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!

My garden in November

I didn’t get around to sorting out my bulbs while the weather was still mild, even though that mild weather lasted a good couple of weeks into the month. Realistically it’s unlikely that I’ll get to them this year, so that means this season but it’s definitely a job for once they’ve finished flowering. I think they’ll flower ok this winter, but would benefit from a repot and some attention.

With the end of the more tropical November weather ending our focus was getting the garden ready for winter, which meant moving a lot of pots around. Those which I’d dotted around the garden to test out locations have now mostly moved back into the shelter and additional cover of the established border, but I was pleased to spot the burgundy Mottisfont rose trying with another bloom. It’s still trying and I’m not sure if it’ll succeed or not, if it does I’ll nab a photo. But that attempt did secure it a spot where we can just about see it from the window!

My succulents are now overwintering in the gym, as they did last year. This year they’re in larger pots and have been joined by the bargain chilli plant (20p and not a chilli in sight yet!) and two young Amaryllis plants from my dad.

There’s actually nine pots in there this winter, and without it feeling overrun with plants so that’s something. I’ve made use of our new garden table and some surplus gym flooring for some of the pots, others are alongside the windows - and most importantly I must remember to set a reminder to check on them and water them, though much less than in the summer months.

Elsewhere in the garden things are growing, or not growing as you’d expect. The small crab apple has shed its leaves but not yet all of its fruits, so it looks a bit like a strange Christmas decoration - I need to look into and potentially make time for pruning this, as the poor thing really did have its work cut out with all the fruit this year, and some of the branches are twice as long as they were.

In, what I deemed the ‘sick bay’ both of my once yellowing bay trees have recovered brilliantly and are so much more healthy than they were back in May. It’s amazing what some light, regular watering and a bit of a feed can do isn’t it?

What I didn’t realise though until I moved this one into the gym, is that it’s had babies or extra blooms at least under the main growth (next to the blue mat in the picture), when it was on the patio we only looked at it from the other side so it just goes to show there’s benefits in many different viewpoints, and more specifically it’s a reminder to rotate my pots!

My garden in October

Last month I teased you and said we had plenty of crab apples but didn’t have a photo to share - this month then, let’s start with them. It’s only a small tree, but it has definitely been fully laden this year - unbelievably I took this photo after I’d picked two kilograms of fruit (and in case you’re wondering that’s a large washing up bowl full).

Those first apples have been made into the most gorgeous coloured chilli jelly, and I’m still hoping to get another picking in to make some plum, apple and chilli jelly before it’s too late to harvest the fruit. I’ve still to share more on that jelly making episode, but look out for that soon.

I’m surprised that our pepper plant still has peppers, there’s at least another ten on there though some are very tiny. They’re not ripening however much I hope they will, so I might have to bite the bullet and bring them in to see if that helps to sweeten them any. If not, we’ll be trying them green even though green peppers are my least favourite pepper.

We didn’t have any peaches on the small potted tree this year, there were a couple of fruits early on but they didn’t make it. It’s continued to earn its spot in our garden though with the colour changing leaves as the year’s gone on. Such gorgeous colours.

This month we had some more unusual looking mushrooms appear in the grass overnight. First there was one, which was joined by a couple of others - then a few days later, they were all looking decidedly less attractive. We’ve had smaller, flatter mushrooms appear in the grass before, but nothing quite like these - and none of which I’m even tempted to try to eat!

We’ve also had some fog this month, though thankfully that didn’t hang around for too long either.

The few olives we have on the potted olive tree have started to turn from green to an almost berry red, I assume this is normal as despite having another olive tree for many years I don’t think I’ve ever seen fruit as large on this on that, but then again it could be a completely different type and variety. Either way, I don’t think we’ll be going into Olive Oil production anytime soon.

It’s a year or so since I shared my herbs by the back door, and they’ve really established themselves - both the plants, and the practice of having herbs growing close to the kitchen. Since it was first planted up I’ve added two varieties of thyme, and some chives as well as refreshing the flat leaf parsley plant. The mint, is of course taking over, but that’s what it does - and it means we use a lot more mint than we ever have before - it’s been a great addition, and it looks great too.

We’ve a small flowered rose bush further down the garden and it’s been flowering prolifically this year and it’s still going strong - I think October has been its strongest month. It’s growing into a fairly substantial bush and I’m not unhappy about that.

The mahonias are getting ready to put on their show too - we have three in the garden - the photo above is early in October, and below is later in the month, and while this one is near our wheelie bins it really does brighten up emptying the bins!

The fuchsia bushes which I was so worried about earlier in the year (when I decided to cut them almost back to the ground) are thriving - and it’s hard to believe that they were giving me so much garden grief. They are definitely a case of ‘isn’t nature wonderful’!?

The rowan tree is also putting on a show and it’s been great to watch through the window - though the weather has hardly been cold here. There was a threat of a cold snap, but that was only brief - we do have our heating on downstairs, and it takes the chill off, but so far we don’t have the upstairs radiators on (and it’s early November!)

I said last month that the succulents had been the stars and real discovery in the garden this year, so I could hardly do a monthly update without them could I? These two plants which overwintered in the garage last year in individual pots, have really thrived and I’m sure doubled in size now they’re in a bigger shared pot and have enjoyed the summer outside. They’re still outside, though I have plans to put them and all the other succulents (I think it’s six larger pots this year - last year it was only two and these two in their small pots) away for the winter, but I’m leaving it as long as I can…

The wallflowers look as if they’ve really established themselves this year, and with many more stems than last year I’m hoping for even more of the pastel ‘Chelsea Jackets’ flowers when they’re ready, which I think will be a while yet. That’s ok though, as I can wait as there’s still plenty else to see (and do) around the garden - and I really should add sorting out my bulbs to that mental list, especially while the weather is mild.