New Year Flower Count at Charlton House

Our first volunteer session of 2024 fell on a wet and windy day (a Severe Weather Warning day in fact), so we decided to abandon gardening tasks and go for a bracing walk around the estate to spot for  plants in flower and work off a few mince pies.

Although a lot of our findings were to be expected (Primroses, Hellebores, Mahonia) others definitely felt wrong – Penstemon Garnet, you should NOT be out! It will be interesting to do the same exercise next year and compare. In the meantime, below are some cheering pictures of our walk:

I think you could say that the Mahonia in the Glade was a “Star Plant” for this time of year.

Penstemon ‘Garnet’, top left, then Achillea ‘Cerise Queen’, Sarcococca confusa (you should smell this!) and Viburnum bodnantense ‘Dawn’.

Berberis darwinii, bottom left, then Lamium alba, Garrya elliptica and Viburnum tinus.

Primroses, top left, then Helleborus orientalis buds just popping up. Snowdrops and Erigeron annuus at the bottom. The front car park shrubbery is looking very tidy with some lovely Viburnum tinus doing its thing.

Ok, it’s not in flower, but Ironweed (Vernonia) looks almost as good now as when it was! And finally, one of Casper helping to count the primroses. Hoping for better weather soon.

Full list of flowers we found is here:

Kathy