Winter wonderland

Great Gladiolus the news today is so much worse - that poor Harry has been kidnapped by the dark side while the fawning and smiling traitor Connie has blown herself up for the sake of mankind.

Well Spooks might be entertaining me at the moment but the thoughts of dealing with all the moss which has been created on my paths and patio by the endless summer rain is not. My paths look like part of the Amazonian rain forest and it is going to take a lot of hard graft shifting the green slime off. Moss is to die for on old stones and pots but on paths it can be lethal.

I have also decided to live on the wild side and have left a number of pots out this winter. As you get older the problem of moving heavy objects gets more difficult - so its bubble wrap and a prayer for me. I have mostly gone over to the the glazed type of pot now as they seem to last better in the Cumbrian weather but I do so love the proper terracotta - which in fact if proper terracotta should not crack - but they are now sadly becoming very expensive and the cheaper versions just do not last.

I also have to remember to water the plants I have put in the garage - I do not possess the luxury of a greenhouse - but feel sure they are safer in there than out in -6 frost.

The weather today, though, is sunny and bright and it is a lovely winter day. We will soon be at the shortest day and then folks its downhill to Spring - can't wait.

Christmas is coming

Alas all is not well with the world. John Sergeant has left Strictly Come Dancing, while allegedly, somewhere in the UK, Santa has been seen smoking and the Elves swearing in some Winter Wonderland - the ground is covered in some horrible white stuff that has made my Camelias look like they have dandruff and well - phew - we have something called a credit crunch. Not only that, but the Spooks mole turns out to be that likeable and sweet mannered Connie - who would have thought it! I simply cannot cope.

There is one bright spot, however, to this tale of woe. Frost! Frost does the garden good - why? Because it kills off all those nasty little pests who will want to come and devour your garden in the Spring and Summer. It can also make your garden look magical, especially the grasses and left-over stalks from the late autumn flowers.

'Tis also the season for going out to the garden centre and buying in the wreaths of holly and the traditional Poinsettias to deck the halls. I tried to buy my wreaths this morning but the lady had to go and get a chisel so she could separate them from the bench as they were stuck fast. Where is all this global warming I ask myself?

Well I can tell you that if this temperature persists I will not be going for a stroll around my winter flowering cabbages nor will I be carol singing on the Prom. I will, however, be enjoying the wonderful Lakeland fells with their dusting of snow - what a sight - but from the warmth and comfort of the car.

What we should all be doing now, is not moaning about the credit crunch, agonising over Strictly Come Dancing's next evacuee or huffing and puffing at the price of mince pies. What we should be doing is looking out our gardening catalogues, getting out our graph paper and starting to plan the 2009 season.

On the website we will be running a series of garden design features with award winning designer Sarah Eberle - so take a look at the first one - get out those brochures - and enjoy. We might not be able to do much in the garden at the moment but we can take advantage of the breathing space to plan for the new season.

Stop Press: the news is full of the fact that someone thumped the swearing Elves and duffed-up Father Christmas - really, don't they have anything better to write about!