In the Garden, December 2018
T’is the season to be merry, of turkey, tinsel and snow with visits to Santa’s Grotto.
I cannot promise you any of the above, we can though visit Our Garden@19 following a rain shower, looking for some winter cheer and colour. In the Oriental Garden the Witch Hazel is in flower, although it is not looking too cheerful due to its habit of retaining all the old leaves.
The golden bamboo always adds a cheerful glow in the corner.
Two of the Cornus are brightening up the back of this border, reminding me that the fence panels could do with re-staining!
In the White and Green garden the Viburnum f ‘candidissimum’ is in flower, this wonderful shrub flowers all through the winter…
…the Mohonia has grown through the trellis to add a splash of yellow to this ‘carefully’ colour co-ordinated garden…
…the standard holly is an attractive centre piece here.
In the Blue Border the ornamental grasses provide an interesting straw coloured contrast to the Thuja occ. ‘Smaragd’…
…where the Rose ‘Charlotte’ has a rain drop covered bud surviving.
The bark of the Prunus is always very attractive this time of year.
The winter jasmine and the clematis are providing a splash of yellow, with the clematis climbing through the wisteria.
The skimmia’s are also a welcome sight with ‘Rubella’ very popular with the flower arrangers at Christmas.
‘The Holly and The Ivy’, with a cloud pruned conifer by the entrance to the Oriental Garden…
… with moss appropriately growing in the crux of an acer tree.
Hydrangea flower heads, in December, make wonderful flower arrangements and photographs.
The title of December Rain is best illustrated with this picture of pine needles with jewel like rain drops, especially the close-up one below.
I hope you have good reflections of 2018. Sadly we had to say goodbye to our faithful companion Murphy.
On a happier note our youngest daughter, Mary is joining her partner James on the 22nd in their first home together. It will all seem a little quiet around here. The Hanley Swan NGS open gardens had another successful year, with totals raised since we started four years ago reaching £8,500. Looking forward to the new year, we have a new garden opening with us along with ‘plans’ for our garden.
Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year from all of us at Our Garden@19: brimfields.com
brimfields.com 
Lovely to see your winter treats Brian. I lost lovely Viburnum candidissimum, any tips, I’d like to try again? I have never seen a Witch Hazel hang on to its leaves at the same time as the flowers, does it always do that? My ‘Pallida’ doesn’t.
So sorry to hear about your lovely Murphy.
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Thank you Chloris, the Viburnum just does its thing every year without any help from me, I realise that is not much help to you ! Annoyingly the Witch Hazel does that every year. Merry Christmas.
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A load of lovelies! Have a wonderful Christmas and wishing you an even better 2019 x
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Thank you Gill, Merry Christmas & Happy New Year
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Your garden looks very nice in winter too Brian. It is good to see some colour at this time of year. Love the bark of your Prunus tree. Wishing you and your family a very happy Christmas and New Year!
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Thank you Cathy, best wishes for the new year and all your garden plans.
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Season’s Greetings, Brian. Hope your new year is filled with all good things!
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Thank you Eliza, best wishes for the New Year.
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A very Merry Christmas to you too Brian. The next gardening season is just around the corner 🙂
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Glorious winter colour, Brian. Some of my witch hazels hang onto a few leaves but none have as many as your pallida – I tend to remove those that do hang about. You have done well with your open gardens – it’s such a worthwhile thing to do, isn’t it? Best wishes for the festive season and another year of gardening
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Such beautiful winter stars in your garden Brian. Oh I am sorry to read the news about Murphy. What a lovely photo of him. Wishing you all the best for Christmas and happy growing in 2018.
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Thank you Anna, I still read your blog but find it almost impossible to leave comments on blogspot blogs even though I have google+
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So sorry that you have lost Murphy.
That must be a really tough rose not to have turned to mush. The raindrop photos is great – I know from experience that getting that shot isn’t easy. The way images are inverted inside is fascinating.
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Thanks Sue, Merry Christmas and happy new year.
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Lots of fabulous looking holly Brian. Ours is looking a bit dejected – well, rather dead. Will have to see if some pruning will sort it out. Merry Christmas.
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Holly is usually fairly tough Anne, hopefully a prune will reinvigorate it. Merry Christmas and happy new year
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That cherry is rad! There is only one in all of our landscapes, and it happens to be at a building used for children’s day camp, so it gets climbs very regularly. I am amazed that more limbs do not get broken off. The bark is all quite worn though. It is still a very pretty tree, and it is very flashy in bloom.
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I guess the children climbing it keeps it polished!
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No; just the opposite. It is somewhat polished, but mostly scratched up and calloused. I pruned out many broken limbs.
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Winter wonders for sure…..
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Your plants are beautiful especially the red berries like fruits.
Have a wonderful and peaceful new year ahead with lots of love and happiness
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