What's looking good February 2024

We wouldn't be allowed to put one up. Our block of flats belongs to a housing association. A few years ago they decided there were too many TV antennas on the outside of the balconies & ordered people to move them. Anyway, as I've commented on at times, we live in a very windy street & it would be a struggle to keep it in place.

 

I have some plants in the kitchen, as insurance, as I like its bright shiny dark green leaves & the lovely tiny white flowers most of the summer. I leave a few plants outside on the balcony & somehow they manage to survive our frosts without any protection from me. We had several days with -3C frosts yet they still survive!

 

Emerging Lupins catching the rain.



and some....

 

The lupin leaves look gorgeous @Upsydaisy - a small reward for putting up with all the rain

 

Lupin leaves are very good at catching - & hanging on to - raindrops! Yours are looking lovely @Upsydaisy

 

Thanks @CarolineL and @Balc .....yes a lovely reward indeed for enduring this very soggy weather.

 

When I was little I used to go around all the Lupins in our garden and drink the drops of water from the centre of the leaves. It tasted nice and refreshing. I think that's another reason why I like rain

 

Loropetalum
Magnolia soulangeana


Clematis armandii

I put in 1000 hyacinths last autumn as they seem to come back well each year

 

Your Magnolia is lovely. I do hope you don’t get a frost? I am not sure if this is likely where you live. There is one sure fire way to put me in a bad mood….a hard frost when my species Rhododendron, Magnolias and Camellias are in full flower. Add in when some sympathetic soul says” oh well there is always next year” this then leads to me heading straight for the amber fluid, any excuse mind you.

 

Some taken this morning ...

Pulmonaria, a few clumps around the garden :-



Primula denticulata (Drumstick Primula) :-



Snowdrops mostly eaten by slugs :-



Hellebores :-









Crocuses in an old tub, and next door's rusty garage door :-



Cotoneaster berries :-

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It's always the first out, followed by Heaven Scent and Black Tulip We might get more frost, we might not....just never know for sure. What gets to me are really late frosts in April, or worse, hailstones.

 

A few pic of flowers with raindrops from today,


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Some very nice Hellebores on show makes me think I need some more