Seasons Greetings from Keith and Moira
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Another year draws to a close in the "mud, the slush and
the darkness" (Frank Mansell, a Gloucestershire poet)
that typifies December. In most ways for us it has been a
memorable year: 2 special birthdays, our new and much used
conservatory, the Jubilee and Olympics, more outings than we have
had for a long time, some unforgettable talks particularly Medwyn's
Masterclass Weekend, and the best dieramas, kniphofias. and
hemerocallis we have ever had.
Dierama pulcherrimum in early July.
A marvellous apricot hemerocallis - cultivar
unknown
Set against all the good things, 2012 will go down as one of the
most challenging years in my garden life as it has been for nearly
everyone that we have met. We gardeners are made of stern stuff
however and always look for the positives: in spite of all the bad,
unseasonal weather there were a few highlights. A really good
autumn show with herbaceous plants in particular dazzling until
late October, Waterperry Gardens in mid September with its
overwhelming display of asters, and some late but very welcome root
vegetables at last!
Freshly harvested celeriac looking like an extra from
Doctor Who! A very tasty, versatile and easy alternative to celery.
Mooli radish the long thin one much used on the recent BBC2 series
Masterchef the Professionals. Fairly hardy for autumn and early
winter use, with a nutty slighly peppery radish taste but more
subtle than the summer varieties.
We are looking forward to 2013 and already there are the first
signs of early Spring. A few helleborus x hybridus are in flower
(no niger - "Christmas Roses" yet), emerging spears of
snowdrops under deep blankets of leaves, some early cyclamineus
hybrid narcissus are just breaking through and there are a couple
of Dorset lambs in our neighbours field. If this isn't enough to
get the juices flowing the Chiltern Seeds catelogue is just days
away and from Sunday onwards the days will start to get longer.
After the Texel ram a couple of months ago some of our
better looking neighbours!!- especially the sweetie lamb. (Sorry
Ifor!)
Weather
An interesting month so far with rain and wind but plenty of
cold clear frosty days with some wonderful all day hoar frosts last
week, very low temperatures and 7 consecutive nights of frost Min
-8C. Daytime temperatures struggling to rise much above freezing.
Tingling, great to be alive weather, and ice on the Paddock Pond
for the first time this winter
Hoar frost on an umbellifer - it is one of the main
reasons why I don't cut back the herbaceous plants until
February.
A quick trip to the Cambrian Mountains just 15 miles
away on very icy roads!
Garden Update
Maintenance work continues all over the garden, cold frame now
rebuilt, pathways raked and rotting retaining boards to be repaired
or removed, Vegetable garden tidied, greenhouses and polytunnels
cleaned and all overwintering plants cut back. Helleborus x
hybridus leaves to be cut back in the next week or so, more
important than ever this year with so much blackspot about owing to
the wet weather. A nice job to work off Christmas Lunch! The rest
of the garden is enjoying its winter rest.
What's looking good?
Not much!! In fact I am struggling to find anything to write
about! So I won't!! I guess it is the same in many gardens
throughout the UK. I feel that December is the only month where
momentarily things stand still and we all have the chance to draw
breath.
But then I went into the large tunnel and saw this
solitary flower on justicia carnea, a native of Brazil in the
depths of winter in Wales!
And this Italian chilli pepper looking just like a
Christmas decoration
Wildlife and countryside
An exciting event last week (minus camera!) On my usual nightime
rounds I saw a young otter playing in the river at the bottom of
the garden. Quite oblivious to the strong LCD light it played in
the river for a few minutes before taking off. Too close to the
Paddock Pond for comfort I quickly put up the electric fence around
it just in case.
Flocks of chattering,warbling starlings are an everyday
occurence in the fields and trees around the Lodge. I love
starlings but they are by no means as common here as they were 10
years ago. The patterns they make in the sky are breathtaking and
their flying displays even eclipse the Red Arrows! One of the great
winter sights of the British countryside.
My pet robin is getting bolder as the days get colder and
wherever I am in the garden he is never far away, but get the
camera and he's off like a flash. Like the Mallen Streak blackbird
I am determined to get their pics one day!
Holly berries are scarce here this year especially after last
weeks cold spell, but I managed to find a few berried branches for
decoration.
Visits and visitors
Bookings for talks and visits are still coming in so please get
in touch if you would like to arrange a visit or talk. For details
please see the appropriate page of this website.
Talks re commence in February with Llandysul Winter
Gardening Weekend on 22 - 24 February one of the highlights.
Christmas Quiz result
In last months News I set a challenge to identify which of the
pictures was not taken with my new Nikon camera. The answer
is the one showing a range of tender plants providing winter cheer
in one of the heated tunnels. Sorry no prizes but well done if you
got the right answer.
Finally may we wish all our supporters, friends in gardening,
and past and future visitors to both the garden and the website,
all the blessings of the season and a happy, healthy and memorable
2013.
