My garden in January

Another short winter garden post this month understandably as most of the time we’ve spent in the garden is either walking to the car or emptying the bins - but I have enjoyed viewing the garden from the house.

And with frosts like these it’s hardly surprising is it?

Thankfully the plants seem to have taken the wintery weather pretty well - though it looks as if I’ve lost the sickly rosemary which I planted in the outside border, I’d hoped it would be able to turn itself around out of the wind, but it was not to be. The other plant that’s looking decidedly dodgy is the one midway in the border below (to the right of the three concrete balls). It’s got a variegated leaf and it really doesn’t look too happy - if it makes it, and I’m hopeful it may, then I think I’ll pop it into a pot and see how it does, as maybe the rootball is restricted somehow.

We had a large leaf blowing around our garden, and neither MOH or I could work out if it was actually a leaf or some cardboard. It turned out to be a very large leaf indeed - I’ve not seen other leaves like this, so I wonder how far it had blown.

The pots of daffodils and tulips are starting to do their thing and poke their shoots through the surface. I was glad to have spotted this as a couple of the tulip pots were double stacked, which clearly wouldn’t have been a good thing - though I’m sure the tulips would have tried their bendy best to seek out the light and grow!

Last March I’d bought some snowdrops in the green and had planted them in the border which we look out over from the house, and was wondering where they’d got to. Towards the end of the month I spotted some potential snowdrop activity, then overnight a single snowdrop appeared.

Since then this one has been joined by a few more, and the second clump is also showing signs of growth - hopefully they’ll really come into their own during February (and of course in the years ahead), but they are a good reminder that spring is on its way, however slowly that may feel at times.

My garden in December

As is the way there’s not a lot of activity in my garden this month, but I do have a few photos to share. The month started with a new addition - another rose - this one also from MOH and for no particular reason either. It’s a lovely rose with gloriously pale petals, and really sweet of him, but where to put it!?

I know that it’s longer term home will be against the brick wall - which is already potentially getting quite full what with the Gertrude Jekyll rose and the homegrown peach tree, but for a shorter term solution I was stumped. It has been temporarily lodging in the trellis enclosure, which has hopefully given it some protection from the worst of the winter weather and when I’ve shaken off this cold (and on a fine day) my plan is to get it into a larger pot. I didn’t rush to pot it on as it seemed happy enough in its current pot, and if MOH hadn’t bought it then it would still most likely be in that pot, but it probably needs something more as soon as I can.

It’s going to look great against the old brick wall in years to come isn’t it?

As I was out in the garden finding the best spot for my latest rose I also spotted some early growth on my tulip pots - the pots are squashed from where I squeezed them into some terracotta pots on the patio with probably too many other pots, but it did the job. Given that we have a lot less demand for pots in this garden, at some point the tulips may be designated their own pot - but clearly not for the upcoming flowering season.

The euphorbias which I brought from our old garden continue to do well, and I’m still loathed to let them loose in the flower beds as I’m pretty sure they’ll go rampant - but this photo has reminded me how good they looked with the tulips last year, so I’m thinking they could be future bed (or pot) fellows.

I’d been keeping an eye on the weather - the wind in particular - and our garden furniture cover, which seems way too large for what we need. After a first blow off failure we’d added some webbed straps to keep things tighter and less like a billowing mushroom. Storm Darragh though was also on the way, and that proved a gust too far.

We’d adjusted the straps earlier in the afternoon as I’d noticed they’d slipped a bit, and all seemed well. That was a false alarm, as when I looked again the whole table and chairs had been lifted and dumped onto the grass. We were very lucky that Darragh dumped them that way and not onto the patio, as I’m not sure the ceramic glass top would have survived if that were the case.

Admitting defeat we hastily moved the furniture into the garage, where it has stayed. I say hastily, but I mean as hastily as MOH could, while I continued to hold onto the still billowing mushroom. Goodness only knows what the neighbours must have thought if they spotted us! But it is safe and in one piece, and now is rearranged more compactly in the garage too - MOH is keen to move it out again, but I’m more in the let’s wait camp.

It was more pleasing to see the signs of new life on the small peach tree - while all the leaves have dropped, you can just about see new buds forming on the ends of its branches. I wonder if we’ll manage to harvest more than two fruits this year, who knows?

One sunny afternoon I spied the most hidden of our mahonias and it’s glorious russet leaves - I’m not sure if the colour change is ahead of the other two because of its position, or for any other reason but I know it’s most welcome.

Taking a closer look around the garden it was good to see the cream hellebore preparing to flower - this was one of the plants that came with the garden, and it’s another one that I’m really happy about. I potted the dark maroon hellebore that we brought with us further along from this one, and hadn’t seen much sign of it, which was ok as they really come into their own in the early months of the year. Looking for that now though, it was good to see a couple of new burgundy stems shooting up through the bark (and weeds!), so it seems happy enough with its new home.

So there’s actually more going on in my garden than I thought, though clearly not as much as the summer months. Next month if I’m lucky I’m hoping to see the snowdrops we planted, and hopefully followed not that long after with flowers on the wallflower planted at the same time. I’m sure there’ll be more too, so I look forward to you joining me again for that update.

My garden in November

This month it seems my photos are mainly of the mahonias on misty days and a snowy garden. Snow in November - albeit towards the end of the month - still seems early, but there was still plenty of autumnal colours around the garden, plus pops of colour from the fuchsias, and like last month there was plenty of yellow too!

The mahonias are quickly becoming a favourite plant of mine, although they are prickly! Many a time I’ve been working in the border only to suddenly realise I’m way closer than I thought to its prickly leaves - and it’s not shy in letting me know! I haven’t pruned these yet at all, and having learnt recently that the more you cut holly the pricklier it becomes, I think it’s something I think I’ll need to look up before I do.

The thing about the holly though is interesting. It’s often pricklier at the height where deers nibble (though not in London obviously) as it grows extra spiky as it believes itself to be under attack, which it sort of is, and even on the same bush the leaves much higher up will be much smoother. Isn’t that amazing?

The buddleia in the outside border is still going strong, and has clearly been enjoying the milder temperatures. There’s many silvery new growth buds on its established branches, and seedlings in the gravel. I noticed a little clump much further away than usual in the gravel just yesterday, and weeding the gravel is our new perennial job!

The fuchsia bushes are providing pops of colour, which is especially welcome on the greyer, more dreary days. These dancing ballerina like flowers never fail to raise a smile, so it’s been good to see them in the garden for a lengthy spell. This bush suffered a little with the snow I mentioned earlier, and some remedial ‘knocking the snow off’ action was required.

It wasn’t just the mahonias bringing yellow to the garden, the winter jasmine has also started to flow this month. It’s a bit wild though, as it doesn’t have any support and is growing freeform. My plan is to get some tensioning wire and train it to grow along the inside of the wall, but I’ve still to work out exactly what I need and which is the best to opt for. I think the answer to both of my questions is to get something, try it out and if it does what I want then great, buy some more and if not, try something else!

At the other end of the garden the little crab apple tree is hanging onto its fruits - just. There haven’t been as many fruits as last year, which given that I gave the tree its first prune isn’t surprising, and so I haven’t picked any to use this year. That’s a second year running, but I”m hopeful that next year it will be as prolific as it was the first year we were here and I’ll be able to use them in the kitchen, and hopefully as decorations.

Ah yes, the snow. It was quite a surprise really, despite it being forecast. Mostly because when we went to bed it was raining/sleeting - and the perceived wisdom that it wouldn’t settle. But it did!

It definitely makes everything look pretty, and I particularly enjoyed seeing the sun shine onto the snow and the shadows it cast onto the wall at the back. It’s true too that the second day of the snow is often the best - you’re over the shock of its arrival, the roads are recovering and the sun comes out.

Thankfully the mahonias didn’t mind the sun either!