Eye candy

This is why I volunteer at The Garden HouseThe Garden House.  Ten late spring images for your delight.

The Magnolias are blooming again

There are few more magnificent sights than a tree magnolia in full bloom, laden with spring blossom.  My own 'Raspberry Ice' still has a day or two to go but The Garden House season has started already,

Most magnificent of all is Magnolia cambellii, a spectacle of pink flowered abundance.

Technically it's not on The Garden House's property, but just beyond the stream that marks the northern boundary, but, in the spirit of the borrowed landscape, it does form a magnificent backdrop to the garage and garden buildings it sits behind.

M.cambellii, originally from the Himalayas, is well established in many a South West garden, enjoying the mild, moist maritime climate of the region.  A number of varieties can be found in cultivation.  All are desirable - if you have the room.  These are large trees and often don't flower for ten or more years after planting.

Such is the case with M.c. 'Betty Jessel', a deep pink flowered form that was looking magnificent in the spring sunshine when I photographed it last Friday.

It still has a few years to go to develop the full crown and profusion of massive flowers but even this comparatively young specimen is an impressive sight in the upper garden.

In the Arboretum another of the early flowering magnolias is unfurling its bloosom.  M. 'Kim Kunso', a hybrid between between M. veitchii 'Peter Veitch' and M. soulangeana 'Lennei', is built on a far smaller scale but the large flowers are nearly as impressive.

It's only the start of the season, with plenty more Magnolia species and varieties to come.  Not bad for one of the most ancient lineages of flowering plants, 90 million years or more old, during the later era of the dinosaurs, and still performing magnificently today.

Snowdrop of the Day - Week 7

For the final week of the 2024 snowdrop season at The Garden House we showed the following snowdeops that were in flower during the period from the 23rd to the 29th of February.  Due to relatively mild winter the season has been a little shorter and more condensed than in previous years but I still managed to feature 48 winter flowering snowdrops and cover a good selection from the collection.  Enjoy.

Galanthus 'Das Gelb von Ei'

Galanthus elwesii 'Morgana'

Galanthus gracilis 'Andrea's Fault'

Galanthus lagodechianus

Galanthus nivalis 'Walrus'

Galanthus plicatus 'Primrose Warburg'

And, to round out the season and provide an opening to the new season Galanthus reginae-olgae.  This can flower as early as October with us, the first of many to come over the 2024-25 winter.

Early flowering cherries

One of the joys of working at The Garden House is the range of plants on display.  Although we don't boast a definitive collection some of our flowering cherries bloom so early in the year and with such profusion that they produce a definite impact = even amongst visitors primarily attracted by the snowdrops.

Any of these are ideal if you want a small tree to add colour and interest as winter gives way to spring.  All are hardy, deciduous, and show some Autumn colour.

Starting with the red pink flowers of Prunus campanulat 'Felix Jury'...

...white flowered Prunus incisa 'Kojo-No-Mai'...

...and Prunus x incam 'Okame'...

..they all offer colour and interest at an often bleak time of the year,

Snowdrop of the Day - Week 6

Week 6 of The Garden House 'Snowdrop of the Day images, and these are the ones we featureded between the 16th and 22nd of February.

Galanthus 'Cowhouse Green'

Galanthus 'Joe Spotted'

Galanthus nivalis 'Bungee'

Galanthus nivalis 'Egret'

Galanthus nivalis 'Viridapice'

Galanthus plicatus 'Wendy's Gold'

Galanthus nivalis 'Blonde Inga'

Galanthus nivalis and G.plicatus varieties featured heavily this week.  This is their season and they continue the display we began featuring back on the 12th January.  Although there are still snowdrops to come the season is nearly over - but there will another 7 next Friday and possibly a few more after that.  Hope you've enjoyed them,

Snowdrop of the day - Week 5

Our fifth week of The Garden House snowdrop festival 'Snowdrop of the Day' and here are the ones we've picked that were on display in the garden between February 9th to 15th:

Galanthus nivalis Sandersonii Group 'Scotzen'

Galanthus nivalis 'Warei'

Galanthus plicatus 'Seraph'

Galanthus 'Trymming'

Galanthus woronowii

Galanthus plicatus 'Elizabeth Harrison'

Galanthus x valentini notho subsp. subplicatus

A lot of the collection is limited to single or small numbers of bulbs, many harvested from other collections in danger of being lost due to the death of the owners.  We have a duty to preserve and put these on display so others might enjoy them and what better environment than the 10 acre edge of Dartmoor plot that is The Garden House.

Of course we do have our drifts of the more vigorous species and varieties and I took these photographs in Dartmoor rain and drizzle / mizzle on the 9th February.  Hope you enjoy the spectacle.

Sheets of Crocus

Specifically Crocus tommasinianus, the hardy, early flowering species from Eastern Europe and the Balkans. Along with their snowdrop collections, this is one of the harbingers of spring at The Garden House, occupying swathes of ground in both the bulb meadow and acer glade and, with suitable encouragement from the garden team, in other areas within the garden

February sunshine brings them out in full glory, both in the sunnier Bulb Meadow....  

...and the shadier Acer Glade.

Despite recieving the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit (AGM) the species can also be considered a bit of a weed due to it's ability to naturalise in the semi shaded, edge of woodland areas that mimic the wild habitat.  Beloved of early flying bumble bees, it acts as a nectar source for these and other early insects at a time when there is little else available.  Perhaps a little invasiveness is no bad thing.

You may not have the room to encourage such early sheets of colour but it's hardiness and ability to spread by both seed and corm multiplication deserves a place in even a small plot.  After all, it doesn't interfere with the summer's growth and adds a splash of colour when colour is most needed.