Some plants are taken too much for granted and do not get the recognition they deserve. The celandine is just such a plant. Rarely does it find itself in a top ten favourite plant list But when it appears in spring it is a very special plants worthy of celebration. Along our lane sides they shine looking like gold sovereigns glowing in the fresh green of the new year’s grasses.
In our garden alongside the central path sits a bronze leaved selection found by the one and only Christopher Lloyd in a patch of our native celandine in his own garden, Great Dixter. It is called Brazen Hussy and it has the shiniest foliage I have ever seen. It glows so much that taking a photo of it upsets the camera’s metering system and it seems impossible to show the depth of the purple colouring. We love it. We have patches along the water’s edge in our wildlife pond and in the shade border.
We have an orange-flowered variety which has not inherited the family’s ability to spread and in some people’s minds become a nuisance. It keeps us on tenterhooks each spring – we think we have lost it but just as we have given up hope it suddenly springs into rich orange flowers.
greenbenchramblings 
9 replies on “Celebrating Celandines”
Lovely. I don’t have any so I may have to check into getting some. At first when looking at the leaves, I thought it was European Ginger which I do have and really like.
I think this is a wonderful little flower. The leaves remind me of the wild violets that grow here.
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Any flower called Brazen Hussy would be worth a second look. I particularly like your orange ones Malc.
We also had a lemon yellow one a few years ago but it died. Have never seen it for sale since but would like another. Malc
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The orange one is so unusual. I can’t understand why nursery men don’t sell more varieties. Malc
Unfortunately, this plant is considered an invasive here. I continue to pull it out. While it is sweet to view, it quickly can take over an area.
The native is a real spreader but the others seem quite calm. At least in our garden. Malc
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The bottom of our garden tends to be quite boggy on one side, we have a few clumps of what I assumed were Marsh-marigolds growing wild. However, after looking at your lovely photos they could be celandine.