End of December 2018
12 comments
Just a blog to show what is still in bloom in the garden, plus some surprises I wouldn’t expect to see!
Some members may recall I had to dispose of many potted Fuchsias last year, Fuchsia Gall Mite had distorted their foliage and flower buds. The only surviving ones are planted in the ground, ‘Lady Boothby’ is thriving and in her sixth year.
This must be a hardy Fuchsia, but I have no name for it as all the labels for Fuchsias were discarded, along with the pot plants! Thankfully it appears healthy, long may it live.
An evergreen Brachyglottis ‘Sunshine’ still has a couple of bright yellow flowers, it probably enjoys the temps. of twelve and thirteen degrees we have had this past week. Come to that, so do I!
These are two cuttings from it, taken in the Spring.
I was pleasantly surprised to find these Hellebores flowering today, the first one is a double and has been kept in a pot since purchase, while the others are in the ground. That would be the totally sodden ground after so much rain of late.
There is still one pink Nerine in bloom, how it has put up with the wet weather I do not know!
The small pond was drained about this time last year and has been a bit of a problem since. I planted it up with a Euphorbia, that soon died, Sedums grew way too tall and will need to be moved in the Spring so the only remaining plants are some Heucheras, the blue grass and some black grasses. Need to put my thinking cap on in the new year for a low maintenance planting plan.
Thinking of next year in the garden, as gardeners always do, the Daffodils (Minnow and Tete a Tete) I planted in the Autumn are pushing through and many Sweet Peas, also sown sown in the Autumn are thriving in the cold greenhouse.
Plenty of berries for the birds to feast on …
A surprise to see a bird of prey sitting on the garden fence at 9am today, blurry photo though!
Keeping with the festive season, some Holly and Ivy to end with.
Wishing everyone a very happy Christmas.
23 Dec, 2018
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Comments
Yoour holly's beautiful! I was saving a spray of ivy covered with flower buds, hoping to be kind to early bees next year - but my neighbour snapped it off as it was overhanging a bit. such a shame they didn't mention it, as I wold have removed it in the spring...
23 Dec, 2018
Nice to see so much in your garden at Christmas time Shirley. Have a lovely day tomorrow ... Merry Christmas to you and your family :)
24 Dec, 2018
Eirlys, how strange that your Holly has no berries left now. The Blackbirds have stripped the Pyracantha of red ones, but tend to leave the orange ones until later.
Thanks for liking the Holly, Stera, it's 'Golden King' the female one with the male name!
Hywel, thanks for your comment and you, Beryl and Bella have a lovely time too.
24 Dec, 2018
lovely flowers for this time of year.
all the best for 2019. have a lovely Christmas. :o)
is your fuchsia snowcap? or Alice Hoffman? both look very similar.
24 Dec, 2018
Sbg, I think you are right with the 'Snowcap' as that definitely sounds familiar! Thanks for that, happy Christmas to you and yours.
24 Dec, 2018
Wow,still so much colour ,Shirley ! and my Hellebores are only just starting to show foliage,never mind flowers :o(
My Pyracantha's are attracting the Blackbirds and Thrushes,now there isn't much else for them..The red one is always first choice,and the yellow berried one always seems to be a last resort :o)
I'm lucky that 'Golden King' Holly,is usually left intact,which is kind of them .Lol.I do however,still have a Campanula flowering on the border wall,so that's a bit of colour to brighten things up a bit !
I hope you have you have a lovely Christmas ,with your family...xxx
24 Dec, 2018
Wishing you a lovely Xmas Shirley and Happy Gardening 2019... You have some smashers still flowering late December, I love the Hellebores and they'll be flowering for weeks on end now...:))
24 Dec, 2018
Some lovely colour in your garden still, Shirley!
I only have a couple of Dianthus with flowers on the balcony. They are plants given to me by Dick, from church. I still have the odd Fuchsia flower or two though!
Some of my Daffs are also showing through the soil in the troughs on the middle bar of the railings but the Pansies have no flowers for now. In fact I had to take the pots off the railings a few days ago to let them drain & dry out a little as they were thoroughly soaked with all the rain we had. As we were forecast frosty nights I didn't want the pots freezing & maybe killing the Daffs & Pansies in them!
Hope you all had a great time over Christmas! I'll wish everyone a Happy New Year 2019 while I'm at it as I don't know when I may be back on GoY with other things keeping me busy!
27 Dec, 2018
Thanks Sandra, Christmas Day was quiet, Boxing Day was lively and today we have set a Christmas table for relatives not seen at Christmas, phew!
Janey, I hadn't even cut the old Hellebore foliage away before the flowers opened! Very mild again today. Hope you had a relaxing Christmas.
Balcony, we do give our plants lots of TLC don't we? Have a very happy new year and see you when time allows you to log in to GoY!
28 Dec, 2018
Shirley, the Hellebores are very early coming into flower this winter aren't they? My yellow one has four flower buds poking through. Had a very busy Christmas, but loved it..:)) Hope yours has been a good one..
28 Dec, 2018
I agree Janey, just hope there isn't a frost on the way.
Yes, our Christmas was great ... :o))
29 Dec, 2018
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Good to see some colour. We have none!
We had lots of holly berries in September and October but the birds have eaten them all. Don't know why as they are well-fed birds. No berries left for Christmas and I do like to see some sprigs in the house.
Have a lovely Christmas, ST, and a Very Happy New year.
23 Dec, 2018