Reflections

It's hard to believe we are just a couple of weeks away from the end of 2020. I'm sure I won't be alone in saying good riddance to this year for obvious reasons. It has been an interesting year in the garden though. My year started with a bit of panic at the realisation that the SGS Open day was just six months away and my apprehension was enhanced as I'd made changes to the garden in the winter and you never quite know how it's going to turn out, will your young plants take off or will they get swamped out, will the colours work... April was a really great time in the garden. Lockdown made the world quiet, the skies seemed bluer and the bird song louder and we had some pretty high temperatures making the garden a very pleasant space to be in. It wasn't without its problems though, compost and seeds suddenly became hard to come by and in a very short time we were in quite a serious drought. It's not often you have to water the garden in April in Scotland that's for sure. The lack of rain here was so evident that the local Den burn that ranges from a moderate stream to a raging torrent was bone dry until the autumn. Although we did have a pretty wet winter, it wasn't long before the soil turned to dust. The garden response to the long, hot, dry spell was interesting. Some plants really delayed flowering and when the weather did break and we went from hot and dry to hot and wet, there was tremendous growth, but still no flowering, especially from the Cosmos which grew like trees but didn't flower until the autumn and in some cases, didn't flower at all.

As we got closer to the proposed open day and it became apparent that it wasn't going to be going ahead, I did have a slight sense of relief. Like many others, I had put together a garden video tour for Scotland's Garden Scheme, timing it for the same week we were due to open and while the year before on this date, the garden had been an abundance of flowers, this year we were still lagging behind. It was ironic that the Himalayan blue poppies that are usually well over by the end of May, didn't flower until the 28th June...the day we should have been open!

Once the garden did take off however it really went for it. The cottage border was still a little disappointing, some plants really just don't have enough space and rather than being able to appreciate them in all their splendour the become leggy and fall into each other or get totally crowded out and disappear. But the middle border became the most diverse and colourful of the whole garden. This was largely due to the monarda and its fabulous pinky/red flowers that really punctuated the bed. Last year the monarda that I grew from seed was just a single stem with a solitary flower. Over winter it bulked up considerable and put on a great show. I do make some attempt to use colours in an harmonious way, but sometimes having mad clashing colours and tones is where it's at. Although I really liked this bed this year, it's still undergone a wee revamp. A few plants needed divided, especially the small orange crocosmia as it does just get out of hand and again, other plants needed more space and I wanted to take out the kniphofia and pop some into the hot bed and some round the back for the new exotic garden.

When SGS were advised that some gardens could open with safety measures in place, I was advised that having a small garden it just wasn't going to work for social distancing. We just couldn't risk having large numbers of visitors, but all was not lost. I was able to open the garden 'by arrangement' and this seemed to work out ok. There weren't loads of visitors but I was really delighted to make a grand total of £85.50 for the SGS supported charities.

It was also a thrill to see my little garden featured in a new Scottish Gardening Magazine. Have a wee read here https://read.nxtbook.com/scottish_gardening_magazine/scottish_gardening_magazine/issue_2/weeds_are_flowers_too.html

There were some interesting non-human visitors to the garden too. The pollen beetles were plentiful and there were numerous damselflies emerged from the fish pond. Over at the wildlife pond I had noticed five big dragonfly nymphs that I was convinced would emerge this year. And they did! Unfortunately one fell back in the water and drowned, ironic after spending around four years of its life as an aquatic dweller. A reminder of the fragility of life and nature. Earlier in the year there was huge excitement when a brown long-eared bat took up residence in the back shed. He didn't stay long but was a very welcome guest nonetheless, as was the common lizard who was spotted a few days sunning himself on the warm stones in the courtyard. The frogs once again took up residence in the fish pond and on one particularly hot day I counted 17 relaxing in the pool, obviously spending too much time relaxing while the snails were munching the hostas!

Now, in December, the garden is just a few brown stalks with just the odd plant still attempting a spot of colour. We've finally had our first frost and twice in the last few weeks the garden has been flooded. All 300 bulbs are in, a mixture of tulips, fritillaria, alliums and more, the main changes have been made in preparation for next year, some plants moved, the bit of hedge that dominated the back courtyard is out and already some spring bulbs are poking through the soil. The circle of life, even though it might feel like nothing is happening in the darkness of winter, continues and it won't be long before the first seeds will be sown and it all takes off again. Just five days until the Solstice and the light begins to return, and my excitement is building. I can't wait to get going and with two open days planned for 2021 it's going to be busy!