The view of the garden from the kitchen window gives a grandstand view of the antics of the squirrels. This week they have been tracking down the last few tiny edible figs and often knock off some of the others in the process. As does the wind and the rain, which is all very helpful as there are still a great many figs to be taken off. In all the gloom of this week there have been a few spots of colour:
One
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I still have berries on the cotoneaster leading to me to conclude that there is still plenty of food around for the birds. The combination of the red berries and leaves and the ivy strikes a perfect Christmas note.
Two
I tweeted this photo earlier in the week and unashamedly share it here. For one of my twelve days of Christmas I have six paraqueets-a-nibbling. This tree is a real bright spot in the winter gloom and looks all the crazier with the addition of some neon green.
Three
This sad looking skimmia is not providing the much hoped for winter colour. It was planted out last year underneath the magnolia and I had lovely visions of masses of red berries which have come to nought. The skimmia was dug up and potted again, pending allocation to a better spot. Some place with more light and not so dry I think.
Four
The aforementioned magnolia is beginning to do its stuff again – these new buds were cheering to see.
Five
I ventured into unknown territory awhile ago and planted up some hyacinth bulbs for forcing for Christmas. At the appointed time they were brought into the warmth of the house. But this week they were banished into a cold exile outside. Their crime? Well the bulbs are innocent but the cloud of tiny black flies that came with them were not greatly appreciated.
Six
I’ve got a few things going on in the potting shed. The scented leaf pelagoniums have been cut back, the last of foxgloves are going to overwinter there now along with a few cuttings of penstemon ‘Sour Grapes’ and pellies. I am also trying to keep alive a few seedlings from euphorbia oblongata but I feel these are already slipping from my grasp. I foresee causalities along the way.
Even though I may lose some seedlings over the winter the eternal optimism of the gardener continues. New seed orders have been placed and the wish list continues to grow. Enjoy your winter garden – plants and wildlife, and if you are seeking inspiration look no further than The Propagator’s blog which will start you off on a world wide tour of gardens.
I garden in London and so get a little complacent about frosts. But this week the lawn has had a light frosting and it was clearly a sign that cold weather gardening had to start. Last year’s fleece was in shredded tatters in the shed and I hate all those white flaky bits. I hot footed it to Homebase and found some delightful green bags of 35gsm fleece with very handy draw string pulls. I usually fleece up the agapanthus armed with a stapler but these jackets were easy to pull over the plants and the fetching shade of green is slightly less obvious than white. Job done.
I was certainly lulled into complacency by the balmy days I experienced in Suffolk last week but the cold evenings are changing the colours of the garden. The persimmon tree is looking beautiful even as the leaves are falling.
The previously sun scorched hydrangeas are also taking on their winter hue.
But elsewhere the summer container plants are still in good health and I will leave them out throughout the winter. In mild years I have been able to carry the geraniums over into the next summer.
The white antirrhinum sowed from seed is still in flower at this end of the garden but elsewhere I have collected seeds from another plant that has done its bit for summer.
I recently planted out some gaura and pennisetums in a west border and alongside them I put in some Echinacea purpurea ‘White Swan’, which still thinks there’s time to put on a display. Thank you!
Pride before the fall and fall the persimmons did. Two branches came down, both heavily laden with fruit. They broke from the inside so nature has done a good job of opening up the tree.
No sooner had the delphiniums put up their second flush of flower stems than the storm arrived. Of course I hadn’t got round to tying in the tops but the ties at the bottom seem to have helped steady the stems enough to keep them safe.
The stately cosmos that was just opening out its flowers was not so lucky. I had tried to push a cane into the ground but there was no give at all. The plant snapped off at the bottom. All was not lost as I cut back the side stems and brought them inside to fill a vase.
The fruits of the passion flower are ripening and providing a focal point over the top of an arch. These is the more common Passiflora caerulea and although the fruits are edible when very ripe I prefer to leave them be.
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Indeed the doorbell rang a moment ago and although it was not the aforementioned plants I was excited to receive the first of the bulb orders. Excited on two counts: Yes! I had my six for the week (it was touch and go) and I could cross Colchicum speciosum Album off of the wish list. I hope they are going to like the space I have ready for them. Fingers crossed that it is sunny enough.
A persicaria – labelled as ‘pink’ so I can’t add any further information. It goes some way to my getting persicaria into the garden but I am on the hunt for some of the dark red ones. I planted it next to the salvia ‘Blush Pink’ bought earlier in the summer and I hope they will be happy soul mates.
I singularly failed to record the other great gardening activity of the weekend which was the apple picking. It was a smaller crop this year, both in numbers of apples and size. Some were little bigger than a golf ball but as they all go for juicing they were all picked. In about a week I will know how many bottles this year’s harvest produced. The bent double apple tree of a few weeks ago is now nearly horizontal so I took a picture of that!
Every week I think about including this Cleome ‘Senorita Carolina’ in the six but for some reason it stays on the sub’s bench. This week it makes it into the team. I really don’t know why it has taken me so long, it’s been flowering like this all summer. The real colour is slightly less vibrant than captured here. It’s a tender plant so if the winter is anything like last year I shall probably lose it.
Just coming into flower is the Anemone ‘Honorine Jobert’. Earlier in the year its poor leaves were scorched by the sun but as the season moves on it’s site is more in the shade where the splash of white shines through.
Given the size of the apples this year I was surprised and impressed by the persimmon fruits. They are much larger than last year and although I am not a great fan of the fruit I do enjoy their orange colour as they ripen in November.
The trees in the garden are beginning to put on a show. First up is the persimmon tree. There was a bumper crop last year but I’m not a fan. I inherited it with the garden and it does look fabulous in winter when the leaves have dropped and the orange fruits remain.
I also inherited a number of apple trees and here is some delightful apple blossom from one of them. Again, there was a bumper crop last year, we don’t store the apples and there are only so many we can eat so the majority of them are taken off for juicing. We are still drinking the 2017 vintage.
The leaves on the fig trees are just opening. Not such a good year for figs for me last year and the squirrels always get the best of them. I managed to bag a handful!
And after my winter pruning efforts it is always a great relief to see new leaves on the vine. It does produce grapes but so far they have split before we get the chance to taste them. The grape variety is Black Muscat, which I understand is also known as Black Hamburg. Again, I was fortunate enough to inherit this well established vine which shades the pergola.
There is a great foaming wave of Choysia in one sunny corner of the garden. It’s perfectly lined up with a view from the window. Many thanks again to the previous owner.
Finally, all my own work! The white triumphator tulips are still hanging on and are a great companion to the irises that have just begun to flower. There is also a glimpse of the almost open allium ‘purple sensation’ – something for next week!
n20gardener 