Is there a more cheery site in February than Crocus tommasinianus?

 

 Signs of spring: these rather ragged Bergenia cordifolia are already in flower. Spring is said to be our fastest warmest season and late winter is variable. Last year it was cold and frosty into March; at the moment late winter feels like early spring. 

 Late winter is a fairly safe bet for pruning roses. There are shrub roses, rambling roses, climbing roses, groundcover roses, miniature roses, tea and floribunda roses. The rose aficionado will no doubt be more exacting in their timing but I am not a specialist. 

 Standard advice for all rose pruning is to cut to just above a bud. I aim for a shapely shape overall but that's a moot point from rose to rose, particularly ones that are already tangled and overgrown. I note that the RHS advises: "Cut to the appropriate height, if a dormant bud isn't visible" which is basically saying cut to whatever height you think best! 

 Certainly an open shape with some 'air' is preferable in the case of a shrubby rose. Then again a climbing, rambling or groundcover rose is by nature a spreading shape. Cutting out dead and diseased stems, crossing and spindly stems and suckers at the base generally encourages vigour.

 

 Crocus tommasinianus flowers concurrently with the Snowdrops and Winter Aconites. Another bulb bought to these shores in ancient times, this species is native to Bulgaria, Hungary and the Balkans. Sometimes called the Early Crocus or the Woodland Crocus.

 The petals vary in hue from silvery violet through to plum purple. Like E. hyemalis the sun must be upon them to open wide; the stamen seem to glow dusted with specks of golden pollen. 

 They are braving the weather in my London garden but looking a bit battered by the incessant rain. Nonetheless they have to be tough to flower this early in the year and can be relied upon to come back year after year.   

 Tip: when you plant "Tommies" in the autumn make sure they are at least three or four inches down. Squirrels love to eat the dry bulbs! They seem to lose interest in snacking on them once the bulbs become established/moist.

 

 Winter Aconite (Eranthis hyemalis). Harbinger of summer sunshine, an ancient introduction from the continent. Grown in gardens they escaped and naturalised in the countryside here and there. 

 Available as a bulb in autumn which is probably the best way to start them off. I also see them sold in little pots at this time of year. London clay doesn't suit them; they favour chalky, well drained soil. I have a few in an old china sink in my front garden in London but I know of several patches in Herts where they run wild.

 E. hyemalis is a species of open deciduous woodland in its natural habitat. The flowers unfurl on sunny days when the dappled light filters through the bare branches.  

 I referred to the "Snowdrop spinney" near Hitchin a few weeks ago [entry dated 19th. January]. I noted that the ruin of an ancient cottage once stood there. I speculated the Snowdrops may be a remnant of the cottage garden. They grow along the banks of the adjacent stream from that point onwards. The stream feeds into a marshy woodland about half a mile away which has carpets of Snowdrops as seen above. 

  I observed the Snowdrops in the spinney are Galanthus nivalis f. pleniflorous. This is the uncommon double flowered form of the Common Snowdrop, sometimes a feature of old gardens. I wondered if it's doubles downstream which would strengthen my theory that the spinney is the source of the colony. I went to the woodland and sure enough they are...

 

 As noted previously Helleborus foetidus self-seeds freely in the borders at the music school and throughout the grounds. I imagine they have increased from a few planted back in the day. Then again they may have already been present in the woodland fringes when the original house was built.

 H. foetidus is a native and grows wild in the UK. It is also a popular garden plant cultivated by the horticultural trade. So sightings of Stinking Hellebore may be wild or a garden escape or even a cross pollination of both!