Early Bloomers

Most of the snowdrops are just unfurling but this one is a herald of what’s to come

The first pots of Iris reticulata are in flower thanks to a spell in the greenhouse

Checking back to the same time last year it is interesting to see what was out this week last year – and compare it with this year. Usually the crocus tommasinianus are the first to flower but this year I found this pot of a creamy white crocus with brown markings in flower before the tommasinianus have even begun to show buds. The snowdrops are pretty well on cue, but the greenhouse-grown iris are a couple of weeks earlier. Last year the Daphne odora aureamarginata was already in flower, this week the buds are showing colour but have yet to open. I love the inconsistency of it all.

Earliest crocuses Snowbunting have popped up in one of the pots