power plant

I love perennial grasses. They give the garden structure for most of the year, swaying beautifully in the summer breezes, catching the autumn light so well, and in the winter – when there is barely any foliage and everything else has died back – they remain standing. When covered in frost they are magical, like here… But by the time February comes round they look, quite frankly, a mess! Miscanthus and Calamagrostis in February After facing wind, rain and even snow for several months they are falling apart and need to be cut down before the new green shoots at the base appear. Miscanthus Gold Breeze, February At the weekend some milder temperatures finally tempted me out into the garden for the first task of the year. It was so good to be working outside again! With over a dozen Miscanthus this is not a quick job, but I had all day and made the most of it. I was lucky in that the ground was still partially frozen and I was not walking on muddy flower beds. The ‘Edge, with Mi...

We had a few mild days over the weekend, with temperatures reaching double figures! Is this a teaser, or has spring really arrived? …. Well, the garden still has little to offer, but there are signs of life – some green shoots (Iris reticulata?), two crocuses, some Cyclamen and a couple of very tatty primroses. So this week I will be checking regularly and no doubt squealing with delight at each emerging shoot! I have resorted to pickings from pots for the time being, both indoors and out, to create a vase for today – joining Cathy at Rambling in the Garden for her Monday meme. The Hellebore is from the pot I brought indoors in January to defrost. The plant is looking much better and has gone back outside, but no new flowers have appeared yet. This is one of the older flowers that was frozen and defrosted dozens of times this winter! The Narcissus is from an indoor pot of ‘Jetfire’, one that I had grown in the garden in the past before Tête à Tête became so popular. On the rig...

Although it is still cold and icy here I am slowly starting to think about the gardening year ahead and need to make some plans soon. I did however have the forethought to plan my vase for this week! Knowing there would be little in the garden I cut some Forsythia and Chimomanthus (Wintersweet) over a week ago for forcing and put them in my Forsythia vase. I added a few Cornus stems too, but they blend into the background in my photos. The Forsythia is only just opening… …but the Wintersweet was quicker – it smells divine! I really do recommend Wintersweet. On a mild February or March day the bees will swarm to it and the perfume will waft across the entire garden. If you plant one you need to be patient – it took about three years for mine to produce a single flower, but this year will be its sixth year (oh my, how time flies!) and it has lots of buds. It has also grown considerably in the last two years and is taller than me now. I took this photo of it this morning… we have...

Once again, Cathy’s Monday meme got me outside on a cold winter’s day looking for materials for a vase, and once again I found some. Enough for some teeny weeny vases. The ground is still frozen – all the more amazing that the Cyclamen manage to flower. They are so delicate, but must be made up of some strong cells when you consider how often they freeze and thaw, freeze and thaw. This lovely Viola is in a winter container placed right next to the house in a sheltered spot – the other Violas I planted up are pretty tatty and will probably need cutting back once it warms up. So I was happy to find this one looking perfect. I have often seen Photinia die back here in a big freeze, but so far this one has been fine. The new shoots are showing and look pretty when the sun shines on the red tips. Here I added a small sprig of red Cornus. The Heuchera also looks pretty when the sun catches it, and this one was quite visible in the morning sun. There is some Cornus, Viburnum and a spr...

Every Monday I join Cathy at Rambling in the Garden for her lovely meme, where she invites us to share materials from our gardens in a vase. This becomes tricky in winter as – here in Bavaria – daytime temperatures have mostly been remaining below or around freezing point. So the lovely Hellebore I bought last autumn and planted in a large pot was looking extremely thirsty – the soil was frozen solid. I brought it into the cellar to thaw out a couple of weeks ago, cut off a few dead bits and it has now rewarded me with lots more lovely flowers! Rescue accomplished! Here are three of the flowers in a small vase with some Narcissi I had growing on the windowsill. The vase matches perfectly! But I also had to rescue something else this week. While doing a bit of reorganizing, vacuuming and dusting in my room, I disturbed a Hummingbird Hawk Moth – maybe it was behind a shelf or sideboard? I have no idea why it chose such a warm room to overwinter. It immediately flew to the Hyacinth...