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A lupin decided to throw its last fires at this beginning of December. |
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| The apple tree of ornament 'Everest' has a lot of presence at the moment, with its small red and yellow apples. They'll resist until February, moment when birds will attack it.  |
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In this beginning of month, the Christmas roses begin to bloom. Every year, they're faithful to the meeting. |
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| My despair ! For one year, the moles explode. Every weekend I discover about forty new molehills, and no effective remedy to my knowledge. I try a method, I shall talk again of it if I obtain some result. |
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The shrubby lavateras, even in Normandy, offer us their last flowers. |
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| The bulbs of cannas and dahlias dry outdoors before beeing put away in the garage, out of frost. This year, I left a dahlia in ground with a protection by a layer of dead leaves covered with compost. I think that so, it will start earlier and will be stronger. I shall see in spring if the experiment made a success. |
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| Certain rosebushes are still present, notably 'Heritage' who's so fragrant always at this end of December.
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| It's the first time which I see a delphinium going back up in December. It looks like he wants to delight the star in the malus 'Everest'. |
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Miscanthus sinensis 'Silberfeder' illuminates this place of the garden by hanging the beams of the sun. |
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| The bloom of the fetid hellebores is for their highlight at this end of December.  |
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The winter sun plays with the trunks of poplars to paint an abstracted picture on the covered in frost lawn. |
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| The same sunbeams make the last leaves of the kerria shine through the thick shadow of spruces. |
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The hairy leaves of the tolmiea menziesii 'Taff's Gold' hang on well the hoarfrost and form a twinkling carpet. |
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| The inflorescences dried out of the sedum 'Autumn Joy' see their colour revived by the hoarfrost. This variety keeps its bloom much longer that the others. It is also known under the name of 'Herbstfreude'. |
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In winter, the beauty of barks shows itself. Whiteness of birches
bursts under the sunbeams. The intense red of the cornus alba 'Westonbirt'
sharpens with the cold. |
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| The Christmas roses deserve well their naming, they're for their highlight to celebrate the holiday. |
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The small evergreen leaves of the ceanothus thyrsiflorus repens are lined well by the hoarfrost. |
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| It's not a cultivar 'Marginata', it's the hoarfrost which underlines the edge of the leaves of this hebe 'Green Globe'. |
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The hoarfrost still lines very brillant foliage of this Japanese spindle-tree 'Aureopictus'. |
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| One year has passed in the garden. More and more, I discover and you with me, I hope, that month after month, there's always something. There're many attractions during the winter months. The eyes not being distracted by the debauchery of colours of the beautiful season, it can linger over details. One can admire the texture or the colour of certain barks, the brillancy of certain foliages, the sweeter colours of the winter blooms and even discover of pleasant flavors. Certain plants as grasses are glorified by the not rather frequent hoarfrost in Normandy. And one has some more of ideas so that the garden is even more beautiful next year. |
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'La
Sevillana' hemmed by the hoarfrost.