Deep Midwinter

Happy New Year and bright blessings in 2019!

The winter is here, even though we still haven't had any snow, not even a daytime frost (I don't know what goes on overnight!).  Even now, the garden has life and greenery, and the bird feeder is attracting several robins and plenty of sparrows.

We have some seasonal flowers, such as the pink cyclamen and the pale Christmas rose (hellebore).  Also some unexpected blooms, like the rosemary, where I even heard (and saw) a bumblebee on the 31st of December!  Why she wasn't ensconced safely in her nest by then, I don't know, but I'm glad that she could get a little nectar from our garden.

An indoor orchid has also burst into blooms, and there are 3 more stems with baby buds - my kitchen windowsill seems to provide a good orchid environment!  In the background you can see two pots with tree saplings given away by the Mayor of London, to make our city greener.  An excellent initiative!

Finally, even the allotment is still productive, with some Jerusalem artichokes still to come out, and a regular light harvests of Cavolo Nero kale and Rainbow Lights chard  (just kale in the pic):

Beautiful Autumn

I love the crisp, clear autumn days, even when they're a bit chilly.  The first golden turn of tree leaves, the shiny conkers and acorns, seeds ripening on garden plants that until recently reveled in blooms - and at the same time late season flowers, last sources of nectar for the bees...  Like these sedum and asters:

Seen through the skeletal fennel:

Our indoor garden got a bit of a spit and polish, too - repotting and renewing some overgrown specimens:

Autumn Equinox

The long, hot summer has been productive at the allotment.  Here's a few sample pics, but we also had kohlrabi, some radishes and carrots, and squash/pumpkin leaves (cooked as spinach).

Autumn Equinox was yesterday, and brought with it colder weather.  That meant having to harvest all leftover summer crops from the allotment, things like tomatoes, courgettes and squashes.

We had 2.5 kg green tomatoes, which I used to make pickles (there are still some left, I'll have to check out some recipes.  In the box are Spaghetti Squash, which we already tried a couple of times (it's tasty and light, but not terribly spaghetti-textured) and Blue Hubbard squash, still to be tasted.

Finally, here's an early September shot of the garden - the placement of the table in the non-grass lawn was fantastic during the hot, sunny summer.  We really felt one with nature, especially surrounded by the lavender and fennel which were buzzing with all kinds of bees.

Deep Summer

Global warming has reached the British Isles, and we have had a gorgeous, hot and dry summer.  I have only been watering the pots and new shrubs/ perennials on a semi-regular basis, resulting in some plants drying out.  They might come back to life in the autumn, or if not - there will be others to take their place.  It's the circle of life!

The heat has made my Mediterranean herbs grow huge and flower their socks off.  Rosemary, fennel, hyssop, and, above all, lavender.  It's been a special pleasure to sit in the shaded grass of a late afternoon and watch the bumblebees and honey bees buzz around the purple flowerheads. 

There's usually over a dozen busy bees landing and jumping off the lavender stalks, but they are difficult to capture with a phone camera.  Here's a view of the whole shrub (well, most of it):

Some pretty petunias too:

On the other side of the motorway, our new allotment has started to become productive:

We've already had some white (pale green) courgettes too, turnips and turnip greens.  I was fascinated to discover that squash/pumpkin leaves are also edible when cooked - and highly nutritious as well.

Darling buds of May

The long, cold winter finally retreated, and allowed the bright colours of early summer.

Alliums:

First Gertrude Jekyll blossoms:

Whole border:

Munstead Wood (with some chives):

March 2018 - Snow and Spring

Atypically for London, we had snow twice in March 2018.

Spring has finally sprung, after all, and even though the weather is wet and dismal as could be expected there are still some flowers on display.
Crocuses:

Hyacinths:

Lenten Rose (helleborus):

End of January

Some new life has sprung out of the soil, like these mini irises:

Also, the Christmas Rose (hellebore):

The whole garden from the upstairs window: