Starting Afresh

"Winter is a season of recovery and preparation"

- Paul Theroux

New Year's dawn over the marais

As usual, the heaviest frosts waited until after Christmas and the cold air on January 1st will have revived many a late-night reveller!  This was the scene that greeted us when we drew the curtains: there's a patch of marais where the reeds are, behind which our neighbour, Robert, has planted some colourful willows and dogwoods.

Frosted leaves lingering in shade

Looking out of the same window this morning, I saw that Robert has erected another of his stork platforms just behind this little copse.  Great news!

For years now, there have been storks nesting on his other platform further up the valley and we've enjoyed watching the juveniles grow up each spring and summer.

Whereas they used to migrate to warmer climes in autumn, there's now a tendency for some to remain here through the winter - perhaps they want to safeguard their nest sites, which are few and far between?  At any rate, a new platform will definitely be welcomed... by storks, and by certain birdwatchers with cameras!

Scabious caucasica 'Fama Deep Blue'

It's by no means the first time I've posted a picture of this scabious, but I reckon it's earned another place on the blog by producing a couple of gorgeous blooms to adorn our Christmas table.

The cut stems lasted in water for about three weeks, so it's no surprise that florists like them. Each flowering seems to produce a different shade of blue - its winter hue being palest of all.

Dianthus gratianopolitanus 'Sternkissen'

Although our garden is rather short on flowers at present, this is a time to celebrate the shape and structure of certain plants, particularly Alpines like this dianthus 'Sternkissen' which form neat mounds of foliage. Here it has a light dusting of frost and is starting to be encroached upon by cerastium 'Silver Carpet'. 

Together they sit on the edge of our new raised herb border, surrounded by a nice clean mulch of oyster shells.

A few indoor bulbs go a long way to satisfy ones craving for colour and scent, although it's difficult to keep them going in a heated room.  Once these started to droop, Christina cut off the stems and put them in a vase so we could enjoy them for a few more days.  (This wouldn't be such a good idea if you wanted to keep the bulbs for outside planting.)

It's impossible to do any gardening when the ground is frozen, so we took some bracing walks instead, relishing the frosts and fogs which lend atmosphere to photographs and highlight those plants which have survived the chill.

There are a surprising number of roses to be found out and about... this one is sadly in need of a good prune but puts on a brave face none the less.

Rosa no-name

Each winter we walk past a pretty pink rambler which grows in a sheltered garden near our local port.  It seems to produce flowers every month of the year and Christina says there's a name for it, which she's forgotten(!) 

But at least I finally remembered to take a pair of secateurs on our recent walk so that I could brazenly remove a couple of non-flowering stems to make cuttings:-)

From the photographic point of view, I think my favourite of the 'winter collection' is this apricot-coloured rose, still in full bloom at the front of a south-facing cottage.

It just looks 'sunny' next to those traditional lace curtains and the grey-green windows.  Again, I think the shrub could do with some thinning out of its stems, but maybe it's churlish to argue with such floral gaiety in the bleak month of January!

A pear tree resolutely holds its leaves into New Year

Birches and dogwoods are perfect for the winter garden