First frost

Last Sunday the first frost arrived.  It had taken a long time arriving, so I was pleased to go out and catch the plants with their winter coating before the sun rose higher and started to warm up the air.

I felt that this would be the last of the Hollyhocks but they have survived and have not given up the battle against the cold.  Frost resistant Hollyhocks?

The roses are other flowers that shake off the frost with little damage.

The fuschia flowers and leaves though have completely succumbed and dessicated now.

Likewise none of the Savia survived and today I cut down the bare stems which was all that was left .

The frost on the Cotoneaster leaves make them look like a silver variegated variety.

The Veronica had the same variegated appearance but the frost did not damage either of them.

The best part about the frost was its effect on me.  Going round the garden in the frosty morning set my biological clock into winter mode.  The garden was behaving as it should in December and all was as it should be.

The frosty morning has given way to milder weather but I can finally feel that we are approaching the shortest day and it is really winter time.

The Mahonia is regularly visited by the bumble bees and yesterday it was warm enough to tempt a honey bee to visit.

The picture above is, in part, a set-up.  I wanted to mention that the crocus have started to push through but I thought I might place the marbled newt (Triturus marmoratus) that was in the flower bed into centre stage.  He is very amenable to having his  photograph taken, or at least he has never complained.  The damp warmer weather must be more comfortable for him.  Sometimes we find several of them bundled up together to keep warmer in the winter time.

The late arrival of winter this year allowed me time to  move and plant various trees and shrubs but now the garden is relatively tidy and I have no more plans for it until the new year,

Winter begins

Winter has finally arrived.  The drop in temperature over just two days felt brutal.  We have gone from mild, sunny autumn days to dull days with temperatures sometimes in the single figures (Centigrade!) – still no frost yet.

My liquidambar has lost most of its leaves now without producing spectacular bright red leaves but yellow/orange is good too.  I’m pleased with the Cornus alba doing its bit on the left to add a bit of red for the autumn.

I planted four scarlet willows (Salix alba “Chermesina”) to provide a blaze of red stems in autumn and through winter.  Well, they are not quite there yet but I am pleased that they have all taken and seem to be quite happy.

The fuschias are still providing lots of colour and don’t even look tired.

But I still come back to the humble cotoneasters for the best show.

And I noticed today that the berries are starting to go missing so they also provide a good winter food for the birds.

A flash-back to last May and the cotoneaster in the front garden and you can see what a useful plant this is.

It was only nine degrees in the garden this afternoon but the bumble bees were happy on the winter flowering honeysuckle …

and on the salvia, but it was too cold for the honey bees to put in an appearance.

I enjoyed watching, what I think must bee a buff-tailed queen, sunning herself on the ground where she was sheltering at the base of a plant.

She had been feeding on the winter honeysuckle and in consequence got covered in pollen and felt the need for a good grooming.  She will not need the pollen until next spring when she starts her first nest.

This morning my husband grabbed his camera and shouted for me to look at what was on the patio.

This is a red-legged partridge (Alectoris rufa) and a new visitor to our feeding station.  I had a good idea where he had come from.  I checked with my neighbour and not too long ago partridges had been released for hunting purposes.

However, this is a lucky one – well for the moment- the season is closed now and it will be safe to eat at our bird feeder.  Mmm. just how much wild bird food can a large partridge eat?