Consecutive days of frost have certainly put paid to most herbaceous plants in the garden, and with time and less chilly weather I could now begin cutting back some of the top growth and improving the general scruffiness of some of the borders. Meanwhile, I have finally been giving some thought to a certain event that seems to have taken many people by surprise this year, and have at least ordered some seeds from Chiltern Seeds and bedding plants from Brookside Nursery Nursery so have achieved something garden-related in the last week. I still have a ramble at least once a day, albeit more of a sprint than a ramble - if you need to take it at a more leisurely place, then please do.
Starting with the view from the back of the house, you can see from the 'portrait view' just how bare the deciduous trees are, with our neighbour's large beech tree now virtually naked. The greenery in front of it is a mass of ivy which has clambered through a dead tree; to the top left is the evergreen variegated holly. Looking across the adjacent streamside grass and the shrub border, the presence of the lingering frost is clearly evident.
The fallen leaves have covered the bark path in the woodland, with those from the field maple still a lovely buttery yellow. From the bothy at the end you have a wider view of parts of the garden, and from the back of the shed you can see that the clematis on the colonnade have been partially cut back. I seem to have forgotten to include a picture across the main borders this month.
Walking briskly through the woodland edge borders, green with hellebore and epimedium foliage and leathery rhododendrons, we reach the grass border and 'bold borders' before getting to the bottom of the garden with the greenhouse and cutting beds:
The paths sparkle with the frost, which also highlights shape and form of remaining foliage as we walk through the blue & white borders, rose garden and main borders:
Nearly back at the house, the obelisk border features the glorious Miscanthus 'Red Chief' that featured in this week's Wordless Wednesday, and before we venture into the Coop we can see that the wisteria has now dropped almost all its leaves, many of which find their way into the house as we enter and exit the back door. In the foreground of the picture, one of my two Rosa 'Lady Emma Hamilton' has been dug out and sold on, as promised, to one of our summer visitors, having been restricted in its location under crab apple 'Evereste'
In the Coop, there is evidence of my hasty bubblewrapping abortion, with the front and back incomplete, and the sides not yet fully attached. Contents are currently a mix of pelargonium, potted early spring bulbs, sarracenia and overwintering eucomis, tulbaghia and nerines, whilst the clivia and streptocarpus have temporarily been brought into the house. Behind the Coop, the Coop Corner is still a mass of foliage, but removing leaves from the hellebores in about a month will bring a touch of order to the chaos.
Please excuse the speed of our ramble this month and, yet again, the lack of a video. For me, this End of Month post, is a good record of changes in the garden from month to month and year to year; for you, it may not be quite as interesting!
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