I got home last night in the semi-light (hoorah!), which allowed me time for a little wander around my Woodland Garden (it's a grand title for a little shady area under the Sycamores).
It was so encouraging to see the Wild Daffodil leaves poking through and the Cow Parsley already looking dense and luxuirient.
But it is this little beauty that really brightens the woodland floor:
It is Mezereon, which sounds as foreign a plant as you can imagine, but it is probably a British native (it is hard to be sure with some plants) that grows in a few chalky woodlands around the UK.
It is in the Daphne family (some garden centres stock it by its Latin name Daphne mezereum), and as you can see it is a rather open shrub bearing blushing pink flowers right now in late winter.
My shrub has been in the ground for about 8 or 9 years, and is still only thigh high, so this is a good plant for a small garden, and there are some widely available cultivars whose flower colour is even more intense.
Of course I planted it very much with wildlife in mind, wondering what would visit it, and I have to be honest - so far not too much. But it does bear berries, and there is one bird that is well known for nibbling the seeds out from the flesh - Greenfinches.
Well, I await that pleasure, but for now I'll just enjoy the promise it brings of a woodland about to burst into life.
As ever, thanks for the tips, Peter.
You'll be interested to know that Mezereon is self-fertile, and don't need pollinators.
But, Adrian, you haven't mentioned the incredible scent! As for Greenfinches the only time I saw them in the garden when I was a child was when they came just as the berries were ripening. This was on the edge of the Pennine moors well away from woodland. So plant one near the front door, they don't need lime in the soil, will grow in sun or shade even at altitude, and watch for the berries to be eaten.
Something must pollinate it as the seeds are fertile - collect when the first Greenfinch is seen and remove the just ripening flesh before sowing in a pot which is best placed in a shady place outside until germination the following year. This is worth doing as the plant does not live long.