signs of spring???

By August we are just hanging out for something gorgeous, fresh and preferably 'pink' to appear in our gardens after the drabness of winter brown and grey which feels as though it's been going on  forever. 
So I've been trawling around in my garden, looking for some early treats - see below  what I have found!

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HELLEBORES ARE IT  
 even though their pink can be quite muted. 

But aren't they the flower of winter? 
Or should we say late winter/early spring.  Mine don't start to flower till July, but other cleverer gardeners seem to get them flowering much earlier.   

And broad beans are IT too!   Especially the ones that have these delightfully cerise flowers!!

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​ They are called 'Hughey' as they were especially selected and raised by Denis Hughes, right here in the South Island almost locally  at Blue Mountain Nurseries, in Tapanui, Southland.   And if you sow the seed in the autumn you are rewarded with this bonus at the very dreariest time of year!  

​Surprise! Surprise!   
These very special seeds are available from - of all places - The Warehouse!! 

​Back to the ornamentals - as though 'Hughey' wasn't ornamental enough!!  It certainly is! 
​But we are more accustomed to noticing those very early Camellias, and the ones that appeal to me most in my garden, are the simplicity of the early single variety's.  

'Camellia 'Quintessence' The name of this rather simple and virginal beauty hints that it must be scented. And it is - slightly! But it's the rather graceful drooping growth habit of this low growing Camellia which makes it really suitable for growing in a pot. I have grown mine in the same pot for years and it never seems to need repotting. I just simply trim it up a bit after flowering, as it can be easily trained to just the shape you like, and throw a bit of acid fertiliser around it and bob's your uncle! It never fails to delight me in July and August!

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'Quintessence' showing it's almost horizontal growth habit planted in a pot in a shady part of the courtyard area beyond my kitchen.

Even though you can buy many beautiful named Hellebores these days, I am just as happy with the simplicity of a pure white old-fashioned Hellebore!  Or mixed unnamed varieties, clustered around a pot in a damp and shady spot.

 The above Camellia, although ornamental is actually un-named.  I acquired it from a modest little roadside plant stall where I found it as a tiny unnamed seedling!!   It has now grown into a largeish shrub effortlessly producing  little single pink  flowers edged with white ​from early June through to September.  Although it's flowers look so delicate, it is actually a tough old thing!
It blends happily with tree-ferns and is the mainstay of my side garden through winter and early spring. ​

 But every now and again, one hankers after the creme de la creme of Hellebores - a special named variety - something rare unusual and rather grand in Helleborus terms.  I do have one from the special Living Fashion Designer Series called 'Anna's Red'.  Which quite by accident happens to look good clustered around a red flax!  An example of unlikely bedfellows hitting it off!  

Helleborus 'Anna's Red' from the Living Fashion Designer Series

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Galanthus nivalis - the common woodland Snowdrop - so modest and unpretentious - but there many different and choice varieties out there for the confirmed Galanthophile.

You can't talk about late winter without mentioning 'Snowdrops'!  And mine are modest compared to most.   Even though I do not have a big enough garden with space to allow Snowdrops to spread into wonderful drifts where they can naturalise, I can still satisfy my Snowdrop mania with a few clumps of them in a garden bed or 2 within my urban garden.  Any gardener worth their salt, would want to finish the winter with Snowdrops!