power plant

Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky, The flying cloud, the frosty light: The year is dying in the night; Ring out, wild bells, and let him die. Ring out the old, ring in the new, Ring, happy bells, across the snow: The year is going, let him go; Ring out the false, ring in the true. (This famous poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson is worth a re-read, old-fashioned as it may be, but the message is a timeless one. You can find it here .) Wishing you all peace and happiness in 2026. Happy New Year!  

We awoke to a beautiful glittering white frost that has lasted all day, even with some sunshine this afternoon. The hellebores were frozen again… ….but I had already snipped the first one to open yesterday lunchtime after it had thawed out. Temperatures have mostly been below freezing in the daytime recently, but if we have some strong sunshine the greenhouse has still got to a cosy 20°C for an hour or so. I stood my little glass bowl in there to catch the light. Hence the title. The hellebores never cease to amaze me at how they recover from being frozen multiple times every winter! I am joining Cathy at Rambling in the Garden for the last Monday vase of the year. For more vases why not pay her a visit!

My Christmas card to you this year is a snowy scene from a previous winter in my Words and Herbs garden. Wishing you all a very Happy Christmas. I hope you have time between celebrations to enjoy some peaceful time…. perhaps just offline for a few days, or maybe simply contemplating your garden, or catching up on other blogs, or perhaps reading a good book. I’ll be doing all of that (and maybe a bit of crochet too ) and will be back, refreshed, in the new year! Season’s Greetings!  

No vase as such from me today, as I am travelling. But I wanted to share these snapshots of my visit to a UK garden centre. Such a great choice of houseplants! For actual vases, take a look at our host Cathy’s post today, at Rambling in the Garden , where there are sure to be some links from other contributors too.  

I was expecting it to be a challenge this month, finding five ‘favourites’ in my garden. Would I find anything at all?! Winter came early and we had snow and ice in November. But as I wandered around the brown and soggy garden, camera in hand, waiting for something to grab my attention, I was surprised to find so much beauty. In fact I had to narrow down my choices! So here are five plants I am enjoying in December. Should you wish to join me with YOUR five favourites, please do, and leave a link below! 1. Naturally a grass had to be included – I love all my grasses any time of year, but in winter they stand out even more. And I must admit this was among my favourites  in October too: Miscanthus ‘Federweiße’ (or ‘Silberfeder’). This tall, elegant grass bowed to the ground when we had snow, and looked lovely with frost on its feathery plumes too, but it has recovered well and is as upright again now as in August. 2. Foliage also stands out more in the winter – so many perennials...

I know that these are not actually Amaryllis, but Hippeastrum, but after having called them Amaryllis uncorrected for over half of my life I just can’t bring myself to use the right name. Hippeastrum simply doesn’t roll off the tongue as well, and Amaryllis is such a pretty word more suited to the flower I feel. So here are my two Amaryllis (albeit not in a vase…), both flowering early and at the same time. Staggering them, or planting them later, never seems to work! Elvin the Elk (who makes an appearance on my blog most years) is out for the Christmas season, happy to act as a ‘prop’, even if completely unrelated to these flowers! The fresh pale pink one is called ‘Sweet Star’ and it is a very pretty pink, with a slightly lilac hue. Gorgeous. The rich deep red one is ‘Red Pearl’, which is the loveliest red one I have ever grown I believe; velvety and Christmassy, with lovely large flowers that are not so big as to weigh down the tall stems. Definitely one to remember for future...

The Final Day! It is Day Seven of my annual ‘A Week of Flowers’, where I have invited you, my dear blogging friends, to daily share a photo or two of something bright and colourful from your garden, taken over the past year. A kind of look back, and at the same time a look forward to what will hopefully return to bloom in 2026. And at the same time a pick-me-up as December darkness decends on us and our gardens go largely dormant until Spring. Simply post your image(s) today, and leave a link in the comments below. I have barely had a moment to notice that the sun hasn’t shone all week, with so many lovely flowery posts popping up in the comments box every day. Old blogging friends and new have been cheering up the grey days and long evenings with photos, comments and likes. Inspiration, smiles and encouragement have been the order of the day. What better way to spend a week when the world outside is so gloomy and dark. A wonderful distraction I think! So a huge thank you to everyon...