What a difference a month makes

In January I wrote this post and reported spotting the first snowdrops in my Mum and Dad's garden.
Here there are now...so much bigger. I complained in that post that I have never been able to successfully grow them in my own garden.

Well ,not only have my parents' grown a great deal but I can tell you with great excitement that for the FIRST time ever I have snowdrops in my own garden. Just look...

I mentioned to my Dad last year about my lack of success growing snowdrops and he told me that I should try taking some of his "in the green" and putting them straight into my garden. I waited until his had stopped flowering last spring and dug up 3 clumps...I am so happy that each clump has produced flowers in my front garden.

My hellebore are also in flower, these flambouyant plants provide such a welcome show at this time of the year.

I also showed photos in my January post of my bulbs beginning to poke their way up in my raised bed.

This photo to the left shows how they looked 10 days ago....














And this is the view I had outside my back door  this morning.......

They have grown so quickly over the last few weeks.

What I also found to my total delight is my very FIRST outdoor daffodil in flower...just look..

This is the dainty miniature variety called Tete a Tete and I have also spotted a nearly ready to open bud on one of my full size daffodils shown below. I am actually quite surprised to see them as we had so  much snow last December I thought my bulbs would be very delayed this year.











Here she is tightly curled inside her bud ready to burst into colour. It is my son's birthday next week and every single year since his birth I have had a daffodil in bloom in my garden in time for that day - 24th February. Although we can often have snow the week of his birthday some years have been quite mild. My daffs have never let me down although one year a few years back I only had 1 open on the actual day of his birthday.I have vivid memories of my daughter bringing me in hospital a bunch of daffodils from the garden the day he was born. She was not quite 3 years old then and had picked them from the garden with her Nan.

Daffodils are my absolute favourite flowers. I love their shape, colours and most of all the sheer promise of spring which comes with seeing them. I also think my love of daffodils also came from learning a poem at primary school written by A.A.Milne and taken from the "When we were very Young" book of verse. I loved these poems and my Mum even bought me my own copy in paperback. I still  have a lovely blue cover 1960s version...it is in the loft at the moment as we are still decorating the dining room and most of our books are stored away. The poem is called

"Daffodowndilly"

I can still recite this off by heart.........

She wore her yellow sunbonnet,

She wore her greenest gown,

She turned to the South wind and curtsied up and down.

She turned to the sunlight and shook her yellow head

And whispered to her neighbour

"Winter is dead"

After all these years whenever I see my first daffodil in flower outside, this sweet poem returns to me. I believe every daffodil wears her best sunbonnet and  her very greenest gown. Just magical flowers!

The days are getting lighter here every single day, let's hope that spring is just around the corner and that winter is very nearly dead. In another month it really will be so.

Have a great weekend, enjoy spotting the daffodowndillies if they are coming into flower near you. Perhaps you can also listen to what they may be whispering .....?? ;0)

Bye for now,

Jane x