Frosts keep us on our toes
Last month provided an early wake-up call, with hot bonfires on November 5 and the first frost the following day. Given our recent mild winters, seeing the pond frozen over so soon brought a sense of urgency to garden salvage operations. The sack barrow was engaged to bring remaining large pots of lemon ‘Four Seasons’, Coffea arabica and Aloysia triphylla into the unheated greenhouse, whose temperature had plunged to -2C (28F) overnight. Pots of late chrysanths soon followed.
We’ve had further frosts but the winter vegetables have taken it all in their stride. Leeks, cabbages and sprouts are thriving in the cold, and perpetual spinach keeps on providing fresh leaves.
Sown into drills in March, the cut-and-come-again picking began in April. When autumn arrived, all top growth was cut to ground level with the hedge clippers and the rejuvenated plants will keep supplies going until March arrives. At £1.99 for a packet of 250 seeds, they’re good value for money and always on our seed order.
Autumn raspberries performed late, and the flavour was intensely good. The canes are pruned to the ground when the last vestige of fruit has ripened, and then we’re on with pruning the spent growth of herbaceous border perennials and summer-flowering shrubs.
Winter colour in the garden abounds. Variegated and evergreen shrubs that offer pleasure to us and sustenance and shelter to birds, are coming into their own. They’re joined by hardy and reliable winterflowering shrubs comprising jasmine, viburnum, cherry, mahonia and sarcococca.
Birds are an important presence in our garden and observing their nesting sites and antics is a pleasure. Recent close inspection of a berried holly revealed a secretive goldfinch’s nest and I’ve recently had the company of a wren in the greenhouse. It raises an alarm call when I enter, then appears to accept my unthreatening presence.