It's snowdrop season! From January to March - depending on regions and the weather - carpets of snowdrops in woodlands, meadows and gardens signal the end of winter and the promise of spring. Now I might be enthusiastic about walks where I can admire these harbingers of spring but I want my kids - nine year old twins - to appreciate them as well. If I told them snowdrops are herbaceous perennial plants that belong to the Amaryllidacea family their eyes would glaze over and they'd ask me ... continue reading...
Snowdrops – 10 fun facts to tell kids
How I feel chic again with a wood watch – plus giveaway
I’m going to confess straight away that I was rather thrilled when I was offered a wood watch by JORD to review. The Cora Series Zebrawood & Rose woman’s wood watch was perfect for my winter time wardrobe. After all my life now is often all about trees and roses. I live in a valley in South East England surrounded by forests. My garden is filled with roses in the summer. All year round deer graze in the valley while foxes and badgers roam past as night falls. Daily I wander through the ... continue reading...
My winter garden – early February
I'm lucky as we have a winter garden. It's my winter therapy to see that there are some plants growing and flourishing in the winter months. Not surprisingly inside our house and in a sheltered area of my side garden I have lots of potted bulbs. I also have vases filled with tree twigs in water so I can watch leaves grow on them. Slowly I'd like to add more plants so that there are flowers and foliage that will add colour non-stop to our garden to contrast with the grey skies of the winter ... continue reading...
Wild flower path in Winter – January
I call it the wild flower path. It's just around the corner from our home. It's one of the paths that leads into the woodlands that surrounds our valley here in West Sussex. On either side of this path are woods. When the wild flowers and orchids bloom I know the season has changed. Now it's winter and more often than not it's veiled in mist. It's not colourful or pretty at this point of the year but I love following it's winding path into the forest. And waiting for the wild flowers to slowly ... continue reading...
The secret lives of our winter garden birds
I feel guilty when I run out of bird food in the winter. The little garden birds pop back and forth to my feeders checking if they have been refilled. I can see them fluttering in and out of the bare branches in the hedgerow waiting. My husband joked that when we moved into our house I made sure we had bird food before I restocked our larder. He wasn’t far off the truth. “Birds are about place…A bird is the place it lives in. It eats the place. It makes the sound of the place. The sighting of ... continue reading...
A Field of Dahlias
I've been very quiet here lately. And, although the season for Dahlias has now ended, I must record my visit to a field of Dahlias this autumn. Actually it was late in the season when I discovered that one of the top Dahlia growers in the UK - Withypitts Dahlias - was located just outside a village near us in West Sussex. Off I went with my daughter looking for it. We were very lucky as although it was the end of the season, the owner Richard Ramsey gave us a tour. It was like a field of ... continue reading...