Six on Saturday – 29JAN2022 – Sun and Snow

Hard to believe it’s the end of the month and we’re already 1/12th of the way through the year! Argh!! Also hard to believe it’s time to start thinking seriously about this year’s garden. I know gardeners in other parts of the world have already got their seed trays full and grow lights turned on, but in this part of North America we generally don’t start annuals or vegetables until the end of March. Unless you have a heated greenhouse. Or at least a cold frame. And THAT”S on my list of projects for this year – food prices being what they are, it just makes more and more sense to grow as many of your own veggies as you can.

But for now it’s time for a look at what’s happening, garden wise, this week. After a bit of a slow start, January has turned out to be a quite cold month, with a comforting cover of snow to insulate the perennials and shrubs that are marginal in this climate zone. We had a few inches of snow on Monday, but the rest of the past week has been sunny and cold (three heavy layers cold for my runs), and my Six on Saturday is thus all about showing the beauty of a northern, winter garden. If you’d like to perhaps see more colourful gardens in warmer areas, head over to The Propagator’s site for Sixes from around the world.

Tuesday morning around 7:30, looking south to the back field, with the sun about to come over the trees to the left of this photo.

This was taken a week earlier, with late afternoon shadows starting to signal the end of a gorgeous day. I took some time to snowshoe around the back gardens.

The side patio, again on Tuesday, mid-morning. It’s been a bit breezy since then and the snow has been blown off the tops of these Hylotelephium spectabile (the plant formerly known as Sedum spectabile), giving the garden an entirely different look.

If you’re looking for an annual with tough stalks that will hold up all winter, look no further than straw flowers – Xerochrysum bracteatum. Amazing.

This photo was taken as the sun was coming up, about two hours before I snapped the same sunflower at the very top, in the featured photo. I wonder why birds or squirrels haven’t found them yet…

Last week all the British SOSer’s were showing the bright new shoots on their Clematis. I’ll be showing off bright new shoots in about three months.