It’s a few weeks since I last posted a mooch round the garden, mainly because the weather was inclement to say the least, cold, wet and miserable, day light opportunities are limited too as winter days are so short. I’m a fair weather gardener! A few people have commented how they missed the posts, so I thought I’d share a few photos again.
Having gone out to take some photos I probably spent about an hour outside, weeding, cutting back dead wood, generally starting to tidy up. I have to say I did feel a lot better for a bit of fresh air and physical work. I often find at this time of year that from inside the weather looks pretty uninviting, but once I’m out there, all wrapped up, I can happily stay out for quite a while.
I cut down the big clematis which goes over the arch on the patio, It’s meant to be cut back late winter, I usually wait until it starts to bud, so it could be early January or it might not be until mid February if it’s a cold winter. Cutting it all back has also revealed just how rickety the old arch has become, I’ve got a couple of weeks off in March and I’m tempted to make a new one, this one was bought probably about 12 years ago, so it’s not done badly, but having made an arbour last year for the Amber & Amethyst garden which was really just a wide arch, I feel I could tackle this arch without risk of it falling on someone!
The evergreens form the backbone of the garden in winter, I have box, choisya, several osmanthus, camillia, rhodendrons, pierris…
… as well as little ones such as hebes and eunonymous or this one which used to have the pretty name of sennecio, but now has the somewhat ugly name of brachyglottis!!
You can just see the bird feeders in the photo above, we’ve had a lot more birds than usual this year, they’re emptying some of the feeders within days! As well as the usual bluetits, great tits and coal tits, we’ve also had bull finches, goldfinches , a pair of nuthatches, we’ve even had the woodpecker back who we haven’t seen for a few years! The long-tailed tits are doing well this year, they’re tiny birds so a bad winter can decimate them,but there’s about a dozen visit our feeders each day.
I noticed today that the buds on the hellebores are starting to swell, I have quite a few different colours now so they make a great early spring show.
The magnolia buds are also forming, they’re quite a way off flowering but it does give you a feeling that spring isn’t that far away.
Bulbs are starting to shoot too, these ones are early daffodils.
I’ve an awful lot of tidying up to do before spring arrives, but at least I’ve made a start.
thecraftycreek 
Thank you for such a good wander round your back patch❣️ Those signs of spring are so encouraging. 🥰
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my husband has been outside today, pruning the grape vine right back (following a neighbour’s advice). I really can’t get up any enthusiasm for gardening, I’m afraid and can’t tell a plant from a weed ^^
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You sound like my husband – he loves the garden but hates gardening!
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You have shoots?!!! We’ve had a pretty nice winter thus far after the blizzard in November (snow’s still melting), but to be seeing daffodil shoots January is quite amazing to me! I love how you’ve done managed to make your garden a year round delight. 😍
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Don’t you just love the little ones, like your hellebores that just keep going? There they are, getting ready to burst into flower! Why do you think there are more birds this year?
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I do love my hellebores, especially as they flower when there’s not much else around. I’m not sure why there’s more birds, ones like the finches and the nuthatch we usually only see in summer, they’re not migrants, I just presumed they went up into the woods over winter. It has been very mild so far.
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Maybe they haven’t quite moved on to their winter quarters yet.
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I too got out for awhile this weekend and puttered around in the garden. It felt good but it also made me feel a bit out of shape. Maybe I was so tired because I got so nice and warm after coming back inside. Your garden looks nice even during winter. You have such a lovely patch.
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I feel very out of shape at the moment, so I’m making myself get out – and dosing myself up with vitamin D!!
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Lovely to see this! We are not directly affected by the bushfires here in Australia, but it is devastating to see the losses and the sadness and anger feel overwhelming. Some shoots of new life are encouraging!
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Hi Steph, we’ve been watching the news closely as we have family in Sydney – the fires got within 1km of one family! It’s been awful watching from the other side of the world, I can only imagine the emotions when it’s your country.
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Love seeing your garden and hearing all your plans – thanks for sharing!
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