A great way to mark the beginning of a New Year is to get out in your garden and see what is flowering.  That is what a group of Grayshott Gardeners did this year, counting flowers that were fully open on the first day of January 2022. 

Our clever gardeners have planted their gardens so there is a bit of interest in every season, so many of the flowers found were winter favourites – with lots of viburnums, witch hazels, mahonias and pansies (if the deer haven’t treated themselves to a flowery delicacy and pinched all the blooms).  It’s been a mild year so far, so it was interesting to see that some plants were still hanging onto their flowers from the summer.  But perhaps more surprising were the plants that were getting a headstart for the coming season – with one brave pink rhododendron stealing the show.

Here is the list of what they found – hundreds of flowers counted in total, and 53 distinct species.