I don’t do a lot in the garden in the winter, just the odd check to make sure everything is still upright and no serious damage by wind, rain or frost.
The first plant to impress me after particularl
y bad overnight below minus temperatures was the Chilean Guava, still resplendent with it’s green and pink livery. No discolouration or drooping. I had intended covering it with fleece and was going to use arches made of garden canes and lengths of hose as a support but it didn’t get further than sticking them randomly in the pot.
Whilst many of the plants die down and even disappear over winter, the Rosemary stands firm against the weather as well and a few leaves of the young Japanese Blood Grass (imperata cylindrica Rubra) showing just behind it adds colour.
Other plants in the garden are looking a bit chilly but have thawed out and are still surviving.
The greenhouse didn’t escape the sub-zero temperatures and the Oca in the tomato pot was put in the greenhouse as an added protection. The compost was frozen solid and the stems and leaves frosted. However, with the double pots it is still possible to see what’s going on. It showed there were some larger fruits in the pot than what had been harvested from the Oca in the bigger potato bag earlier in November.
The chilli and spring onions were still looking fine but the Wonderberry was really looking sorry for itself. It is considered an annual but it only started developing flowers and fruits in autumn so it too was put in the greenhouse to convalesce. I thought that was it, the frost had got to it. However, the problem was much simpler – it was gasping for water!
Midsummer and the small patch of garden gets a reasonable amount of sunlight considering it’s shaded on three sides and only the north side is open. In winter there is so little light and not enough sun, it doesn’t take long for algae to take a hold, but hopefully that will be cured when the sun makes a more prominent presence again.
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