HOME EDITION
DECEMBER
GARDEN GROW? How does your Anna Taylor, owner of Anna’s Flower Farm in Audley End, shares what’s going on in the garden this month L et’s not beat around the deciduous bush, we are in deeply uncomfortable times. Green spaces and our own gardens
are a refuge of safety, a privilege and an opportunity to do some good, if only for ourselves. I am a firm believer in small acts and the ripple effects those can have across families, communities and maybe more. There are approximately 450,000 hectares of garden across the UK, and as the brilliant Fergus Garrett at Great Dixter has found through professional biodiversity surveys, intensely gardened spaces are the richest for diverse habitats. There, birds, bees, butterflies, amphibians, insects, lichens, mosses and much more are thriving in our gardens. I hope this brings you much hope and optimism in the power of our own efforts right outside our doorstep. In December, I notice the scents and contrast in foliage from evergreen shrubs more than other times. Winter blossom on viburnum tinus and bodnantense, glossy evergreens of fatsia, holly or arbutus and swelling buds tell of the annual cycle in the garden. Scented mahonias in the corner of a car park I pass often – the fragrance wafts some distance and is worth a detour.
© ANNA TAYLOR
green combination – and highly scented at that. The bonus is that they last for ages before they dull down. I’ve saved honesty paper pods on sun-bleached stems. I’m going to get some English mistletoe (look them up for postal delivery) because the berries look like pearls in among greenery, and why not more kisses? On tables and fireplaces, I’m stacking pots of emerging bulb shoots, pushing through moss and birch twigs for white flowers for months. Still plenty of time to pot your own narcissus paper whites, snowdrops, hyacinths and iris reticulata. Do some for tables outside, and presents too. Pots of bulbs are so joyful. I also cut a few stems off one of my favourite shrubs, lonicera fragrantissima. Its flowers are tiny and any other time of the year would be lost, but pollinators need extra help in the winter, so these blooms release heady scents. A branch or two is all you need by your bedside for a luxurious fragrance. For a final flourish, I am into gold leaf – gluing with egg white onto walnuts and cones or anything that stays still long enough – for some sparkle.
Before the winter sets in, get planting done now, especially for bare-root shrubs, trees and roses. A true task of hope is planting bulbs, hiding them into the soil, nothing to show for your time but crossing fingers and waiting until shoots emerge. It’s a metaphor for many an effort, isn’t it? I’m squeezing tulips into pots and beds, and garlic (traditionally planted on the shortest day, harvested on the longest) under my roses. Great bedfellows, blackspot has markedly reduced since I’ve been doing so. Few welcome the dark days, but even in an era of disconnect, where screens rule, the human will to connect with the natural world runs strong, especially at Christmas. Bringing greenery into the home and hanging evergreen wreaths on our doors has been a tradition that can be traced back to the Romans, symbolising the cyclical nature of a year; light at the darkest time. Dried flowers and ‘dead branches’ are very much vogue, but this year, I feel the need to decorate with greenery and scent with generosity, richness and optimism. I have my eye on some pine branches, eucalyptus and conifer for a rich grey and
BLOOMIN’ LOVELY All kinds of garden cuttings will make for eye-catching table decorations
82 DECEMBER 2023 CAMBSEDITION.CO.UK
Powered by FlippingBook