Frosty Week – A Winter Wonderland

Well, hasn’t it been pretty! The weather forecasts were right, it’s certainly been a frosty week!

And so, our year of extremes has continued. From heatwaves and dusty, dry gardens, to more rain than we know what to do with. And now freezing temperatures, lasting longer than we are used to.

I certainly brought my chilli plants inside at the right time, and got those lovely lemon trees into the greenhouse in the nick of time.

We do have a small tube heater in there, that just keeps the very worst of the cold off, so I’m hoping everything will come through. It has been looking pretty frozen up though!

A Winter Wonderland

We normally think of frosty days as bright, but the first couple were really grey and misty. It was quite eerie driving around, with this white world unfolding as you approached.

The moisture from the mist was freezing on everything it touched and made cobwebs really visible. On the way to my mums I stopped and walked around the church. Very atmospheric!

As the days got brighter the scenery has become more beautiful, the contrast of blue skies made it magical.

As the frost built up it turned everywhere into fairyland and turned me back into a five year old child.

I think frost is prettier than snow as it coats the underneath of branches and also gets right into the very centre, making every bit sparkle.

My Frozen Garden

I far as my own garden is goes, it’s been a mixture of pleasure and concern.

I’m pretty sure the veg will be just fine as it freezes every year with no problems. The brassicas actually benefit from a good frost as it makes them taste sweeter.

The Italian Kale looked very architectural, it always reminds me of a yucca.

The broad beans sown in October have put on quite a bit of growth with the earlier mild weather. Frost usually stunts them for a while, but it doesn’t seem to do too much harm – hopefully.

I’ve never had full sized beetroots freeze in the ground before, but from everything I’ve read, says they should be ok, so fingers crossed.

The Flowers

In the new wildflower bed the poppy seed heads looked fabulous with their twinkling white tops. Also in that border is my first flower ornament that I bought earlier on in the year. It too looked really good with its dusting of white. I left some sunflower heads for the birds but they would have been a bit hard!

There were a few flowers still hardy enough to be out in the borders, again thanks to the mild temperatures we had been having.

The most striking ones were the yellow Rudbeckia laciniata ‘Herbstsonne’, towering five foot high. They looked good mixed in with the seed heads.

Now frozen solid, they are still holding their colour, visible under the frost.

The other plants holding their own in the freezing conditions are the Penstemon, which has one perfect pink flower left on. The Rhododendron with its buds all pumped up ready to burst out in spring. The large flat Sedum flower heads, ideal to catch frost, and the Pyracanths with it’s red Christmassy berries.

We have a small Cotinus Coggygria shrub, better known as the Smoke bush, which should have lost it’s leaves by now, but I’m glad it hadn’t as the frost brought it to life, emphasising the edges.

The yellow Chrysanths were also withstanding the cold, although I’m sure they will be brown once it melts. The Skimmia Japonica is just coming into flower and looked like a readymade table decoration with it’s white outlined leaves and cone like centres.

The bowl of cyclamen just outside the patio doors were looking so gorgeous. I spotted them in our local garden centre and fell for the colour. I was getting so much pleasure seeing them every morning with the early sunshine on them. Unfortunately they are now looking extremely sad now, I do hope they recover!

Wildlife Garden

And finally. The three apples at the top of this cordon fruit tree – conveniently right by the top of the great wall – are no longer there. Not because they’ve dropped off, and not because we’ve picked them, but because Mrs Blackbird has been helping herself! I chopped some of the many fallen Bramley’s for her, but oh no, she knows which ones taste the best!

Of course, with the temperatures as low as minus six some mornings, I don’t begrudge her. After all, I set out to attract as much wildlife as possible to the garden, so I can’t really complain when they come!

Stay safe (and warm) & happy garden planning.