Last year, as this year, the Christmas tree was cut up and spread around the flowerbeds just in time. As I write, there is a good 20 cm at least of snow already on the ground, and the spattered hiss of freezing rain against the windows tells me it will have a charming ice coat by the time tomorrow rolls around. We put the boughs down on Wednesday, in -15 C weather.
I kept parsley on the windowsill last winter. I don't have any herb plants on the go at the moment, but the basil grew so obligingly indoors, I should really make time to plant some now. And chives, too. I have yet to have any luck with them, but I do like them so much I should try again.
In March, the lovely, wonderful, satisfying and joyous first crocuses appeared. It's still winter here in March and the spring lasts well into June so that little burst of summery colour in the beds is like sanity popping out of the dark earth. I hope that this year lets them repeat their performance. I didn't notice any zw. buds coming out of the ground, but the eager little bulb irises (Joyce) were already up and at them before the weather turned cold.
In April, the bulb plants continued to bring me joy while the herbs on the windowsill gave me a sense that I was actually growing things; being a gardener. I didn't plant anything indoors for the greater garden like I did in 2008. I admitted that I kill maple babies, but in fact I didn't declare all-out war until later, in May.
The maple tree itself came out in bud in May and filled the world with a green floral rain. The front yard came into its own. The various hostas and lilies poked out of the ground and the shrubs and bushes started new growth for a new year. At our vegetable plot, we planted lettuce and onions and radishes, beans and broccoli. The lettuce was a huge hit. The onions mostly stayed where they were planted and the broccoli was disgusting. It grew well and tasted awful.
In June I began to retreat from the garden into the rest of my life and I didn't come back again until it was much too late. However, I did get to see some irises and the bushes on the side and the delphinium. I also got to celebrate the coming of lavender flowers to my patch which smelled wonderful in June and continued to produce scented spears well into November. There's a successful plant!
In July the allium finally opened up and the all the rest of the herbs caught up with the lavender. In the front, the mystery yellow flower and the astilbe came out and cast their little puddles of colour for me.
In August all sorts of things happened in the garden, but I didn't observe any of it. In September, we cleaned things up, but I didn't have wonderful new things coming out of the ground because I had so neglected everything earlier. The garden was depressing for a while there and not just to me. Passers-by would drop their litter in it because it was so obviously uncared-for.
We cleaned the plot up in October, leaving our uneaten spring onions to hopefully become large keeping onions. The tomato plants were all tragic dry skeletons thanks to a nasty blight which swept through our allotments. We carefully disposed of the remains in the garbage instead of the compost, but I suspect we'll be seeing that fungus for a few years to come.
In November the leaves fell and the Christmas cactus started to bud and bloom. It kept blooming through December. In fact, although most of its pink flowers have made their way to the floor, there are still a few buds looking like they might yet open and extend the blooming further. I learned that the way to accomplish this magnificence is through negligence: No watering in October leads to fantastic blooming in December.
We got a Christmas tree and cut it up and set the boughs out to protect the bulbs from the changeable weather and instantly, the weather changed. It's nice to know that in the garden, at least, the year really is cyclical.
