Chapter 7 - Winter: December to February

Considering that this literary enterprise has progressed in a timeline from 'beginnings', through 'trees', 'hard landscaping', 'planning and design', 'climbers' and 'shrubs', it would seem logical to write about perennials in this chapter, but there are so many perennials, and we seem to have bought most of them (just joking, but that's what it seems like), that it could turn into the RHS Plant Finder.   So, having thought about it, I have decided to go through the seasons, starting with Winter, which I am classing as from the beginning of December to the end of February. 

Beginning to write this chapter on the last day of 2012, I can tell you that I have today photographed the following plants which are presently in flower:

Coronilla citrina

Corylus avellana 'Contorta' catkins

Cyclamen

Daphne mezereum 'Alba'

Erigeron karvinskianus 'Profusion' (Mexican Daisy)

Garrya eliptica

Graptapetalum paraguayense

Hamamellis x intermedia 'Arnold Promise'

Lycesteria formosa

Mahonia x media 'Charity'

Rosa (Patio)

Primula vulgaris (Primrose)

Rhodochiton atrosanguineas
Rosa 'Rhapsody in Blue'

Sarcococca humilis

Winter Jasmin

Viburnum x bodnantense 'Dawn'

Most, like the Corylus, Daphne, Garrya, Hamamellis, Jasmin, Mahonia and Sarcococca were specifically purchased as winter-flowering plants so are not unusual.  Likewise the cyclamen and primrose, though the latter seems a little early. 

Daphne mezereum 'Alba'

Garrya eliptica

Mahonia x media 'Charity'

Others are just hanging on from Autumn, for example the Lycesteria and Mexican Daisy, but the rest are more of a surprise.  The roses are making new buds, though are likely to be bitten back with the arrival of harder frosts.

Graptapetalum paraguayense is a succulent, described in the RHS 'Garden Plants' as frost tender.   It was given to us by a friend in France, but it survived the harshest winter we have had for some years in 2011 and is still hanging in a basket on the front of our cottage.   It is not in flower, but I feel that the fact that it is surviving deserves a mention. 

Mexican Daisy and Graptapetalum paraguayense

The climbing plant, Rhodochiton atrosanguineas, which sports solitary tubular flowers and pretty delicate pink, bell-shaped calyces  was bought as an annual at a charity event in late Summer with the expectation that it would only last into the Autumn, but it too has survived a frost or two and is still flowering. 

Rhodochiton atrosanguineas

A few weeks ago, we had some very hard frosts and some of the plants created quite an impression, but the recent wet weather has made it impossible to do any clearing up and the garden now looks very bedraggled.  

Frosted Teazles

Everywhere is covered in leaves and the seed-heads left for the birds are, on the whole, broken down and rather sad looking.  However, having passed the shortest day on the 21st December, we now look forward to brighter, and hopefully drier, days ahead.

Looking through my catalogue of plants acquired since the garden was started, I find there are few to add to the above and those are still to appear.   Crocuses, hyacinths, irises will arrive in due course, as will the hellebores, lasting well into Spring.  Snowdrops should be some of the first.  We bought three different varieties  in 2009: Ikariae 'Woronowii', 'Elwesii' and Nivali 'Flore Pleno', but I don't know where we planted them so am hardly likely to recognise them when they arrive.  No matter, I know they will look lovely.  Last year our lane was inundated with them and we hope for the same again in 2013.

Snowdrops in our lane overlooking Sprotborough Flash

It is now the middle of January with frost on the ground and snow flakes drifting gently down and the question to be asked is whether we have found somewhere inside for all the tender plants or whether we will find come Spring that we have missed and, consequently, lost something.  Whatever the truth of this, the greenhouse is full, as is the summer house.   The latter has recently been divested of a mouse's nest, the household of which would no doubt have devastated the plants stored there if not found in time, so hopefully that has been avoided.  Only time will tell.

One of the delights of the winter garden is the variety of wildlife, particularly the birds which can now be observed more easily.  With the trees, shrubs and plants divested of their leaves, they can be seen darting hither and thither or pottering around on the ground looking for any thing tasty they can find.  We have an abundance of Tits: Blue, Great, Coal, the occasional Marsh and Long-tailed, though the latter seem few and far between.  Goldfinches come daily and a Nuthatch has suddenly become a more regular visitor.  The occasional Thrush, Robins, Chaffinches, Blackbirds, Wrens and Dunnocks are ground feeders seen on a regular basis.  Sparrows, however, are non-existent and have been missed for a number of years now, though a Sparrow Hawk has been seen. 

Goldfinches

Nuthatch

Robin

Magpies are also around and Pigeons live in nearby trees, but are not a nuisance in the garden.  Squirrels and other wildlife come to steal the nuts, too, but our most prized creature is the grass snake who lays her eggs in our compost heap on a yearly basis, the young then being found all over the place in late Summer. 

Cheeky Grey Squirrel

Grass Snake sunning itself in a seed tray

Mouse

A couple of winters ago, we had a very welcome flock of female pheasants, escorted by their brilliantly-coloured spouse, who arrived daily to wipe out much of the slug and snail population.  Unfortunately, when breeding time arrived, they disappeared and the gardener's enemy returned.  We have seen a few members of this species since, but not in such numbers nor on such a regular basis. 

Dragon flies are also prevalent in Summer; I believe the most common are Brown Hawkers which fly over in their thousands at a certain time in the summer, but we have also seen the male Migrant Hawker, a large beautiful blue specimen, on one occasion.

In the wider countryside, we know there are buzzards in the now disused local quarry, woodpeckers and jays, as well as herons and gulls and various types of water fowl on the nearby nature reserve.  Great excitement brought twitches that came to see the Little Egret and an Osprey when they made rare visits. 

But on cold and frosty days in January, there is little one can do except walk around the garden and take pleasure in the plants which bloom during such times and happily share their fragrance with all who pass their way.