It is unusual for us at this time of year to be able to see green in the garden. It is usually brown and white with the exception of the conifers we may have chosen to plant. I never liked conifers much in my early days of gardening but I have learned to appreciate their winter colour, shapes, textures and decorative cones.

Today however December 10th, there was plenty of green to be seen. Our sporadic falls of snow this autumn have mostly come and gone with each sprinkling. We have yet to have a typical big dump of snow. In the fifty years we have lived in this Rocky Mountain Trench, we have yet to experience a really green Christmas but with the changes we continue to experience, you never know! There is certainly plenty of snow on the mountain peaks and passes but we would like more snow down at this elevation of 3000ft. The ski hills are just itching to get going. It seems in recent years our December snowfall is lot more unpredictable.

With the edge of the grass showing green, I decided to do a garden walkabout to see what else had held its chlorophyll longer than usual. To my surprise the Fall Asters still had some green leaves, the Yucca by the house was looking very healthy, the furry Magnolia ‘Star’ buds are hanging in and the Hellebore leaves look great under the shrubs, making it feel quite temperate.

A mixture of green leaves showing how tough Cranesbills really are. I hope you can spot them. Dianthus leaves and the chocolate flake bark of Kolwitzia, Hellebores and Miscanthus.

I also took a peek at the Hyacinth bulbs I planted to provide January and February colour in the house, when it most definitely will be very white outside. Their roots look great and typically had pushed some of the bulbs up and out of their growing medium. I added some moss, gently adjusted them and gave them all a drink, before putting them back in the cold dark box in the garage.  

One of the beauties of living in this climate is that winter can give us a real rest from the garden. The down side is that come spring, especially at my age, the muscles have forgotten how to do the work!  I can never totally forget the garden over winter however as this is the time to plan. As I mentioned previously I will spend some of the coldest months talking about garden design but I don’t want to start until after Christmas as, for many of us, our thoughts at this time are given over to the festive season.

I am not the only one to tramp about the garden in the snow.  Squirrel makes his daily trips to the peanut house. Birds are less frequent visitors at the moment but the deer are not. One slept at the base of our front steps last night and its body print in the thin layer of snow can be clearly seen. I have a collection of species roses in the front garden and they are skeletons of their former selves thanks  to the deer. For years I have managed to keep them going with regular sprays of Bobbex but unfortunately I think they are quickly coming to the end of their lives because I cannot keep up with these ungulate beasts. I have a broom ready on my deck but they now just find me highly amusing as I thrash around like a Dickens character trying to bid them farewell. They just stare eye to eye and then settle down for a nap. They are just waiting for an opportunity to get into the fenced back garden where a feast awaits. Deer are our biggest garden pests in this part of the world and one of the first questions asked always about a plant is, “Is it deer proof?”

Sleeping destination , neighbour’s garden and no fear, wishful thinking through the fence.

 If you are planning a new garden or wish to make changes in the spring, this a fabulous time to just view some image eye candy, peruse the seed catalogues on line, think about your garden’s genius and dream.

For me, taking a walk around my semi snowy garden was a treat not usually a common occurrence at this time of year.