Speckled sunshine...

There was a little more snow overnight, but nothing of any consequence. I had been planning to go shopping early, but the snow had frozen hard to the windscreen, so I decided to wait until it thawed naturally. 


As it was a sunny morning I used the time to go for a walk round Thorpe Hall, one of my local recording areas. There was a scatter of snowdrops, winter aconites and stinking hellebore naturalised in the small area of woodland, as well as a very healthy patch of Italian lords-and-ladies, with its beautifully marbled foliage. I was also pleased to find a hart's-tongue fern at the base of the limestone wall surrounding the formal gardens - quite a local species in our dry eastern climate.


However, by far the prettiest plant that I saw on my walk was this fern-leaved clematis Clemtais cirrhosa var. balearica, tumbling over the top of the very same wall. This is an evergreen climber with small, very finely cut, dark green leaves that turn bronze-purple in winter. Slightly fragrant, cup-shaped creamy-yellow flowers to 6cm wide, spotted purple within, produced in late winter and early spring followed by fluffy seed-heads. I planted one in our garden once, but it didn't like the spot I'd chosen and faded away within a couple of years. I clearly need an eight foot high stone wall for it!


All tax matters were finally sorted out today, so although we're now noticeably poorer, at least we don't have to think about it too much for another six months! Huge sigh of relief!