Can it really be December tomorrow?! It doesn’t seem that long that I was writing about our autumnal garden at the end of October and now we’re careering headlong into winter. Not that it feels like it out there today – the temperature is in double figures and there’s a definite warmth to the sunshine which is so welcome after yesterday’s atrocious wind and rain. The rain was incredibly heavy but it topped up the pond and quenched the soil. Last weekend, we planted a little Viburnum x bodnantense ‘Dawn’ that has been hanging on in a too-small pot for about a year(..!) and the soil that came out of the hole was incredibly dry.
Planting this little shrub in the gloaming on Sunday afternoon felt like a mini-achievement as I’ve been glancing at it guiltily for months and months. In the past couple of weeks, I’ve also managed to plant all the bulbs (yay) – 50 Narcissus ‘February Gold’ have been slotted into the lawn outside the window where my desk is (to cheer me up in late winter) and 50 Narcissus ‘Pheasant’s Eye’ have been tucked in among the perennials and grasses on one of the lower terraces. My birthday tulips (30 each of ‘Veronique Sanson’ and ‘Ronaldo’) have been combined in the two big pots at the front of the house for a glorious display of colour in May. There are still some anemone and ranunculus corms to plant (maybe tomorrow morning if I get a move on).
So, there’s our garden at the end of November. As the festive season looms and the days become shorter, getting out there to see what’s going on is harder but always rewarding, even in the depths of winter. I hope you’ll come. back next month to see how the garden is looking at the end of the year. Thanks for visiting and bye for now.
[I’m joining in, as usual, with Helen, The Patient Gardener. Thank you to her for hosting the End of Month Views.]
acoastalplot 
Love those bleached grasses, they’ve really come into their own. I rescued an aeonium for about the third time (boys, dog) the other day and firmed it back into its pot and it’s living in relative safety in the garage now. The rootball was about the size of a satsuma by the time everyone had finished with it. My pond also nicely topped up now. I love the idea of spring flowers outside of your office window. I saw a lovely garden on tv a while back belonging to an interior designer. Lots of structured evergreen, as she worked at home and looked out at it every day so she wanted it to be good even through the winter. I am looking out at lots of bare stems at the moment, but it’s something to aim for. Of course I shouldn’t really be staring out of the window all day… CJ xx
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Aeoniums are surprisingly tough – I’m sure it’ll survive. I stare out of my window a lot, too – important thinking! x
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Hello, there! I’ve just come from the Patient Gardener, and I just wanted to say that I love that terrace area with all the grasses. Here in central Spain, we have lots of native grasses (mainly stipas), and I am considering working more of them into my garden, but I have never tried moving or dividing them. Have you?
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Yes we have. Split them when they’re coming into growth after winter. Dig up a clump in March, split into several bits (use a spade or knife), grow on in pots for a couple of months and plant out (depending on how small the chunks are – if you only divide into two or four, you could probably replant straightaway). You can divide them into quite small chunks. We’ve done this with Miscanthus and Calamagrostis. Good luck 🙂
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Will do. Many thanks!
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Your gooseberries look just like ours. Are they native or were they planted for berry production.
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They were planted for the fruit but the birds got to it before we did this year!
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Gooseberries are uncommon here. There are a few natives on one of my vacant parcels, but they only make a few berries, and the birds get them first. I intend to eventually plant some garden variety plants.
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Good for you getting your bulbs planted – and the Viburnum. Do you leave your Tulip pots outdoors?
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Yes but they’re right outside the door and we have a dog to bark at squirrels! Hopefully they’ll be fine.
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Also grateful for rain last night, in our tanks, and our pond.
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Ooh, now I want a lovely romantic arch, sweeping grasses, a pretty pond and a promising pot of tulips…must write letter to Santa.
It all looks great, Sam, and your hard work really shows.
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Thank you, Lynda. Not much work has gone in to it lately! Hope Santa brings you lots of what you wish for x
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Oh your big pots of tulips will be lovely in due course, Sam. And those grasses look great too. Thanks for sharing your EOMV – I always enjoy seeing what’s happening in other people’s gardens
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