Weekend Wandering: A post-Doris walk

Today dawned bright and fair, unlike yesterday when dark clouds scudded across the sky as storm Doris made her presence felt. Luckily we got off fairly lightly, and the after-morning's bright sunshine tempted me out for a quick walk around our estate. How rewarding it turned out to be... perfect for a weekend wander here on't blog...

Pulmonaria and snowdrops - an excellent combination for early foraging bees

We're pretty much at peak snowdrop now and I'm rather taken with the Pulmonaria combination in the guerrilla garden out front, especially as it's a good one for bees. Trouble is, I don't remember adding the snowdrops. I wonder if the local squirrels lent a paw to my efforts.

Self-colonising moss atop a garden boundary wall

The early morning sunshine was just skimming the top of the high wall round the corner and added a striking brightness to the colony of moss there. Moss is usually much maligned in our gardens, but here nature's chosen to highlight its fragile beauty.

A show-stopper tree on our estate

This cherry tree's been a striking feature all week. We're blessed with some superb specimen trees on our estate, and these early blooms herald much more to come. The dark pink flowers show it's not Prunus x subhirtella 'Autumnalis', which is the usual winter flowering cherry we see.

Looks like it's Prunus 'Kursar'

Closer inspection and the profusion of blooms leads me to think it's Prunus 'Kursar', confirmed by Alan Down via Twitter who adds: "Another of Captain Collingwood Ingram's selections and a really good small garden tree". The warm weather earlier this week must have tempted it into bloom ahead of its usual flowering in March.

The earliest daffodils this year

The first daffodils are out on the main road through the estate, perfectly placed for the sun's first few rays slanting through the trees to find them.

Hazel catkins enjoying the early morning sunshine

Turning back home now, I followed the line of an old hedgerow by Hardenhuish Brook. The hazel catkins looked good against the blue sky and I felt this particular tree was trying to stretch out towards the disappearing contrail.

A white form of the Washfield Double hellebores

Our final floral highlight is one of the 'Washfield Double' hellebores I planted this time last year. They've turned out to be a mixture of dusky pinks, creams and yellows, but the three I've planted amongst the snowdrops in the guerrilla garden are all white. Quite a coincidence.

I hope you've enjoyed our quick walk around my neighbourhood. Where will your weekend wandering take you?

Update: I've added this post to Les's fab Winter Walk-off 2017 meme, which I discovered via Loree's walk around Portland (which in turn reminded me of my bench photo over at Sign of the Times). It's been great to have a virtual wander around everyone's neighbourhoods.

 You may also like: I posted about a longer autumnal walk a while ago over at Sign of the Times, which shows you a little more of Chippenham.

Comments

  1. rusty duck24 February 2017 at 22:02

    Good to hear that you escaped too much Doris related damage. And that the squirrels have done something productive for once..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VP25 February 2017 at 11:53

      I have crocuses in the back lawn Jessica, and the nearest ones are over 4 feet away which I reckon is the result of squirrel activity. So I'm not surprised if they've been up to their tricks out front as well ;)

      Delete
  2. Flighty25 February 2017 at 06:38

    A most enjoyable post and lovely pictures. I took a walk round the allotments to see if all was okay, which it mostly was thankfully.
    That's a lovely cherry tree. My daffodils aren't out yet but they won't be long.
    My weekend wander tomorrow morning will be to the plot then on to the horticultural society trading shed. Flighty xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VP25 February 2017 at 11:54

      Thanks Flighty - I hope you enjoy your weekend wanders :)

      Delete
  3. Sheena25 February 2017 at 08:06

    That does look like a lovely walk with a lot of great plants. Doris didn't do much damage but there was a lot of heavy, wet snow so, unfortunately, the snowdrop peak has turned into a snowdrop flop. The Leucojums are pretty flat as well but the Hellebores have managed to stand up again with no damage to the flowers. Really are such good plants and love the double white you show.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VP25 February 2017 at 11:56

      Hi Sheena - I hope your snowdrops and Leucojums recover and you stay warm if you still have all that snow. Doris was kind to us, but not my mum in Brum, whose fence blew down!

      Delete
  4. Pauline25 February 2017 at 12:40

    Yes, I enjoyed wandering with you,all your daffodils and friends are beautiful. I'm glad Doris didn't do too much damage, we too got off pretty lightly with just the side gate warped!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VP26 February 2017 at 09:43

      Fingers crossed today's storm Ewan doesn't get us instead Pauline!

      Delete
  5. Sue Garrett25 February 2017 at 13:05

    Doris didn't really hit us either.

    As for moss I love it.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Lucy Corrander Now in Halifax!25 February 2017 at 17:27

    Hurray for moss!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VP26 February 2017 at 09:44

      Hurrah indeed - I'm thinking about getting a macro lens for my camera. Moss in detail would be a good project for it...

      Delete
  7. colleen26 February 2017 at 00:21

    I'm with Lucy on the moss. We came across the most vivid green specimen a few days ago.

    Doris let us off lightly. Our bamboo canes scattered over the allotment, a soaking, and a struggle walking across the Millenium Bridge, but other than that all in one piece.

    Shaking off a cold, so not much wandering for me this weekend!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VP26 February 2017 at 09:45

      I haven't dared go up the allotment yet, Colleen so who knows what awaits me. Get well soon!

      Delete
  8. Anna27 February 2017 at 23:19

    Glad to hear that Doris was gentle in your neck of the woods VP. She was rather nasty here bringing down two trees just round the corner. That cherry tree is fabulous against such a blue sky. My weekend wonderings took me to the cinema to see 'Hidden Figures' and the garden centre to get some seed potatoes - other items managed to slip into the trolley though. You know how it is.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VP28 February 2017 at 09:24

      I hope your post-Doris world has settled down now Anna.

      We saw 'Hidden Figures' last week - I thought it was much better than La La Land.

      Delete
  9. Anna27 February 2017 at 23:21

    Just an afterthought about your surprise patch of snowdrops. Have you added any soil there recently that could have included hidden bulbs?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VP28 February 2017 at 09:25

      No, I leave that patch well alone, so they've hopped across the path!

      Delete
  10. VP28 February 2017 at 09:58

    Vannessa at home, life and allotment used my Contact form to add her comment.

    'Such a beautiful photo of your double hellebores and I must confess to loving snowdrops x'

    Thanks Vanessa for getting in touch. I love snowdrops too and I'm a recent convert to hellebores. I've just been looking at my garden pondering how I can squeeze some more in.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Les19 March 2017 at 13:12

    Thank you for adding this post to my Walk-Off. I love all of your winter flowers. We typically have many of the same things blooming here in Norfolk (Virginia), only this year it was so warm that many of our March blooms came out in February as well. My favorite shot is the double Hellebore; I have many, but no doubles. I will put it on my list. Thanks again!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VP19 March 2017 at 17:29

      Welcome to Veg Plotting Les! I particularly liked the mermaid photos over at your blog. I see you've run your meme for a while - I must look out for it again next year :)

      Delete

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