Well I made it through the year with my garden diary.

Today is the winter solstice, seven hours and 49 minutes of daylight if you are lucky. Its pretty grim here today in Lancashire with drizzle and mist. I missed the classic photo of the robin in the snow last week. Not much else to show in the garden at the moment.

Picea koraiensis

Helleborus foetidus

HAVE A GREAT XMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR.

Another month has flashed by…

As i wandered round The Royal Horticultural Society’s garden at Wisley last week I was making a mental note of any colour for this time of year. To be honest not a lot stood out. The trees were resplendent in autumn colours as one would expect, there were some unidentified tall white grasses near the glass house but you had to look closer to spot anything that would be of use in my small northern garden.

Red Dogwoods were brilliantly coloured but more suitable for an urban park than my borders but there may be room for a couple at the back of a shrub bed. Pyracantha, Firethorn, seemed more colourful than the Cotoneaster in my garden, though with their thorns maybe a position against a wall would be best.  So that is two to buy in for next year.

But what about now, Last week we had the deluge for a few days and now morning ground frosts have become established.

Leaves continue to colour and then blow around the lawn and into my pond, which needs a good clear out.

Euonymus alatus.

Spot the fish.

Nerines are flowering still, as last month, but little else. My Mahonia Charity has started flowering and will do so over winter.

Hydrangea heads are drying out and showing pastel shades, I should get round to picking some.

The seed heads of Phlomis are worth leaving on the plants over winter for their intricate structure.

The holly berries have been eaten by the blackbirds but red berries on the Berberis shrubs are lasting well.

The trees are almost bare of leaves and this has enabled some lovely low sunsets on the last few clear evenings.

Yesterday morning there was a heavy dew, the temperature had dropped to 6°, today it is wet and windy again.  I’ve just returned from La Palma where the temperature was in the high 20s – what a shock.

Wandering round the garden there is little to see, a few Asters and Japanese Anemones are giving some faded colour. Round the corner the Nerine bowdenii is suddenly in flower. The delicate Fuchsia magellanica Alba is hanging on.

Autumn colours have only just started but the strong winds, whilst I’ve been away, have already stripped some trees. The blackbirds are eating the holly berries so by Xmas there will be none left.

The clocks go back tonight. Little else to say really.

I’ve been away most of September and the garden is looking neglected, but to continue my year’s diary…

Hedges need trimming and plants cutting back. Not a lot has changed since the end of last month and we are now slowly drifting into Autumn.

Sedums come into their own at this time of year.

As do Michaelmas Daisies [asters]The Monkshood [Aconitum carmichaelii] seem to have grown taller this year, they are probably the most poisonous plant in the garden.Cimicifuga simplex racemona brightens up a shady cornerand a late flowering Phlox paniculata Norah Leigh does the sameThe less showy Physostegia virginiana, the Obedient Plant named because it will stay in any position you twist it to, makes an effort to flower.

Otherwise it is seeds and berries.

The Cornus kousa fruit soon goes off but apparently can be used for making wine – next year.The birds love the Cotoneaster berriesand my Monkey Puzzle tree has started producing ‘cones’

But really we are heading into Autumn.

I’m not going to mention the weather. To be honest the garden doesn’t look a lot different this August from July but there are some interesting additions.

Many of the flowers from July are still showing, the Japanese anemones have a long flowering period…

… the Hemerocallis, Day Lily, has only a short one – as its name implies.One of the shrubs essential to any garden is Buddleia davidii not only for its fragrant blooms in late summer but for the butterflies it attracts.

Three more unusual plants in my side border are Crinum powelli,  Clematis heracleifolia and Cautleya spicata ‘Robusta’ [Himalayan Ginger]

Far less showy but giving good ground cover in rough shady areas is Persicaria campanulatum. The humble Montbretia has many varieties, all a little invasive, one particular favourite of mine is Crocosomia solfatareI have other varieties of this easy plant 

In my boggy area I grow this interesting plant, Kirengeshoma palmata, which is just coming into flower.

A small uncommon tree, Clerodendrum trichotomum, at this time of year develops strange fragrant flowers.  

The Fuchsia papoose is showing its colourful bells  and who knows with a little more sun plants like Helianthus Lemon Queen will brighten up the end of the month.

Anyhow back to cutting the privet hedge.

Continuing my monthly diary of the garden.

On the TV weather this evening Daren Bett has just announced  “there’s something wrong with the weather at the moment” and I have to agree with him. Most of my garden posts have started with the same complaint. In the last few days we have experienced, in a random order, everything it can throw at us. The winds today made photography of my poor flowers difficult and its getting to the end of the month.

The Hostas which give good leaf colour all season also produce stately flowers.In amongst them grows the everlasting pearl white flowers of Anaphalis triplinervis  Summer Snow, aptly named.Another unusual white flower appears in my pond – Houttuynia cordata ‘Plena’

My geraniums continue to flower and Buxton’s Blue is showy this month.The Japanese anemones have started flowering and will produce blooms for the next month or so.

This hydrangea hovers between pink and blue…… whereas this lace cap is a lovely shade of white.Far more brash is Crocosmia ‘lucifer’.and this orange/pink Phlox

In my Monkey Puzzle tree grows Clematis ‘Praecox’ which always draws comments from passing pedestrians as it hangs out into the road.Blues still dominate the colour schemes

A delicate shrub is flowering with pea like flowers, Indigofera pseudotinctoria from China.

Whilst elsewhere some of the showy yellow flowers of summer are beginning to dominate parts of the borders Inula hookeri and Lysimachia ‘Firecracker’

Lets hope for a drier warmer August to bring out those colours.

At the beginning of June we experienced some wild and windy days which played havoc with climbing roses and small trees. Having been away I needed dry weather to catch up with the lawn and start on the hedges, dry days were in short supply. I struggled to complete before disappearing off to France for a couple of weeks, when ironically the weather was dry and hot in Lancashire. Since my return it has rained every day.

So I have been rather disappointed with the garden this June.

At the start of the month the yellow Allium Moly and the Bartley Variety Primulas harked back to Spring.

The Day lilies [Hemerocallis], Bowl of Beauty Peony and white Siberian Iris all have a short flowering period.

My Choisya Mexican Orange Blossom and Purple Leaved Elderberry are two of the shrubs flowering.

Fragrant Honeysuckle grows outside my bedroom window.

In amongst my shrubs I have the rambling Tropaeolum speciosum, Flame Creeper, which likes its roots in the shade and goes wherever it wishes, giving colour in the evergreens.I’m not one for formal rose bushes but I have several climbing varieties scattered through the garden and June is the month for roses.

Bobby James.

Masquerade.

Paul’s Himalayan Musk.

Bleu Magenta.

?

Albertine.

A few choice perennials are flowering but I don’t seem to have as much colour as usual.

Campanula latiloba ‘Highcliffe’

Phlomis.

Astilbe chimensis ‘Pumila’

Delphinium ‘Magic Fountain’

Achillea grandiflora.

Aconitum ‘Stainless Steel’

Magnolia Susan.

Its been a dry but rather cold month. Scarifying the lawn produced masses of moss, lawn sand was heavily used and had to be watered in. The resulting black areas look awful at present but I’m hoping will pay off. I was in no rush to start mowing.

Shoots are appearing everywhere, tree leaves are a lovely fresh green, ferns are unfolding and young cones colouring up on the conifers.

Clumps of bluebells bring colour to shady areas. Early herbaceous plants are slow to flower but a few ‘weeds’ are already blossoming, that is why I leave them to seed in a few spaces.  Cambrian Poppy, Honesty and the Yellow Dead Nettle.

As one cherry blossom is blown away another appears.Of course spring is when the Rhododendrons come into their own and the best time to visit some of the famous gardens where they flourish. My favourites were Dunge Valley Gardens close to Windgather Crag in the High Peak for a bit of apres bouldering and Muncaster Castle on the edge of the lakes. It was to the latter we retreated on a rainy climbing trip in Eskdale 20yrs ago and I purchased Rh. Unique and it is always one of the first to flower in my garden. Good to have a bit of history involved in ones plants – that was the weekend Princess Di was killed. Others are flowering in a shady area at the back …

May Day.

Bo Bells.

Usually the first clematis to flower is an Alpina variety with a delightful shade of blue …Dotted around are several different Corydalis …

and  Dicentra …

… they need very little attention and provide low colour.

The prehistoric looking Darmera peltata thrives in my boggy area and produces interesting flower heads before the large leaves appear.At the end of the month the spectacular blue Camassia quamash starts to open, a sign that the garden will be in full bloom next month.

Sparrows and tits are occupying all my nest boxes and the swallows were back on the 20th.

From the first day of March the frogs were busy mating in my pond and bats started flying round my house at dusk. There are lambs in the field at the back of my garden. Feels like the year has started at last and we have had a few sunny days at the beginning of the month.

Spring bulbs continue to appear, Muscari, Anemone blanda, Iris reticulata and Snake’s Head Fritillaries all were a joy to see again. The taller daffodils come into their own for picking for the house.The low lying Pulmonaria brighten several gloomy areas – officinalis , Pink Dawn and Azurea.

This pretty little blue flower seeds itself around the borders – Cardamine pentaphylla…Of course the cherries have come into flower, lets hope there is not too much wind which destroys their petals… as has the Magnolia stellata…

The delicate primrose flowers of my Corylopsis shrub soon fade…… and the petals of Camellia are susceptible to the morning sun on frosty days.I’m just back from the Canary Islands and looking forward to April’s offerings but first there is some hard work to do on the lawn and those weeds have started growing.

I must say that it was a slow start to the month with cold weather holding things up, only by the middle of the month did the temperature reach double figures and then came the wind. Even this morning we had a light snow shower. Normally I’m walking or climbing abroad this month but due to procrastinating I’m still suffering the British weather – I have however make good progress with pruning and shredding, neglected lately, so a large area of the borders now has a decent mulch. Accompanying me has been the sound of birdsong – it becomes louder as the month progresses, reminding me to provide some more nesting boxes.  All around in Longridge the fields are being eaten up with new developments, now that planning control has become meaningless, so I’m glad I have my own bit of countryside no matter how small.

The usual bulbs have pushed through and started flowering – snowdrops, crocuses, narcissi, scilla and anemone blanda – Featured ImageA few early herbaceous plants are flowering – a primula variety,   bergenia and pulmonaria officinalis. I have a young prunus ‘Autumnalis Rosea’ which struggles to show a few blossoms, I hope it will improve with age.This exercise of showing a month by month diary of my garden is beneficial in that it is highlighting gaps which I hope to fill. I notice my yellow witch hazel [Hamamelis] has disappeared and needs replacing. Within the last couple of days my pieris japonicas are just coming into flower – the aptly named ‘lily-of-the-valley shrub’.What will March have to offer?

I have been meaning to follow my garden through the seasons for awhile – January is a good place to start. Due to our topsy-turvy climate this year there are no pretty pictures of fragile blossoms pushing through the snow, though a spell of icy weather has retarded some plants. 

The photo above shows a rather bare garden with my progress in cutting down a 50year old Blue Spruce that lost all its needles a couple of years ago and unfortunately shows no sign of recovery. The best wood will fuel my stove but I’ve decided to shred the brash to use as garden mulch.

January is a difficult month for flowers and I’ve relied on hardy shrubs to bulk up this post. From the start of the year the Mahonia, Jasmine and Virburnum have been in constant bloom. Slowly the Hellebores have come into flower and that’s about it really but I’m hoping things will get going next month. Maybe I should plan ahead for next January with more plantings.

Mahonia Charity

Jasmin nudiflorum.

Viburnum Bodnantense.   

Helleborus argutifolius. Corsican Hellebore.

Helleborus sternii

Helleborus purpurascens.                                                     

Helleborus niger, Christmas Rose.

I’ve just come in from the garden as the sun sets and starlings congregate in a nearby tree for possibly some murmuration later.