The Blooming Garden

As readers of my blog will probably know I am a stickler for using the correct botanical nomenclature when talking about plants. But in its native Chile, Azara microphylla is known as Chin-chin tree, and I couldn’t resist the cute name, even though the name is shared by the deadly Manchineel tree in other parts of the world. Azara microphylla produces edible fruit unlike the ‘apples of death’ you find on the Manchineel tree. Actually, Azara microphylla doesn’t seem to produce fruit at all in the UK. In its native Chile the fruit is eaten and the seeds dispersed by the sweetest little marsupial imaginable called the Monito del Monte or the monkey of the mountains. Its proper name is Dromiociops gliroides but you can’t be on formal terms with something as cute as this.

Anyway, I have grown this tree for years but in my present garden I thought I would try the variegated form Azara microphylla ‘Variegata’ and I love it even more than the plain green one. It has pairs of tiny and tinier leaves in a herringbone arrangement. The baby leaves are actually stipules and I can’t see what purpose they serve apart from looking cute. Along with its year-round golden-silvery good looks, in March it has the most delicious smelling flowers and the scent is so intense it reaches every corner of my winter garden. The yellow flowers, like tiny mimosa flowers, may look insignificant but they actually smell strongly of vanilla. Some people say it is chocolate but I stick with vanilla. However you describe the scent, it is pervasively delicious and this is definitely a must-have tree for me.

I don’t grow rhododendrons in the garden because I have neither the space for them, nor the acid soil they require. But I do have a couple of early bloomers in pots. Rhododendron ‘Christmas Cheer’ is just coming out but the one I want to feature this week is Rhododendron cilipenense which is a nice compact plant with funnel-shaped, very early pale pink blooms. I think it is ideal for a pot.

We are threatened with frost tonight and as usual Magnolia soulangeana is coming out far earlier than is good for it. I have a huge one in my garden and although it is a wonderful sight when it is in bloom, it is never a variety I would choose for three reasons. One, you see it in every suburban garden and I am a plant snob. Two, there are far more exciting hybrids available, and three, it blooms in March and far too often the petals turn brown after a frost. Still this is a massive tree and if it can get away without too much browning it is certainly eye-catching.

One of the joys of March is finding banks of the lovely native primrose blooming when we go out for our daily walk. I have made a primrose path under my rose tunnel and it is delighting me right now. I am always complaining about vulgar, big, blowsy, modern primrose hybrids and indeed the common primrose can’t be improved upon. I used to collect heritage doubles which always disappeared after a year or two and I grew gorgeous Barnhaven primroses in delicious colours which were never garish. But I have to admit I am a convert to the fabulous Belarina doubles which are long lasting and bloom for weeks on end and they are fragrant. OK, they are big and blowsy and come in bright colours but I can no longer resist them or try to convince myself that I disapprove of them. Gradually, I seem to be collecting them because I fall for every one I see. My latest is this one called ‘Rosalina’.

And a couple of weeks ago Primula belarina ”Tangerine Twist’ fell into my trolley.

Along with ‘Candy Floss’.

As well as primroses, the verges and field edges are spangled with Viola odorata and the deliciously elusive scent epitomises spring for me. First you sniff it, then you don’t because the ionone molecule in violets temporarily shuts down the receptors in your nose. That is what makes the scent so elusive.

I love violets so much and I have them in shades of pinks, purples and lilac but as I got a bit carried away with the primroses and sneaked in some extra photos, I will stick to just one violet for today which is an unusual apricot colour. It is generally known as Viola odorata ‘Sulphurea’. But in my book ‘Violets’, written by Roy Coombs, he says that the correct name is Viola sulfurea and it is probably a different species and not Viola odorata at all. This makes sense as it has very little scent. Although it doesn’t have the delicious violet scent it is so pretty and spreads around obligingly too.

I will finish with pulmonaria, or lungwort as it was known as by our ancestors who had a weird belief in the doctrine of signatures. God had made the pulmonaria leaf to look like a diseased lung to indicate that this plant would be a cure. I find the naievety of our ancestors incredible. Primitive Amazonian tribes knew which plants to use for healing, even some animals can pick plants to self heal but here in England we used silly superstition. Wise women, the female herbalists who did have some real knowledge of healing plants were burnt as witches. I have several different good named varieties of pulmonarias but they all self seed prolifically and I am always happy with the babies. I think the best pink form is ‘Shrimps on the Barbie’.

For the clearest, purest gentian blue, Pulmonaria ‘Blue Ensign’ takes some beating. It’s probably no good for curing lung disease though as it has nice, fresh green leaves.

‘Trevi Fountain’ is another lovely blue-flowered one. I seem to be slipping in too many pulmonarias here but how to choose just one is beyond me. Perhaps nobody will notice. Before I finish, I must mention a lovely silver-leafed pulmonaria called Pulmonaria ‘Silver Bouquet’.

Aren’t those leaves just gorgeous? And just the thing for that nasty chesty cough. Well, I am done now, and not before time, I can hear you say. But do admit, I was very restrained with my violets, I’m saving some for another day. Meanwhile, as usual, thanks to Jim at Garden Ruminations who encourages everyone to pick out just six beauties each Saturday. One of these days I might manage it.

At last Spring has arrived, and we have had some lovely, warm sunny days with birds singing and bees buzzing. Spending time in the garden is an absolute joy right now after a long gloomy winter. Suddenly we have loads of colour and it is difficult to keep to just six blooms to celebrate the most exciting horticultural season.

In my tiny garden I don’t have enough room for loads of frothy pink cherry blossom but the early March-blooming Prunus ‘Kursar’ is a small tree and it is full of bloom right now. The flowers are single but vivid pink and the bees love them.

I have a mimosa tree in a large pot and this year I risked leaving it outside against the front wall and it has come through the winter unscathed. I did throw a table cloth over it on the coldest nights of the winter. The frothy yellow balls have a lovely dusty fragrance and they remind me of the magical mimosa forests of the Massif de l’Esterel in the south of France.

I have been waiting for the lovely clusters of woolly buds on my Edgeworthia chrysantha to open for weeks. They are downward-facing so you don’t get to enjoy the yellow flowers until they are fully open. They are custard-yellow with a really sweet scent. I like the way the flowers appear before the leaves so they don’t get hidden by foliage.

I always look forward to the Corydalis solida in pinks and mauve making their appearance. They disappear when they have finished blooming. The brick red ‘George Baker’ doesn’t stay around very long for me but ‘Beth Evans’ who is pretty in pink is very reliable and seeds around nicely.

I have a pretty early flowering woodlander which like the corydalis disappears when the summer gets going. It is Cardamine quinquefolia.

In my previous garden I waged constant war with the celandines which refused to be eliminated from one of my borders. And yet, I can’t help being drawn to their bright shiny faces in early spring. I have several cultivated forms, including double ones, but one of my favourites is Ranunculus ficaria Brazen Hussy’ which Christopher Lloyd discovered and named. I find the shiny black leaves irresistible.

And that is my lot. Instead of writing about early daffodils or dwarf tulips which are delighting me right now I have highlighted three little plants which bloom and then disappear completely. But these ephemeral beauties deserve a mention. My Six on Saturday come to you a little late today as I have been out grubbing all day. It is the first time doing a full day since I hurt my back and it is wonderful to be out there in my own little paradise. I hope you are all enjoying your spring gardens. Do check out Jim at Garden Ruminations and all the other SoSers

And to mark the occasion my true love bought me a pink pussy willow, Salix gracilistyla ‘Mount Aso’. He didn’t go out and choose it, that would be really weird. But he did come with me to a nursery and stood around patiently while I browsed. I have had this beauty before in my last garden and I feel it is a winter essential. It is grown as a standard so it doesn’t take up too much room.

I adore green flowers and the green racemes of Ribes Laurifolium are pure chartreuse. Many people find the sugar-pink flowering currant a bit too much, especially as it is everywhere in the spring but this lesser known variety is a bit more refined and it blooms much earlier. It sprawls rather, but it likes to grow upright if it has anything to lean on. It is dioecious which means male and female plants are quite separate and like hollies you have to have both in order for berries to appear. It has leathery green leaves as its name suggests. I wish I had removed that dead leaf before I took the photograph.

Many people don’t grow flowering currant because it smells quite strongly, some people think it smells of cat pee. I don’t agree, I always associate the smell with spring. But the flowers of Ribes laurifolium are fragrant, or so I have read. To be honest I have never noticed a scent. But many February flowers are sweetly scented to attract passing bees. One shrub whose fragrance drifts about deliciously in the breeze is sarcococca. I have Sarcococca hookeriana ‘Winter Gem’ and I am delighted that it is suckering to make quite a large shrub. The little tufty flowers are quite inconspicuous but the scent is pervasive. I know some people don’t like the smell because it is so strong but I love it.

It’s daffodil time at last and the first of my Narcissus ‘Rijnveld’s Early Sensation’ is in bloom. But I am rather disappointed with it, as I grow it purely for its very early flowers which should appear in January. I have seen it in gardens round and about blooming several weeks ago so I think that the middle of February is a bit dilatory. There is only one bloom, the rest are still in bud and look as if they will open up when the rest of the tribe start. This is really not good enough. If they don’t pull themselves together I will discard them and try again with some fresh bulbs.

But Narcissus ‘Polar Hunter’ is very early. I like this beauty which comes from New Zealand. It has a greenish tinge because it has the green Narcissus viridiflorus in its make up. I have been looking for bulbs of the fabulous green daffodil for years but now I have this which is the next best thing. Its other parent is the deliciously fragrant Narcissus jonquilla. ‘Polar Hunter ‘smells wonderful and I am looking forward to my back permitting me to bend down and sniff it.

Snowdrops and early crocuses are everywhere now and I have several clumps of Iris reticulata making a repeat appearance. For anyone who has tried to grow these little jewels, you will know that the corms tend to split up after flowering and they rarely reappear after a year or two. I like the sky blue ‘ Blue Planet’.

Good old Iris ‘Harmony’ might be common but it is a gorgeous vivid blue and stays around much more readily than any other Iris reticulata. That is because it was crossed with the more reliable Iris histrioides.

I love it when these small jewel-like treasures appear in February. As a change from the snowdrops the tiny Leucojum vernum are quite distinctive with glossy leaves and bell-shaped flowers tipped with green. I also have Leucojum vernum var. Carpathicum which has yellow tips to the petals.

I love this time of the year as the birds have started singing, afternoons are lighter and every day there is something exciting happening in the garden. Mind you, we would all be happier if only it would stop raining. But today, we have had sun so maybe things are about to change. I hope that whatever the weather, you have things to enjoy in the February garden. To see what other people are enjoying, check out Garden Ruminations where people from all over the globe gather to show what they have in bloom.

The first month of the year is a long dismal one, and particularly so for me this year with a pulled muscle in my back. But yippee, tomorrow is February and everything is waking up, the sun is higher in the sky, late afternoons are lighter and the birds are singing. And my back is unlocking at last. I can’t get out and grub in the garden yet but I’m sure it won’t be long.

The greatest joy though is my winter garden which gets prettier by the day. There are a few plants in pots waiting to be planted but I hope to be able to deal with them soon.

Snowdrops and aconites are everywhere and the first of my little irises are out. This one is Iris ‘Katharine’s Gold’. It is a sport of the lovely ‘Katharine Hodgkin’. It is more lemon than gold but still pretty with its little dabs of blue looking as though they have been splattered with ink.

More lovely hellebores are coming out every day. Here are just a few of the beauties I am enjoying just now. This first one is an anemone- flowered one.

I love speckled ones.

And the dark plum ones are fabulous.

I am generally not a great fan of double flowers but double hellebores look just like the sort of party dresses I longed for as a child.

I get excited when the first primroses open up and nothing can compare with their lemony beauty. Whilst one part of me thinks that colourful, over-hybridised primroses are rather vulgar, I couldn’t resist this double one that I bought at the Bury St. Edmunds market today. It is called ‘Maple Sugar”. If we have another cold snap it probably won’t be happy but meanwhile I rather like it.

And I have another double flower out which makes me feel that spring really is just round the corner. It is the first of my camellias to bloom and it is a great favourite of mine called ‘Debbie’.

Witch hazels are out and fragrant sarcococcas but I have already cheated by slipping in some extra hellebores so they must wait until next week. Meanwhile I have another flower on my Solandra maxima. I showed it last week but the massive golden blooms are so richly opulent that I can’t resist giving the plant another outing. I don’t usually like non-horticultural names for plants but Golden Chalice Vine suits this very well.

So there we have my Six on Saturday, with a few extra hellebores, but then how can you choose just one when they are all so gorgeous? January is dreary but I do love winter flowers and from now on the winter garden gets better and better. I hope you are enjoying the best that winter can offer and I am looking forward to seeing what other SoSers have to show. If you would like to see then visit Jim at Garden Ruminations.

At last the late afternoons are getting lighter and there are lots of lovely things to enjoy in the garden. Once the snowdrops appear en masse I am a happy bunny. Well, reasonably happy, I pulled a muscle in my back a few weeks ago and I still can’t bend down to look up the snowdrops’ skirts. But they never cease to delight, so coming in at number one we have a few snowdrops. First off is lovely Galanthus ‘Godfrey Owen’ which is very distinctive with its rounded, lamp-shade like flowers and six symmetrical petals.

Galanthus ‘Trumps’ has distinctive green marks on the outer petals and clumps up well.

Galanthus ‘Wendy’s Gold’ is quite distinctive too, with yellow ovaries and yellow markings on the inner petals.

But that is enough snowdrops for now as we have lots more to enjoy. Winter aconites, Eranthis hyemalis are making yellow carpets everywhere and hellebores are looking good too, apart from the fact that I can’t bend down just now to cut off the leaves which is a really essential job. Helleborus foetidus is wild in woodlands round here and pops up in the garden although I never planted it. I like the cup-shaped green flowers and the lovely foliage sets them off nicely and this is one that is spared the secateurs.

Double hellebores are always welcome and this pale pink one ‘Phoebe’ always does well.

I will show some more lovely hellebores another day. Every year I wait for gorgeous Daphne bholua ‘Jacqueline Postill’ to bloom. She is without doubt the queen of the winter garden with the most exquisite scent.

Nearby, I have a Japanese apricot, Prunus mume ‘Beni-Chidori’. It usually blooms in February but it is early this year. I love its rich dark pink flowers which are sweetly scented although they cannot compete with ‘Jacqueline Postill’, but then nothing can.

I haven’t been able to work in the garden for a while so conservatory treats have been particularly welcome whilst I lay prone on the sofa, having the Pianist running round after me picking things up and peeling me grapes. Veltheimea bracteata from South Africa is a tender winter- flowering bulb which is fabulous in a pot. The leaves are glossy and decorative all year round and the pink, tubular flowers are lovely.

And to finish up I have Solandra maxima in bloom with its massive, golden trumpets with maroon stripes. Two buds fell off, probably because my watering regime has gone out of the window. But I have one gorgeous flower remaining. This massive climber would take over the conservatory if I let it but I cut it back drastically each year. It stays in the garden all summer. It is very poisonous but it sits out of the way in the corner.

So there we have Six on Saturday, all beauties which are giving me a lot of pleasure. And there are a couple of bonus snowdrops. But this is quite restrained of me as usually when I start on snowdrops I don’t know where to stop. I am looking forward to catching up with other SoSers now that I am a bit more mobile. Thanks to Jim at Garden Ruminations for hosting this meme.

Tomorrow is the shortest day and probably the dreariest day of the year in the garden. There may be a few withered summer blooms grimly hanging on, but frankly they might as well give up the battle, they are certainly not worth featuring.

But I do have three little plants of Anemone coronaria which I found in the greenhouse and popped in a pot by the door. I think they look nice with the spiky leaves of Cordyline ‘Pink Passion’.

And my front garden which is devoted to winter interest is beginning to look good.

There are plenty of snowdrops and hellebores in bloom. One hellebore is still waiting to be planted, I am waiting to make sure I don’t plonk it on top of emerging bulbs. This next hellebore was planted a couple of years ago. I can’t remember its name but I think it must have some Helleborus niger in its make up as it has been in flower for ages and the Christmas rose is always the first hellebore to bloom.

Cyclamen coum is always a welcome sight. This one is a bit pale in colour.

I like this next darker pink cyclamen which has the added interest of silvery leaves. Well actually, some are silver and some are variegated. My little Narcissus ‘Cedric Morris’ is still happily blooming away and I now have two more blooms. But that is not for today as I have already waxed lyrical about this adorable little daffodil in previous posts.

December is the month that I enjoy spending time in the conservatory, so let’s go inside.

In winter it is a bit overcrowded with my succulents which multiply at an alarming rate. I seem to have nearly 100 now and I am not quite sure how that happened. But it is flowers that I crave at the moment; colour and scent. I have a succession of hippeastrums and hyacinths so there are always some in bloom. My current favourite hippeastrum is a white one called ‘Arctic White’. I like the ones here because they each have three stems.

The hippeastrums are sitting on the table where we always have breakfast with the little rose in a pot which I bought at the market and a blue hyacinth.

I grow Albuca spiralis ‘Frizzle Sizzle’ for its crazy corkscrew leaves. It has pretty yellow bellshape flowers which smell faintly of vanilla and I am surprised to have a bloom in December. It is supposed to be summer dormant but it just keeps going all year round. It blooms now and then when it feels like it.

Here are its crazy leaves.

Scent in the conservatory is essential in winter. The hyacinths are lovely but my favourite scent is Jasminum polyanthum. The chemical compound indole is what gives it the fragrance. It is strange that the same compound makes Paperwhite narcissus smell so rank to me.

So there are my Christmas Six on Saturday. Thanks to Jim at Garden Ruminations who has beautiful plants to share all year round and encourages us produce something lovely each week.

When messing about in the muddy garden loses its appeal we go for a walk. But when you live in the country, going for walks is a muddy business round here, where all the footpaths go through or round fields. So the Pianist and I choose a different village each day for our winter walks. It is fun at this time of the year to admire Christmas decorations and in late afternoons you can nosily peer in windows.

Some decorations are pretty, some are tasteful, some are gaudy and some are just weirdly eccentric. Our favourite weird decorations are in the village of Tostock.

Each year the village green sports yet more crochet decorations. It started with a Christmas tree.

Then came a toy soldier and finally a gingerbread house too.

The gingerbread house is very elaborate.

There is a box for children to post letters to Santa. Naturally it is decorated with crochet.

There is also a giant Santa’s hat caught up in a tree. Maybe next year there will be a giant crochet Santa to go with it.

This is a large village green so in future years we might well have a whole crochet village here, with crochet shops and crochet people. And there is another village green with a pond, so I am sure that too can be fully crocheted in years to come.We were intrigued by all this crochet and wondered if there is just one crazy, out-of-control crochet fiend in the village. But when we asked, we found that this is a village of crochet mad people. The mania has spread and presumably if you stand still long enough you will find yourself crochetified, if there is such a word. I don’t know whether they all get together to crochet or whether everyone sits at home, crocheting alone. Whichever it is, I think they need to get out more. The lovely town of Bury St. Edmunds is only about 8 miles away, with restaurants, a cinema and a lovely eighteenth century theatre.

Of course the post box sports a crochet topper next to the old, iconic, red phone box. It is good that these redundant phone boxes remain in many villages, either as a mini library or to house a defibrillator.

I wonder where this idea of making crochet hats for post boxes started. It seemed to start during Covid lockdowns when people had too much time on their hands. It quickly spread round the country and now nowhere seems to have a post box without its woollen whimsy. I would like to know whether this is a particularly British eccentricity or if it has spread to other countries.

Making crochet lids with crochet scenes and crochet figures for post boxes might sound harmless enough but it can cause strife and animosity. A couple of years ago, someone I know in another village, (not Tostock, the village must remain nameless, I don’t want to cause yet more trouble) was worried that the crochet figures on the post box near her house were suffering from a long period of wet weather so she took them home to dry them off. The person who created them was furious and accused her of stealing them. A fierce row led to a vendetta which still goes on today. All over a bit of crochet. But that’s village life for you. Other places have murder and mayhem with stabbings and shootings, we have rows over crochet.

In case one of the Tostock crocheters comes across this post and thinks I am making fun of their work. I am sorry, I don’t want to offend anyone. Ok, I am making fun of it a bit. But I am in awe of the work and dedication involved in all this. And the mountains of wool. And who am I to mock any sort of obsessive behaviour when I have been totally garden obsessed for all my adult life?

And there is more to Tostock than just crochet, it has some pretty old cottages.

And a beautiful fourteenth century church.

As in many ancient churches in Suffolk, William Dowsing came along in 1644 and smashed up most of the Catholic imagery and then the Victorians got busy with their restoration work. But there is still a beautiful ancient font which has a Green Man peering out from one of the panels. I wonder why you find this pagan imagery in so many ancient churches.

Next time I will take you on a stroll round Lavenham which is one of the prettiest villages in Suffolk, if not the whole country. It is a village of beautiful medieval houses and if you are a Harry Potter fan you might recognise one of them. And there will be absolutely no crochet. If I see any I will avert my eyes.

December is a gloomy month in the garden. We have had frost, we have had lots of rain, and all is dank and drippy. We are getting colour starved.

I’m not ready for Christmasy red yet. I am in the mood for pink, lots of pink. I am starting with a monster hellebore. Many years ago I visited Elizabeth Strangman at her wonderful Washfield nursery in Kent. She was in the vanguard of hellebore breeding and produced some beautiful doubles which were a novelty then. But now, every year there are more amazing hellebores in mouth-watering colours. The one I am showing you today has single flowers, but they are enormous. I don’t want Frankenstein, bigger and bigger hybrids for summer-blooming plants. But in winter when we are starved of colour, then bring it on. This new hybrid is a cross between the Christmas rose, Helleborus niger and Helleborus x hybridus. For a long time it was thought that such a cross wasn’t possible. The resulting plants have huge flowers, bloom early and go on for ages. This one is called ‘Grand Red’, it doesn’t look very red now but apparently the colour deepens as it matures. It stands tall and the huge faces gaze majestically over my winter garden. No coy hanging of heads for this beauty.

I bought my Prunus x subhirtella ‘Autumnalis rosea’ last year and as there was no room left in my winter garden I planted it in the gravel drive. It is such a pretty shape and now that it has lost its leaves the delicate flowers stand out beautifully. I wouldn’t be without this winter- flowering cherry, it blooms from November into March with just the time off now and again if we get a really frosty spell.

In the conservatory, there is plenty to enjoy. I am loving the pink and white flowers of Euphorbia milii ‘Queen Charlotte’ at the moment. This pretty hybrid comes from Denmark. It is sitting on the table where we have our breakfast, so we have to remember not to absentmindedly chew on the leaves or rub our eyes on it as the sap is toxic. I believe the common name for this beauty which comes from Madagascar, is Crown of Thorns. But I have no truck with common names.

Also in the conservatory, the mandevilla which has been blooming all summer in a pot outside, is still going strong with lovely pink trumpets. I am never quite sure what the difference is between a mandevilla and a dipladenia, they seem so similar to me. But I have looked it up and apparently dipladenia has a more shrub-like form and mandevilla is more vine-like. I believe that this plant has poisonous latex too as it belongs to the Apocynaceae family, but I don’t think anyone is going to be grazing on it.

Having announced that I am sticking with pink for this post, I am having difficulties finding another two pink blooms. I could show you my pot of pink hyacinths but although they are very pretty, they are not very exciting. I have searched the garden and found only tatty roses and a few half withered summer blooms. So, I have picked two plants that although they are not pink, they are delighting me at the moment. First, we have another early flowering snowdrop which is usually in bloom for Christmas. It is a semi double snowdrop from Ireland called Galanthus ‘Farringdon Double’. I’m sure all my galanthophile friends will have this one.

And to finish I will show you my adorable little Narcissus ‘Cedric Morris’. I showed this picture and talked about it at the zoom-meeting organised by Cathy at Rambling in the Garden last week. It was introduced by Beth Chatto, but the nursery no longer stocks it and so it is difficult to get hold of and very expensive. Still, it is worth looking out for as it is usually in bloom for Christmas. This year it excelled itself by appearing in late November, And I now have three more buds waiting to open. This little daffodil is perfectly hardy. Its flowers are sterile and do not produce seed and that is why the flowers bloom for so long. Although it does not set seed, the bulbs clump up nicely. Unfortunately, sometimes it will disappear completely and this is because the narcissus fly has sniffed it out and they are particularly fond of this little treasure. For this reason I am deaf to entreaties to part with just one bulb because digging it up releases the smell.

So there we have my early December Six on Saturday. They were supposed to be all pink but at this this time of year we have to be grateful for what we can find. Thanks to Jim at Garden Ruminations who encourages us to find six plants to share even in the depths of winter. This week I am particularly jealous of his Fuchsia microphylla which is a mass of pink flowers and his gorgeous pink camellia.

It is ages since I wrote anything here or joined in with the blogging world. We came back from France late in October to find lovely mild weather and a very overgrown, weedy garden. There was plenty of colour and my greenhouse was full of gorgeous nerines. I could go on about these beauties all day but I won’t as today I want to concentrate on the front garden. I have a lovely nerine collection though and several pots of seedlings, which should bloom in the next year or so, which will be exciting.

Thanks to my conscientious waterers, Paul and Julie, everything in the garden was thriving when I got back. Since then, I have been so busy taming the chaos and catching up with friends that I have had no time to write any posts.

Today I want to write about my front garden which is devoted to winter colour. At the moment it is the chrysanthemums which give a carnival feel. I had loads of different ones in my old garden and I took cuttings of all of them. Unfortunately not all of them took but the ones I have make a good show all along the hedge where they thrive despite their inhospitable position. In fact several of them have seeded about which never happened in my previous garden.

The pink chrysanthemum in the foreground is ‘Mavis Smith’, it is a strong grower and has lovely quill-like petals. I love ‘Jolie Rose’ too for its pink and white flowers.

I wouldn’t be without ‘Suffolk Pink’ which is a reliable stalwart.

For an even darker pink, ‘Cousin Joan’ is a winner.

‘Clara Curtis’ is an older variety which dates from 1929. It is not so vibrant as it is a soft pink. It may not be so exciting but it is always reliable.

Maybe all these pinks are not autumnal enough for you. Perhaps ‘Chrysanthemum ‘Apricot Greenheart’ is more seasonal. I have it growing through Salix Nancy Saunders’.

A new one last year is delighting me just now as it is an unusual shape and looks just like a firework. It is called Chrysanthemum ‘Burnt Orange’.

But my all time favourite is the gorgeous ‘Chelsea Physic Garden’. I think it looks great growing in front of the lovely brown bark of the tree Prunus serrula.

I wanted to plant some chrysanthemums in my French garden. Our nearest nursery grows their own bedding plants in spring. I was amazed and delighted when I went in October to see the huge greenhouse filled with hundreds of beautiful chrysanthemums. I asked the owner if they were hardy for the garden or more reliable in the greenhouse. He looked surprised by the question and said they were for neither garden or greenhouse; they were for the cemetery. He sells them for people to put on graves for All Saints Night and couldn’t imagine anyone planting chrysanthemums in the garden. So I didn’t buy any, I don’t want people to think I have bodies buried in the garden. But I think it is a dreadful waste growing these beautiful plants just for dead people.

When I got back from France in late October, two snowdrops were in bloom. Galanthus ‘Remember, Remember’ is usually in bloom for Bonfire Night. But Galanthus ‘Santa Claus’ should be waiting for Christmas. They have both been and gone now. And I can’t tell which is which. I usually know because one blooms in November and one in December. But if they both appear in October, then I am baffled.

Several hellebores have appeared rather earlier than expected. Helleborus niger is usually earlier but Helleborus orientalis hybrids don’t normally bloom in November.

I bought Clematis ‘Freckles’ last year and I am rather disappointed that now it is blooming, although it is a pretty colour, it hasn’t actually got any freckles at all.

Prunus subhirtella ‘Autumnalis Rosea’ blooms on and off all winter and it is good to see it has already got going.

Saxifraga ‘Dancing Pixies’ was an impulse buy recently and I am glad I succumbed because it is a real charmer.

Here are a few views of the winter garden. My beloved Daphne bholua ‘Jacqueline Postill’ in the first picture is pushing up so many shoots that I am going to have a thicket of gorgeous scented flowers eventually.

I don’t know where the euphorbia came from, I don’t remember planting it. But I did plant the lovely dark Euphorbia x martini ‘Miner’s Merlot’.

Acer griseum is only two years old but it is coming on nicely.

Acer senkaki has lovely yellow leaves in autumn but when these fall off you get to enjoy the red stems all winter.

I will finish with my little iris which is blooming again in the gravel. It first bloomed in July this year. It was in a pot in my greenhouse with no label. I have asked so many horticulturalists now and nobody has any idea what it can be. It was surprising to find it flowering in July and even more to see it happily in bloom in late November.

So now I am back I am going to resolve to keep up with my blog better and to see what everyone else has been up to in their gardens. Wet November days are perfect for catching up with blogs.