Looking back over 2015 has made me realise that we haven’t been able to do much gardening! Unfortunately health problems got in the way with the Undergardener having to go for his Prostate Cancer treatment and all his other hospital appointments. I always went with him for moral support and also to drive him home if he didn’t feel up to it. Thank goodness, the result of his radiotherapy was very promising, although there is still more treatment to come. At the same time, my muscle pain seemed to be getting worse, in spite of medication, but felt that it would have to take a back seat until after Christmas. The result of all this means that we haven’t had the same amount of time to devote to the garden, it’s just as well that it has almost carried on regardless, all by itself!
The areas that I’m happiest with, and that seem to be able to carry on without me, are the areas where a lot of self seedling has taken place and drifts are now increasing beautifully without me having to do anything!
Snowdrops. January.
Snowdrops and crocus in January.
The first area in January, is of course the snowdrops and Crocus Tommasineanus. These have been planted the longest, I started the snowdrops off as soon as I moved here 25 yrs ago and the woodland is now looking as I first envisaged it. The crocus get better and better each year and look so pretty when the sun shines.
Hellebores come next, most of them are in the woodland and at this time of year there is now so much colour and a wander over there is a must each day to see what else has opened up overnight. If the temperatures rise, there are always some bees foraging, usually bumble bees, and there are plenty of flowers for them to find food.
March is the month for Narcissus, these are Tete a Tete.
Woodland Narcissus
First we have the yellow Narcissus, then later the white varieties take over. There are lots of different varieties of narcissus in the woodland, making a drift of yellow where earlier the drifts were of white from the snowdrops. While the Narcissus are flowering, they are soon joined by one of my favourite drifts, Fritillaria meleagris!
Help from rusty pheasant.
Just before the fritillaries were in flower, the rusty pheasant was put in place to try and deter the real one from coming and eating the flowers, it seemed to work!
Fritillaria meleagris.
No damage, thanks to Rusty! They flower for the month of April, along with loads of other woodland ephemerals, making the woodland a lovely place to be.
Cowslips and bluebells.
In the woodland and at the end of the bog garden are drifts of bluebells and cowslips. They look lovely together and have been increasing nicely over the years.
Meconopsis.
I am hoping to extend the number of the different varieties of meconopsis that I have, so in the next few years, with a bit of luck, I should have beautiful blue drifts to show you.
Bog garden in June.
The bog garden is looking its best now with candelabra primulas, hostas, iris, ferns and rogersias. The candelabra primulas are now seeding about and I’m getting drifts of all sorts of coloured flowers that make a rainbow in the bog garden.
Cyclamen hederifolium.
There is a bit of a gap during the summer where drifts are concerned. A change is in the air by the time we get to September. These little cyclamen flowers usually start flowering in August, but September is their main month. Lots more new plants are formed where the ants leave the seeds, so the drifts are growing quickly.
Hips on Rosa glauca.
Another area where I don’t have to do anything is when all the berries appear and ripen on the shrubs. From October onwards the branches are all dripping with ripe juicy berries making the garden look beautiful for me, but more importantly, providing lots of food for all our resident mammals and birds.
Acer Osakazuki.
Gradually, over the weeks of October and November, the garden has a final fling and goes out in a blaze of glory, all without any effort from me! The stars of the show are the Acers which we have, but there are lots more plants that put on their party finery for one last fling before winter.
Early Narcissus.
Galanthus Little John.
This winter though, because it has stayed so warm, still in double figures at night time, we have Narcissus and Snowdrops flowering a lot earlier than they should be. Parts of the country are flooded with all the rain that has been falling over the last month, our ditch between the back garden and the woodland seems like a rushing stream today, hopefully it will have gone by tomorrow.
Our garden has just carried on doing it’s own thing over the last 12 months, with not much import from us. We have done what we can, but I ‘ve made sure that I haven’t photographed the untidy bits when doing my blog ! Where we have drifts of flowers, they form ground cover and therefore keep down the weeds, which means less work for me to do, so I can recommend this form of gardening. I’m just so glad that nature is helping me so much in the garden, keeping parts of it colourful and pretty through the year.
I’m joining with Helen at The Patient Gardener who hosts this meme at the end of each month, thanks Helen.
What a joy to see your well-established drifts of so many beauties, Pauline. And thank goodness the rusty pheasant has done his job with the fritillaries. I hope 2016 treats you both well and that there will be plenty of happy times in the garden.
Thank you Cathy, I think it’s lovely that they are all spreading all by themselves. I know I’m lucky that they have room to spread themselves, but this method of gardening is appealing to me as I get older! Rusty certainly did his work in the woodland, I have just been there this morning, spreading beautiful leaf mould round the snowdrops and hellebores, would you believe, the leaves of the fritillaries are already 6 inches tall, they have never sprouted so soon before!
I’m sure we will find time time to enjoy being in the garden, many thanks for your good wishes!
You garden seems to have managed superbly on it own, even if you do not show the untidy bit. Health is a concern for many of us gardeners of a certain age. I hope you have a much better year in 2016.
It does, doesn’t it Alain, thankfully there are parts that don’t need very much attention from me. Hopefully health will be better for both of us in 2016 when we should be able to do more in the garden. Thank you for your good wishes, much appreciated.
A healthy and peaceful new year for you both, Pauline xx
Thank you so much Rosemarie and wishing you All the Best for 2016 too!
25 years…. so I suppose I still have quite a while to wait? I love your woodland garden best of all, and I think it’s because of the seeders and spreaders and the nice natural groups they form. Of course even though you claim neglect I know there’s plenty of work which gets done to keep things going, it’s just they can survive on their own for a little longer when they need to!
I can’t wait to see the woodland this year, you have such a nice collection of hellebores and the bulbs are fantastic! Happy New year and I hope it’s a quiet one healthwise 🙂
I have to admit Frank that when we first moved here, I didn’t know anything about gardening, it was a steep learning curve! The woodland has turned out to be my favourite part of the garden, only a bit of weeding needs to be done in there and the plants, with their flowers and autumn tints, keep the interest going for about 10 months of the year.
Happy New Year to you and your family Frank, I have a feeling that 2016 is going to be a much better year health wise!
Self-seeders are great, Nature sometimes knows the best place for things to grow. I love your collection of Hellebores, I’ve just ordered some double ones from Hayloft plants as they are so reliable in the garden, I’ve just got the single varieties so far.
So admire your blue poppies, to have a big drift of those would be sublime. I love the snake’s head fritillary, I’ve planted some bulbs of those too so hoping to get a lovely display of those this year. Its certainly been damp enough for them!
Wishing you all the very best in 2016, Pauline, hope your garden continues to bloom.
Very true Annie, Nature knows best! The weather is perfect for snakeshead fritillaries, they should all feel very happy, they are sprouting already in the woodland! Your double Hellebores sound delightful, they will look so pretty once they have settled in. My blue poppies should fill a large space which was left when a shrub died, can’t wait to get them planted out, but first I must clear the space of ivy and roots!
Thank you for your good wishes for 2016, I hope you and your family have a wonderful New Year!
What an utterly delightful garden you have!
And how encouraging to see years of work bearing fruit – to be able to see the garden as you once imagined it.
Hope the weather is kind to you
and that 2016 will be a better year all round!
Thank you Diana for your lovely comment about the garden. At one time in our life, we moved a lot with my husbands job, but now we are retired, it is nice to see plans for the garden coming to fruition. We are all having far too much rain in the UK at the moment, but hopefully it will get less each day. I think 2016 will be a better year, it couldn’t really be worse!
I am so glad your garden is still performing on its own, and has given you pleasure. I wish you a happy and healthy 2016, and especially hope that you will soon put the medical visits behind you and get back to your garden routine where you find so much joy.
I’m glad that it can cope without me at times Jayne, the drifts of flowers show that Nature can do very well without me sometimes! I’m sure that 2016 will be a better year than the last, so hopefully the garden will get more attention at last!
You have so much to enjoy in all the seasons and it does help if things spread out as I find they help suppress weeds too. I hope you and your husband have a very happy new year and are soon in better health as well. Happy gardening!
Thank you Cathy for your good wishes regarding our health, hopefully we will have a better year next year and get back to gardening once more! It’s nice to know that the garden can cope if necessary, without much effort from us. I have been amazed at how the plants have spread, making pretty drifts of flowers by themselves, I think I need more of the same in other areas of the garden!
Happy New Year Cathy and happy gardening to you too!
Pauline, your careful attention to your garden in the past has paid off with these drifts of blooms. Such a reward for your earlier efforts. Good health!
Thanks Susie, we are certainly benefiting from the work done years ago, now is the time for the plants to carry on without us sometimes! We’re sure that our health will improve in the New Year, and we hopefully will have time for more gardening in the months to come.
Love the drifts of flowers! And what a beautiful selection of hellebores you have. The white one I have will be secretly growing and flowering under the snow. Later, when the snow disappears they will be revealed, initially lying flat on the ground, as one of the first spring flowers. I love the Himalayan poppy too and grow Lingholm which seems to thrive here despite the hard winters we have. Always a big plus!
I love the idea Denise that your hellebores and other flowers, are growing underneath all the snow that you have. I too grow Meconopsis Lingholm, but I think it will like your cold temperatures and snow better than our warm weather with torrential rain, Swedish weather must remind it of being at home in the Himalayas! I grow lots of Lingholm seed each year as well as M. betonicifolia, but am now trying sterile hybrids that can only be increased by splitting, they should be truly perennial, watch this space to see how I get on with this!
Oh isn’t self seeding magic Pauline 🙂 All those new plants without any blood, sweat and tears on our part. I hope that 2016 is a happy and a healthier one for both of you and that you are able to spend more time working and relaxing in that lovely garden of yours.
Thank you so much Anna for your good wishes for 2016, I have a feeling it’s going to be a good year for both of us!
It is so lovely to see so many free plants, all courtesy of Mother Nature, flowering away in their drifts, it can only get better and better as the years go by.
You have both had a difficult year but your garden looked good all year round. It must have been a great comfort to you to have it looking so beautiful. Self seeding is a great help but the beauty of your garden is also the result of years of dedication.
I wish you both good health and a wonderful year in the garden in 2016, Pauline.
Many thanks for your good wishes Chloris, I have a feeling that this is going to be a good year, I hope so! The times when the garden looked pretty is when the drifts were flowering, there was a time when I was first starting the garden, that I wanted one of everything, but soon learnt that drifts of flowers that were happy with our conditions, was a much better idea
Happy gardening in 2016 to us all!!
It’s been a fabulous show Pauline. I shall look forward to seeing the meconopsis, something I’ve been totally unable to grow for some reason. Glad the rusty pheasant did his job. Our Mr P has taken to roosting in a tree alongside the lawn, not only that I have heard at least three others in the vicinity. I may need to make an investment..
Oh no, not 4 pheasants Jessica! where will it all end. The snakeshead fritillaries were coming through before New Year, I’ve never known them so early, maybe Mr.P won’t realise they’re early this year!
I would have thought your garden would be ideal for Meconopsis, cool shade, acid, a slope that must be well drained so the rain can drain away, my problem is all the rain we have, that rots them in the winter, but I am determined not to give up! Beth Chatto eats hers when she gets fed up with the damage they cause!
How lovely that the garden just got on with it. I hardly did any gardening either and mine is a total mess! I love the drifts, fritillaries and the meconopsis….what a heavenly shade of blue.
Here’s hoping that you both have a wonderful 2016, with NO health issues.xxx
The only trouble with leaving the garden to its own devices Dina, is that there is so much tidying up to do now! The drifts have been a life saver, I just concentrated on those bits of the garden, I must now tackle the rest, at least I will once the rain stops, everywhere is absolutely sodden. The low lying fields by the M5 motorway have turned into lakes once more as the Rivers Clyst and Exe have burst their banks once more.
Thank you for your good wishes for 2016, I hope you and all your furry and feathered friends have a good one too!
Hi Pauline, best wishes to you for a happy and healthy 2016! Plenty of work went into your garden over the years, and now it is paying off! Nothing is lovelier than drifts of flowering woodland flowers. I also really love your bog garden. We have had lots of rain and yo-yo temperatures that keep plants confused. I am afraid their premature blooms will succumb to the next hard freeze.
Thank you Deb and I wish you Happy Gardening in 2016! Our rain gets worse and worse, but thank goodness we are half way up a hill, so the water just rushes by.
My two favourite areas of the garden are the woodland and the bog, once I found which plants like both areas, the planting was easy and the sorts of plants that I used, thankfully increase quite happily by themselves.
We are still waiting for our first real freeze, we can’t count one night in November that just about reached 0C, plants will suffer when the temperature drops suddenly, I hope your plants survive Deb.
What a wonderful post, your drifts are spectacular, what an array of wonderful plants and such a tribute to the years of dedication you have given the garden. Best wishes for a happy and healthy 2016.
Thank you Kate, the years of planting the structure is seemingly paying off with the plants seeding in between. Hopefully we will both be fitter this year and able to do more, so the garden won’t be left to cope by itself! Good wishes for a wonderful 2016 to you both.
I am reading this rather late as I have been away. It is lovely to have a recap of your wonderful garden for the last year. Your woodland drifts are so lovely and I look forward to seeing your Meconopsis collection grow. I wish you both a happy and healthy 2016.
I’m thinking of more drifts for the woodland Annette, white foxgloves would look wonderful with everything else. I have some seedlings growing elsewhere in the garden and will move them soon, in the next few days, then nature can water them in for me!
Thanks for your good wishes, Monday we had the good news from the consultant at the hospital that the undergardener has a clear bill of health and he can now get back to normal – wonderful!
Happy New Year Pauline and hopefully a healthy one. Your drifts of flowers in your woodland are fabulous and an inspiration and I always enjoy your snowdrop posts. I’d like to increase the range of snowdrops and hellebore’s here as I tackle sorting the garden.
Thank you Sue, I feel it’s going to be much better healthwise than last year, thank goodness! I’ve just finished mulching the woodland with leaf mould, the snowdrops that are flowering already are looking lovely against the dark mulch, and I’m sure it’s doing them good too.
Fortunately the rain stopped today so I was able to get quite a bit of tidying done but I think it will be a question of dodging the showers for the rest of the week.
Dear Pauline, I came to garden to look at Snowdrops.. and felt I had come home and what a lovely feeling that is. I love to garden and began 14 yrs ago to transform my yard, but an accident and life changed. Last yr, I bear grew a tomato plant. I watched my gardens overwrought with weeds.. it was disheartening but also a lesson to be learned. I needed to see my garden as a living place that needs a way to water and shade and rest itself. I had been the conductor of colors and forms and lost my way to home. Your last blog post made me wake up. It is not enough to plant what pleases me, but also pleases the garden. I lifted you and your gardener up in my prayers for complete healing and comfort. May this winters rest be all the growth in peace you need and Spring again bring you the energy of Love. Much love~ Blue
Thank you so much Blue for your lovely healing thoughts, we both appreciate them. Gardens are a wonderful place for healing and we are both now able to work in the garden together which is wonderful. I have found that planting the plants that like the conditions here in this garden, has made the garden a more beautiful and peaceful place to be, it makes me happy, the wildlife seem to like it very much, even the plants seem happy!