Wednesday 14 February 2018

Sunshine and Snowdrops

A quick post today... lots of photos but few words (I say that now but of course that could all change by the time I get to the end of this post)


I know I have written posts about visiting the winter garden at Anglesey Abbey before but on Monday I met up with Gill specifically to see the snowdrops (which of course means it counts as a sixty x sixty). Apparently there are over 250 different varieties scattered around the estate. I can't tell you whether we saw them all but we certainly saw a  lot.


We were so lucky with the weather - it was bitterly cold but a beautiful bright sunny day, the sort of day when the winter garden looks its best. Of course, also being the first day of half term the place was heaving with families and hoards of small (and mostly well behaved) children but I'll gloss over that.



As well as snowdrops there were stunning Tibetan Cherry trees with the shiniest trunks imaginable. I'm sure someone had been out with their duster and Mr. Sheen!


Fabulous fluffy Witch Hazel


Dogwood in colours ranging from the brightest yellow to deepest red... you can see why this variety below is called Midwinter Fire.


There was blossom...


and even a few lone daffodils.


And the specatcular grove of Himilayan Birch, which apparently they wash to keep them bright white.


This one kept its eye on us!



Lots of pretty Hellebores too


We walked and talked, browsed the second hand book shop where we each bought gardening books and then we camped briefly in the coffee shop for a cheese scone and a hot chocolate (just to prove I don't rigidly stick to rules). There had been plans to sit and knit but as I said it was half term and it was loud, crowded and messy (yarn and crumbs of chocolate cake don't make a good mix) so we didn't linger too long but lovely to catch up all the same.

Back home I looked through my photos and dreamed how I might transform my garden or possibly even wash my single Silver Birch tree (no, you're right, I didn't even consider this), but I know it won't happen. Plus we are starting to seriously think about downsizing before too long so not much point investing money and effort if we won't reap the benefits. Although we've been saying this for the past five years which adds up to a lot of benefits that could have been reaped had we been so inclined!

13 comments:

  1. Anglesey Abbey is one of my favourite places! Glad you had such beautiful weather.

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    1. Funnily enough I have never been at any other time of the year. I've promised myself a visit in the spring and summer this year.

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  2. Gorgeous photo's Gina and beautiful blue skies. Looks to have been a very inspirational day. I'm just surmising that Anglesey Abbey is not on Welsh Anglesey! Bit of a long trip! x

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  3. So many beautiful winter treats. The sunlight on those dogwoods, hellebores and witchhazel - just gorgeous. Thanks for sharing.

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  4. If you or I ever found the time to wash a birch a large bird would come along and.. sit in it. Add an ‘h’ as appropriate.

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    1. I'm sure you are right but like me I doubt that it is something you'll ever do 😂

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  5. Pretty snowdrops...once again this year mine didn't appear! :(
    Dogwood is amazing at this time of year. I can't believe they wash their trees!!!
    V x

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  6. It looks like a perfect winter walk! I'd love to see the snowdrops that I see all over the blogs this time of year -- they look magical!

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  7. Sunshine, witch hazel, snow drops and friendship - it can't get much better than that. Glad you had a lovely time. The one eyed tree is spooky! x

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  8. I love cold, crisp days, but that sure looks like spring to me :D We won't see green, never mind yellow and pink for a wee while yet, although the dogwoods are changing colour.

    We start our downsizing process this next week by selling our apartment. We are not moving out for another month or so, but how we are going to fit all this stuff into a smaller space, I have no idea. Hopefully for us it will be sort of temporary, I would like a small cabin out on our land.

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  9. Looks and sounds like a great day out (apart from the noise, crowds and crumbs, of course). Snowdrops are such a cheering sight and I hadn't realised there are so many varieties until we visited a snowdrop open garden yesterday.

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