Tuesday 4 March 2014

Poor winter garden!

Like the rest of Britain we have had our share of rain, but we haven't been flooded nor did we have power cuts, so we were blessed.
But our garden has taken a bit of a beating and it upsets me to see it like this.
But these are the 'before' pics and soon I hope there will be the 'after' pics!
  Being here in Essex on clay, our lawn is still water logged and squelches when you walk on it.
So we don't

Although the flower beds have old perennial flowers now well past their best with greying stems and yellow leaves, we still have some colour with the tete a tete daffs and some polyanthus.
Our veg patch is bare, but our herbs have survived and so have the pots.
 But look at this Christmas rose,  (hellebore) it has been flowering since before Christmas. A present from a teaching colleague back in 2002. It has grown and spread and is wonderful to have when the rest of the garden looks grey.
So it is all too wet to start gardening, knowing me I would get stuck in clay and fall over..
But I have cleaned the patio and sorted out the pelargoniums and fuchsias in the green house.
They all look good having had a trim back, the compost in the pots topped up and fed.. so now I am expecting them to do their best and flower their little cotton socks off.

This morning we are off to a garden centre, one of those that I think of is like a gin palace , although I have never been in one. This garden centre looks like and smells like what I think a gin palace would be.. carpeted, lights, scented candles, shining glass, trinkets and grandeur all around.
They make a good coffee so I am looking forward to the whole experience and I will be buying some plugs of those plants I don't grow from seed.
I am hoping that our garden will be tidy and weeded by the end of March, so come on Mr Sun do your best and dry us out!
Happy Days to all..


14 comments:

Julie said...

Our garden looks much like your Chris, hubby was only commenting at the weekend that he really wants the lawn to dry out a bit so he can get out there and enjoy the spring sunshine ... when it comes!
Enjoy your garden centre visit, and keep hold of your purse or it will come home empty, they know how to lure us in and get us to buy the pretty things lol

Vickie said...

Oh, thanks for sharing Chris. It is so nice to see green. Nothing but lots and lots of snow and ice here.

Leslie: said...

Our garden is also very soggy! We had snow last weekend and then it warmed up and rained for 2 days. You can just imagine the mess. Hopefully, the weather will warm up here, too, and we can all get on with fixing up our gardens.

stitchersanon said...

My garden is under water every winter, you will be surprised how nature heals itself as spring comes in so dont be too disheartened xx

Sarah in Stitches said...

You have a beautiful garden! Hopefully you can restore it to its glory :D

Leanne said...

Hey Chris
My garden has suffered this winter, and is looking rather sorry for itself. I love your Hellebore. I have a favourite garden centre. It makes the nicest cup of coffee too.
Leanne xx

Jo@awholeplotoflove said...

Hi Chris, thank you for following my little blog. My garden is workable, we have raised beds in the veg garden which helps with the weather we have all had over the last couple of months. I shall enjoy having a look through blog now. Take care xx

butterfly said...

I see you like your garden like me Chris , looks beautiful , It is like spring here today but yes our lawn is still very wet.

Christina said...

Hi Chris
Our garden has taken some damage, not so much water damage but the high winds are really bad up here. I see you are a sock knitter! I am, too. Thanks for visiting my space. I am glad reading about us evoked some nice memories for you. Will be back to read some more post here (after doing my chores). Cx

Sue said...

How gorgeous is your hellebore, when I was out in the garden yesterday I looked for mine and all that's left is one leaf, think it's time to replace it x

Marge said...

love the flowering plant. so pretty.

Marge said...

the flowering plant is really pretty. glad you are getting to your garden centers as I know how much you enjoy them... hope you had a nice time.....

aimee said...

Your climate sounds very much like ours Chris, although this winter is one of the strangest we've ever had with an actual drought earlier in the season.
Like you, I am SO excited about spring--so many things to do in the garden and, blessings of blessings, a whole week of dry weather to do them in!
Blessings,
Aimee
PS: I LOVE tete-a-tete daffodils!

Catherine said...

I am so ready to get into my gardens....I am afraid we may have lost some shrubs this winter...