A Winter's Tale

Don't you just love the gardens at this time of year? Definitely a 'suspended animation' sort of energy about those exposed cold green spaces at the moment. Although the wallflowers were planted late in the autumn, they've really driven down strong, firm roots now and are standing proud in beautiful deep green clumps in different corners and spaces of the garden. We've moved the old birdtable from the back to the front recently and are really enjoying the daily garden visits and antics of the sparrows, blue-tits, blackbirds and robins. This morning, it looked like the starlings were the busiest though. Louis continues to growand is almost standing. He's also become a keen birdwatcher, fascinated by our feathered friends, smiling, chuckling and dancing up and down as he gazes out of the front window, tightly gripping the chairback cushion. Snowdrop, crocus and daffodil shoots are springing up all over, I think, responding to that horticulturally-perfect blend of raised air temperatures and regular showers. I love indoor plants too at this time - such a variety of form, colour and fragrance to transform the cold winter days. Most of the Christmas cacti (mainly Zygocactus truncatus) are approaching the end of their flowering cycle. In recent years, they seemed to have felt the benefit of a 'summer holiday' in the open air in a sheltered spot in the back yard during August and September. The hippeastrums (var.Red Lion), potted up after Christmas, are sitting, majestically in a light front lobbyway for the time being, these will be brought into a slightly warmer place inside the the house, once their main shoots /stems are underway. The pots of china blue and white hyacinths have been so beautifully abundant this year, filling our rooms with heavenly fragrance over Christmas and New Year. In a week or so's time the little potted Jasmine will bloom, spilling tiny white starry flowers over its miniature sword-like foliage. It's scent will bless the air and lighten up darkened rooms on those grey days over the coming weeks.