Tuesday, 8 February 2011

A beautiful winter day at Colesbourne Park

Crocus tommasinianus, early morning
A sharp frost this morning was followed by a beautiful, calm day. Here are some pictures showing the diversity of winter interest at Colesbourne.
Lakeside oak

Polypodium interjectum on oak

Rosa nitida, from seed collected on the
aptly-named Brier Island, Nova Scotia

The ghost of Christmas past - blasted young
Trachycarpus fortunei


Galanthus 'John Gray'
Eranthis hyemalis and Galanthus nivalis


Double seedling from Eranthis 'Lightning'

Cyclamen coum and Galanthus 'S Arnott'

Cyclamen coum f. pallidum

Crocus tommasinianus, afternoon.
Posted by at

8 comments:

  1. Carolyn @ Carolyn's Shade Gardens8 February 2011 at 22:36

    So beautiful. Can't wait for this to happen in my garden. G. elwesii melted through today and is showing white buds. any day now.

    ReplyDelete
  2. F9 February 2011 at 14:45

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  3. F9 February 2011 at 14:46

    That's not winter! That's spring! I'm so ready for the mountains of snow to go away so I can delight in the snowdrops, winter aconite and cyclamen. Well not the cyclamen, they can't handle the freezing/thawing combined with very deep freezing of this neck of the woods. But I will delight in your photos and know that in another six weeks or so I too can enjoy the muddy mud and glorious flowers of early spring.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous11 February 2011 at 00:40

    John - A very nice rose with spectacular stems. Sadly no one seems to grow it in gardens here It is actually Brier Island, Nova Scotia, French for briar of course. Did you collect seeds here? I can't wait to see your pink toms, they are nowhere to be found in the trade here. Are there some in the last photo?

    johnw - in coastal Nova Scotia

    ReplyDelete
  5. John Grimshaw11 February 2011 at 06:31

    John - thanks for the spelling correction. Yes, collected the seed when I was in NS in 2002. Rosa nitida is a bit vigorous for polite gardens, but the stems are good & the flowers quite pretty. Some of the tommies in the last pic are pinkish, but I've not found a really good one there.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Panayoti Kelaidis11 February 2011 at 14:21

    What wonderful images, John: you make me ache for spring! We are in the deep freeze this year...

    ReplyDelete
  7. Jim Fox12 February 2011 at 02:45

    Great photos. Love the Eranthus. And coums with 'S. Arnott.' Such elegance.

    How does your "pink" tommie compare to 'Roseus'? Better, same? I get C. tom. 'Roseus' in at the nursery and it's fairly pink.

    For a fantastic R. nitida hybrid you must find 'Metis'. Same shiny leaves, stems more bristly, and semi-double to double flowers. Fall color astounding oranges, purples, yellows. )'Therese Bugnet x R. nitida'.) Not a bad runner. There's also a superb selection of R. nitida (maybe hyrbid) in Scandinavia . . . . the name's escaped me - starts with K. Can't find it in the US, alas.

    ReplyDelete
  8. John Grimshaw14 February 2011 at 06:22

    @Jim: 'Roseus' is very distinct and good, but apparently sterile. My pink tommies are in different shades and shapes, and are fertile. I prefer swarms to clones where possible.

    'Metis' doesn't seem to be available in the UK, alas.

    ReplyDelete

Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)