THE WEATHER -

A cold start to the month, with temperatures falling to minus 4°C on the 2nd. This blackened the Dahlias and Cannas still outside, so now I will cut them back and bring them into the greenhouse for the winter. Warming up considerably on the 5th, however, and remaining mild for the next few days. Unbelievably, there was no rain this month until the 15th! Very sunny on the 20th and 21st, but also very cold, with temperatures hovering at around 0°C all day and frost at night. Warming up on the 22nd but with strong winds on the 23rd. Turning very cold again over Christmas, with the coldest night of the winter so far on the 26th. A lovely end to the month, however, with very mild temperatures and warm sunshine on the 30th although a bit colder but still mild on the 31st. Maximum temperature 13°C (56°F). Minimum temperature minus 5°C (24°F).

Last month I featured the lovely Saxifraga fortunei "Wada's Form", with its white starry flowers held on long, slender stems. This month, it's the turn of Saxifraga fortunei "Black Ruby". This plant is also a herbaceous perennial, only growing to around 8 inches in height, making it suitable for the front of the border. It's quite different from "Wada's Form", however. Although the leaves are a similar shape and size, they are an amazing colour - almost black when grown in good light. The flowers are very late, and borne on much shorter stems than "Wada's Form", giving a good splash of vibrant pink colour in the border. The foliage of this plant on its own is stunning, but the flowers are a welcome bonus!

In the conservatory, my Aechmea fasciata is in flower. This is a bromeliad, which is also commonly known as an urn or vase plant, because of the way the leaves form a tight rosette which is capable of holding water. The plant is naturally an epiphyte, growing on trees (but not taking any sustenance from them, as a parasite would), but mine seems happy growing in its pot! The leaves are grey-green, cross-banded with pale grey, and edged with tiny spines. In summer, mature rosettes bear beautiful and colourful flowers, in a combination of blue, dark pink and light pink. These flowers persist for months, usually into the following spring. Once a rosette has flowered, it will then die. However, it takes up to twelve months to do so, and in the meantime, several small offsets are produced around it. These will continue to grow into mature rosettes which will in turn flower after a couple of years.

Still in the conservatory, my Cestrum elegans is in flower. This is a tender evergreen shrub which can grow quite large. It has the most beautiful clusters of red flowers which are borne on the ends of arching stems. My plant is in a pot, and stays outside on the patio from late spring until around the end of October. I bring it in before frost damages it, and enjoy the flowers at close quarters!

Ivy (Hedera species) is one of my favourite plants, and it flowers during the autumn providing a valuable source of nectar for late insects. The flowers are a greeny-yellow, and borne in clusters of spherical umbels. These later mature into dark, almost black berries. The birds tend to leave these until last, so they make a good show for quite a while. Ivies are genally climbing plants, and most have three- or five-lobed leaves. However, once the plant has come to the end of its climbing stage, it produces a different kind of growth, known as its arboreal form, with un-lobed leaves, and this branches out like a shrub and produces the flowers. It's possible to root cuttings of this type of ivy, which will then stay shrub-like and never climb, but will also flower reliably every year.

Finally, I'll leave you with a mystery! Whilst buying some apples in the supermarket just before Christmas, I picked up an apple to inspect it and found a very strange thing! A perfect heart shape appeared on the skin of this apple. It seems to be in the pigment of the skin, rather than anything which might have been painted on. It doesn't rub off, scratch off or wash off, so how did it get there? Veeerry strange.......... (Cue X-Files music....)

That's all for this month...... Happy Gardening - and a Happy New Year!!

Blackbird, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Crow, Dunnock, Goldfinch, Great Tit, Greenfinch, House Sparrow, Long-tailed Tit, Magpie, Robin, Rook, Seagull, Starling, Thrush, Wood Pigeon, Wren.

THE SNOWS
Augusta Webster