GBFD – A different view

2013.12.22 GBFD
I wasn’t sure I’d manage a post for foliage day this month as were not at home today and I like to show what is actually happening ‘on the day’ so to speak. This week I have visited a couple gardens even though the weather has been bitingly cold and rain has been in the air.

So for this month’s Foliage day post I’d like to share with you some of the stunning foliage I saw at West Dean garden.
It is so close to Christmas I don’t expect anyone will have time to join in but if you would like to, just add a comment and add the link to your post. Maybe you found just one stunning leaf, that would be nice to share.

A bank with just foliage planting was stunning

There was lots of beautifully pruned Box, I loved it

Cyclamen is always lovely

A busy mix, but it worked!

have you visited somewhere in an unusual season and seen something to inspire you, do share, Christina

GBBD December surprises

You could well be forgiven for thinking that I’d uploaded the wrong file of images to Flickr this month.  The abundance of roses and salvias make you think more of May than December!  Perhaps the only really seasonal plant is Mahonia.  I moved the Mahonia from by the drive where I should have been able to enjoy the flowers and perfume through the winter to the back border because the other position was in full sun in a border I never irrigate and this didn’t suit the Mahonia at all, I even thought it had died in August.  Now it is in light shade and will receive regular irrigation throughout summer.  I hope it will grow large and make its presence felt in the border.

The Slope on Thursday 12th December

The weather continues to be very enjoyable.  From Monday there haven’t been any frosts and the days have been warm and sunny.  Strangely there are still leaves on the Wisteria, less on the part of the pergola in front of the kitchen but still masses in front of the sitting room.  The sun is low in the sky and pours into the kitchen sometimes making it hard to see the computer screen; but I find it even harder the close the inner shutter to keep the sun out!

Wordless Wednesday

Winter Light

A vase of garden flowers 9th December

I thought that after almost two weeks of frost during the night that it would be difficult to find ‘summery’ flowers for my vase this week (I usually pick the flowers on Friday or Saturday to enjoy them at the weekend) but while some plants had succumbed to the frost others were still doing fine.  I am sure this is because the temperatures haven’t actually fallen that low, just low enough for ice crystals to form but not below minus 1 or 2.  Tender annuals often die at zero °C but a lot of other plants are hardy to minus 5 hence this being one of the categories in RHS books.

The Slope on Thursday 5th December

This week’s weather has been a repeat of last week’s. Strong winds at the beginning of the week with a beautiful, warm, sunny day on Wednesday (perfect for gardening and, well, just being outside); with the clear skies a heavy frost descended during the night so that again I woke to an almost white world.

Wordless Wednesday – Teucrium fruticans

Teucrium fruticans here allowed to grow free form

Teucrium fruticans flowers on the previous image

Teucrium fruticans growing on the slope, it was lightly pruned this year

Teucrium fruticans pruned hard to flank the steps leading to the vegetable garden

Teucrium fruticans pruned – closer view

These images are for you Janet!

The long view and a vase of flowers

I am a day late posting the long view to link with Heather at Xericstyle on the first of every month.  The view today is lush and full, despite frost almost every day last week the garden still looks more spring-like than autumnal or wintery.  There aren’t any obvious flowers in this view unlike in some other parts of the garden, some of which you can see in the second half of the post about a vase.