Seeds to Sow Now: Winter Edition
Winter has arrived! And with it three months of grey afternoons, ocean storms, bonfires, puddles, blue-sky mornings, short days and long nights.
I feel the same way about winter as I feel about the uni library I used to go and study at when I was a student. In the abstract there was something romantic about it - rows of books, silent and crisp, a better, more studious version of myself who’d sit there, writing out beautiful notes, reading textbook after textbook without falling asleep. It was attractive, it was almost appealing.
Then I’d actually go there and remember that, in fact, it’s cold, boring and too bloody dark.
Look, I know lots of people like winter. Maybe they have skylights, a collection of attractive, luminescent lamps, chunky knitted blankets or actual functioning reverse cycle air-conditioning. But on this topic I have to agree with Luke, who put it rather succinctly: ‘I don’t like it. I think it’s cold and lame’.
Note: see also Hemingway (below) for another melancholic appraisal of this season.
“the leaves fell from the trees & their branches were bare against the wind and the cold, wintry light”
Anyway, I have to admit it’s probably not a great idea to spend the next three months moping SO, I’ve decided to look on the bright side. And I’ve realised that in fact, gloomy as it may be, winter is the season that determines how beautiful, productive and enjoyable our gardens are for the following year. It may be dreary, but it’s vitally important!
Winter is the first proper chance we get to really take stock of our gardens. In spring, they explode into untamed blooms and it’s almost impossible to keep up. Summer is occupied with verdant, leafy growth, huge harvests and a constant pressure to keep everything watered. Autumn, while slower, is full of the remnants of spring and summer, of annuals that are finished and need pulling, rampant growth that has gone unchecked for months, soil that needs replenishing and falling leaves that need collecting.
The winter garden
The spring garden
In comparison, winter is a breath of air, a momentary pause and a time to actually think about what we want our gardens to be. The cooler weather means a lot of plants enter a phase of dormancy and can more easily be shifted.
Roses, small fruit trees and many perennials can be gently dug up and relocated during winter without being damaged. It’s also easier to make landscaping changes in winter, when our garden beds are often emptier and less swamped by spring growth.
Winter is also, weirdly, one of the most hopeful seasons in our gardens. Seeds for spring flowers, already sown in autumn, are biding their time in the soil. Late winter bulbs are tentatively poking their noses out of terracotta pots and willy wagtails are busy fattening themselves up before their spring babies arrive.
Hyacinths are a beautifully fragrant late-winter flowering bulb
Butter-yellow daffodils appear in late winter
And, happily, there’s still enough to keep us busy as well. If you’re looking for ideas for seeds to sow in your own winter garden, I’ve made you a handy little guide to seed sowing through winter.
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