A little joy in January!

They look lovely - very promising Kate! I have just bought a Viburnum bodnantense for its fragrance, and am looking for a Sarcococca …

Gosh, we need some joy at the moment, don't we Kate? The weather is dismal (as usual) and for all the obvious reasons we could do with some cheering up. Not much sign of that on the horizon, I'm afraid.. January is always the hardest month to get through, but the light is increasing so that's a chink of joy.
Love your choices, especially the pines. There must be something catching: we bought home a holly yesterday, mainly for the birds: Ilex aquifolium bacciflava (yellow berries). It will have to go in a pot for the moment.
Chin up, we're halfway through the month!

Thank you, Sheila! I now recall you saying you’d bought this viburnum variety! It’s a very pretty flowering one and the added bonus of fragrance! I’ve 2 viburnum, one in the front garden and one up on the bund hill. They’re both the Tinus variety. I do hope you find a Sarcocca you like too! Fingers crossed 🤞

We definitely need some joy and a little bit of something to look forward to, Ange. I always get itchy feet for the garden in mid January…and as you say, it’s getting lighter week by week. I don’t mind cosy nights in and having the fire on…but, I soon start thinking about spring and trying to rush it along!!! Thank heavens for my Yoga classes and soon to be doing Pilates too. It’s just so cold isn’t it!
Thanks for liking the new purchases! We thought at least we can see how they look in winter at the GC! Felt optimistic that they will survive through the the years!
Your Holly sounds a good buy! The birds will love it too! The yellow beefy variety is a nice change too.
We have a standard Holly, Ange. It has sadly never flourished..it puts on berries, but the leaf growth is sparse at best. OH moved it, so we shall see.
Yes, chin up and let’s keep positive, spring is just around the corner! 🤗

So glad your shopping spree gave you so much pleasure and cheered you up in this grimmest (is that even a word?!) of months.
We have just created an order for Parker’s for a few plants to go in by our pond. That was fun looking forward to when they will arrive and it managed to cheer me up too!!

Thanks Chris! It definitely cheered me up, maybe not OH so much!!! I had him traipsing round outside until I found what ‘we’ wanted!
Grimmest is definitely a word, Chris! It seems very apt too, sounds like we’re all feeling the same about January. It’s almost a ‘limbo’ period after New Years and before Spring awakens!
Sounds like you’ve a project ahead ordering new pond plants. I can almost feel your excitement! One of my patients was showing me his catalogue and what he’d ordered the other day - he was quite excited about his choices and showing me where they’d eventually be planted! I guess January can be a month to plan for spring and the year ahead!

Klahanie, you’ll be counting down the hours until the doors reopen! I know of some smaller garden outlet centres that close for a few months during winter. Here, they are usually the ones minus a café or restaurant and or gift shops.
I’m pleased you like my little pine, I spotted this one first. It was the last of this type they had. I’ve a couple up on the bund and one in the garden under the canopied juniper -I’m not sure which one it is, I can’t recall. I just know it a bluish grey with pink pine cones.
I’m trying to build up a background of evergreens. However, I will buy more bedding/annuals again as I found they added so much colour last summer, which had been lacking in my little patch!

Lovely New plants Kate! And ones you won't really have to fuss over either..:) Yes we will have to adapt our gardens to accommodate the changing climate. After the heat of last summer and the way my garden had coped, I'm sad that my bright pink Donna Hebe succumbed to the low temps of a few weeks ago. It must be at least 5 years old. Strangely the two hydrangeas I planted in my raised bed at the end of last summer have new leaves burgeoning, I do hope they're still alive by the time spring comes..

I am just looking for different perennials at the moment as I have no more room for shrubs.
IT is great going to a garden centre just to get out for a while but the ones near us, the plants don't seem to have much appeal about them.

I buy loads of conifers love them

Thanks again, everyone. I do agree, Rose, some GC's are lovely and filled with fab specimens. Others, well, they can have a real poor looking, not very well cared for selection.
I thought about you, Paul. I remember you used to be called, Iloveconifers. 😊

The Whipcord is a very graceful conifer , - is itr a mugo mops pine too ?

Kate,

They’ll look very cheerful in the cold months there. It’s nice to have plants that are evergreen and growing in winter.😄

Thanks Paul, yes you're right! All planted out recently and looking good 👍

Thank you, Andy. They definitely do add some evergreen cheer over this side of the pond! Just what was needed, a little structure and colour!