January

So spring beckons and with sunshine there pull of the garden is strong. There is even the glimmer of new life with the first snowdrops and bulbs pushing through. The deep cold that was threatened has not arrived, and it has been the mildest winter for a long time (cue epic weeks of deep snow). I am so surprised how I still have lots of nasturshums and nicotiana which are still alive, my Amicia is also still going and the Tetrpanax may even get to flower..

So a ramble around the spring garden

Hellebore....after killing nearly all the Hellebore's Mum put in this one seems to have survived..I think it does look strangely exotic

Cobea...amazing it is still going, and I really hope that some survive

Melianthus...a very strong shrub which was just getting into its stride at the end of the year, and is usually cut back to the ground. It may even flower for me for the first time

All is rather raggedy, with odd tidy patches where the mood has taken me. still lots of Tetrapanax on the go

Salvias, rubbish all summer but they haven't stopped since September

general decimation...however a pleasing job is to thin out the bamboo, cutting out the oldest, thinnest and tatty growth which opens up the clumps and makes them much more handsome. Next year I will do this earlier as the cut culms and leaves would make for excellent insulation for plants that need fleecing...so I would put loads of this debris around ther banana to be wrapped and then fleece this giving lots of extra insulation.

Fatsia polycarpa flowering...ALWAYS check which type you get if mail ordering as there is so much variation in leaf shape, and although you may want the very lacy fancy ones you could end up with one like this which looks very life a regular Fatsia japonica

This is the current issue as when you come up the steps the aim is that your eye is drawn to Ganesh (below) however instead you stare up at the flats (above) so I'm working to put in more things to catch the eye and perhaps move a giant bamboo and plant this Trachycarpus..... The winter garden is full of plants like this, and is littered with sticky and forks to try and plan out where things could do

Winter protection for the Musa's with most things cut to the ground, below is the giant blue bamboo I want to move as it was small for years, but has suddently sent out 15? foot new culms..

Things are still fairly lush in parts, although raggedy...the Solanum lanceolatum is certainly a bit bashed around and I have cut it back to give this young Trachycarpus a chance to grow....although small I was amazed at how big the root ball was last year when I moved it

 

Anyway, good luck with your own winter gardening and getting back into the stride of things, why have a gym membership when you have a garden?