Thursday 9 January 2014

the winter garden

 

In winter the sun sinks to its lowest point in the sky and pinpoints everything with a sharp clarity lacking at other times of the year.  As it slants through bare branches it exaggerates every twist and turn, picks up textures on paths, trunks and buildings and deepens the winter palette of olive greens, tomato reds and faded browns, black and beiges.  I see this stripping away as the gardening equivalent of the life laundry ~ less clutter and less summer froth define what your garden is about, or should be about, giving you the chance for some quiet reflection.”  Val Bourne

SDC15957 I miss being out in the garden

too much rain too much wind

and sometimes frost

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but sometimes the sun comes out

SDC15899 and shows up the seed heads left for the birds

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SDC15818and the sheep in the fields

enjoy the sun on their backs

even if only for a little while Primulaand the primroses flower

whatever the weather

19 comments:

  1. Oh, my goodness!! Primula!!
    the earth in our garden is hard as stone right now...
    Hope you are feeling better!

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  2. PRIMROSES..... At this time of year? I thought they were spring flowers. We don't have them here, but we do have Cowslips; I'll have to look around.

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  3. My, those primroses are hardy! How precious is sunshine in winter.

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  4. My Primroses aren't flowering yet. How come you get them so early? Like you, I miss being out in the garden, pottering around. In Winter I only go out for a few minutes at a time, to harvest something, and then I come straight back in.

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  5. Nice quote, my favourite gardening book is by her, and lovely pictures.
    I hope that you're feeling better. Flighty xx

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  6. Like everyone else I am so surprised to see the primroses flowering

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  7. I haven't seen primroses yet. How heartening.

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  8. Good to see you back Elaine have missed your postings

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  9. I love those frosty pictures - especially the one of the tree branches! I love the beauty of frosty mornings :)

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  10. I've missed being out in the garden, too, with all this heavy rain. I've a few hints of yellow amongst my primrose leaves, but they're not flowering yet. I can't wait to see that.

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  11. The primroses are just starting here, but otherwise it's all looking pretty sad. I'd love to be able to get out and do some tidying up, but the ground is just too wet. Still, if tomorrow is sunny as promised, who knows?
    I hope you've got over your bug.

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  12. Is the frost pictures from this year? We haven't had any frost as thick as that down here yet! Sarah x

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  13. It's always good to have contrasts - after days of rain, any sunshine is appreciated more; similarly the warmth of the sun after frosts or snow. Hope you manage some pottering soon - the milder climate here in London means that I've been able to get out for a couple of hours at a time, wrapped up well and moving around to keep warm! A morning outdoors is a great tonic for me!

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  14. Lovely photos ~ especially seeing blue sky! Hope you are feeling all better now.

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  15. For the last two evenings the garden has been bathed in a golden glow but I haven't been out beyond the patio onto the lawns since before Christmas as they are quaking with water. It has been lovely to see the blue skies and how wonderful to see the primroses:)

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  16. Lovely frost photos, I haven’t seen any frost yet this winter, just an awful lot of rain. It seems the weather is getting a bit better from now on and today was a glorious day in my garden. I am not surprised by your primroses, mine have been flowering all winter, in fact – my Primula vulgaris didn’t take a break during the summer so they have all been flowering non-stop since September 2012 when I bought them! I keep deadheading them though, perhaps that helps but even so…must be the longest flowering plants on record.
    I hope you’ll get some good days in your garden this week, with some better weather.

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  17. What a wonderful quote and such beautiful frosty pictures. I miss being in the garden too, I enjoyed a blue sky today and actually saw the sun. What a difference that makes. I love your little primrose....how lovely to have something flowering.xxx

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  18. Your photos are lovely Elaine. I have got lots to do in our garden this year but its far too cold to do anything yet. I have booked a week in march off work and am hoping to start then.You watch though I bet the snow will come in barrowloads!

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  19. How lovely to see your photos! I have a few little yellow primroses just hopefully showing themselves, and the daffs are coming through, what would we do without these first signs of spring! And its time to make the marmalade again, a chore but its worth it. My allotment still is partly under water though, not for the first time

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