Someone I know doesn’t particularly like camellias. This may be because of their tendency to drop blooms all the time or, if you want to avoid the dropped blooms, their need for constant deadheading.

I don’t find the deadheading to be a burden, perhaps because I currently have only one, well-behaved camellia. And it’s a stayer! This year it started blooming in January, even before the frogs started their orgy in the pond! And it’s still got one bloom just coming to the end of its life some four months later. I’m not deadheading this one; it can stay until it drops of its own free will.

Another plant that’s been showing longevity this year is a hellebore. Again, it started flowering in January.

Now, in May, it’s just starting to get really droopy. Though some lovely seed pods are forming. I like the colour of this one so am planning to try some reproduction.

The long planter that I didn’t get round to finishing until the spring turned out ok too. Who says you need to plant things when the instructions say you need to plant them? I planted some hyacinths and mini-daffodils in March, when I finished constructing my masterpiece. They’ve just finished flowering, despite spending the winter (and a lot of the autumn) in a box in the garage.

Just in time for the daylilies and sweet peas to take over.

Now I just want the primroses and primulas in the planters around the conservatory to go over so I won’t feel guilty about clearing them out to replant with summer things.