My garden in February

Last month I said the snowdrops were coming, well this month they arrived. These giant snowdrops are my absolute favourites and I can’t wait for them to take themselves for a wander around the border!

I can spot these from inside the house, and each time I do I’m reminded what a great idea it was to plant them there!

Once again there’s been very little actual gardening activity this month but as well as enjoying peeking on the snowdrops, there’s been some pretty sunsets too. Though isn’t it great that sunset is now past 5pm, and won’t be before 5pm until much later in the year.

The mahonia is doing its thing and looking glorious, I love how the berries have that pink tinge and think it’s a plant that looks very regal with its crown of berries.

Elsewhere in the garden I’ve seen evidence of daffodils, so I’m hoping that they will enjoy the warmer days we’ve had towards the end of the month, and will quite literally march into March. I know that I need to spend some time with all my bulbs in pots after this growing season, but I’m hoping that they’ll give a good show before I refresh their soil and get them ready for flowering next year.

Alongside the mahonia the other star in our garden right now is the creamy green hellebore, isn’t it gorgeous?

The elephants ears we brought with us from London are also in flower and while they could do with a general tidy, they’re doing pretty well contending with that huge weed on the right. I’ve plenty of weeding opportunities too, so as it looks like the weather is going to be good that’s at the top of my list, and to be honest I can’t wait to do some actual gardening, just as long as the weather’s fine!

Fingers crossed for a dry and uplifting spring!

My garden in January

The rose from last month had peaked when I shared it here, but even as it declined in January’s wet, cold and windy weather it did so elegantly, or I think so at least.

We did manage a brief spell of loosely labelled gardening activity - we needed to remove the ‘creative Christmas tree’ - which I delegated to MOH, and I wanted to wrap up the new olive’s pot. I should have done it before now I know, but I hadn’t and I was lucky with the weather, and my timing as it turned out.

While MOH circled the creative Christmas tree unwinding the lights, I set about covering the pot with bubble wrap and enough tape to ensure I wouldn’t be chasing the covering around the garden! I was rather pleased with my effort (above), and I was even more pleased when I opened the blinds the next morning and saw the dusting of snow (below).

We didn’t have much snow, just a dusting, but then again we didn’t have much heating at this point either so it wasn’t great. Thankfully the snow didn’t last long, and the heating was back limping along soon after, though I did feel for the heating engineer who needed to be working outside to make this happen.

But to be honest there hasn’t been much activity in our garden this month, though there are signs of life - the snowdrops are starting to form and even flower, and there’s evidence of bulb growth too. Most of my garden watchings have been through the window, and it was during one of those stints where I was also entertained by the small bird population who have found our pyracantha berries and the decaying crab apples, that I spotted what I thought might be a nest in one of our small trees.

Or maybe it was a leaf that had got stuck.

But it was there the next day too, and I ventured out to check (actually I might have been on my way to the dustbins, but you know multi-tasking and all that), and it was a nest. Not the greatest place to build one maybe, and I’m sure it’s vacant right now.

Who knows if it’ll have returning or new residents once the tree is in leaf again, but I’m happy they built it in the first place!

My garden in December

Like last month there’s very little actual gardening going on in my garden, but I’ve still been surprised by it, especially with the Mottisfont rose which has produced a massive flower which meant it got pride of place when I moved the pots into their more sheltered winter positions.

We’ve been able to watch this develop from the house, although it didn’t really change much throughout the month. This was as open as it got, before the weather got to it - but even so isn’t it a beauty?

Elsewhere in the garden other plants in the main border have been starting to, or hinting at flowering - and it’s been great to watch the smaller birds hop in and around the bushes.

It seems the new olive tree in the large pot has snagged itself one of the sunny spots on the patio, which really is no bad thing.

It’s coping pretty well with the windy weather, and a lot better than my Christmas wreath which I decided would be better off taking shelter in the heat pump enclosure until the worst of the winds died down. I didn’t much fancy collecting parts of it from around the garden, but I may have done it a dis-service as since it’s been on our back door it’s been fine.

And it’s still on our door looking as great as when we collected it - I’m not ready to let this one go just yet. It’s another one that’s turned from a Christmas wreath into a Winter wreath!

I’ve also gained some new plants this month, both from dad - this one, which I’m not exactly sure what it is yet and one of his rhubarb crowns. The rhubarb is in the garage ready to be planted when the weather (and ground) allows, and I hope this one picks up following the frosts we’ve had this past week or so.

It’s a quiet few months in the garden but if I’m lucky there’ll be some brighter, crisper and slightly warmer days which will give me a chance to catch up on some of those outside winter jobs, and to weed the gravel drive before the weeds there really take hold!