A quick one this week as there is nothing of great interest to show from my own garden. It has been too wet and far too windy to do any further maintenance, and to be honest recently I have had a feeling of general apathy. Perhaps not unexpected at this time of year combined with all the hoo-ha over the B word and the election. Hopefully things will calm down now and we will all have a chance to let things settle.

Personally I cannot wait for…

(no not Christmas, I am not a Christmas person though it is a good time to take stock and think of others. We don’t bother with decorations or a tree or even cards, preferring instead to donate to a couple of the many deserving charities who provide shelter and a meal and a chance for a clean-up and health check-up for the homeless at this time of the year. On Tuesday the cashier in the supermarket asked me if I’d finished my Christmas shopping. She was rather taken aback when I replied that we don’t really bother with Christmas, preferring to have a quiet day at home on our own. Surely we can’t be the only ones who feel this way?)

Anyway, what I am looking forward to is Monday! I am happy that it is the winter solstice tomorrow (22nd December) which marks the 24-hour period with the fewest daylight hours of the year for all us inhabitants of the northern hemisphere. So on Monday daylight begins to increase again, minute by minute, day by day and I am sooooo glad.

For my final week of the year here is a collage of some of the lovely Hydrangeas at Trebah Gardens (click on the link to see this lovely garden in the summer when the hydrangeas were in full bloom), which we visited a couple of weeks ago on a dry day with even a glimmer of sunlight. Rare in these parts! Hydrangeas give pleasure for months even though many are now in their winter state with the dried out mop-heads left on to protect any new shoots from frost. Surprisingly several in this garden still had plenty of colour. They are probably quite sheltered in the valley whereas my poor blooms were torn to shreds in the many storms that we have experienced already. Living on the top of a hill does have its issues though flooding is not one of them.

In spring all these plants will be hand pruned so they can begin their new growth. Now that’s a job I don’t envy.

In the meantime  bulbs are beginning to peek through in the pots already so there are at least signs of good things to come. And for those of you who do like to celebrate this time of year  I wish you a happy, joyful and peaceful time.

As always, if you want a peek over other people’s garden walls then please pop over to our host, the lovely Jon, AKA ‘The Propagator’ where you find links to many more wonderful garden enthusiasts from all over the world including lovely flowers from the southern hemisphere!

See here for the participant’s guide.

Six on Saturday