Do you even have a ‘winter garden’ as such?
I find that the garden becomes a bit of a dumping ground between November and February.
But sometimes the light catches the bark of a silver birch, or the frost outlines dying seed heads. It is so poignantly beautiful that I realise how much winter has to offer gardens.
Gardens used to be able to snooze through winter, but today’s glass kitchen extensions, massive glass sliding doors and huge picture windows mean a garden is on show all year round.
The snowdrops are beginning to emerge from the ground, scented shrubs are beginning to flourish and Hellebores begin to show their faces in the shadiest patches of the garden. For me, January is a time to dream about the gardening season ahead and get my hands dirty too!
It’s also nice to get out on the sunny days, visit friends and family and pop along to see what’s happening at RHS Garden Harlow Carr for even more garden ideas.
So, one ‘dream’ plan is to grow garlic. I believe these varieties ‘Provence Wight’ and ‘Early Purple Wight’ from The Garlic Farm on the Isle of Wight are bred for the UK market, and I’ll plant in pots and place in the sunniest spot in the garden. The bulbs will be ready to harvest when the leaves start to die off and turn yellow.
Now, on a recent visit to RHS Garden Harlow Carr I loved these shrubs displaying their winter colour, Cornus (Dogwood) and want to dash back and get one with yellow stems.
A robin followed us around the garden centre.
But not into Bettys for a quick lunch….
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