Six on Saturday - 31st December 2022

Last post

No, not last post ever, just for 2022. What a month it has been! In fact, what a year it has been. Apart from the frantic attempts to protect tender things just before the cold spell kicked in, the main gardening jobs this month have involved collecting leaves for leaf mold. Being surrounded by trees means that we get an awful lot of leaves! On the drier days I use the "Monty's Mow" method of collection - effectively using the lawn mower to collect and chop leaves prior to either piling into one of the compost bins, or into black bags for over-wintering. That still leaves lots which can be tucked in under the larger shrubs so that they can work their magic directly into the soil. You can read more about Monty Don's method over here. 

1) Pretty Freezing (2)

I'm being a bit liberal with my final six of the year. This was not taken on 31st December, but on the morning of 12th and it is the wintry scene that greeted me when I opened the curtains that morning. The temperatures remained sub-zero for a good few days and when I checked the greenhouses, as feared, there were some tender losses. On the plus side, Salvia "hot lips" appears to have survived outside.  I thought she was a gonner when the "Beast from the East" hit a few springs back.

2) Yucca gloriosa "variegata"

According to my "go to" source of information, the RHS website, Yucca gloriosa "variegata"  flowers should appear in "late summer or autumn". My plant has other ideas. Not only that, but the flower spike started appearing before the recent freeze and has showed no sign of giving up. 

3) Third time lucky? Overwintering my lemon tree. 

This is the third winter for my lemon tree. The first winter I purchased a tray, filled it with gravel, brought tray and tree inside wherupon all leaves fell off. It survived. Last winter tray and tree went into the greenhouse near the house, the plant was fed with a winter citrus food, and when it was warm enough, I took it back outside whereupon all the leaves fell off. Again. It survived. For its third winter I've popped it on a sheltered step above which, a couple of floors up, is a boiler flue. It has already survived the cold and the snow that December threw at it and is currently throwing off new shoots and flowers. The added bonus is that the squirrels have not yet located it. The critters stripped it of its 13 fruits a few months back and that was after they'd decimated the figs and the olives. I am plotting revenge.

4) Moss

The original bonsai that graced this dish died a few years back. One of the "advantages" of being surrounded by trees is that we are never short of saplings, particularly sycamore and ash. The local ash in partciular are succombing to ash dieback so each year I pot up a couple in the hope that they may be resistent. I decided to bonsai one and it has survived several  summers now. Obviously at this time of year it is leafless and dormant. Meanwhile, the birds seem to revel in pecking bits of moss from the roof and flinging them on the ground below. I've beel collecting them up and resting them on the slate chippings which are in the bonsai planter where they are surviving well in all the current damp and are providing a little ground level interest while the tree hibernates. 

5) Christmas gift

This rather speldid bug hotel was a Christmas present and has been placed in a sunny location and about 1.6m above ground. My husband tells me that I've interrupted the squirrel's route up that particular tree. Well, if that's the case then I'll have achieved two things - a home for beneficial beasties and a discombobulated squirrel or two. 

6) Hanging by a thread

My trusty garden apron is made of denim. I've had it for more years than I can remember and you'll see me sporting it towards the beginning of this little lockdown video. I'd already had to knot one of the ties once where it had frayed. Now, again hanging by a thread,  more drastic action was needed. I was delighted to find denim tape online and even more delighted that in amongst my mum's extensive collection of coloured sewing threads was one which matched the orange edging used on the tape. It should now last a few more years. 

This is my latest in the #SixOnSaturday series inspired by The Propagator and currently being championed over at Garden Ruminations. Check out the participant guide here. I aspire to be as disciplined, creative and inspiring as them but for now, I'll remain pleased if I can just limp on with a post every now and again. Meanwhile, wishing you and yours a very happy new year. 2023 needs to be a year when we all dig deep - physically and mentally - to identify further actions we can take to protect and nurture our planet. 

Six on Saturday - 10th December 2022

Frozen

It is nearly Sunday, and it is also December, about 12 weeks since my last post. Last weekend I marvelled at needing to mow the lawn in December. Now, a spell of cold has landed, even here in our normally sheltered corner of SE London. Happily, it was a "work from home" day when, mid-week, I realised that some serious cold, the like of which we've not seen here for a few years, was headed in our direction. Picture the frantic dawn dash to rescue, trim, and shelter canna, cala lilies, begonias, geraniums, outside-planted spider plants, the lemon tree, and anything tender in pots that I could lay my hands on. I'd already taken salvia cuttings so will cross my fingers that one way or another I'll have plants next year. 

Roll on and we have had lots of frost which, today, didn't lift at all. All the pics in this week's post were taken this afternoon. 

1) Pretty Freezing

Frost-enrobed leaves. Clockwise: Campanula, ivy and box. Pretty, and possibly Christmas-card-worthy for next year.

2) Salvia Hotlips

In the spring, Hotlips invariably starts off almost completely white and sans lips. Now we are all lips! No sign of frost damage at the moment. 

3) Food: winter flowering jasmine

Even when it is this cold, there are polinators out there which appreciate a bit of colour. This lovely yellow winter flowering jasmine is putting on a nice show this year.

4) Food: viburnum

This prolific evergreen, sometimes unruly shrub, seems to be able to produce both fantastically scented flowers and berries at the same time. I've managed to tame this plant to a standard with a mop head of leaves which at this time of year is bearing lots of fragrant flowers which polinators love. There are also some dark dark berries which help feed the birds. It also works well in table decorations.

5) Bidens - a surprising summer survivor

I have Bidens dotted around in pots, some near the house. This one is still giving a jolly yellow show. 

6) Euphorbia

Bad photo of a sliver-leaved euphorbia which I planted this year. It not only survived the insane heat of the summer but looks like it may survive this cold spell too. It and the now growing number of euphorbias that I have around the garden provide nice solid year round interest. 

This is my latest in the #SixOnSaturday series inspired by The Propagator and currently being championed over at Garden Ruminations. Check out the participant guide here. I aspire to be as disciplined, creative and inspiring as them but for now, I'll be pleased if I can just limp on with a post every now and again.