Cold weather at last

At last we have had cold weather. It was unnatural to have such high temperatures in November although I appreciated the warmth. Flowers like dahlias which should have been long-dormant were still providing gorgeous colour. That is until winter swept in with a vengeance.

Winter arrived suddenly

Ice, snow and temperatures of -10 arrived in a chilly blast. They killed off the whitefly and other pests. The cold weather put a stop to the last of my summer blooms. And it encouraged the final leaves to fall off the trees.

But then they outstayed their welcome. It continued to be cold and icy. With the cost of living crisis many felt unable to put their heating on and it was a shivery run up to Christmas.

It is British to moan about the weather

But, we’re British. We like to moan about the weather. As long as you are in the right clothes cold weather is fine. I love walking in the snow under cloudless skies. I prefer cold and crisp to damp and wet any day.

Hope 2023 will be good

Here we are in 2023. I hope it is going to be a good year. Hopefully we won’t lose another monarch or have three different prime ministers but I am not making any predictions.

New Year Resolutions

I have however made some resolutions.

I will try to make time to enjoy my garden. Sometimes it seems we are so busy we don’t have the luxury of just sitting and admiring all our hard work. This year I want you to join in me in taking time out. Sit back and appreciate your garden.

Grow my own

One of my resolutions last year was to grow more of my garden flowers from seeds I had harvested. I carefully collected seeds from astrantias and placed them in envelopes. In the spring I planted Roma which has large, silvery pink flowers. They germinated well and gave me a fabulous display. The butterflies loved them.

In the spring I took cuttings of Campsis radicans ‘Flamenco’. I grew them on and now have vigorous new plants which gave me brilliant red flowers from July to September.

Plan for the future

In these winter evenings I like poring over catalogues, planning future planting. This year I want to plant some new clematis. I fancy Empress. It is an early large flowered pink clematis. I will also go for Michiko which is one of the earliest varieties and has almost pure white flowers.

I will plant more lupins too. Pale pink Blossom, purple Blacksmith and white Polar Princess will all look lovely together.

Signs of spring

As I write this it is dark and cold but there are signs of spring. Bulb tips are poking through. A cherry has started flowering, the earliest it has ever done so. I bet it was shocked by the freezing weather.

Stay warm and keep the bugs at bay. There is a nasty cold going round which has knocked out me and my neighbours. Still at least it is the first cold we have had for three years.

Gardening tips

Keep an eye out for the tips of spring bulbs which will soon be emerging. Water overwintering pots in the greenhouse sparingly once a week. Plan next summer’s purchases with our 2023 catalogue. Rake up any fallen leaves.

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