Winter Colour

Yesterday wasn't a brilliant day weather wise but I decided to risk the forecast rain and head up to Anglesey Abbey for a spot of winter colour.

First of all I walked up to the water mill,

then through into the Winter Garden.  The birches were almost glowing.

Round the corner come the dogwoods - many different species and colours

The snowdrops were just starting to appear

The grass heads work well with the red dogwood stems.

And I just love this hedge of dogwood!

The garden isn't just about colour though, it also champions winter scent.

It's a place that's worth visiting at any time of the year, but especially on a winter day.

Winter Reflections

No, I'm not going all poetic or philosophical on you, I mean these reflections:

Our snow only really arrived yesterday and the stillness of the river made the reflections really clear today.

Everything looked really crisp and clean and as you can see I was the only idiot  person having a walk down there today.

I'll leave you with the tiny snow covered cones of the Alder tree (I think).

Keep warm!

A Cold and Frosty Morning

We had our first proper heavy frost this week, cold enough to blacken most (but not all) of the dahlias.

Frosted echinops seed heads

and frosted echinops leaves, curling like a knarled old hand.

Just the edges of the ferns were frosted, as though they'd been dipped into icing sugar,

but the hollyhock bud had a major dusting.

The frosted rose petals glistened in the sun

while the frost on the eucalyptus seemed to intensify the bluey grey colour.

The Vibernum Farreri buds had also been sharply frosted

but those higher up were already catching the sun and the frost was melting into tiny droplets of water.

It never ceases to amaze me how these winter flowers can cope with being frozen and then still open and fill the air with scent.

It's supposed to be another cold one tonight - I hope you all keep warm, I shall be found in front of the fire with my knitting :-)

A Little Bit of Brightness

On my way to turn off the greenhouse heater this morning, I spotted this little beauty in flower.

It's a self sown hellebore seedling that appeared last year but this is the first time it's flowered.

I suspect it's a hybrid and isn't a pure variety but it's a lovely mix of dark pink and lime green,

just perfect to brighten up the dullness of a grey December morning.