Dreaming of a White Christmas

I woke up to this scene on Friday morning. The French garden was as pretty as a picture. The winter garden looked like a scene from Scandinavia rather than Bedfordshire!

Ho,ho,ho! All that snow, meant no gardening this weekend. Instead it was a weekend when Jonathan and Sarah and Suzie came home. We went into our neighbours forest and chose our Christmas tree, then carried it home and decked it out with lights and baubels.

Happy Christmas to all who kindly follow this blog and lets hope for some happy gardening moments to share in 2010. But I may well be back before the 31st!

The Big Push

The aconites are at last ready for the big push, shoulder to the soil, just beginning to emerge, as the temperature has risen and we have enjoyed two sunny days. The cold weather of December and January, so far, seems to have held everything back so this is a welcome sight. The next two weeks will see them in full array, little golden lights carpetting the cottage garden, creating a carpet of colour under the lime trees, and edging the winter walk.

We have been spending the weekend washing all the paths through the cottage garden, around the French terrace and old fish pond. Not the nicest of jobs but at least they all now look clean and smart.

Even the white stemmed birches Betula utilis var jaquemontii 'Grayswood Ghost' received their yearly power wash; they glisten even more now and look wonderful in the low light of winter with the creamy white pampass plumes right behind them.