My Gardening View #23

There’s a definite touch of winter to my gardening view now with the first proper frost over the weekend and more cold nights forecast. It was a welcome respite from the continual rain and grey skies.

A few things seemed to have missed the memo that summer’s over! I wasn’t surprised to still have calendula in flower – they seem to go on all year – but the knautia really should have known better. The cold snap was also rather a surprise for the primroses, which are way too early.

Things do look rather lovely when tinged with frost though – the seedheads of the fennel were spectacular. I’ve been particularly impressed with the blueberries this year – lots of fruit and now some lovely late season colour. The leaves are beginning to drop so I’m making the most of the display.

The cold temperatures also saw off the last of the leaves on the acers, cornus and parrotia – I need to gather them up to make leaf mould.

I’ve never been known as a tidy gardener but it does have advantages. Not ‘putting the garden to bed’ in autumn but leaving faded plants standing does give really good winter structure. It also provides habitat and food in the form of seeds for all sorts of beneficial wildlife.

Get a bit of frost on things like seedheads and hips and you have Nature’s festive decorations.

The big job for the weekend was finally finishing the bulb planting. As ever, I groaned when the rather large box was delivered. I love spring bulbs but hate planting them.

I got the daffodils, crocus, hyacinths, Dutch iris, etc. in last month but still had the tulips to do, both in pots and in the borders. I’m now feeling rather smug as it’s a job ticked off my list.

Before Christmas, I would like to cut the old leaves off the hellebores – it helps prevent the spread of disease and allows the flowers to be seen more easily – and get the worst of the weeds out.

The summer flowers and autumn colour may be over but there are still things to enjoy in the garden. The pyracantha is full of berries – and the birds haven’t started on them yet – and the garrya is dripping with tassels.

Best of all, the first snowdrops are beginning to push through. This is ‘Colossus’, which is usually out in time for Christmas. The jury’s out on whether it will hit the deadline this year.

Enjoyed this? You can read more posts about my garden here.

Make sure you don’t miss future posts by joining my mailing list.