For the last few weeks I have been watching the buds swell on the Rhododendrons and waited in eager anticipation for their eye-catching flowers to open with wine-red, delicate pink, deep purple or snow white blooms that are a colourful addition to any flowerbed. The first to open was Dwarf Rhododendron Cilpinense with its large,…
A few weeks ago whilst we were still in grip of winter I photographed the furry buds of Magnolia, did you know that they have three furry layers to protect their flowers through winter? Magnolias are one of our most primitive flowering trees with fossilised specimens dating back over 20 million years. They are named…
Tiarellas are commonly known as foam flowers due to their frothy blooms. Tiarella cordifolia ‘Spring Symphony’ is my favourite, producing a mass of elegant, dainty slightly fragrant flower spikes of white stars that open below a tight, apple-blossom-pink poker of buds. These flowers bring light to any shady spot. The froth of flowers seems to…
A member of the heather family Pieris originated from the forested mountain regions of China, Japan and Taiwan, often called ‘Lily-of-the-Valley’ shrub. Pieris are an evergreen, easy to grow, showy spring shrub, which put on a spectacular display of white or pink bell-shaped flowers and colourful new growth which ranges from pale pink to dark…