Hints of spring

A few precious sunny days and the garden comes to life. Crocus tomasinianus, the first hellebores, a few cyclamen coum and a gorgeous clump of dark purple iris reticulata Pauline. Now the dank cloudy weather has closed in again but we still have these flowers hinting of better things to come.
I have been making a list of the snowdrops flowering now in the last days of January and have counted about 40 in full flower. Some early ones are over including Mrs Macnamara and Three Ships but some of the mid season ones are looking fantastic. It is hard to choose one over another but John Gray is absolutely stunning. Low growing with large glistening flowers held modestly on arching pedicels which can be splashed if it rains hard but so far the murky drizzle has not affected them. I have never seen them look so beautiful.