Week 15th January 2023

January has been two weeks of persistent and consistent rain and now a week of hard frosts. The trees are still bare and black against the sky but in my neighbours garden I spy two cerise pink camellia flowers. Our own camellias are still tight, green buds, nothing doing there. On Thursday I ventured out, swathed in scarves and hats and gloves and started a bit of weeding. I sat on the garden stool to do it as I can’t bend much now and I thought a bit of gentle stretching would do me good. Friends, on Friday I could barely walk. Hips, thighs and knees complained – loudly. Hamstrings were particularly vocal. It’s been a while. Nevertheless, I got the worst of the weeds out of the side flower beds, cut down some dahlia stalks that we had left in the ground, cleared out some large pots and pruned a potted rose. It’s a start.

Here is some Canna mush. We left them standing over winter to protect the roots a bit. These have been in the garden for two winters now, but it is still to be seen if they have survived this year. If they haven’t, it will leave quite a gap – there’s about thirty plants in this bed.

And here is a frost-mushed Agave. Again a survivor for a few years outside, but it has suffered this year. I’m hoping the central growing tip is ok and that later on it will recover. Enough of the misery, there is cheerful stuff too.

A bushy tree heather, this sits outside the sitting room window and used to be hidden behind a cotoneaster hedge. I’m not keen, but at this time of year it is a welcome bloom. I think later in the year it will get taken out as we continue to refresh this part of the garden.

The gorse bush is beginning to flower. In a week or two it will be a mass of coconut smelling flowers and I will think it’s the most glorious thing we have in the garden. Briefly. Vicious spikes too, so we have to keep it pruned well away from the postman’s path.

A tiny patch of aubretia is braving the cold. It started flowering just before Christmas and keeps popping out a few flowers at a time. It is outside the kitchen window in a long thin bed of rockery plants and alpines. You can see the frost on the plant, but it doesn’t seem to mind. And neither does this saxifrage.

Beautiful rosy pink flowers, this put out its cushion of blooms just before Christmas too. It’s next to the path to the driveway and is so cheery, turning up its starry faces to the cold, blue sky. It has frost still on it too, and I think will need separating into clumps later on as the middle will probably die off. Until then, it’s a promise of better weather to come.

Hope you are all well, and able to get into your gardens.