The holly and the ivy

This is the season of evergreens - nothing else is doing much in the garden at the moment.  There are still a few flowers on the chrysanthemums, but they are sprawling on the ground mostly, and viburnum 'Dawn' and its evergreen relations are in flower - oh, and there's one single flower on the winter honeysuckle, at last.  At the front the winter jasmine is doing its thing.  Otherwise the interest is from the evergreens (and evergreys), and the red stems of the dogwood.  The Christmas greenery has started to make its way indoors; this week's photo offering is the decorated mantlepiece, using ivy (mostly) and a little holly, all from the garden.  The neighbours' efforts to eradicate the coloured-leaved ivy from the boundary wall means that there's less variegated stuff than usual, but enough to make a good contrast. (I don't blame the neighbours, by the way; ivy looks lovely but it does terrible things to old drystone walls.)

This weekend's work included weeding around the chrysanthemums, the aster and the helianthemum to allow me to plant the small red tulips (T. linifolia) that were the most recent bargain acquisition.  I hope I remember where I've put them.  I've also started to reclaim the path leading off the patio, where the rose has encroached on one side and a self-sown honeysuckle had taken root on the other.  The resulting digging was tidings of great joy to the robin, who took every opportunity to check for worms when I wasn't too close.  He's becoming quite trusting, and even a little cheeky - flying on to one of the pots near the window when he sees me and thinks I might bring out food.

I did put out quite a lot of food during last week, when we had several severe frosts; the robin was waiting most mornings when I opened the curtains.  The blackbirds, sparrows and starlings also came.  By the end of the week the weather had turned milder, with a little more rain and wind, though the weekend was mostly dry; this week has started clear and chilly, with sunny days, but rain on the way again.  Probably a wet Christmas rather than a white one.

Other wildlife hasn't been very visible.  The marsh tit was around at the weekend (and probably during the week too), and a nuthatch was whistling to itself (or maybe to another nuthatch, though I couldn't see one) as it looked for food in the trees on Sunday.  Mr Mole hasn't been doing much in the garden; he seems to be intermittently active down by the compost heaps at the moment, and as long as he stays down there that's fine by me.

Under cover

A drier week, but several frosty nights, so a decision had to be made about the more tender plants.  The blue-leaved succulent (echeveria?) that spent the summer in the big pot was potted on into something smaller some weeks ago, and put into the cold frame, but the frost prompted me to bring it indoors.  Until I get a greenhouse it'll have to overwinter indoors, so it's currently on the kitchen windowsill (taking up most of the space).  Today I removed the purple spiky thing (phormium? cordyline?) which has been forming a very effective backdrop in the pot by the patio doors, potted it up and brought it indoors too.  I've no idea how hardy it is, and it was in a very sheltered place, but it has grown well this year since I got it at the plant sale and I'd be sorry to lose it.  It has gone into the top bathroom.  While I was at it, I also removed the purple osteospermum from the same pot, potted that up too and put it in the cold frame; it spent last winter in there, so I hope it'll be ok this winter too.

The frost has seen off the last of the nerines, and the marigolds.  The only flowers now are the real winter ones - winter jasmine, viburnums and the hellebores under the dining room window.  Still nothing on the winter honeysuckle; the plant probably needs pruning as the wood is mostly quite old.  A cutting or two might be good insurance, unless I can find another layering where a branch has rooted into the ground.  A good sign on the viburnum that is dying back, though - it has produced a well-grown shoot from the base.

A few more bargain bulbs potted up today.  Some Super Parrot tulips (white with yellow-green backs), with a couple of cuttings of yellow ivy on top; the ivy came over the wall from next door, and since the neighbours have dug it out on their side I've tried to root a couple of pieces.  They seem ok so far.  Also a pot of paperwhite narcissi (Ziva), in the hope that they won't flower while we're away from home.  The third bargain hasn't gone in yet: red species tulips (linifolia), which will go around the aster, chrysanthemums and red helianthemum once I've finished weeding round them.  There's still time to plant them, as long as it isn't too frosty next weekend.

All the apples have gone from the tree, so the fieldfare and green woodpecker will have to move on elsewhere.  There are still some apples indoors, and the damaged ones go out on the patio for the blackbirds, who are becoming quite trusting.  Besides the robin, dunnocks and sparrows, a couple of chaffinches came down yesterday and a wren was about today.  We used to get flocks of finches, but not for a few years now; today there was a flock of what looked like finches up in the field maple next door, but I couldn't make out their markings.  It would be good to see more of them around.  There was a single goldfinch in the garden today, and the marsh tit was on the seed feeder - like the nuthatch, throwing seeds out until it found its favourite ones.  Must get better seed next time.

Splitting sedums

A drier and sunnier week, but the wind has turned to the north and we've had frosty nights - enough to freeze the pond and require scraping of the car windscreen.  There's still some water about, particularly when it rains but also just run-off from the fields; it's got to go somewhere, and back into the waterlogged soil isn't an option at the moment.  In the garden, the soil is a bit sticky but it never gets completely sodden.  The winter sunshine isn't enough to dry it out, but it's welcome when it comes.

The weekend's work was a mixture of clearing up, some cutting back, a little weeding - and doing a job I'd been keeping for the back end of the year, splitting the two 'Autumn Joy' sedums.  They hadn't been divided since they went in (a good many years ago), and were flagging. Now that their flowers are over, it's a good time to get at them.  The one by the summer house had all sorts of weeds in its roots - ground elder, nettles, buttercup and more - so badly needed sorting out.  Three offshoots have been planted out under the big ash tree, three in front of the honeysuckle and a few more potted up as spares or for the spring plant sale.

Sunday was a bumper bird-spotting day.  Over breakfast, in addition to the usual sparrows, robin, blackbirds and pigeons we had a pair of chaffinches, the fieldfare, a male bullfinch, a wren and a treecreeper.  The fieldfare was busy keeping the blackbirds off the remaining apples, and even chasing away a blue tit that got too close.  The green woodpecker is still about, and on Saturday we had a dozen partridges hiding in the garden to stay out of the way of the shoot.  Even more remarkably, yesterday's sunshine saw a dozen woodpigeons all together, quite amicably, enjoying the sun under the plum tree.  We seem to have plenty of robins this winter, which is nice (unless you're a territorially-minded robin); one of them was very appreciative of my digging up of the sedums, where the freshly turned soil provided a feast for him.

Stormy weather

Another wet week - very wet, with gales on Tuesday and again last night.  There are floods across the south-west; the ground is saturated after the wet summer and there's nowhere for the rain to go. It's not so bad up here in the Cotswolds (though the river in Cirencester is up across the park). This garden is well-drained, being at the top of the village, so we're relatively little affected, and the house is virtually flood-proof for the same reason, but a lot of people are less fortunate.  The only sign of the wet ground in our garden is the mole activity; it's presumably the reason for the mole trying to come up to the house, which is slightly higher and therefore on drier ground.  I've stamped down the mole runs near the house and there has been no further digging, so presumably he has gone back down the garden.

At least I haven't had to fill up the pond this year.

This morning started bright and sunny, and the daylight hours were mostly dry and often bright, so a good opportunity to get out and collect all the fallen twigs for kindling (2 bagfuls).  I also potted up another lot of tulips (half-price bargains from the garden centre): a mix of Pole Position (purple with white edges) and Flaming Flag (white with purple flaming), with the white anthemis on top.  Some of last year's anemones, still in their pots, are pushing up leaves, so I top-dressed them too.

Virtually all of the trees, and the cotoneasters, have dropped their leaves now, though the other shrubs (buddleia etc) are hanging on to most of theirs, even after the gales.  The winter honeysuckle is still in full leaf, though there are few signs of flowers; on the lower branches this could be because the pheasant has eaten them (he was pecking at them one morning) but there are few flowers further up out of his reach.

The green woodpecker was at the apples yesterday morning, and around in the background today; the greater spotted woodpecker was at the peanuts yesterday too.  There has been little activity on the seed container.  I've just opened a new bag of seed, from a new supplier, and I'm wondering if it is bulked out with seeds the birds don't like.  Last weekend two nuthatches were at the seeds, and one of them was throwing seeds out until it found ones it liked (the others couldn't have been too bad because the pheasant was picking them up).  I've bought some sunflower seeds to mix in at the next fill to see if that helps.  There are a number of blackbirds around, visiting the patio especially when I throw out half-rotten apples; there were some skirmishes today when the usual blackbird found an interloper there!  The weather has been milder, though, so they shouldn't be too anxious for food just yet.

Autumn colour

The autumn colours are now just passing their peak.  Out and about, the beech trees have been a lovely burnished orange-brown, with smaller trees green-gold.  In our garden, the colour is mostly from the cotoneasters, both the red leaves (which are looking a bit pink in these pictures, I don't know why) and the berries.  The berries are left by the birds until fairly late, although a female blackbird has been in the big cotoneaster regularly.  I've swept up the fallen leaves and tried not to get too many berries in there; they self-seed dreadfully.

Every time the big ash tree drops a few twigs I can't help wondering if it's ash blight; but it has had dead bits for as long as we've been here, and ash trees are notorious for dropping sometimes quite big branches.  Let's wait until spring and see.  Maybe it'll turn out to be one of the immune ones.  However I can't help hoping that its many progeny around the garden aren't immune.  Ash is another bad seeder; you oftne don't notice until suddenly you spot a five-footer coming up through another shrub.

Still on the tree front, the hazels have catkins already; isn't this a bit early?  But they add to indoor flower arrangements.  Not that there's much to arrange: winter jasmine, winter viburnums, the yellow chrysanths.  The cyclamen have given up, and there are only odd single blooms around the place (including a 'Mousseline' rose).

Rather damp Saturday, lovely bright Sunday but a very frosty night in between.  Milder this week.

Bits of the holly tree, with berries, have been cut for Christmas, before the frosty night and the inevitable bird influx.  Sure enough, chilly Sunday morning saw a fieldfare in the apple tree, where he spent all morning demolishing a large apple, in the sun.  The green woodpecker, still around from time to time, will not be pleased - the apple tree is his haunt.  A pheasant spent the morning on the summerhouse roof; two females were inspecting the veg garden on Saturday.  The smaller birds are showing more interest in food put out for them, and my weeding in the garden on Sunday was much appreciated by the robin.

Spring pots

A fine, sunny, not-too-chilly weekend, and the tulip order has arrived, so time to pot up the pots for spring.  I always forget what I've put in them, so, for the record (and this will be more for my use than for your interest!)
- the big pot at the bottom of the garden: Heuchera 'Prince' (a bit dark, but heucheras do furnish a pot), a (very pot-bound) seedling hebe and two euphorbia myrsinites, with some violas that never got planted out this summer (and which may never do anything at all now!).  Underneath, are a few crocus 'Blue Pearl', some 'Tete-a-tete' daffodils and three double tulips - Angelique, Black Hero and Uncle Tom.  I hope the east winds are kind to them.
- two pots on the patio: in the tulip pot is Tulip 'Professor Roentgen', a whopping big parrot tulip, and in the slightly smaller pot is 'Orange Princess'.  Both have a bronze sedge (another good pot-furnisher, the product of a parent plant self-seeding) and some orange pansies.
- two long-tom pots on the patio with alliums: one has A caeruleum, the other A amplectens 'Graceful', both with crocus 'Blue Pearl' on top.

There.  No excuse for forgetting next year.

Flowers still very sparse in the garden, but the marigolds are hanging on in there, and the yellow chrysanthemums are showing good buds (some of which are opening indoors as I type).  The winter jasmine is starting up, and the cyclamen (which I keep forgetting to mention because they're a bit out of sight) are still in bloom.  Apart from the winter viburnums there's not much else of note.  Leaves continue to fall, with the apples mostly still holding on to theirs, and the buddleia and winter honeysuckle still to drop. 

The bird picture hasn't changed much either; tits around when I put seeds out for them (and a big scrap between two small tits - coal and/or marsh tits - this morning), partridges skulking in corners and panicking if you get too close.  A possible sighting of a fieldfare flying over today, but none seen in the garden.  Both sorts of woodpecker too.

Weather is due to turn wet again - but it is mid-November so can't complain too much.

Ashes to ashes?

Much despondency about the news concerning the fungal disease killing ash trees across Europe, and now being found in the UK.  Ash is the predominant tree around here, and the loss of them would be huge.  There are three mature ashes on the boundaries of our garden, although only one is actually ours.  That one, at the side of the drive, I would miss but we could live without it (and it's not a particularly strong grower).  The one in the neighbours' garden that overshadows the vegetable garden can be a nuisance and doesn't provide much shelter, so I wouldn't be too sorry to see it go.  The major loss would be the big one across the fence in the field; it dominates the garden, where it's the main feature.  Birds love it and it protects us from the worst of the east wind.  There has been talk of not sweeping up fallen leaves, but it's really a necessity (there are a lot of them!) and, as they're pretty sodden, I don't expect that spores will be disturbed too much.  Anyway it might be the last time I'll be able to make leafmould in this quantity ....

A damp and murky weekend turned into a bright and cold start to the week, with a couple of quite cold nights (ice on the pond), but the past couple of days have been a little milder.  Still few flowers, other than the winter viburnums and the last couple of nerines; there are the last of the marigolds and some flowers on the big hellebore, but the winter honeysuckle and winter jasmine are not in bloom yet.  The dogwood stems are showing red now that the leaves have fallen from them.  The main plant has layered itself a foot or so away, which is actually a better position, so last winter I cut back the main part of the plant quite drastically, leaving the new part to take a starring role; I wouldn't much mind if it took over from the original plant, which is crowding out one of the roses.

Despite the cold, the birds aren't clamouring for food.  The robin, dunnock and some sparrows come to feed, with the occasional blackbird, but crumbs can lie there for most of the day untouched, and the seeds aren't being eaten as quickly as formerly.  There's obviously a reasonable amount of food around.  We're keeping an eye on the holly tree; there aren't as many berries as usual, and starlings are taking the top ones, so we will cut some of the lower branches for Christmas as soon as there are signs of birds feeding on them (and certainly if the redwings show up as they can clear the tree in a weekend).  I still haven't seen a fieldfare or redwing, although there's cold weather in Scandinavia so they must be here by now.

14 partridges on the lawn one morning! - with a pheasant lording it over them all.

Mr Mole seems to have been deterred by me stamping on the lawn where he had been digging (no molehills there, but you could feel the loose earth under the grass).  Still haven't worked out how to put the bedding sand back under the flagstones.