…before winter in the farmyard. farmyard farmyard farmyard We are going to be short of straw this winter and will need to buy some more in after the dry weather…

…‘Takanini’ is usually one of the very first japonicas to perform outside by Christmas. A good colour in September! Camellia ‘Takanini’ Camellia ‘Winter’s Interlude’ (c. oleifera hybrid) Camellia ‘Winter’s Interlude’…

…already turning the magnolia leaves nearest the ground into (winter) skeletons by removing the fleshy green from the leaves. leaves 2020 – CHW Crataegus laevigata ‘Gireoudii’ – a top grafted…

…that has held them back? Perhaps they disliked the mild wet winter? I do not remember a year when they have flowered so sparsely. I was pushed to find any…

…less! Stachyurus praecox 1989 – FJW Very cold start to the day. 1965 – FJW First snow of winter. 1964 – FJW Charles found Moupinense hyb near Niveum in flower….

…a collection of these but this is the first to show in this batch of eight different plants. Camellia sasanqua ‘Winters Toughie’ Camellia sasanqua ‘Winters Toughie’ Camellia sasanqua ‘Winters Toughie’…

…before. Rhododendron davidsonianum Rhododendron davidsonianum Whatever next! An elderly Forsythia (?) ‘Lynwood’ nearly full out in mid November. What does this tell us? Another absurdly mild winter? I think I…

…in November. In a mild winter there are at least some flowers for at least nine months. Magnolia grandiflora Liquidamber styraciflua ‘Red Star’ is perhaps at its best but far…

…did not develop properly and have turned black. Mespilus germanica Mespilus germanica Mespilus germanica Plenty of flower buds on Magnolia ‘Anya’. Magnolia ‘Anya’ Glyptostrobus pensilis ‘Wooly Mammoth’ with its winter…

…which holds its leaves right through winter. Crinum x powellii Storm Bert has more or less finished off the flowers on the 5th ancient Camellia sasanqua which was the last…

…‘Horinji’ Prunus ‘Hokusai’ Prunus ‘Gyoiko’ Prunus ‘Ichiyo’ (‘Pink Champagne’) Prunus ‘Matsumae Fuki’ (‘Chocolate Ice’) Crataegus x lavalleei ‘Carrierei’ Acer x freemanii ‘Autumn Blaze’ Tilia cordata ‘Winter Orange’ below White Styles…

…out in flower in four to six weeks with no winter hibernation at all. Parrotia persi Hydrangea ‘Madame Mouilliere’ still has some perfect flowers left above Red Linney. Staggering after…

…in wind! Camellia sasanqua ‘Winters Toughie’ Camellia sasanqua ‘Winters Toughie’ Camellia sasanqua ‘Polar Ice’ has just one flower alongside it and is really rather nice. Camellia sasanqua ‘Polar Ice’ Were…

…Brachychiton populneus Brachychiton populneus Firmania simplex has got away in the heat too although I fear it will be cut back to 4-6in from ground level again next winter. Only…

…be wrong as ‘Snow Flurry’ and ‘Winter’s Snowman’ are very similar and both could be out. Camellia ‘Winters Joy’ (Camellia sasanqua x Camellia oleifera) just coming out. Camellia ‘Winters Joy’…

…CHW Fat rounded seeds on Styrax hookeri. Not many flowers this year but more seed than I expected. Styrax hookeri Laburnocytisus adamii fell over last winter but was cut and…

…‘Dawn’ and Camellia x vernalis ‘Yuletide’ Viburnum bodnantense ‘Dawn’ outside the nursery cash point. A harbinger of winter. Viburnum bodnantense ‘Dawn’ The groundworks for the new loading bay and larger…

…leaves on the record sized evergreen Quercus lamellosa. It has not been cold and yet the leaves already look as though they have had a cold winter. Quercus lamellosa Acer…

…the 2012 coldish winter and the March 2018 Beast from the East which largely defoliated it. Hoheria populnea ‘Alba Variegata’ Hoheria populnea ‘Alba Variegata’ Gevuina avellana just coming out into…

…blown off in winter with no ill effect next year. Fargesia utilis Fargesia utilis Fargesia rufa (syn Fargesia dracocephala ‘Green Panda’ according to Hillier’s) seems to grow to about 10ft…