Snowdrops and Aconites at The Gardens

"Fair Maids of February"


I made a brief visit to Castle Bromwich Hall Gardens last Thursday to see snowdrops, hellebores and winter aconites.

Hellebores







There are beautiful displays of snowdrops particularly in the Lower Wilderness



Clumps of snowdrops interspersed with cyclamen, aconites and lungwort







Snowdrop

"Thou first-born of the year's delight
Pride of the dewy glade,
In vernal green and virgin white
They vestal robes array'd"

Keble

Winter Aconites



Aconites and Snowflakes



Daffodils are almost in flower in the Secret Garden



Lungwort









It was freezing cold with a biting wind but a lovely walk that managed to blow "the cobwebs away" !

Brandon Marsh NR

It was a lovely, mild, sunny day here today with a definite feeling of Spring in the air so this afternoon I spent a couple of hours walking round Brandon Marsh NR.



After walking through Hope Wood I wandered through Horsetail Glade. A few years ago at this time of year I saw a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker here and I live in hope of finding another one but not today!



With branches bear of leaves its always easy to spot last year's birds' nests.



A real highlight of my trip was this tame robin singing its heart out as I walked along the path between Goose and Central Marsh Pools. Sorry slight overload of robin photos!

















For some reasonI just love this photo even though its out of focus.



Distant shot of Mute Swan and Shoveler.



I came across a flock of Lesser Redpolls - only a record shot but believe it or not better than any I have taken before of this species.



Coot on Goose Pool - there was a pair of mallard on this pool who, following a bout of head bobbing, mated.



Blue Tit



Great Crested Grebe on East Marsh Pool - I spotted a pair together but no sign of any courtship behaviour.






Black-headed Gulls on East Marsh Pool





Path alongside Grebe Pool



As this was my first "proper" birding trip of the year I managed to add 11 species to the 2013 year list - Reed Bunting, Shoveler, Mute Swan, Redpoll, Great Crested Grebe, Cormorant, Oystercatcher, Teal, Wigeon, Shelduck and Lapwing.



On a separate note I seem to be stuck with Blogger's new system of uploading photos. To be fair it is a lot quicker although I haven't a clue how you now change size or position of photos if you want to. Separating the photos manually is a pain compared to the previous system when Blogger did this for you!

Signs of Growth in the Garden

Sorry for lack of posts recently. I haven't really had chance to get out anywhere interesting and on the occasional day when I have had a few hours spare time its been raining or snowing! Lo and behold I notice that blogger have yet again made a change - this time in the way you upload photos. It was a nightmare trying to separate the photos so I could type inbetween so I haven't a clue how this post is going to turn out!

A quick walk around the garden this morning revealed lots of signs of new growth.

I haven't a clue what this plant is called but I call it "Elephant's Ears" as it has huge fleshy leaves. I find it rather ugly but it does produce quite a lot of flowers.



The wallflowers I put in pots last autumn are now producing buds. Hopefully in a few weeks they will be flowering and attracting some bumble bees.



Winter Jasmine has been flowering for months



Buds are forming on the daffodils,



camelias and



rhodendrons.



Primroses have been flowering for weeks now - looking a bit wilted today after a frost.



Daffodil and bluebell leaves in the wooded area at the top of the garden.



Female hazel flowers have appeared looking like miniature sea anemones



with lamb's tails (male catkins) above.



Sadly, the yucca which we have had for years has come to an untimely end - its only ever flowered twice. Husband thinks it was the weight of snow recently. I only hope it wasn't the intruder we had in the garden recently. An all round nightmare experience as he'd been seen roaming round gardens and then decided to exit via our garage roof jumping onto the bonnet of Emily's brand new car. Luckily, he was seen by a neighbour who called the police who managed to catch him. He has been given a prison sentence but unfortunately that means no compensation for Emily and she is now faced with a situation of paying for the repairs herself (quotes so far vary between £720 and over £1000!!!) or claiming on her insurance and paying the excess and losing most of her no claims bonus. Its not been a good month!!!!



Recent gales have brought down a branch from the Eucalyptus tree.



These pretty little seedheads look almost like flowers.



Silver birch



This is the old hanging basket on the patio where up to 5 wrens have been roosting. They are still ignoring the roosting pouch above it even though the basket drips with rain when its wet.



I was really pleased to receive this Green Man from David for Christmas - its now hanging in the porch.



David's been on holiday today and we went for lunch at our favourite pub - the Plough



and here's one of the Pom Pom ducks wandering round the car park.