Green Girl Gardener

Good afternoon all. I think it’s still just about afternoon. Or is it early evening? I’m never quite sure where to draw the line.

Anyway, I went out for a quick peruse of the garden and was inspired to jump on The Propagator’s bandwagon and write my second ever Six on Saturday post.

Roses

I was amazed when I went out, to find that one of my standard roses and my patio rose both have buds! This really made me happy! Is this indicative of the milder than normal weather we’re experiencing? Not sure. Both of these were new to the garden this summer so I have no previous winter comparisons to make. Does flowering now mean that they won’t flower in the summer? Oh goodness, I hope not! Whatever the reason or consequences, it’s out of my control so I’m just going to be happy that it’s happening!

Hellebore Christmas Carol

How very apt that this is flowering now. I need to spend some time out there clearing away the fallen leaves, but this little fellow looks beautiful and inspiring despite its leafy bed fellows.

My planter is still looking lovely despite the Hellebore being the only plant in bloom in there. Barney Bear and Robin Red Breast are providing a welcome splash of colour. I love the different shades of green and even the brown of the Milk Chocolate Carex.

New Shoots and Dreams of the Spring

If you were looking closely at the front of the planter above, you may have clocked the shoots starting to come through. How EXCITING! Sorry for shouting, but oh my this gave me a spring (pardon the pun) in my step! These are daffodils that I planted in the Autumn (part of my birthday present from my Dad) and they’re growing! Hopefully there will be lots more coming through soon – I shall watch will glee! My fingers are definitely starting to get a greenish tinge!

Loyal Grasses

I love love love grasses. I simply adore the way they wave so gracefully in the wind. They repay my love with great loyalty. I really don’t do an awful lot in the way of care, although I did water them religiously when it was so hot in the summer, yet they continue to delight me with their waving and bristling in the breeze. Some of you may remember the blue grass in the first picture from the summer. This was a sale table find and it has thrived. I urge you all to go to a garden centre and run your fingers through a grass – they feel amazing! The second picture shows three Stipas – two of them 50p bargains which have gone from strength to strength. I have promised them that I’ll plant them in their forever home in the Spring. I have big plants for them.

Berberis

This may seem to be a picture of a dead thing, but this made me happy this afternoon. This is my Berberis that was oh so beautiful when I brought it home from Hop Pocket. See ……

….. but something happened once I planted it out and all its lovely golden edged leaves dropped. I dug it back up and put it back in its pot hoping against hope that it would recover, and I promised it that if it did, I would get it its own little planter to live in.

Well, it’s very early days, but you can see from the first photo that it has two new little leaves coming through! I talked to it gently and reminded it of its potential and I’m harbouring hopes of a full recovery.

Greenhouse

I’m aware that this doesn’t look much like a greenhouse, but I assure you that inside that tardis of a box is a greenhouse. It’s my Christmas present from my Dad and it really is green! Obviously the windows aren’t, they’re transparent polycarbonate as you’d expect, but the frame is green. I’m very excited about this. It means I can grow things from seed and I can grow slightly more tender plants.

There’s a bit of work to do first though. I need to level the ground where it’s going to go and do some substantial weeding, and then obviously build the actual greenhouse. I’m intending to make it a really pretty greenhouse so I’m looking forward to better weather so I can get out there.

I’m so glad I went out into the garden today. I’ve been feeling so tired and blue lately, and seeing the new life starting to appear has given me a little bit of my usual joie de vivre and hope back.

I hope you enjoyed my Six on Saturday and I’ll try to pop back tomorrow to tell you about my Christmas preparations.