Happy New Year

Happy New Year – and let’s hope it’s a wonderful one for all of us.

I greet January with a mixture of relief and hope. Hope for all the possibilities ahead and relief that the grey, dull, dark days of November and December have now gone. The days are lengthening – albeit minute by minute to begin with but now suddenly everything seems possible. Snowdrops are poking their noses through the leaf litter and birdsong is gradually getting louder. This is not to say there might be bad weather possible – ice, snow and storms, but there is hope….

The longer I garden the more I am made aware that the number of birds in the garden is as good a measure of its health than anything else. If a garden can attract lots of bird life, it must also be rich in seeds and insects in which they need to thrive.

I get huge pleasure from watching the birds here at Columbine. We put out food by the drawing room window and it is a perfect chance to observe them in a way that is almost impossible when I am working in the garden. I am entranced and feeding the birds – any birds in winter gives me such delight. Which reminds me writing this – I must put out a shallow dish of fresh water for them.

This garden is as full of birds as it is plants and I relish this, both for their presence and all the benefits they bring to the garden.