Plants in flower or just barking at Bodnant Gardens

Despite the snow there was plenty to see at Bodnant yesterday. In winter the colour of the bark is as important as the flowers. I did not get the name of the arbutus but in the dappled sunshine it looked a treat.


The flowers of this rhododendron dauricum are of course essential to its beauty.

Wintersweet, or more precisely Chimonanthus praecox, has an insignificant flower, making its impact with the sweetness of its perfume, carried well in the cold Welsh air.

This time the Acer griseum provides the colourful bark.

And the birch, Betula ermanii 'Grayswood Hill'.

Dogwoods and ericas always give good value for money at this time of the year, the yellow, green and red stems reflecting the sunlight.

Rijnveldt's Early Sensation was planted all over the extensive gardens and are truly one for the early garden.

 Last year I very nearly bought the hellebore, 'Penny's Pink'. This year I wish I had.

Hamamelis x intermedia 'Feuerzauber', and the warm brightness of  'Iwato' through the sunlight.

Finally, as I draw an end to what amounts to a shopping list, a lovely fresh euphorbia, characias 'Wulfenii'.