The First Thick Frost
December’s Garden Update
This week marked the first proper killing frost of the season.We’ve had light frosts that skim the grass and disappears by tea break, but this one stayed until late afternoon and left a beautiful sparkling rime on the hedges and seed-heads; it heaved the soil into glistening hummocks and sent all the ruined annuals groundward to melt away into their composite parts.
I was grateful that I’d lifted all the dahlias from the garden last week, these are now drying out in the glasshouse before being cleaned and stored for the winter. The drop in air temperature caused the compost to emit great breaths of steam when I jammed my arm into the middle to check for warmth, as is my daily habit. Everything is as it should be. It could just be because the garden looked like a Christmas card, but it also seemed like the bolshy little robins had taken things up a notch this week. Having hitherto followed behind us snatching up chafer grubs as we turned the soil, they now come close and look us straight in the eye, singing loudly to proclaim their territory. A reminder that it’s time to start keeping a crushed-up oatcake in my pocket.
The day after the freeze, we took advantage of the frost-shattered soil to plant tulips and daffodils into the recently redeveloped Rose Garden. The window for this job runs more or less from early November to late December but experience has taught me that a warm November, such as the one we’ve just had, can cause bulbs to start growing too soon. For that reason, I tend to plant on the later side which suits my dilatory disposition. For these beds we chose peony-flowered tulip ‘Angelique’ in blush pink, dark and moody tulip ‘Paul Scherer’, and pure white Narcissus ‘Thalia’. The first two will provide a burst of colour in the first year whilst the latter will hopefully naturalise over time as the planting matures. Putting in this final layer felt like the finishing touch for these beds, and with the completion of another big project hoving into view I’m finally looking forward to some down time over the Christmas break.
On the subject of Christmas (and bulbs), our seasonal bulb sale is fully underway, and it’s been such a pleasure to meet people as they come to collect their sprouting treasures. We’ve chosen every single part of the displays ourselves – from the bulbs and pots to the locally produced peat-free compost and each carefully selected beech twig (the last item sounds like an exaggeration but I can often be found in the policies scrutinising a stick for its sculptural qualities - it’s more important than you think). It’s been a labour of love and we’re so pleased you are enjoying them as much as we do every year. If you don’t have yours yet there is still time to…
You can choose between paperwhites, hyacinth, or amaryllis in various sizes and colours. If you prefer to buy in person we can also be found at the Hirsel Estate’s excellent Christmas Fair in Coldstream along with 30 other brilliant stallholders.
Please come and say hello if you see us there but if not, since this is my last dispatch before Christmas, I’ll sign off with good tidings to you and yours for the festive period. Hope it’s a happy one, and I’ll see you in January!