At 7.30am on 1 Jan 2020, I’m taking a last look back at 2019. I’ve spent the last few days planning ahead and devouring seed catalogues and making lots of lists and plans. It’s brilliant and there’s more to do but I want to take a moment, pause, breath, reflect and hold those moments from the last year.
Looking back at photos I’ve picked one from each month of the year, which captures the season and brings back memories. They also raise hope for the year to come, the first spring bulbs, inhaling the sweet heady scent of the first bunch of sweet peas and the juvenile joy of harvesting something you’ve grown yourself.
January.
Full disclosure, these are shop bought flowers as there’s no way I’d get tulips and narcissi to flower in the garden in January. Those grey cold days do need a boost and supermarket flowers come into their own. I’m really going to try and not buy very many this year but I know I won’t be able to pass by a bunch of daffofils and tulips. I enjoy packing away the Christmas decorations, giving the house a clean and tidy and bringing out some signs of spring to balance out hibernating in front of the woodburner and slowly getting through the deluge of chocolates in the cupboard.
February.
February is probably when I really got the gardening itch last year. I bought these daffodils in the green and primoses from a local garden centre and potted them up to bring some colour to the front of the house. The primroses weren’t great with hindsight, they didn’t last very long. All of these were bundled down in the back of a border so let’s see if they show their faces again this year. I’ve planted iris reticulata in pots this year in the hope that I can scratch that February itch for colour but I’ll bet money I’ll be down the garden centre with an armful of colour before too long.
March .
Blossom! I love blossom. This is from a tree just outside the backdoor, that is going to get a heavy prune this winter. I need more blossom trees, they really epitomise spring and shine out on those rare sunny days. Definately going to cut some to bring inside and force this year. The delicate creamy pink flowers lace the branches adding life to the skeletal trees of late winter.
April.
Best purchase of 2019 for sure, and I need another one. I definately sowed things too early last year – I did not need all these sunflower babies in April. The excitement of the little leaves poking through the soil is too much and I will be trying my best to restrain myself this year, having planned out what really does need to be sown in early spring and what would do better with a bit longer in the seed packet.
May.
May is one of my favourite months. Everything really gets going and there’s a momentum to the garden. This is a broad bean – crimson flowered. So pretty and you can see the leaves have had a little nibble. I’m growing these again next year and I’ve got some that I sowed in October as well. This was the first time I grew broad beans, it wasn’t a massive harvest but absolutely delicious blanched and smushed with mint and a crumbling of feta.
June.
Roses galour! I think I already had at least 12 in the garden and I’ve added another six as bare roots this autumn. June is when they have their first and best flourish. This deep crimson one is rampant and is trying to clumb up the wall but without much support from us. The scent on these velvety blooms as they open is the best in the garden, its rich and fruity and will fill up a room when picked in a vase.
July .
Summer is the best. Sweet peas going mad. I remember picking this bunch, having got home from a long day at work. The mindful bliss of snipping away, soothed the stresses of the day away. I bought sweet peas as seedlings last year, and they were really great. This year I’m trying to grow them from seed (as its cheaper) and not to have as many. Who am I kidding – they will probably end up going everywhere again and the garden will be filled with random little bamboo teepees for them to grow up.
August.
Jam and poppy seedheads. I remember making this batch of jam with plums we’d picked from the tall old Cambridge Gage and damson trees in the garden. I overdid the sugar so its more like honey than Jam, but scrumptious. I made the jam when I was feeling overwhelmed by the jungle allotment and not making as much progress as I’d planned in my head. This year I’m going to try and be more realistic, setting smaller goals.
September.
A rather rustic bouquet in pastel pinks All snipped from the garden. Pottering about picking things that catch your eye to fill a vase is a lovely task. I’m planning a cut flower patch this year in the hope that I can bring in a vase every week, all year. I’m going to start with whatever I can find from next weekend.
October.
This is a perennial foxglove. They come in these fruit salad colours, coral-orange pink, with their mouths open tinged with magenta lipstick. Hopefully it will bloom again next year and I’ll be looking out for them in the garden centre as babies to build up my collection. I was amazed this year by how much was still blooming come October, even when the leaves were turning and starting to fall.
November.
In August I planted some seed potatoes which are meant to be grown for Christmas. They suffered from blight so I picked them in early November. Digging for these golden nuggets was the most exciting thing thats ever happened. I was SO pleased with myself. The variety was Charlotte, which I’ll be growing again. They tasted delish boiled with a bit of salt and pepper – not needing any butter, the natural flavour was buttery and creamy enough.
December.
A rare bit of sunshine from a very wet December. Leggy sweet peas and bushy broad beans ready to overwinter in the little greenhouse. It’s the first time for me experimenting with autumn sowing, in the hope that I can get ahead, but also save on seedling space as these chaps should be hardy enough to chill in a makeshift coldframe until planted out.
Bramble and Thyme 