Celebrating the Arrival of Winter With a Retrospective

FonDip Mayıs 07, 2022

The winter pond-garden looks a little less scruffy with a dusting of snow.

“The very fact of snow is such an amazement.” -- Roger Ebert

Winter is here with snow, ice, and subfreezing temperatures. Officially, the first day of winter doesn't arrive until December 21, 2013 at 12:11 pm EST. That is the December solstice marking the day of the year with the least hours of daylight in the northern hemisphere. I am happy to live in a region with four distinct seasons as I welcome a period of rest from gardening chores. I admire, but don't envy, those gardeners that are able to tend their gardens year-round. Therefore, I greet the seasonal change with joy, celebrating in several ways -- usually from my favorite chair by the fire in the den: I pour over photographs of the past year to see what worked and what didn't, I list my New-Year gardening resolutions, I plan for the new gardening year, I purchase or borrow new gardening books to help with my planning, and I just sit and watch the winter birds.

WHAT WORKED IN 2013

I am happy with the dwarf trees we planted around the pond.

The new picket fence successfully hides the ugly pasture fence seen in the previous photo.

New plantings in the shade garden provide spring color.

I can't believe I didn't take any pictures of my newly planted snowdrops in the shade garden. But they were pretty much 'sleeping' this first year. I do hope they survive for the spring of 2014!

Loved the bed of annuals at the entrance to our property.

Great window-box plantings on the tractor shed. I will use the same combination next year.

One of the many mirrors I placed in my garden this year.

The newly-painted potting shed received many compliments.

The potting shed with snow yesterday -- a dark, dreary day.

I adore the new, tin sculpture in the kitchen garden.

We enjoyed a steady supply of produce from the kitchen garden.

New plantings of asters and sedum in the cottage garden for fall blooming.

WHAT DIDN'T WORK

The weeping cherry didn't look so good at the end of the year. The planting spot proved to be quite wet.

I'm not sure about this weeping cherry. It may have been planted in the wrong place.

Lamium covered the path to the swing. I am not sure I like it.

We had the usual amount of pests visit the garden. I didn't successfully eliminate the aphids.

My biggest disappointment was the lack of monarch butterflies.

One of the rare monarchs to visit in 2013.

We neglected the Woodland Walk this year for a couple of reasons: first, to cut down on work and second, my fear of the black bears that we see passing through there.

The entrance to the Woodland Walk across the bridge over Bluebell Creek, yesterday.

Next year I plan to focus on enhancing the walk along Bluebell Creek and let the main Woodland Walk go.

I have started designing the 2014 kitchen garden and I am making plans to rectify some of the problems identified above. I'll list my New Year gardening resolutions in a posting coming-up soon.

NEW BOOKS

I have added some wonderful new books to my garden library recently. They are all about cottage gardening. My favorite is The Cottage Garden by Christopher Lloyd.

My 2013 Cottage Garden

WATCHING WINTER BIRDS

One of my greatest joys in the winter is watching and photographing the birds that visit my bird feeder and water dish. In the near future, I will devote a posting to some of the beauties I've seen so far this winter.

A Red-bellied Woodpecker visited yesterday.

Yes, I welcome winter and celebrate its coming. I am joining Donna at Gardens Eye View for her Seasonal Celebrations Meme. Do visit her wonderful blog and maybe join in! I would love to know how you celebrate the change of season.

“Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home.” -- Edith Sitwell

Stay warm this winter, or stay cool if your season has changed to summer!
Pamela x