How can it possibly be nearly Christmas, this year has whizzed by in a flash its quite hard to believe. Winter is fully upon us but the sparkly lights of Christmas see us through the dark days until the winter solstice. To be honest thats my winter countdown, the countdown to the shortest day, to when we will start inch by inch seeing a bit more light each day. But I’m also mindful that I don’t want to wish time away, its so precious. So I’m just enjoying pulling the curtains across in the early evening and settling in with a book or catching up with some good series on TV (Slow Horses anyone? We have been loving that!) or watching films. Doing things I don’t always have time for in the summer when I just want to be in the garden. I’ve been sorting through my photos taken throughout the year (I take way too many), getting them a bit organised and remembering the sunny days.
We have started a new tradition, for the last couple of years I’ve been meeting up with two of my sisters and spending a relaxing morning making our Christmas wreaths. I reuse willow frames that I’ve made in previous years and we all have a forage in our gardens for foliage and seed heads and bring them all together and share it out. A bit of Christmas music on and some Christmas treats get us through and we forget about the spiky leaves of the holly. All the spare bits have brightened up the flower display in my garden.
I haven’t had much time to get in the garden, but thats fine at this time of year, the garden is settling into its quieter time too. There are still jobs I need to do but it mostly involves clearing leaves off the grass, cutting back where things have collapsed and are looking a bit messy. There are already signs of new growth in the garden from those winter stalwarts the hellebores. New flower buds and the Christmas rose is already in flower.
I’m keeping an eye on things in the greenhouse, we have had a few hard frosts now but all seems ok in there. I’ve learnt my lesson this year and moved my Pelargoniums and Aeoniums inside for the winter, I’ve lost them too many times now. I do try and open up the door on nicer days to keep the airflow moving in there. My sweet peas were getting a bit leggy so I’ve nipped the tops off those and also given them a water as they had got a bit dry. Careful watering is needed to give them enough to keep them healthy but not too much. The ranunculus are growing well and maybe need planting soon undercover like I did last year. The autumn sown annuals are OK, had the odd loss due to a rogue slug, but they will just grow quietly and slowly now.
Cornflowers
All Christmas shopping is done now so I can relax. Have you done yours? If you want any last minute ideas then here at Higgledy we have a couple of bundles that make perfect Christmas presents. They both contain 12 packets of seeds and are a nice mix of hardy and half hardy annuals, all the easy ones, a great mix of colours and many that are great for the bees. We have lots of information on blog and in the seed sowing guide for how to grow them next year.
Larkspur ‘Imperials’
Christmas Bundle 1 includes Larkspur ‘Imperials’, a fabulous mix of colours including a really vivid blue that go so well with some of the other blues in this collection. Cornflower ‘Blue Ball’, so reliable and easy to grow, Borage officinalis beloved by bees for its plentiful nectar supply. Another great one for the bees is Phacelia, such an unusual flower and super easy to sow directly into the soil. Nigella ‘Oxford Blue’ another glorious blue and Nigella is another great one for direct sowing. The seed heads on Nigella extend its season and usefulness as a cutflower.
Calendula ‘Ice Maiden’
Combine these blues with the subtle pale yellow, almost white, Calendula ‘Ice Maiden’ or the frothy white of Ammi majus and you have some lovely soft colours or add a bit of zing from Dill ‘Mammoth’, a acid green flower thats great as a filler in bouquets and smells so sweet. Then we have some lovely pink tones from Cosmos ‘Fizzy Rose’ (I celebrated the joys of Cosmos in my last blogpost) and Godetia ‘Crown’, such a great cut flower that is much loved by us here at Higgledy.
Cosmos ‘Fizzy Rose’
Snapdragon ‘Lucky Lips’ adds some great spikes for your garden or arrangements and goes beautifully with Cosmos ‘Fizzy Rose’. To add some movement and textures to both your borders or your posies then Briza is fabulous, it will self seed but that means once you sow it once you don’t need to again!
Christmas Bundle 2 includes again a nice mixture of vibrant colours and cooler shades. Chrysanthemum ‘Rainbow Hippy Lovechild’ such a cheery annual that mingles and mixes well with so many other flowers.
Cerinthe
Cerinthe a great flower for adding great foliage for your bouquets and always buzzing with bees. We have included a few white flowers to add some lightness, Nigella ‘Alba’, as I said above a great easy annual for direct sowing, Ammi visnaga, one of my favourite filler flowers and Cosmos ‘Purity’, such a long lasting cutflower and brilliant cut and come again crop in your cutting patch.
We have another Cornflower ‘Black Ball’ this time with dark almost black flowers that looks great with some of the zingy shades like Malope trifida ‘Vulcan’, Rudbeckia ‘Marmalade’ or Nicotiana ‘Lime’ or the sumptuous grand dame of the flower garden Amaranthus ‘Red’, read more about this drama queen here. 
Amaranthus red with sunflowers
Salvia ‘Oxford Blue’ is one of my most long lasting flowers in my cutting garden and such a great filler for arrangements and posies.
Salvia ‘Oxford Blue’ with Larkspur and sweet peasFinally the famous Scabiosa ‘Ping Pong’ a real talking point in the garden, not really for its flower which is is a lovely pale blue, but more for its seed heads which are just a joy.
Anyway we think the bundles are a lovely mixture of flowers and would make great presents. Last chance to order now until 15th December at Midnight (Ben likes to be a bit dramatic) then we can make sure they are delivered to you before Christmas. Free Christmassy gift tags too!
Wishing you all a lovely Christmas time and hope Santa brings you lots of flowery presents.
Higgledy Anne
(I’m on Instagram anne_hinks if you fancy a follow, I’ve also joined Bluesky Anne Hinks)