"The day is cold, and dark, and dreary;
It rains,and the wind is never weary;
The vine still clings to the mouldering wall,
But at every gust the dead leaves fall,
And the day is dark and dreary."
By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
Today was dry 'hurrah' here in Worcestershire, I ventured out into the garden, with the camera, to see what, if anything was providing us with some winter colour.The Euphorbia's appear to be enjoying this winter,
we have Blackbird...
...a young E. wulfenii...
...and E. Glacier Blue providing some colourful foliage.
| Against this fence, we have from left to right, |
| Cornus sanguinea
Midwinter Fire, Cornus Alba 'Westonbirt' syn C. alba 'Siberia' and
|
...even though it has the name 'King' is is a berry producing female...
| ...also providing some berry colour is, Iris foetidissima 'Citrina'... |
In a corner of the Oriental Garden colour is provided by the
| Phyllostachys Spectablis and |
| Hamamelis Moll Pallida (Witch Hazel)... |
 |
| Hamamelis. |
On the other side of the path:
| Corylus avellana 'Contorta' is producing a few catkins... |
In the main borders...
| Mahonia Bealii is providing some early pollen for the bees... |
...with
| Clematis cirrhosis balearics scrambling over it... |
Calamagrostis x a.
' Karl Foerster ' at the front with a
|
A Long Tailed Tit...
...and a male Great Spotted Woodpecker.
What is cheering you up in your garden today?
Please click on any picture to create a slide show.
Some beautiful colour - love the holly with the Cornus! I fully intended to use Euphorbia freely in my garden but can't find many varieties available here. Blackbird remains on the wish list...!
ReplyDeleteThank you Amy, they both come into their own this time of year, providing much welcome colour.
DeleteLove the Euphorbias Brian. My garden is a snowy slushy mess at the moment, but I did spot a single campanula flower braving the cold!
ReplyDeleteWe could do with some winter cold hear, just not to much!
DeleteSome lovely images from your garden - our clumps of Hellebores are in full flower - what is going on?
ReplyDeleteThank you Rosemary, the plants are certainly confused with this mild weather, they could do with some cold weather to have a dormant period.
DeleteI'm impressed with your E. Glacier Blue Brian - I've had this plant for 2 years and it really struggles in my garden. Possibly too wet for it.
ReplyDeleteYou've lots of lovely winter interest going on. A wee cold snap would be great if only to kill of some of the unwelcome pests!
Nice to see the woodpecker, I only see them when it is really cold.
Our soil is a free draining gravely loam. I was pleased the woodpecker stayed long enough on the feeder for me to fetch my camera.
DeleteYou have some beautiful plants Brian, Mahonia Bealii looks very attractive. I've just seen the forecast for next week and see we have a dip in temperatures, hopefully with less rain!
ReplyDeleteCold and dry would be good for a while Julie.
DeleteGood to have a pop of colour in the garden at the moment with those berries and rather magnificent woodpecker. Very grey here at the moment.
ReplyDeleteNow the colour is down in the house it is cheering to find some out in the garden.
ReplyDeleteI hope you had a restful Christmas.
You're doing really well with winter colour Brian.
ReplyDeleteI've just looked out of the window for inspiration to answer your question and there is a deer happily grazing under the trees. The sight of such a beautiful animal is always cheering. Although if she moves on from weeds different words might be uttered. Yesterday I heard the first blackbird of the season and today have seen a female woodpecker out prospecting. Spring has sprung???!
Thank you Jessica, It is a mixed blessing having wildlife visit the garden. We have a badger visit us, this morning I found a LARGE terracotta pot turned over and the bulbs dug out and eaten!!
ReplyDeleteThank you Brian for this look at your winter treats - you are lucky to have found enough sunshine to take your photos! I have had long tailed tits and a single woodpecker at the bird feeders too.
ReplyDeleteThank you Julie, I am hoping for some dry weather, sunshine would be nice, to get on with the list of winter jobs!
DeleteBrian, hello again. The winter structure of my yak hybrid Rhododendrons next to a clump forming bamboo, under planted with a red heuchera cheers me up every morning as I open the blind at my kitchen window :-)
ReplyDeleteYour collection of euphorbias will be adding great winter structure to your garden, you have some great winter plants there. I always admire the cornus stems in winter. I love the coral stems of our acer during winter. I enjoy occasion woodpecker visits too – what a beauty yours is :-)
It is cheering this time of year to have something colourful to look out on, we can see the cornus, holly and the bird feeders form the dinning room window.
DeleteLovely images - euphorbias and hellebores are among my favourite plants.
ReplyDeleteI especially like the hamamelis picture - and you have had more luck than I have in capturing the long-tailed tit. We see them every day now but they won't stay still long enough for me to grab my camera.
There's a lot going on in your garden for this quiet time of year.
Happy 2016 :)
I was really lucky with the woodpecker, I never thought he would stay there long enough for me to fetch the camera.
DeleteSuper images of winter colour and your Oriental Garden looks a delightful, tranquil space.
ReplyDeleteThank you Ann, the oriental garden does a tranquil atmosphere all of its own.
DeleteYou have a lot of lovely flowers in the garden just now. I think my cheeriest plant at the moment is a cotoneaster which has miraculously kept its berries. Amelia
ReplyDeleteYou are in good company Amelia, Christopher Lloyd wrote that it is one of the most underrated plants, providing year round interest, which of course the bees love the flowers.
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