Midwinter flowers

There isn’t much colour in the garden in mid-winter, but it’s not a completely flower-free zone.  The mild (mostly wet and windy) weather has helped, of course, and having a few winter stalwarts in the planting also ensures some blooms. 

Mahonia 'Winter Sun'

Of the winter shrubs, the most floriferous is the Mahonia ‘Winter Sun’.  It’s much better than the later-flowering Mahonia aquifolium, which I inherited (from the previous owners) in the rubble-filled area round the gas tank.  I’d love to dig that out, but it’s impossible to get a spade or fork in there.  I’m thinking of letting it flower in the spring, and then cutting it down as far as possible.  But that’s another story.  ‘Winter Sun’ does what it says on the tin, and it’s an excellent garden plant for this time of year.  The winter jasmine and both the Viburnum tinus are also in flower, and the winter honeysuckle (Lonicera purpusii) is starting to put out little blooms, though there is a pair of male bullfinches that love to peck at it.

Self-sown primula flowering in December

There are fewer perennials in flower, but a couple of primulas in the little patch of border outside the front wall are doing quite well, and there are plenty of berries on the Iris foetidissima plants that appear around the place.  I took the leaves off the hellebores back in November, as they were suffering from hellebore leaf spot and didn’t look good; the new flowers are already in bud underneath, promising some colour in early spring.

Replanted window-box

Another job already done is to replant the window-box for winter.  Back in late spring I heaved out the whole contents – two rosemarys, a little gold-leaved euonymus plant, some crocus and ‘Tete-a-tete’ daffodil bulbs – compost and all, and left them over summer in a similar-sized plastic trough in a corner.  Now it was time to heave them back again, and top-dress with some fresh compost.  We’ll see if it works!  The rosemarys are a bit leggy, but already in bud so I don’t want to cut them back.  The plants that were in there for the summer were either expendable annuals, now composted, or potted up and put in the greenhouse to overwinter (a fuchsia and a couple of osteospermums).  A variegated ivy that spent the summer in the windowbox has been put back in place for winter.  For now, everything seems happy enough!