Gorgeous sweet fragrance from the Winter Honeysuckle shrub, nodding purple-freckled Hellebores beneath the Camellia and yellow pollen on the breeze from the dangling lamb’s-tail catkins of the Contorted Hazel that will yield nuts in the autumn. These are just a few of the sights and scents that greet me as I unload the car.
My morning coffee takes me to the northern corner of my back garden where the delicious smell of Sweet Box fills the air. I can see the yellow flowers of the Chinese Dogwood, knowing that they will give me juicy cherries in the summer and the red stems of Wild Dogwood brighten up the scene.
The creamy flowerheads of Euphorbia uncurl and feed the buzzing bumblebees awakening from their winter sleep. So too do the elegant Snowdrops that pushed through the frozen earth, and the pink-blue Lungwort that seeds itself around so generously.
I look across the garden to the neighbour’s Silver Birch with white stems and delicate purplish twigs and catkins glowing in the winter sun and the variegated Holly with colourful yellow & green leaves.
This collection gives all that the winter garden can offer – attractive stems, evergreen foliage, flowers, berries and scent with nectar for bees and other insects emerging from winter and the promise of fruit and nuts later in the year.
This is the perfect time of year for planting, giving time for roots to get established before summer heat arrives. If you would like some help and advice about enriching your garden so that next winter brings pure delight to your senses – don’t hesitate to get in touch!
