).


Alliums coming on well










Corylus avellana 'Contorta' has just started growing its catkins

 

Leucojum




I've tidied the leaves on these Hellebores but the bed looks a mess - need to do the edge of the lawn as well




I'll have to take another look at this as it had started to rain hard when I quickly took the photo. I thought I was photographing a Deutzia but this doesn't quite look right


This Hellebore is nearly 3ft high


I haven't got around to cutting the leaves on these Hellebores but I also think I may have spotted some ground elder in this photo .




Tanacetum parthenium ‘Aureum’ has self seeded here


The self seeded snowdrops are already going over and the allium siculum nectaroscordum (that I dug out 'completely' every year for the last four years ) is laughing at me!


Rhubarb almost reayd for picking

 

Thanks @KFF silly mistake. The Galtonia flowers in the summer

Both are in the Asparagales order.

 

Thanks

I don't think it's a Forsythia. They usually flower before the leaves form and their branches normally look more like a shrub than a tree and they have softer wood.

I really thought it was a Deutzia - and still think so - but I seem to remember it having double flowers and not single. I can't remember how many years ago we planted it . It may seem funny that we can't remember what we've planted but we have, literally, thousands of plants and have been planting them for almost 50 years

It's a bit dark out there but I've taken a couple more photos and it's in our very shady area. It's about 6ft tall - possibly taller if it stood upright instead of leaning forward away from the laurel.

 

@strongylodon I'll have to have a look tomorrow but I think you have beaten us.

Our Coronilla doesn't usually flower until at least the end of May

 

Hawkeye!!!