Being the beginner gardener that I am, I'm discovering how difficult it is to keep all the juggling balls in the air at once. Take for example the issue of seasonal plantings, having now been living and working in this garden for twelve months almost to the day, I realise that I haven't given enough thought to ensuring year-round flowering. Don't get me wrong, I love the decay and quiet of winter but one of the beauties of living in this cold climate is the access to winter flowers like forsythia and wintersweet. Both of which are conspicuous in their absence here. During the summer I thought briefly about buying these in preparation for a magnificent winter display only to get side-tracked with summer delights such as roses and poppies and .... I'm more a live for the moment gardener rather than a longitudinal one and perhaps that's what seperates the men from the boys in the gardening stakes.
The only things that are flowering right now are the wallflowers and the hellebores. The wallflowers don't count because I cheated and bought mature plants last week on the cusp of flowering for some immediate gratification. Not sure of the name of this one but it has some delectable colour variation in the blossom and a startling similarity to my grandmother's eau de toilette - a violetty, musky scent that reminds one of devonshire teas and knitted cardigans.
The hellebores I take COMPLETE credit for, having nurtured them as wee seedlings through the summer heatwave and the onslaught of small children's feet.
What's flowering in your winter garden?
nuthin.
oh no - I forgot - a lovely little plant native to The Grampian mountains - Epacris impressa (apparently it's our state floral emblem).
It's really pretty.
(i've got a little photo here:
http://www.freefallingscominguproses.blogspot.com/ )
Posted by: freefalling | 07/25/2009 at 07:50 AM