I love my garden. Especially at this time of year. But in the winter, I need reminding from time to time of just how pretty the garden can be. It still looks bare, and even though I am trying to address that with various little tricks here and there, English gardens will never look as good in the winter unless they are dedicated winter gardens - and that means fewer blousy summer flowers.

So to remember how good the summer garden looks, I’m going to have a number of pictures of the plot in its prime blown up and printed on canvas. I’ve found http://www.parrotprintcanvas.com which looks like the best site to do it on. I’m going to have a large canvas in my sitting room as well as a series of smaller ones around the house, too. Each one will feature a different flower or fruit in the garden.

So what are my favourite plants that I want to remember all the year around? Well, there are the lilies, which have been so prolific this year. I cannot capture their scent, but I can capture their beauty and that is wonderful enough.

extravaganza lily

And then there are the redcurrants, which have cropped astonishingly well this year, and which I hope will continue to thrill me with their little jewel berries for many years to come.

so many redcurrants

And the snowdrops, which are the pinpricks of light that tell me that the winter is almost over and that I needn’t despair. Snowdrops are the very antidote to despair and I love them and long for the first nodding bloom.

double snowdrop

And what about the little wild strawberries, which fruit so freely and really do melt on your tongue? These are another joy. Or the the pink-flowered, red-leaved Clematis montana. Or the rhubarb. Or the pelargoniums.

I think that really my greatest task will be ensuring that I don’t plaster every available wall in my house with photographs of flowers. There are so many to cherish.

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