An icy wind has been gusting for an age of late, resulting in me barely visiting the garden, so it was lovely having a little potter around today.
Hubs has cleared the tree remarkably quickly. These things often look worse than they actually are.
This bargain basement, nameless, store bought tea rose has been flowering for a year, I think it only cost me fifty pence.
The witch hazel is glowing in the pale sunlight, such an odd looking little flower.
Overall, the winter has been fairly mild resulting in the rhododendrons being covered in buds. I think they’ll be flowering early this year.
The winter jasmine is a ray of sunshine in the winter garden, a little yellow is most welcome.
The daphne is radiating the most glorious scent right outside the kitchen door. Just heavenly.
For now, I’ve potted the grasses I was gifted, in pots, dotted around the courtyard. Why their heads were trimmed I’ll never know.
Some of the wild flowers in the accidental orchard have remained green, hopefully these perennials will flower again. I’m really hoping for blossom on these young trees this spring.
And Finally…
I bought a little paper crystal tree for Littl’urchin to enjoy, tell you what, I enjoyed watching it flower more than her!
Until next time…stay safe guys. xxx
And the wind is still blowing and it looks set to contine for some time. It is so frustrating for gardeners. I love your witch hazel and daphne. Your accidental orchard always makes me laugh. I bet you are looking forward to the blossom.
Thanks Chloris, I am hoping for a little blossom in my accidental orchard. We have two storms predicted so no end of wind this week….sighs.xxx
WE have just experienced some unprecedented wet weather here in early Feb, mid-summer in NZ.
I do hope your summer improves!xxx
How lovely! I love those brave early blossoms signaling spring.
Amalia
xo
I’m always surprised to see delicate blooms in the winter, I’m hoping they survive the heavy rain and winds predicted tomorrow. Thanks Amalia.xxx
You have a good excuse to buy child like things.
Indeedy! Thanks Sue.xxx
Nice to see you do have signs of Spring in your garden.
I think the paper crystal tree looks lovely, so colourful.
Enjoy the weekend.
All the best Jan
Thanks Jan, I must say I enjoyed that little crystal tree. xxx
Wow, such a lot of flowers, despite gales, freezing rain, snow and cold! xx
Thanks Gill. We have heavy winds and rain coming tomorrow so I fear for the more delicate blooms.xxx
I still never have seen witch hazel, and I’d love to. It’s native here in Texas, but only in the far eastern part of the state. I do visit the area, so I’m going to have to consult the iNaturalist maps and see if/when it’s been sighted.
I’d forgotten about those crystal creations. They were such fun, but it’s been years and years since I’ve seen one. I remember the almost-garish colors as much as the process; colors guaranteed to please a child!
We’re really cold here just now, below freezing and creeping toward zero. Still, it’s supposed to be short-lived, and my few plants are hanging out in the dining room — save one Hawaiian schefflera that’s tucked into a corner with freeze cloth and a light bulb. They’re pretty tough, and it will be fine.
I do hope you come across a witch hazel, especially flowering as their scent is lovely.I do hope your winter passes quickly and it doesn’t get too cold, you had enough of that last year!!! xxx
Lots of interesting blooms, not something I would be expecting to say when January has only just departed and February is reminding us what winter is.
I will be cutting back some of my grasses to encourage a nice growth. Honestly, the instruction to comb them to remove the previous year’s faded or dried blades, doesn’t fill me with much enthusiasm. It’s like requesting a hairdresser to comb and thin them without thick protective gardening gloves gloves on. Some of those blades can be real cutters. It’s safer just to cut back some of the ornamental grass and take it from there. The cut on yours may have something to do with encouraging the potting and rooting of a new grass plant. xxxx
You are having a far worse winter than us but hopefully you will see a little spring creeping in soon. Yes, some grasses can be lethal for sure and do need a lot of work to keep them looking tidy, not a job I enjoy either! xxxx
Lovely to see Spring coming little by little… even if, at least over here, we had cherry blossom in december! The weather is crazy: 20° at the end of January and few days after, again below 0. Because of the dryiness, we had a real scarry fire on the montain in front of us, as a result of stupidity of to men willing to grill and camp without taking in consideration the strong wind blowing…
And we keep going. I still suffer from long-covid, but is not that horrible and slowly I start moving faster around without having to stop every few steps.
Kids and husband are fine, Emanuele Giosuè is coming back to Ticino and will start the Master in Lugano; Sara Luna is going to study Literature at UNIL Lausanne with English, history and aestetic of Cinema and Japanese.
Next year, I retire 🙂 and will have a lot of time to do what I love!
I hope you are all well (by the way, did you receive my Seasons’ card?)
Love and hugs :-)claudine
Goodness, fancy having cherry blossom in December! I did notice cherry blossom in the neighbourhood recently but not in my garden yet. Oh goodness, that fire sounds horrendous. So sorry to hear about you having long covid but great to have an update on the family. Yes, I received your lovely card, I hope you got mine.
Goodness, fancy having cherry blossom in December! I did notice cherry blossom in the neighbourhood recently but not in my garden yet. Oh goodness, that fire sounds horrendous. So sorry to hear about you having long covid but great to have an update on the family. Yes, I received your lovely card, I hope you got mine. Here’s to your retirement! Love and hugs to all.xxx
Lovely signs of spring in your garden, what a difference a few weeks make! Hubs did really well getting rid of all the tree branches so quickly, just in time for you to enjoy all your flowers! Daphnes are such wonderful plants, their perfume is divine!x
It’s always surprising how quickly everything bursts into leaf and bloom isn’t it? Thanks Pauline.xxx
What is it with the wind? We have almost been blown away this season! Anyway, it is nice to see your signs of spring everywhere, you will have a very green, lush garden in summer.
Wind can be a right pain can’t it, and so damaging too! I’m really looking forward to colour in the garden and some brighter days. Thanks Gerrie.xxx
So lovely to see a rose blooming! Thank you for the tour of your relative lushness. I adore Daphne, but mine didn’t survive it’s first winter many years ago. I still remember the scent…yes, heavenly! No luck with witch hazel in this zone, either, so a real treat to see your blossoms.
I’m glad you had a break in the icy winds and we could all benefit as well. All looks hopeful and beautiful; you’ve truly brightened a very cold week for this happy reader!
Thanks Kitty, that rose is a little trouper! What a shame about your Daphne, I often lose plants during particularly cold winters. The icy winds are back and heavy rain is on the cards, here’s to your weather improving! Love and hugs to all.xxxx
Yes! When we gave little snow and the cold blows through, we lose the precarious perennials…fingers—and toes—crossed this winter! 👍
You’re the second one growing daphne and raving about its scent — that I’ve read about this week. And I’m wondering whether it will tolerate my probably-too-warm zone…
So good to see and anticipate blooms in your garden. Well done on that no-name rose doing well throughout your winter.
Oh, Daphne’s are unbeatable for their fragrance, I think they are pretty tough shrubs as long as they are watered. That little rose was in the reduced aisle in a supermarket, tough as old boots it is! Thanks Anne.xxx
Thank you for these beautiful signs of spring….all we need are a few mild, sunny days and bingo:)XXXX
Thanks Janet, here’s to spring!xxxx
I love it when you take us on a tour of your garden, you are so inspiring. I have learnt so much about plant names from reading your blog. You have so many wonderful plants. I have never seen a witch hazel flower, what a wonderful and intriguing bloom they have (I suspect that is the wrong word to describe what I am seeing!) thank you so much for sharing these wonderful photos.
Thanks Sustainablemum. I do love witch hazels, you must get one, they are quite tough and have a lovely fragrance. xxx
I don’t mind the cold too much if it’s calm and sunny.
Hubs did well to get that tree cleared so quickly.
It’s all looking good , and it’s nice to see some colour at this time of year. xx
Thanks Flighty, we have a cold wind gusting here, I’m no fan of wind! A little colour is so welcome at this time of the year. Roll on spring.xxx
I remember those crystal sets when my two were young, fascinating things. It’s a good time to get out in the garden, there’s lots of signs of life beginning to show with the promise of things to come.
Growing crystals is fun for sure! There are lots of signs of spring around here but it’s also freezing. Thanks Jo.xxx
I remember someone buying my daughter a crystal garden set for her birthday one year – we had such fun watching them grow! So many lovely things in your garden and so many things I would love to grow, if only the deer would let us! Happy gardening. xx
Oh wow … that crystal looks amazing. I’ve never seen them before, I’ll have to go searching, very intriguing.
Your garden looks so tidy, you’ve all been very busy.
Thanks Veggiemummy. I have a crystal growing for littl’urchin, I can’t wait to see how big it gets. It must be lovely having deer around, but a shame re the plants they eat.xxx
Thanks Annemarie, you must have a go at crystal growing, it’s fascinating for all ages.xxx