“Every gardener knows that under the cloak of winter lies a miracle … a seed waiting to sprout, a bulb opening to the light, a bud straining to unfurl. And the anticipation nurtures our dream.”
– Barbara Winkler
Ardtornish house
Gardening is for all the seasons but the seasons I enjoy the most, are the autumn and winter months of the year. Although if you ask some people, after we have cleared up all the leaves, us gardeners have very little to do until the spring, sitting around drinking coffee and dreaming of warmer months. This is something I had a moan about in a post I wrote a few years back called “Do gardeners hibernate?” (which obviously we do), written after a comment I received from a member of staff, at one of the Cambridge colleges where I worked.
Ardtornish gardens
In the post, I mention that after all the hard work is done for the year, us gardeners put our feet up, and hand over the garden to the Elves, only for us to take back over when we wake from our slumber in the spring. In truth, when it comes to the garden, the winter months are some of the busiest and most important months of the year.
It is also not just about all the important jobs and projects that we do in the darker and colder months, jobs that are often the building blocks for the coming months, it is also about taking in and enjoying all the different sights sounds that we do not get from the warmer months.
Ardtornish
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Bruern (Cotswolds)
Bruern
The weeks leading up to and during the Christmas period, is the time I particularly enjoy the most. Walking through the garden early in the early morning before the light lifts, taking in the cold air and if there has been a snowfall or heavy frost, feeling light crunch underfoot along with the peace and quiet that comes with it; you cannot beat it. Or even if it is or has been raining, you get that calm comforting feeling (especially if you sheltering from the rain), that you do not get quite as much in the summer. It is probably yet another reason why I fell in love with the Scottish Highlands.
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Ardtornish
Unfortunately do to health reasons, this year the lead up to Christmas has been a lot different to previous years, but I most definitely will be back to enjoy the lead up to Christmas in the garden next year!
Christmas at Bruern 2021
“There’s a certain magic that comes with the very first snow. For when the first snow is also a Christmas snow, well, something wonderful is bound to happen.” ~ Frosty the Snowman
