What to do in your garden in December, a tractor parade, and how to eat your Christmas tree
Plus: feeding the birds, anti-squirrel fortresses, the best thermal layers and a game-changing heated waistcoat. And: a chance to win tickets to the RHS Chelsea Flower Show.
Storm Bert was a leaf-stripper; Storm Darragh is finishing off the job this morning
It feels like we’re properly in December. The Christmas music is playing on the radio, the decorations have gone up in my village, and I’m realising that I really should have paid more attention to all those ‘How to do Christmas easily’ guides that appeared a few weeks ago.
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In the parallel universe that most of my brain likes to occupy, I have by now got everything prepped and frozen, all the presents have been bought and are beautifully wrapped, and now all that’s left for me to do is to waft around in cashmere neutrals.
The reality couldn’t be more different. Apart from ordering the turkey and making the Christmas pudding, everything else is still to do. If you have any tips on making Christmas prep simpler, I’d love to hear them.
What I HAVE done though, is grown an amaryllis and that feels very Christmassy. Since its first watering at the beginning of November, this amaryllis has gone totally bananas:
Look at that flower bud - the excitement! The easiest thing ever, there are still plenty of amaryllis bulbs available in shops - stick them with their roots in water, or in compost if you want to grow the bulb again next year.1 I cannot tell you quite how satisfying growing an amaryllis is. It grows right in front of your eyes - well, almost, anyway. I feel like setting up a time-lapse camera next year to capture it.
Over on Notes, I’m running the Rose Advent Calendar. On Day 7 of this Rose Advent, as I look out of the window I can’t see any signs of the day yet. It’s windy out there, so I’m feeling it’s a pink rose kind of a day.
No matter what, a pink rose seems to cheer everyone up. I’m not sure whether it’s something deep within our subconscious self which, upon seeing a doorway smothered with scrambling, rambling pink climbing rose immediately triggers dopamine/serotonin/endorphins/one of those, I get confused which one.
I’m not suggesting Prehistoric Man had climbing roses around the entrance to his cave; the trigger is probably way more recent, such as illustrations in The Secret Garden or postcards of Tudor cottages in Stratford upon Avon, or, even more likely, watching too much Bridgerton.
Mentally skim-reading my immediate thoughts on how to describe today’s Rose, Rosa Louise Odier, the key words to jump out are Old, French, Prickly, Fragrant, Bourbon. On first reading, I have to admit these words conjure up an image of an irritable elderly Grande Dame, smelling of lavender water, with a tray of untouched stale chocolate biscuits in front of her in her once-busy but now deserted Salon on the Rue Saint-Honoré.
But how words can be so very deceptive when taken out of context.... Rosa Louise Odier is an elegant beauty who grows so well in my garden. She is indeed French and Quite an Old Bourbon; her long stems have lots of no-nonsense thorns and she has a wonderfully-enticing scent. And as for those neatly-organised petals....... one can almost visualise her linen cupboard with its perfectly-arranged, room-labelled, size-labelled sheets.
Something else that is also making me feel Christmassy: this evening, fifty tractors wearing Christmas hats drove down my street:
Last year, some readers bought gift subscriptions for friends and family - for anyone you think might really enjoy being part of this lovely Gardening Mind community, who doesn’t want ‘stuff’, here’s that link again:
Before we look at what to do and what not to do in the garden this month, I want to say the biggest, heartfelt THANK YOU for your comments on last week’s post:
Every single note from you made me quite emotional - The Gardening Mind has become something really special.
A reminder that Founding Members have a chance of winning two tickets for the 2025 RHS Chelsea Flower Show, and all Founding Members who are visiting the show are invited on a tour of my garden. I’ll be writing to all Founding Members in the spring to ask if you’d like your name to go in the hat for this draw.
If you’re currently a free subscriber, or if you’re a paid member, and you’d like to become a Founding Member, you can subscribe/upgrade here:
A couple of thing before we get to eating of Christmas trees and garden to-dos and not-to-dos: if you’re a new subscriber, WELCOME. Help yourself around the archive, have a good old poke around, and let me know what you enjoyed. You’ll soon discover that many of these articles are inspired by readers’ questions and requests, such as:
And of course, there’s our weekly Sunday morning Show Us Your Plots on the Chat:
How does Show Us Your Plots work?
On Sunday morning you’ll see a post on the Chat which starts ‘It’s Sunday 15th September and it’s time to Show Us Your Plots!’ This is the opportunity for you to upload a photo of your garden, or of a green space nearby, or a flower - whatever you think you’d like to share with The Gardening Mind community.
I promise you, your photo doesn’t need to be wonderful or edited - honestly, you should see some of mine. It’s just an honest record of what’s going on in our own gardens, or a green spot near wherever we happen to be:
This week, we’re taking a look at jobs for December - what I’ll be doing and also what will probably stay on the to-do list till January. Also, we’re revisiting that list of warm layers of clothing, which are all great ideas for Christmas presents - to yourself of course…
There’s still some colour in the garden, but to really appreciate it, you’ll probably have to get outside, and in order to bring yourself to get outside, you may just need a tiny bit of encouragement, and warm clothes always help. Every year, I put out a request for your warm garden clothing ideas for the winter and the suggestions that come in are fantastic. The following is not an advert, and I haven’t tried absolutely all of these, but I have it on very good authority from all those who messaged that the links below are all brilliant. Please do let me know your suggestions so that I can collate them all:
In no particular order, and apologies for giving mainly the links to the women’s sections here:
Carharrt - I want to buy everything. There’s a men’s section too. And one for dogs.
Uniqlo - I love my Uniqlo HEATTECH thermals. They are so cosy that I’ve sometimes been known to go out in the garden in just the thermals.
Heated waistcoat - you plug this in and heat it up. I kid you not. It keeps your front warm, it warms that bit of your lower back where the wind always seems to get to first (kidneys?) This is LIFE-CHANGING.
Dilling - organic underwear, and Danish too. These look like the kind of thing I should be wafting about in my parallel universe.
Finnesterre merino base layers - critical.
Patagonia – “like wearing central heating”. Looking at this site made me feel like I could climb a mountain if I only wore these clothes. Those of you who know me will understand just how much a leap of imagination that would entail.
Please do let me know if you have suggestions to add to the list:
The ground will soon be rock-hard if it isn’t already, so if you haven’t yet planted your bulbs, either pop them in pots or revert to the good old method of throwing the bulbs on the ground and covering them with masses of compost. Not ideal, and not a method you’ll find recommended by the great and good horticultural organisations, but it seems to work for me. Mulching now will also add nutrients and suppress weeds, so everyone’s a winner.
Protect your bulbs against squirrels - here’s my anti-squirrel fortress: