February Garden Update
‘The Snowdrop’
by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Many, many welcomes,
February fair-maid!
Ever as of old time,
Solitary firstling,
Coming in the cold time,
Prophet of the gay time,
Prophet of the May time,
Prophet of the roses,
Many, many welcomes,
February fair-maid!
I’ve been overjoyed this last fortnight to see the snowdrops emerge in earnest, their leaden heads gazing resolutely at the earth, their small stature belying the disproportionate effect they have on one’s psyche at this time of year. By February I have become resolved to spending all my days in a kind of eternal winter; it becomes easy to forget that other seasons will one day come to pass and the snowdrops, with their quiet constancy, are a reminder that spring can’t be far away. It’s been a productive winter though, and a beautiful one too with some genuinely breath-taking moments. Just a couple of weeks ago I came through the green door to golden light and the most perfect frost, to see our resident swans circling the towers against a mackerel sky, the whooshing tang! tang! tang! of their beating wings piercing the absolute silence. A moment that I suspect will last a lifetime. Later I heard what I perceived to be the wind susurrating through the marcescent oaks, but which actually turned out to be a frost-burst water pipe making an impressive but inconvenient water feature. You win some, you lose some.
Overall it’s been a productive winter and I’m happy with what we’ve achieved, there’s been lots of clearing out of neglected areas and space made for new plantings, and just this week several trees that were either close to the end of their natural life or simply too big for the space they occupied have been felled, bringing new light in old spaces. We have stored the chipped wood and will use it to make beautiful compost, so nothing is wasted. We have a few bits of cutting back to do before spring, and the last big job of the winter is the shaving of the big holly hedge that snakes its way around the flower garden, which we need to do before bird nesting season begins in early march. I’ll also place our seed order soon (another harbinger of springtime!), and I can’t wait to see the little shoots nosing through.
Hopefully you’ll notice a few of the changes I’ve written about here over the winter if you’re planning on visiting us for our Snowdrop Weekend on the 14th and 15th of February. There will be teas and coffees and light refreshments, and the opportunity to take home some Preston Hall snowdrops home with you to enjoy for years to come. This year for the first time we will also have specialist grower Jonathan Harris who will bring a selection of interesting and unusual snowdrops. I hope you’ll find them as uplifting as I do - many, many welcomes indeed!
Kate