Frost

Published on by Catherine22 Comments

Winter frost creates an atmosphere of calm that I love – despite the bitter cold that accompanies it. I love the muted colours that appear in the garden and on farmland beyond our fence.

The pale green of frosted grass sets the scene and the frost works its magic by coating the remains of autumn foliage, softening them to lightly coloured golds, browns and greens. The stillness of the early morning mist obscures any distracting objects in the landscape beyond, but within the hour the sun will break through to touch the plants and the mist will lift. The air is cold enough to believe that this frost will not thaw much, and by night another layer will be added to it, or perhaps a blanket of snow will follow.

Here are a few softly-coated, frosted leaves that one early December morning brought to tempt me out with the camera.

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Botanical Explosions

Published on by Catherine10 Comments

It was a bitterly cold, frosty morning when I wandered around the garden and came across this oddity. I initially thought that the seedheads on the Japanese Anemone ‘Honorine Jobert’ were coated with frost, but as soon as I drew closer I saw that it wasn’t frost, it looked like cotton wool, with just a tiny hint of frost on top.

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Strawberry Frost

Published on by Catherine19 Comments

Friday 24th November was a still, sunny day and the overnight forecast of -3C had me thinking that we might wake up to a frosty Saturday morning. I wasn’t wrong. Saturday was glistening white in the garden and over the fields behind us.

The sun was rising as I ate my breakfast and looked for the warmest clothes I owned. By the time I finally got myself together, (I’ve been battling a nasty chest infection for five weeks, so I’m not exactly the fastest mover) the sunbeams were hitting the plants in the back of my garden. I knew it wouldn’t be long before those rays started thawing out the frosty leaves. Luckily, the paths were clear and dry, which was a relief because I’m always cautious around slippery surfaces. Eventually, I was ready to step outside to snap a few photos.

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One Productive Gardening Day

Published on by Catherine31 Comments

Monday was a day of gardening from morning until late afternoon with my husband doing all the heavy work (as usual) while I potted on seedlings in the greenhouse and supervised (not as easy as it sounds!) the removal or lifting and dividing of plants. In general, the borders were tidied up, weeds removed and the grass was cut and edged. Pots of summer bedding were emptied and made ready to receive winter and spring-flowering bulbs. That one productive day cheered me up and I felt we’d achieved a lot, though a quick glance at my list in the evening reminded me that there was so much more to deal with. But that’s gardening, isn’t it, it never ends.

I also managed to find time to take a few photographs and I’m glad I did because by Tuesday the rain was thundering down and it’s been wet every day since then, including today where we have an amber alert for rain.

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Dear Hellebore, don’t you know this is September?

Published on by Catherine24 Comments

It’s been a mixed week of weather again. We’ve had so much rain, blustery winds, a thunderstorm and just enough sun for everyone to get outdoors for short spells at a time. It’s been busy too. In this county, all schools were closed for three days due to a strike and I’m sure parents, grandparents and carers up and down the country must have been frantically trying to rearrange their week. My husband and I only had to reschedule two days though. Gardening was abandoned, but we still managed to spend time outdoors with the two grandchildren who were delighted to have this unexpected break from school.

I feel that we’re now settling into fairly normal Autumn weather patterns (though I’m seeing a couple of highs of 17C ahead), but in the garden, there is still some confusion among the plants. That of course brings me to the featured plant, the Hellebore.

But before going there, let’s take a look at the rest of this week’s selection for Six on Saturday.

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