January 2023 English Winter Garden Tour 🌸🌼🌺

Hello! Oh, I've got the sun in my eyes. That's no way to start. Let me move. Oh my gosh, I can't get into focus. I've forgotten. I've forgotten how to do this. Let me see if I'm in the screen. I think I'm on the screen. Hello everyone, I'm back. It's been a while. Thank you for waiting for me, but I've had the most wonderful rest from gardening. I don't think I've gardened, I've shown you since when I did my olives, but weeks and weeks and we had snow in December, which is not unusual, especially your, you know, for everyone around the world, goodness, but for here, very unusual. And what was more unusual is that is stay for a whole week, which it just does not happen. So, yeah, and then lots of other things have happened to me during that time, which I'll tell you about as we go around, because I wanted to show you the garden and January 15th of January. And thank you for your patience, but yes, a lot's happened. And I did ask if anyone would like a garden tour. In the meantime, I posted on the community page of YouTube and lots of you said, yes, you would. So I did think that I would be doing that this week, but it's not rain today on a Sunday. I thought, well, it's now or never. So we'll do that today. And I haven't really been out and had a good walk around. So you're going to be walking around with me and I haven't seen it either. So without further ado, hello, welcome back to my garden. I'm Jeanette. I'm the Enthusiastic Gardener. I live in Essex, which is in the southeast of England. I am about 30 miles from the city of London in one direction and 30 miles roughly from the coast, south end on sea, where you get your fish and chips and your doughnuts and your buckets and the amusement arcade. And I have not been there for a very long time, but it's a lovely place when you're a kid. It's got, or it did have the longest pier I don't know what the statistics were, the longest pier in the country. I can't remember. I'll Google that. I'll put it on the screen. But besides, I'm drifting off on a tangent. Let's have a look at my garden in January. So let's go around and have a little look at what's going on. As I say, I haven't been out here properly since, well, November, let's say. I did, however, around the circle, all the way around there on the 23rd of December, when I should have been prepping for Christmas dinners, I was out planting all my little crocus bulbs because Farmer Gracie had sent me a little extra bonus, which was very nice. I thought, oh, I need to get them in. It wasn't exactly what I wanted to be doing that day, but it actually didn't take very long. So they are purple and yellows all the way around. I can't see any signs, but as I say, it's not even been a month yet, has it? So, yes, the only other thing I've done, I cut back all my perennials. They were all sort of blackened, etc. All perennials have been cut back, such as this, which is an agapanthus. I cut back my sedum, Autumn Joy, and you can see it's all beginning. I'm going to divide this sedum this year, probably in a couple of weeks, because it's enormous and it's a great thing to be able to divide. And then I can have, because it is beautiful, and then I can dot them about. They do like the sun, though. All this bit along here, along the cabin, that's shaded. But anyway, we'll find somewhere for that. And look, we have all my little bulbs are coming up. I planted, as you probably know, I'll have the daffodils, 10 lots or 10 groups of 10 different daffodils. They should come up again. Then I've also planted a lot of tulips. They'll come up after the daffodils and also alliums, which will come up after that even. So as I say, it's a little bare, little sparse like everyone's gardens. I've also cut down all my roses. So I've trimmed those back because they were a little scraggly. I may divide these. They are my Carex. Love these, and they're evergreen for me. Very pretty. I might just dot those around. I think I sort of need to see where the bulbs are coming up first. I don't want to disturb those. But this is the evergreen interest. It is important to have evergreen interest. The lemon cypresses, they did, well, they've always done really well. And I just assumed that they might be a little bit tender, but they're very hardy, very hardy indeed. Let's go over here. I have lost a few plants. I'll show you those, or one definitely. This is my little tree fan I planted very recently. These are daffodils. They're getting long. They are maybe, oh, six inches, six inches tall. Not long, everyone. And this is a berberis. I think I'll take that out. Heucheras, looking tatty, but they will spring back to life, and I will divide as well. And I've promised to give my wonderful friend Tina, that's my plum tree, my wonderful friend Tina, I've promised to give her any divisions of heucheras. This is looking, oh, this is my hebe, and I do hope I haven't, oh, this doesn't look promising, does it? I do hope I haven't lost this, because I was so proud of this. I'd trained it from a big shrub to a standard. I don't want to lose that, it's so pretty. However, these things happen, it's gardening, it toughens us up, you know, appreciate things while you've got them. But what I'll do is trim off, like give it a little haircut, all, I don't know, a few inches on the way out. I'll wait to do that. Oh, I hope it picks up, but there you go. And the bay tree, that withstood wonderful, can't we? It was like minus eight, as I said, and it stuck around for a week. But I did go out on a Monday morning at six o'clock in the morning, shaking all my topiaries to get the snow off, because I didn't want the branches to get all weighed down. That is getting so big, and that's getting so big that when you walk through here now, you're like, oops, in the way, but there you go. Yes, what else can I say? Another row, this row, I'm definitely moving. This is my Olivia Austin, and I'm going to move it over to along the fence. Now, I read a very interesting thing, which I didn't know, you probably all know, but I didn't realize that if you have a rose that's been in your garden for getting on for 10 years, you shouldn't plant another rose in the same space. Did you know that? Something to do with nematodes. You shouldn't use the same soil. If you do, you have to dig out all the soil completely, lots of it, and use new soil. And then the soil that you've dug out, you can reuse that on anything else, but not on a new rose. Well, that's interesting. But where I'm planting it, I'm not going to put it where a new rose is. Lots of leaves still, and because I lost my beautiful topiary, which was right there, that's my new opportunity. There's not an awful lot along here. Need to clear the leaves. Yeah, especially when that rose goes, basically, there's a huge salvia there, which gets hugely tall, which is lovely. But basically from there, apart from that nandina, and then we've got an agapanthus there, heuchera, which is disguised. There's not a lot else here, so need to think about that, that's for sure. And then the wonderful thing is the grass. The grass always looks good, because as you know, oh it's windy, as you know, it's fake. But look, what are these? Can anyone identify these? Because then I'll know what tree. There's some sort of helicopter seed, but I wonder what tree I've got. I did just have a look on Google just now, I need to have a better look. It said sycamore maple, but then those ones are like two joined together. But if anyone knows, I'm going to have a look, see if I can find it, because that will identify what at least one of these trees are. Just out of interest, because I have no idea. Anyway, moving on. Yes, I started a new job, which I've only just done one whole week, and so far it is lovely. It is very lovely. I did start just before Christmas, but I was only there for three days, and then we broke up, because it's in another school. I missed school. I was in a school for 14 years, and I left to try something new. Went to a construction company, kind of interior design-ish company. Very nice, very lovely people, but Richard says I'm institutionalized after spending so long in a school. I think he's right, and to be honest, I missed the school holidays as much as the camaraderie that you get in a school is wonderful. So anyway, I've only been there one week. People are lovely. So far, I'm so pleased. I did actually go out last night with my last company. They have a Christmas party, but it's held in January, and I was still invited, because I left on good terms, because they were lovely, and yes, my predecessor was there, and my successor was there, and all is well with them, and all is well with my new job. So far, so good. Anyway, I was just looking at this rhododendron. Because of all the snow, I don't think I lost my buds. My buds are flower buds, still look okay, so that's very encouraging, and yes, the leaves will get some fertilizer, because I don't think they're supposed to look like that. You can see the lovely greens, then we've got some yellow in, and then we turn to this yes, fertilizer, I think. Now, I'm very pleased with how my little hedges are doing. I planted them last spring. They are euonymous, which replaced my boxwoods. They've all survived apart from one, which is right at the end, so I'm not too worried about that. Yeah, they're lovely. I'm very pleased with those. They're kind of a little bit hidden with all the leaves, but what I'll do, in the spring probably, I'll go around and just trim them all to the same height. I won't trim any off the sides, but just the tips off, so that eventually I'd like a hedge. And these are my Dryopteris ferns. You may remember I transplanted the middle ones just, well, late autumn, I think. These ones are evergreen, and I do have some others, which are, where are they? Well, yes, this is another sort. But yeah, I think I need to cut those back. I need to look at that. Apple tree, being an apple tree, it's just dormant at the moment, I guess. So what else do I have to tell you? Ah, in the holidays, I had three and a half weeks off, and I went for it, everyone. Declutter. Decluttered my house. I was ruthless, everyone. I went through every room, apart from Richard's clothes. I went through every single room, and everything has been decluttered, and I've cleaned like there was no tomorrow. It's all feeling very nice. This here looks, I looked this up this morning, because I couldn't remember what it was called. It's a Lomandra White Sands. If I've got that wrong, I'll put the name up. It said, the plant you cannot kill. That's what it said. And it said, I thought, maybe it's died back. But no, it says it's evergreen. It says it can take minus 10 and it can take real heat. And it's a wonderful plant. And it says on quite a few websites, the plant you cannot kill. Well, doesn't look that healthy to me. I think you might agree. But another little Lemon Cypress. Aren't they lovely? They are so nice. Yes, probably give it a little bit of a shape at some stage. This grassy thing, can't remember what that's called. It's just like a lump of turf really, and it's not overly exciting. But we'll see what that does. And my Heucheras, yes, the Heucheras look a little, oh this jumped there, a little forlorn, but they do. And you can see, what happens is, new ones start forming in the middle. I love Heucheras. I'll try not to buy any more. This, I'm very pleased to say, stood up to the snow. Happy about that. I mean, most things did. There is one casualty, two actually, two casualties, which I'll show you. This is my Fittinia Red Robin. And you've got to remember, I haven't been out here, I haven't looked at all these. Oh, look at that. Is that new? Yeah, that must be new leaves, and they'll all be red. And this probably needs a bit of fertilizer. But this will be bright red, I'm hoping. This will be my second spring. Last spring, it looked nice. So this spring, I'm hoping it will look amazing. Yes, we've done the circle, so let's just go around here. The Ascot Rainbow Euphorbia, I moved in my late autumn, so it's a little floppy. I hope it survives. I mean, we had snow for a week. We very rarely get snow, and what's even more unusual is it very rarely stays for long. It stayed for a week because it was so cold. I mean, yes, my cousins in Canada, you're going to be just shouting at me on the TV, come on, man up, get a grip. You have no idea in your lovely warm climate, especially Chris. Hello, Chris at Stubbs Aquatics. If you like fish, fish tanks and ponds, you must head over to Stubbs Aquatics. We've been friends for a very long time. He's amazing. He will say you just have no idea what a cold winter is like. My Ilex Granata, fine. Mahonia, fine. Nandinas, fine. This little holly thing, fine. And this is my flamingo tree. That is not fine. I think it is dead. I will scrape away. I'll leave it till the spring. See what happens. Give it one last chance. Oh, yes, the rose that I was going to move, which I told you is the one over there-ish. I'm thinking, see, this is my big rose here. So I'm thinking either it grows really tall either here, but then it might, oh, I don't know, either there or I'm thinking, see where that totem pole is, kind of there-ish. The totem pole, don't know, it's leaning, it's not one of my favourites. Anyway, don't know. Very pleased to say my Trachycarpus survived and I was very worried. And the leaves or fronds, when I got up that morning, like this one was down so far, it had stuck and iced onto the fountain. So I shook them all, I mean, on the whole. And actually, the position this is in, this is the west and the wind comes through here. I notice it. The wind howls right on my Trachycarpus. So my Trachycarpus is very, getting very used to the wind, which I think is good because it's, am I actually filming this? Oh, that was funny. I'd had a text, I'm using my phone for this, I'd had a text message. So the text message had come down on the top of the screen, covering up the time a bit that's at the top of the screen here. And so I couldn't see how long this video's gone on. And I suddenly thought, oh my gosh, did I press the record? Have I just spoken to myself for 20 minutes or however long? But goodness, thank you. So I just turned it off, had a quick check and yes, oh, that was, I don't think I would have done it again. Anyway, yes, fountain, disgusting. You all know the story of the fountain. It's going to be done again. I probably won't film it because how many times, it's like me and the leaves, how many times can you watch it? Look, it's all bubbling. How many times can I subject you to this? Anyway, I will paint it and I will varnish it with clear varnish, definitely. So blah, blah, blah, what else have we got? Let's go over to my other casualty. This is sad, sad, sad. My yucca, my yucca jewel did not survive. Let's get out of the way. Did not survive the cold. Look at it. I think we can say, I mean, it's, yes. Do you think, do you think it's dead? I think so. Now, when I Googled, because as you probably know, I planted all these for, this is my, my sunniest border and I wanted there to be heat tolerant plants. So yes, I have heat tolerant plants, but then we got snow and anyway, the yucca jewel, I Googled and it says, yes, you can have those in your garden, bring them in during the winter. And of course, and they can be house plants, but obviously not this big, but in general. So I think the yucca jewel was a learning experience, but however, let me step back so you can see the whole border. So I do love this border. It's got loads of weeds, but yes, I love the border. And so I need something, something striking in its place, I would say. Oops, Richard's just let the dogs out. They must've been, they must've been waiting at the door, desperate to come out and see them. Yeah. Anyway, yes, something striking in its place, but what I'm delighted about, oh the formium, the formium's hang on a second. Lottie and Lucy, what? What's all the noise? Hey, hey, hey, Lottie, Lucy, Lucy. Anyway, the formium has done well. Very pleased about that. And what I'm delighted about is the olive. The olive has not suffered at all. It's looking great. Looking great. So I'm pleased about that. And then what else? Lucy, Lucy. It's not raining for once. So that's why I thought I must come out. Yes, I haven't trimmed my roses. This is the walnut tree, which has lost its leaves as to be expected. Still got that there. And what else? Lottie, come and say happy new year. Happy new year. People ask about you. They do. People care. And you, you little noisy. Come and say hello. People don't believe I've got two dogs. There's a little bit of ice she's found. People don't believe I have two dogs, but I do. Hospital cases need to find somewhere for these hydrangeas to go. This here is being a little neglected. We'll give that a spruce up in the spring. Hopefully my little Japanese maple will do well. It's got buds. I may have to move that into a little bit more sunshine, I think. And we've got bulbs coming up there. Bulbs coming up there. Flamingo is in one piece, a little little bit leaning. Had a night out last night. Can't stand up straight. Need to prune the climbing rose. Last little bit, another wonky flamingo. More bulbs coming up. I did, yeah, this is a little bit, we must have had some sort of wind damage here. So I need to clear that up. I noticed in my little pots, they're all coming back. They were crocuses and cillia that I planted last year. So we might get a little display there. It's a bit of a mess. The only other thing I did, which I forgot to tell you, is I did a huge sweep up because it was leaves everywhere. So that's what I did also in the garden. I'd never got around to taking down my bunting for Carnival Corner and I won't now, of course. But anyway, that's it from me. I wanted to give you an update. I wanted to apologize for my absence, but I've had a wonderful rest. I wanted to prove that I do have two dogs. Lucy's found the sun and that's my garden in January. Thank you for watching. If you stuck around this long, well done to you. I hope you haven't fallen asleep and wishing you a fantastic rest of the week. And I will see you maybe, maybe next week. We just have to see how things go. What's the weather like, etc, etc. But in the meantime, thank you all for sticking with me. It's nearly three years now. I'm going on too much, so I'm going to go. I'm Jeanette. I'm the enthusiastic gardener. Not quite so enthusiastic at this time of year. And Lottie on the right, Lucy on the left. Goodbye from me and my very unhappy yucca, but my beautiful youth. See you soon. Bye.