Winter Garden From My Window

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It’s the final week of Jude’s Winter Gardens challenge over at The Earth Laughs In Flowers. This, then, is the view of my garden captured on Saturday afternoon. It’s as much as I’m prepared to show you at the moment, so dreary is it after weeks  of rain. Also there was a definite lack of gardener-input in the autumn. Things just kept on growing and it was hard to know when to chop them back.

So they didn’t get chopped, and the place now has the look of a garden version of Miss Haversham’s attic. But you may just spot (in the bottom right hand pane) a small clump of tete a tete daffodils. Even they  aren’t planted, but are sitting on top of the soil. They were tipped out of a pot bought last spring, at which point I had every intention of re-planting them. Oh well. Neglect hasn’t stopped them thriving. They started flowering at the end of December.

I have to confess that I’m a fair-weather gardener, at least where dampness is concerned. And it really is too cosy indoors. Also unlike the garden, the house is now clean and tidy, which was the real reason I took the first two photos – to document that tidiness is possible. And I’m sharing the proof with the world in an attempt to stem backsliding tendencies.

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But housework and fair-weather gardening aside, I am getting twinges of planters’ itch. My first delivery of vegetable seeds arrived earlier last week – all those crisp packets of pent-up potential, and now it is February. Hurray! Time to sow the peas and leeks in the allotment polytunnel, and start off the aubergines and sweet peppers at home.

And talking of sweet things, my first sowing of sweet peas on the kitchen window sill is already sprouting. So apologies to Jude for not quite sticking to the winter garden plot. I’m  finishing  this post with thoughts of summer, and deliciously scented blooms to come. And I know she won’t mind because she knows very well that it’s forward-dreaming that keeps gardeners going through the long winter season.

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copyright 2016 Tish Farrell

37 thoughts on “Winter Garden From My Window”

  2. Yes, lovely sparkling house (and lovely beams) you can come over and do mine if you have the urge 😉
    I’m a fair weather gardener too which is why my bulbs never got planted at all, they are sprouting on the utility sink! Though hyacinths have had leaves for months now there is no sign of any flowers 😦
    …and I can almost smell those sweet-peas!

    1. You can either sow in compost or soak the seed in water till it sprouts and then plant. Either way they should germinate in a few days indoors. Once they’ve got going, they don’t mind being a bit chilly. In fact, I think they’re said to be their best if they’re sown in November and over-winter with some shelter of course. I forgot.

  6. What a lovely cosy place to sit and view a winter garden, even if a very wet one……Beautiful images – making me think of more colourful days to come. I noticed in the very beautiful gardens of my Mother’s nursing home today so much is coming up and blooming…..but yes, here’s to sweet peas and all the other glorious summer flowerings….Thank you…Janet.

    1. Yes – grey ceramic that look like slate. The man who put them down was an absolute craftsman; so much so that several years on we still look at them and go ‘aaaah’.

  12. Lovely images. I love how the light on that beautiful amber-coloured vase makes the first shot sparkle. Home looks very cozy and welcoming; I don’t blame you for staying inside and hunkering down. And the sweet peas look utterly gorgeous.

  13. Your house looks so welcoming. A soft warm glow to curl up on the couch and dream of summer. The small glimpse of your winter garden is tantalizing and it looks so cold and bleak compared with the cosy indoors. Roll on spring/summer and may the sweat peas prosper

  17. As a black thumb person I can only stand aside and admire in awe :D. You let us into your home. What a privilege for me. Thanks, Tish 🙂

  18. Tish the image has a luminous quality. The light rays move freely through the pane – a color symphony of amethyst, amber and blue creates a room for reflection, where the mind will inform the heart to a place of quietude. Your post sparks forth a quote by Edward Munch –

    “Nature is not only all that is visible to the eyes, it also includes the inner picture of the soul” if one allows it.

    Connie

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