Year’s End – Yesterday, Early this Morning and A Little Later.

The year, thankfully, ended with two days spent in the garden. We have had few such days over the past weeks and it was great to be out again – despite the cold, wet and muck.

Mary had the very good idea to put a path at the back of a particularly deep border in the garden, the hydrangea bed. This border backs on to another border which runs alongside the drive into the house and between them there is a depth of six to eight metres. There is a narrow paved path parallel to the drive which give convenient access to the back of that border but this leaves a considerable depth across the hydrangea bed which is inaccessible – though to be honest not regularly in need of access as the hydrangeas require little maintenance more than a day in spring to deadhead and prune.

The new path – a very simple stone edging with bark infill. There is plenty of room for small clumps of snowdrops to either side.

The first snowdrops on the new path – seedlings of Galanthus elwesii var monostictus rescued from under a hedge elsewhere in the garden.

The pathway is now nearly complete, completion was delayed as one hydrangea needed to be moved and we waited until the dormant season to do this – and I’ll do it the next day we are working in the garden. Of more benefit than simple access, this pathway will give a length of planting opportunities to either side for spring interest. Mary has suggested snowdrops and that would suit me perfectly as I am constantly seeking new spots to add snowdrops and special or new ones are best to the side of a footpath where they can be observed with ease. I have already planted two snowdrops and will add more as they come along.

Now, after that long aside, I’ll come back to today’s title which is to mark the end of the year, the penultimate and final day of 2020. Yesterday, I went around snapping the plants in flower and, today, we had a frosty morning which always draws the camera though it was quite dull earlier and frost never looks as well as when the sun shines and the sky is blue – it is the contrast, I suppose, of cold conditions with bright light. The photographs are in three albums – flowers, early morning and later morning, when it was brighter.

Best wishes to all for the New Year.

Yesterday’s photographs of what’s in flower at the moment in the garden:

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Early this morning, frosty and still not quite bright:

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A little later, frost with sunshine, but this didn’t last and most of the day was overcast, misty and dull.

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