Perfume in December

I can't photograph fragrance but these little beauties are filling the greenhouse with the most intoxicating perfume! This is exactly what's needed on a dull and cold winter's day - reason alone to visit the greenhouse if only to sniff the air!

Prunus Pruning in the Dark!

Sometimes, there just aren't enough hours of daylight!!  When the days are overcast and it seems like dusk all day long, we have to resort to winter pruning by torchlight.  It was only around 5pm when this was taken.  Chris was doing some winter pruning in a Prunus.  We didn't imagine actually using the uplighting for pruning purposes!

Danger lurking in the garden!

Unwashed and dangerous when wet.

Washed & safe

Unwashed & like black ice!

Our house is surrounded by York flag stones.  A few years back, we dropped in (mostly leftover) York stone stepping stones around the garden to save wear and tear on grass paths in autumn and winter when, leaf clearance means that trips to the compost heap with wheelbarrows are numerous.  It doesn't take many journeys in the wet for grass to turn quickly to mud.  We have found one major drawback to our stepping stones.  With the growth of algae on them, when wet: walking on them is exactly the same as walking on ice and even more hazardous.  More hazardous because it's so unexpected.  This has meant that we have been purposely avoiding the very remedy to worn grass! Despite the already sodden garden conditions, we have been forced to add to this state by using a power washer to rid the stone of algae. I figured the use of chemicals on the stone probably wouldn't do the surrounding grass much good and really couldn't come up with a better solution.  Power washing means that the stone is perfectly safe to walk on but doesn't prevent future accumulations of algae and makes the surrounding grass even more soggy.  Does any clever person out there have any thoughts on the subject or better still: remedies?

Running out of daylight!

Mess, Mush and Yet More Leaves!

A single lovely frosty morning and then back to the usual muggy, mild and rainy weather!  Just what we didn't want! The ground is already sodden but we persevered as best we could. It was too wet for real border work but we were able to lift dahlias and cut down dead herbaceous plants in the top lawn border. We pressed on and cleared away much of the slimy debris working from the edge of the lawn and the path as 'mush' as we could!

I'm really not sure about the modern idea of leaving all the dead stems and seed heads for the birds to eat and the frost and snow to adorn.  Dead plant material in these conditions just collapses and turns to black mush and there's no sign of birds eating mush!  In any case, our birds have cordon bleu avian menus daily!    Having said that, we then turned our attention to blowing away another week's collection of dead leaves and, to speed up the process a little, Chris put his (new) blower through the trees themselves which was much more fun - as you'll see:  Speeding up leaf fall! 

As usual, darkness came much too soon and Chris ended up doing some winter Prunus pruning by torchlight!

Winter fruit tree pruning

As well as the usual leaf clear up ( and there were more than ever!) it was time for some timely winter pruning of an old pear tree. This is an inherited tree growing in a less than ideal spot and we are preserving it purely because it plays host to a showstopper of a clematis. This is the only reason we are keeping it as, despite living at 'Pear' Tree Cottage; pears are not a big favourite in our household.  It was of course Chris untangling the clematis from the tangle of twigs and branches from the top of the ladder.  The trouble with most fruit trees is that everything snags and tangles making the brash such a pain to deal with.  Anyway, we couldn't complain as the weather was clear and sunny despite the very soggy ground conditions!  We weren't the only ones hard at work on a Saturday either as Bulmers were lugging their apple harvest in the adjacent orchard.

A Reminder of Summer.

Back in the summer we had a group of artists from various WI groups in the county.  One of the ladies was very kind and has sent me this watercolour she did looking through the green doors and beyond to the greenhouse path.  I think I shall hang it over my desk in the Pear Hut (which is more like a writing room but such a name sounds a tad pretentious!)  It's only right that it should be hung in the garden!  A big thank you to Janet Pearce of Bewdley, Worcestershire.

Last word on colour - promise!

I promise not to mention colour again..............BUT, these untouched photos were both taken on a dark, dank, damp November day.  See what I mean about beacons in the garden???