Or more accurately the title of this post could be, my garden on January 28 2018. It's been the only day this month I've been out into the garden, and even then it was to just check to make sure we hadn't suffered any storm damage in that windiest of days recently, and to take some pictures.
January's not my favourite month, but I'd spied the snowdrops from the conservatory window and it was them which drew me outside. As it turned out Sunday was mild and rather lovely, but I was happy just having a cursory check around.
And the snowdrops were definitely worth it.
About half way down the garden the pink flowers from the hostas drew me in with a welcome burst of colour.
At the back of the garden the strawberries have been busy, there's lots of runners - which means new plants - and the leaves are varying shades of green and yellow, while the runners are a vivid red. I've got these earmarked for the allotment to edge that new path I put in last year.
And now the admission. I own a pair of crocs, in fact I'll call them communal crocs and they live by the back door and are handy for popping out into the garden, as demonstrated below.
The sleepers are relatively dry considering the weather we've had. I suspect they may need treating later in the year but I'll give them plenty of chance to dry out first. Under the cherry tree the dead flowers of the silver leafed sage like bush made me smile, the flowerheads reminded me of hydrangeas that I've seen this week in Greenwich Park, and both reminded me how much I like dead flowers as much as live ones!
Throughout the garden the lime green of the euphorbias were making themselves known. Amongst the leaves. Our garden is full of them right now, the wind has thoughtfully blown them off the grass for us, but that means they're in the beds and in piles on the patio. That's a job for another day though, a warmer one I hope!
Another discovery was the amount of buds starting to appear on the lilac tree and camellia. Walking through Greenwich Park this week I've seen camellias starting to come out, but it seems that this year is no different for mine and it's remaining resolutely, and fashionably late. I think it'll be a good month yet before we see any flowers, although I'm very happy to be proven wrong.
I was worried how the hibiscus would cope with the colder weather, I wasn't quite expecting the cold that we've had though. The leaves have gone rather black and I didn't hold out much hope for it. But I checked it this weekend and it's still alive. The way to check plants is to make a small scrape with your fingernail. If under the scrape shows white or green then it's still alive, if it's brown then it's time to think about getting a new plant.
The final photo is rom the ivy which is also showing signs of yellow, which you'll know is very welcome. In fact any type of colour, even the lushness from the ivy, is welcome at this time of year. Anything to combat the greyness of the skies, but from a quick walk around the garden it's obvious that spring is on its way, and I'm very grateful for that, aren't you?
