So much seasonal splendour
There are so many ways for plants to impact in our Christmas preparations and I’ll be busy selecting the best foliage and berries for our home-made front door wreath this week. Who could ask for a better way to create the spirit of Christmas? The mixture of holly, spruce, pine, hellebore and privet will give a lovely fresh fragrance.
We’ve hyacinths ‘Jan Bos’ and ‘City of Haarlem’ planted in decorative pots and glass jars inside, ready to release their powerful perfume. There may even be flowers at the right time on the Christmas cactus! I’ve some paperwhite narcissus as well and they’ll make a delicate table centrepiece.
At the allotment, we’ve weeded and covered half the plot in membrane, ready for raised beds to be built on top. This is going to make such a difference to my enjoyment of the plot. All the beds will be made to fit the tunnels and cloches we’ve already made. The plan is that all beds will be built from old scaffolding boards and filled with manure and soil, ready to plant in spring. While clearing, we’ve dug up potatoes, garlic, a few carrots and several cabbages to enjoy, plus plenty of cheerful calendula flowers for sharing! I’ve also been sorting flower and veg seeds for next year and drawing up a plan of what will be in each bed, remembering the value of crop rotation. We’re planning an extension at the back of the house for next year, which means that we’re looking at the garden anew. Once the work is done, we’ll enjoy re-evaluating our remaining garden space and seeing if a new design would invigorate it.
We often mull over whether to remove two large trees, but then suddenly, in the autumn sun, their bark shines bright red and their stately branches look majestic cloaked in winter snow. In spring they house so much new life and are full of birdsong.
Such a magnificent and mature ecosystem is so hard to lose in an instant. But have they outgrown our garden? Is this the chance to find a better tree?
Meanwhile the Acer rubrum shines in the sun like a golden firework and the cotoneaster ‘Cornubia’ and autumn colour of sorbus ‘Joseph Rock’ are gorgeous. The blue spruce is very attractive now, especially when sprinkled in sugar frost.
At the front of the house we have autumn pots of cyclamen, hebe cuttings, hellebore seedlings and violas that are underplanted with ‘Tête-à-tête’ and tulips. These pots really brighten up the front drive.
I can’t believe that as I’m writing this, the dahlia, cosmos and marigolds are
still flowering! I just keep
on dead heading to see how long they last.