As the end of January nears, life seems to have stalled. Winter is mild yet grey, and feels endless, our country is now in an unrecognisable mess. Urgghhh. Some cheer is called for. I got outside before the storm hit and focused on flowers for this week’s #SixonSaturday.

As in most winters, snowdrops are lovely and fairly short-flowering, so they will probably feature each week now as the winter rolls on. Mine are just coming into proper bloom.

Viburnum is a winter stalwart, doing its thing quietly. When you close in and look the tiny flowers form a forest of blooms.

Now for some colour, I started by sneaking into the greenhouse, where a couple of spells of sunshine have spurred geranium on to get the flowers pumping out. This intense saturated pink did cheer me up.

Back outside, I’m never sure whether to keep wallflowers, or replace them regularly as they do tend to get leggy. This one wants to stay.

With the #BigGardenBirdwatch this weekend, it will soon be time to start looking for those early pollinating insects too. With that in mind, I was thrilled to see the first bloom has arrived on pulmonaria. No bumble bees yet, but when they come, nectar will be waiting.

This is the week that witch hazel burst into bloom too, so this intricate, gorgeous little scented delight, forms my finale this week. What a lovely, LOVELY plant to bring winter joy, whatever the climatic or political weather.

That’s my #SixonSaturday this week. In times where trust is short, you can trust that nature will absorb and engage. Don’t forget to follow the crowd on twitter and via the web from links to the originator of #SixonSaturday, the Propagator himself. And join in this weekend, get on and do some citizen science with the #BigGardenBirdwatch here: https://www.rspb.org.uk/get-involved/activities/birdwatch/