Now some of the hellebores are flowering in the courtyard beds alongside the snowdrops: the white Christmas rose (H. niger), the larger Helleborus foetidus and some very mature dark maroon Helleborus orientalis. The combination of dark hellebores and pure white snowdrops must be one of my favourite combinations! The delicate purple blooms of the miniature iris I. reticulata ‘George’ which I put in only a few months ago are looking really successful even in this rather swampy soil. During the last couple of months it has become clear that the raised beds actually get very wet over the winter as they absorb a lot of the ‘run off’ water from the fields above. Raindrops on the newly emerging grey-green leaves of the succulent Sedum telephium ‘Purple Emperor’ glisten in the spring sunshine. There have been some very warm days in this month already. At this time of year, the plants around the courtyard take prime position as they are close to the front door of the house where it is easy to examine them. Going down to the stream in the woods, I discover that a really strange bright red fungus has appeared all over the place. I have no idea what it is but it’s quite out of this world!