05 Jan Snowdrops & Aconites 2019
It’s an early start for the snowdrops and aconites this year. We already have a good number flowering in the gardens at Chippenham. The recent colder weather may well slow them down a little. Our first open day is not until 9th February.
The hellebores, mostly Harvington Hybrids in shades of pinks, purples and lime greens, are also on their way with a fair few showing their first blooms. The dwarf Iris are pushing up. We have Iris reticulata Alida, Blue Note and Dutch Iris Blue Magic to look forward to. Daphne odora ‘Aureomarginata’ seems to confound logic by flowering throughout the coldest months of winter. We have planted even more of these intensely fragrant Daphnes this year, along with the deservedly renowned D. bholua Jacqueline Postill originally from Nepal and another cross between bholua and door called ‘Perfume Princess’.
I am hoping that with a few more of the highly scented Viburnums (V.x bodnantense ‘Dawn’, V. carlessii and V. x burkwoodii) that the area we call ‘Adrian’s Walk’ will become a deliciously intoxicating pocket in late Winter and early Spring.
