Wordless Wednesday: winter weather / whitening

Tags

December, frosted leaf litter, frosted Leucanthemella serotina, frosted verbascum, wordless wednesday

Leaf litter

Verbascum

Leucanthemella serotina

Friday flowers

Tags

commercially grown white rose, cut glass creamer, December, friday flowers, garden magazine, ivy berries, Kenji Toma, mistletoe berries, periodical, Rakes Progress

Unlike Cathy I did not manage to be organised enough to prepare a blog post sharing my in a Vase on Monday on Christmas Day. I hope you all had a lovely day wherever you were.

I did have a little offering of a shop bought white rose, (I saved one for myself, thanks Mo) a few white buds of mistletoe, some greenery and big fat black ivy berries.

Placed in a cut glass creamer it was a token for the Christmas table along with two pots of white cyclamen.

They worked well as there is something annoying about anything taller where you have to duck round to see the person opposite. Or maybe that can be useful.

As I write this post I am having a quiet day catching up on household chores and saving an hour with my cup of tea to read through my neglected issue of Rakes Progress.

Cover photograph by Kenji Toma.

This is an excellent Quarterly which I signed up for at the Chelsea Flower Show. I guess I would describe it as the horticultural equivalent of Cereal Magazine in terms of presentation and quality of photography.

Within this issue, number 6, there are articles on indoor gardens and honesty sheds, the ancient Indian city of perfume and America’s original land artist Agnes Denes, freediving grandmothers and catwalk florists, plus stick weavers, kokedama, kosher cooks and Milton Keynes. Quite a crop to keep the reader going until the snowdrops appear. I encourage you to seek out a copy for a truly original and refreshing look at all things horticulture related.

Silent Sunday: red and blue

Tags

big fat red berries, blue sky, December, feed the birds, malus, malus x robusta red sentinel, Red sentinel, Silent Sunday

Thank goodness it’s Friday: favourites

Tags

December, fatsia japonica, favourite shrubs, Thank goodness it's Friday, winter interest

Did you know, this is one of my favourite shrubs in the garden at this time of year,

Fatsia japonica.

Evergreen with large waxy palmate leaves, Fatsia can grow to an impressive 2.5 meters.

Once established it needs little maintenance save for the removal of its dead leaves.

It tolerates deep shade and neglect and will grow on most soils including chalk which this specimen is proof of.

Most of all, it has these creamy white Pom Pom flowers which stand out against the dark green leaves.

These days (does that make me sound old?) Fatsia is referred to as an ‘architectural plant’ and yes it certainly is. Yet it is more than just that, it is also a star at the back of a border in a country garden or a rather handsome feature plant in the foreground of a town garden, perhaps hiding the bins.

Architectural, low maintenance, evergreen, shade tolerant, neglect tolerant yes Fatsia japonica really does all these things. It is also, absolutely beautiful at this time of year.

I hope you have had a good Friday. Do you like Fatsia japonica?

D.

Tuesday View: 12/12/17

Tags

December, parson russell terrier, snow and ice, Tuesday View, water bowl, Winter weather

It was a cold, crisp, bright morning here. The snow melted yesterday afternoon but then re-froze and consequently there is black ice all around.

The snow has broken the back of the Molinias yet the calamagrostis remain standing.

The water bowl which the dog likes to drink from after her walk is frozen solid. Somewhat confused by the lack of water she had make a thorough investigation.

Having established that there was no water and as if by way of protest, she decided to pose on the ice.

Hoping you have had a good day. I am joining Cathy with her Tuesday view.

Silent Sunday: snow dome kind of day

Tags

December, it’s a snow dome kind of day, my garden, Narnia, Silent Sunday, snow, Winter 2017