It is a treat when in the countryside to suddenly come across a patch of snowdrops, either wild or planted by a kind gardener alongside their plot to cheer up walkers and drivers. Just so the patch in the image I chanced on in an area  of woodland in a winding lane. I had to stop and take a photograph, the site of  the Snowdrops nestled in among last year's leaves was lovely.

Snowdrops are a bulb but are frequently bought and planted at this time of year, "in the green" which means in leaf. It can be easier to establish them as plants rather than bulbs, although more expensive. It does mean you can cheer up your windowsill now if you want by planting a few clumps. Snowdrops like humus rich but well drained soil, happy in light woodland with some shade. Most varieties are fully hardy and vigorous which makes them easy to grow. Close up the flowers are very delicate and there are some scented varieties such as  G. 'S.Arnott' definitely one for a window box if you want to catch the scent.

Garrya elliptica

An unusual evergreen shrub which produces, in late winter around this time, long tassels hence is common name silk tassel bush. It's a relatively trouble free  shrub to grow although it may not be fully hardy in all areas and is best in a sheltered spot. For more about growing Garrya elliptica follow the link . It can look magnificent as a specimen shrub in a mixed border.

Whilst I am thinking of sowing sweet peas the weather isn't. It's so easy to be seduced into sowing seeds early, too early and I have to stop myself. There is a deluge of seed catalogues and all the magazines are urging gardeners to get started but I feel its a mistake to start sowing early, unless you have plenty of frost free space  in which the can grow on, and time to keep checking frost protection. If time or space is short  it's best to wait until later in the year when the time you have to nurture the plant in a frost free environment is not so long. It's still very cold out there and if you fancy are really good garden read pick up Jenny Uglow A Little History of British Gardening which is terrific read about garden history and just ideal for these cold wintry weekends when the ground is frozen and uninviting.

   Since we are in the middle of winter it is easy to assume, especially in the very cold frozen periods, that the garden is dormant during the winter months . We have had a spell of very low temperatures and even during the daytime it was around freezing.

In a mild spell I popped out to carry on clearing up the garden and weeding and as you can see from the photos on the left, in fact next season's plants are just pushing up through the soil. Emerging are perennials Sedums,  Origanum the herb known as Oregano/Marjoram and buds on a Clematis. It's good to see the tiny plants, which look delicate but are tough to survive the rest of the winter to come.

And whilst we are on the subject of Oregano its a great plant for bees, beautifies and insects like so  many herbs . It is pretty when in flower and I am always keen to attract the bees.

Can you feel a but coming?

It's a massive self seeder and is invasive. It's not difficult to remove but you will never have just one plant in your garden. It really does get everywhere, and seems to grow out of rock and stones so if you do plant it weed out the seedlings regularly.

For more ideas to grow wildlife friendly plants follow the link