It is winter now. Not yet snowy, though.
When I go out in the garden with my camera I find that there are several photographs that I take, ( perhaps rather boringly, over and over. They are not a patch on those Charles takes, but I’m afraid mine are what you’re getting)
This repetition has a great merit though: it gives me a picture of a particular part of the garden through the year – and ultimately it will be over several years. And as a Rant Post, showing you some of them has the added advantage right now of reminding us that it’s not winter all the time.
Here it is again, not snowy. This is more as it is at the moment – we are having cold nights. I love the beige grasses – visible in the background – at this time of year. Always a sad thing, to cut them down.
Mostly it’s not even frosty and looks more like this. Except that it doesn’t always have the inevitable Charles being useful.
Here, in April, it’s looking slightly more cheerful, if only promising.
Is this more like it?
This is a view slightly to the right of the previous ones and shows the geraniums and alchemillas which edge the lawn, saving us from the horrible edging thing. The Crescent Border (beyond here) has a wall round it so also no dreaded edging.
Here it is again, just to clarify a bit. I spend time every year encouraging the geraniums at the expense of the alchemilla, as I’d like the balance to be more even between the two. They are a bit gone over here…
The blue is picked up though by the Campanula lactiflora in the Crescent Border, in front of the wavy beech hedge. It flowers generously all through the border. Big tip – this comes easily from seeds in a variety of shades of blue, and if you don’t want a four foot flowering in June, you can cut it down before it flowers and it will give you flowers at a height of about two feet in August. Or you can cut part of it down… there’s a lot of scope. (At least here in Wales)
And then in July
there is still campanula, but Chamaenerion angustifolium ‘Stahl Rose’, a crimson persicaria and the wonderful Persicaria alpina have appeared. Also throughout the border. And back in another part of the garden Crocosmia Lucifer is shoving its way into the picture, uninvited, in scarlet.
And then August – remember August?
and a bit of yellow is appearing now. The alchemilla has been strimmed to the ground and has now reappeared as a great foliage plant and such a good edging. 🙂
Bored yet?
Here is Solidago Fireworks! It’s September. Yellow comes bursting through.
Then:
October arrives and the begining of autumn colour. The grasses in the far background are now flowering.
And, we’re nearly finished – November is here:
I love autumn and not just because we close the garden then. The distant grasses are golden now.
And we still get sunshine in winter:
I hope this has inspired you to take your camera and find your spot. And best of all if you are just starting your garden, so you can see not just months, but years. The best I can do is this:
Before we began making the garden. I think this is almost the view you have just been looking at, 34 years ago.
Brilliant. I love the 34 year old photo, my brain is chewing it over… That beautiful garden when it was just a twinkle in your eye…
It was once. It was a perfectly good pair of fields, which we should probably have kept as fields for their ecological and historical value…..
I love watching gardens over the seasons as you have here. It took me back to 2013 when I first visited Veddw. It was late July and the Campanula lactiflora were at their peak — a sea of lavender flowers moving in the breeze. And closer to the house that dazzling alchemilla & geranium. It all took my breath away & remains one of my favorite garden visiting memories.
That’s delightful to know! Thank you so much for telling me. It’s very mysterious to us, 90% of the time, just how our visitors experience the garden.
I think taking the photos forces a level of focus and connectedness that is akin to the concept of “walking meditation”. And having over 30 years’ of photos to contemplate is just wonderful!
Ah – if only. Originally it was all about taking half a dozen photographs and then having to get them printed. I think we didn’t take many pictures until the turn of the century, maybe. We were just now lamenting the fact.
Agree with this. Perhaps it is the Instagram influence on me but I’ve enjoyed taking photos over all four seasons, of views of some of our gorgeous Front Range mountains, from my deck in Southeast Denver. Saves gas, time and leg muscles too. Anne, I thought this was a perfect way to cover the seasonal changes and enjoyed this posting very much.
HOwever, I doubt that what’s called “Winter” in the UK can match what’s going on in the States right now. “And that’s a good thing,” as Martha always says.
Thank you – glad you enjoyed the post.
And you are so right about the winter. We have just been to the cinema to see Rigoletto live from the Met. And they showed us a glimpse of the weather outside the Met! Snow storm!! Just a bit chilly here…..
What incredible pictures, thank you for sharing! You’ve made a beautiful garden at any time of the year.
Thank you, Anne!
I love this! Among the reasons
– seeing plants throughout the year is something we rarely see and need to.
– Not enough attention is paid to plants for edging – thinking ahead about maintenance issues – and you’ve done that.
– And this, which any obsessed gardener like most of us can relate to i spades. “I spend time every year encouraging the geraniums at the expense of the alchemilla, as I’d like the balance to be more even between the two. ”
We never stop tweaking our perennial borders.
You’re right. About all of that I hope. But especially the tweaking. Do we ever look at any part of the garden without begining a mental tweak???
So informative to see the photos throughout the season, and to compare the present day with the open field 34 years ago. What an extraordinary transformation. How helpful it is, too, to see how layered plantings can work over the months, with one plant coming to the foreground as another moves to the back.
Strangely, (ha) perhaps, it seems as strange to me as it probably does to you.
This is what I love about blogging — preserving a garden’s transformation process over time (which is easy to forget) and also through the seasons. Although I post much less about my own garden now than I used to, I still learn so much from seeing the same views over time.
There’s a thing – it is so easy to forget how things have changed – and not always for the better!
Beautiful photographic retrospective, but I’m not convinced winter is over or about to be over. January has been colder than normal, there’s a blinding snow blowing and I will never be able to successfully grow Campanula lactiflora, not even in my winter dreams.
What’s the problem with Campanula lactiflora? I live and learn….. And today was most spring like here.
Truth is, Allen, you must resign yourself to moving to Wales…..
I’ve failed with Campanula lactiflora multiple times. It melts in our summer heat and humidity. The sun is shining on our snowscape today and the temperature is arctic-like. Wales? Tempting…
There’s an empty house right next door to us (decaying rapidly though!) ….
Very enjoyable. I also have one particular spot in every garden that I take more photos of than any other.
Thanks Skyler! Great to hear.
Wonderful! I’ll bet you take so many pictures in those spots because those are some of the best views.
I love taking pictures of the garden to see what has changed. (Hopefully improved!)
Or what I still need to improve on. Seeing what little sticks have flourished. Or “And when did we lose that?”
Currently with just enough snow to look poetic and hide a multitude of small sins.
Stay warm and enjoy your beautiful garden. Thank you for sharing it.
Ah, yes, we always hope for improvements….and here we hope for a sprinkling of flattering snow too. Though when we get it we usually find ourselves having to dig our way out and that’s no joke. Hope yours stays poetic.
Just how exactly do you pronounce the name of your garden? Very, very pretty. I actually love how you’ve laid it all out, and your boisterous plant choices are working perfectly to create a lovely, lustrous look.
Hi Amanda – try ‘vedu’. And thank you for your kind words about our boisterous plants.
Love your work of art and seeing the transitions of the seasons. So beautiful!
Thank you!
I think I love the winter view the best! Your strong lines really shine when I’m not distracted by the pretty flowers. Thank you for sharing this perspective–it makes me thing about my own camera (and photo saving!) habits.
You’re right – there’s more to gardens than pretty flowers. I love the sculptural shapes of our hedges, for example, and have managed to be surprised before now when other things unexpectedly started to appear in the spring.