Here we are in December already. I am fairly sure someone has hidden two or three months of this year it has flown by so fast.
The hanging basket by the front door is starting to flower well now. I am so pleased to have this moment of happiness everytime I open the front door. Every winter I feel the need for colour and brightness to counter the long dark nights and often grey dank days. This hanging basket might be an important way for me to get some bright.
The tangle of Ipomea the other side of the front door also makes me happy, but it has rather swamped the Gertrude Jekyll rose that it shares the plant support with. Gertie has had to be cut down hard twice this year, once when the house was painted and once when I fitted the obelisk over her, so I am hoping that next year she will bounce back big, beautiful and prettily supported by the obelisk.
There has only been a morning or two of frost so far this year, so the bedding begonias are still flowering well in the planter by the back door. Esme feigns disinterest.
Yet autumn is making itself felt in the garden. The cardoons are now embracing their winter-skeleton look and they will stay like this all through the winter. Birds pull at the seed heads to find the insects sleeping within them.
The Courtyard Garden is also getting ready for winter. I have put the yellow bistro set away to protect it from the harsh winter weather. All the tenders are now either in the house or in the unheated greenhouse. A couple of long term residents have been planted out into the garden and so the aspidistras are taking centre stage. They will stay out all winter, the love this shady corner.
Mavis is looking a little swamped with her begonia hair and the nasturtiums running amok over her.
The meadow hanging basket is now a mix of some late flowers hanging on and seed heads. Soon the snowdrops should start to emerge. Whilst I gave this basket a new liner this year, the snowdrops have now been growing here for three years. I wanted this to be a sustainable hanging basket, not one that just gets composted every six months and so far so good. I re-sow the annual meadow plants but the main basket remains.
The apple tree stump that holds up the Rose Wild Edric is now a sparkle of Clematis cirrhosa, my very favourite clematis and such a wonderful winter flower.
In the Exotic Border the tree ferns are thinking about the impending frosts and wonder if they will be dressed as pirates again until the frosts are over. I think this is highly likely.
There are now so many cyclamen appearing in the lawn, anyone would think that in the summer months there are a lot of ants in the garden! I am really looking forward to them flowering this year, I am hoping for a lawn that shimmers with pink. Time will tell!
The Euphorbia mellifera relocated from the veg garden seems to be settling in well.
If you peer closely you can seen the pink nubbins of new growth. This is a relief, it was a large shrub to move and I did wonder if it would be ok.
I planted out this Viburnum bodnantense 'Dawn' the other day, it is a replacement for one that died in the drought earlier this year. I am hoping that it thrives and it is trying to flower already, which I take as a good sign.
The Ginkgo in the back garden is hanging on to its leaves for as long as it can. It is now really starting to grow well. It has been in the garden a few years and has probably grown about three feet taller since it was first planted.
The Grevillea canberra gem is planted in a tricky part of the garden. This is the hedge between myself and my neighbour and it is a surprisingly dry well drained patch in this generally heavy clay garden. The Grevillea was planted here a couple of years ago and it seems very happy.
The Prairie Borders have now taken on their autumn/winter look. They will remain like this, giving structure and movement until I cut them down in late spring next year.
The winter honeysuckle is flowering and wafting its scent through the garden.
The red leaves of the Carol Klein acer are providing a nice bit of rug for the edgeworthia, who is bedecked with buds ready for spring. This is a huge relief as I really worried the drought might have seriously damaged my beloved edgeworthia.
Bulbs have been planted. I did not buy very many this year; I waited for a good offer and then just got a few I fancied.
The greenhouse is fairly full and I need to get some fleece ready for the frosts. Mice appear to have eaten most of the fleece I had.
and the veg garden remains under plastic, getting itself ready for whatever its future will become next year.
The pond is pretty much full, the most full I have seen it for many months. Long may this last.
There remains still much to do in the garden, I need to get on with the weeding whilst I can as each weed removed now is worth 1000 next year.
I hope you have had a good gardening year, next stop January!
Lots of beauty and promise in your garden. You've been very busy! I've been raking, raking, and raking Oak leaves. Soon everything here will be covered with snow...
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