The view from our patio doors a few days ago. Canna musifolia 'Grande' on the left. Dicksonia antarctica and various Begonia on the right.

This is Rosa ‘For Your Eyes Only’, it produced bunches of flowers for a good part of last summer. Then we had clusters of good sized rose hips all winter (they’d still be there now, but I had to prune it!). It’s been unbothered by pests and disease, an all round top plant.

I’ve discovered a few photos of the garden taken from the same point of view, by accident rather than design. I was quite struck last year by how well the Crocosmia followed on from the Geraniums, not that I can claim to have planned that, either!

The Miscanthus are still making a contribution to the winter garden, metal plant supports help with this. Rosa ‘For Your Eyes Only’ is also still looking good; it’s rose hips are big enough to be seen from the house and quite long lasting.

Today’s gardening fun has been tulip bulb planting. I’m not necessarily recommending January for this, but you definitely can get away with it if you need to (doesn’t work well with other bulbs). The two pics of flowers show last spring’s tulip display, which I think I planted in February!

This morning on the kitchen windowsill, possibly the ugliest Phalaenopsis in the world. This is a plant we’ve had for more than a decade and is now more than 50 cm across. I’m weirdly attached to it, possibly in a kind of horticultural Stockholm syndrome. #flowersonfriday

Christmas Eve 2024. Rose hips on Rosa ‘For Your Eyes Only’, dew drops on Melianthus major, precocious flowers on a Primula vulgaris hybrid.

I haven’t planted my tulip bulbs yet, you can get away with planting them anytime up to mid-February (I’m in the south of England, different “rules” may apply elsewhere).

This only seems to work with tulips, I’ve tried this Laissez-faire approach various other bulbs, and have failed every time.

Another photo (from last week) of the Miscanthus. I removed the frosted banana leaves shortly after taking this picture, but the grasses remained. Over the weekend storm Bert slightly “rearranged” them. They’re still making a contribution, but are not quite as photogenic as here!

This is a clump of Miscanthus sinensis ‘Roland’, creating a cascade of fluffy grass heads across the garden. I find the name of this grass inexplicably entertaining, it’s one of the taller Miscanthus (although not the tallest). The frosted leaves of Musa basjoo can be seen in the background.

The first morning of real frost here in my part of the world. This is nearly two weeks later than I used to expect it to arrive. I particularly notice due to the number of tender “exotics” I tend to grow (like the sad Ricinus here).

A nice bits of foliage still looking good in the garden this morning. The Tetrapanax wil probably e damaged by the frost layer this week, the Melianthus may be OK. The shiny Rubus can cope with anything.

Colocasia esculenta ‘Fontanesii’ (other spellings may be available). This has grown well this year, it’s one of the more hardy Colocasia, so should be fine over winter in the cold greenhouse.

A pic from a few days ago in my garden. Various big leafy exotic things are still looking good. The blueish Melianthus major (in the middle) would have preferred a hotter summer, but is bravely soldiering on regardless.

A final view of the patio jungle, taken a couple of days ago. Today I started dismantling this, tucking things away into the greenhouse before the cold weather arrives next week.