A little bit of magic

73 comments.

We all need a touch of magic in our lives now and again. I’ve been feeling really fed up about the state of my garden. I’ve not had the energy to tidy it up, or even to think about what to do with it this year. But today it snowed, and suddenly I was in love in all over again.

Garden In Snow

A sprinkling of snow and all the pots that should have been tidied up, all the plants that should have been cut back, are transformed. My garden made me smile again.

Snowy Leaves

Leaves edged in white turn otherwise dull evergreens into pieces of living sculpture.

Snowy Chair

Even old garden chairs become interesting.

Sitting here, typing this, I can hear the shrieks of excited children outside, getting cold noses and fingers and not caring – at least until later. I hope that you get a little bit of magic in your life today too.

Snowy Irises

73 Comments


  1. Looks truly “seasonal”. That’s how Winter SHOULD look. We’ve got off lightly so far – though I personally reckon the seasons have slipped a bit and that maybe we ought now to consider Winter to consist of Feb, March and April.


    1. Hi Mark, I found it curiously comforting to finally get a touch of winter, after the long cold December we had in 2010 this “winter” has been distinctly odd! I hope by April it is warming up again though, I’m ready for lots of new seedlings etc by then…


  2. Hi Janet,

    Why is snow always so exciting? It somehow not only brings out the child inside, it also manages to spread a touch of magic! Amazing stuff :)

    No pretty photos here, the snow started too late and hadn’t begun to settle on plants yet- it was on the ground though. I’m actually hoping it will be gone tomorrow and actually it’s supposed to turn to rain here overnight so we’re expecting ice in the morning. Not too sure which is the better scenario actually…………….

    Anyway, I hope you enjoy your weekend and I look forward to more photos :D


    1. Hi Liz. It really does bring out the inner child, doesn’t it! Hope you get some lovely icicles tomorrow. Not sure what we will have, I’d love some hoar frost but I think it is unlikely… Enjoy your weekend, whatever weather you end up with!


      1. I’m just hoping we get the rain we were promised to get rid of the snow… I’m dreading it if it sticks around into Monday. We’ve more than I expected after looking at forecasts at around 5cm, perhaps a little more but that’s still more than I’m comfortable with. Perhaps 2cm and I wouldn’t be too worried.


        1. Is that because you have to drive? I hate driving in snow, much better to look out at it if you don’t have to go anywhere.


          1. Yep, I have to drive to work and live on a steep hill so am not looking forward to getting to the bottom! Wouldn’t mind so much if I worked in the city centre and could walk to catch a bus but I work out of town and would need two buses to get to work.
            Cleared a path down the road for cars to drive up and down but the road we connect to isn’t cleared so I’m still stressing over getting off our hill! Eeeek.


  3. Like the best of love affairs Janet – our gardens have us either besotted with them or completely out of sorts. Snow makes everything look so different and is indeed as you say quite magical. I like your bowl of irises ~ mine had not quite opened when I looked at them this morning. None of the white stuff here but sleet/rain which combined with the low temperature has coated everywhere with twinkling icicles which have their own magic too.


    1. Hi Anna, I like your love affair analogy, spot on. Twinkling icicles sounds like it almost makes up for sleet, which I hate, I must admit. My irises seem to be flowering for a long time this year, so hopefully yours will too when they wake up.


  4. Glad your garden has made you smile today :-) The snow does have a certain ‘charm’ about it but after a couple of days the charm fades and we want it to disappear! Your irises look so bright and cheery!


    1. I know, we’re never satisfied with the weather, are we Alison! Hope your garden charms you this week.


  5. Gardens always look tidy under snow don’t they. Someone once said they liked the snow as it was the only time their allotment plot looked as good as everyone elses!


    1. Hi Sue, I rather relate to that allotment comment, mine must look pretty awful at the moment. I’m grateful for any help I can get!!


  6. Snow? What snow? I like a bit but we haven’t got any yet. To much sea round about. Maybe to morrow. In the meantime. I shall enjoy yours, Janet


    1. All gone now, just grey and wet again. It was nice while it lasted though – and I am happy to share!


  7. Your post makes me smile! A year ago today we had snow and it was magical! Lovely how our gardens are always surprising us and bringing us joy even when we think there is none left in it. Love the lines of the chair and snow.


    1. Hi Cat, delighted I made you smile, and that you liked the chair pic. I was pleased with it, its the kind of shot that often doesn’t work as well in practice as it does in your head.


  8. Aha, good thing it wasn’t all cut back and tidied up! This way you have loads of winter interest! Great photo opps, too. I’m glad the snow has you smiling–it does have a way of brightening everything up. Cheers!


    1. Isn’t it! My laziness was rewarded. Mind you, now that the snow has all melted again it is far less attractive…


  9. We had a good sprinkling too yesterday. I know what you mean about it transforming the garden. I hate the soggy, damp and drab look my garden takes on in January and February. Too much soil on display but then the snow falls and everything looks beautiful. Well it was nice while it lasted. It has all gone here today. Still I don’t mind I really do just want to get out and start doing things now. Impatience is building !!! Those Iris look beautiful by the way.


    1. I think February is that kind of month, you start champing at the bit, wanting to get on with things, but it is still (usually) too cold and too wet to do much of anything except daydream and sow a few tomato seeds.


  10. The snow gives a nice covering to those parts of the garden that are a little neglected at this time of year. We had a couple of cm down here and I’m already over it, just want it to warm up a little so I can start sowing!


    1. I know, it is hard not to be impatient at this time of year isn’t it!


  11. magical, we haven’t any but did 2 months ago in early December, it didn’t stay long, my cousin’s daughter is in Mallorca and has snow!! glad you are smiling, the snow does cover the dreary, keep warm, Frances


    1. Hi Frances, it is back to grey and dreary again today, I shall have to content myself with looking back at the photos. Snow in Mallorca?! That’s mad!


  12. We have had more than a sprinkling here – more like 6in. but you are right, even though the snow is a pain – it does transform the garden into something magical.


    1. Mmm, 6in is getting rather inconvenient. Hope you don’t have to go anywhere in it.


  13. Very pretty Janet. Our snow finally arrived late last night and today is just wet and patchy slush. The chickens are very un-impressed (as am I).

    Dave


    1. Hi Dave, poor chickens. And poor you! Slush is so dreary, I’d rather have rain, I think. Its really warmed up again today, here at least, all very confusing. I’ve heard frogs arriving to spawn too, they’d better watch out, they could get frozen in place if the cold snap returns next week as forecast. I really should have emptied the pond by now, will just have to leave it until much later in the year after all.


  14. Thank goodness winter has arrived at last, here in Devon we just about managed a flurry os snowflakes for a couple of hours but that was it! back to being much warmer now. Gardens do look lovely don’t they with their duvet of snow, your lovely Iris are really stunning, they make such a contrast with the snow.


    1. Hi Pauline, our own little burst of winter was pretty much that too, back to much warmer and just dreary damp greyness. I just hope the cold snap was enough for those plants and seeds that need cold to break dormancy – or to convince them to rest!


  15. Truly beautiful! And the pot of Dutch irises blanketed in snow – magical. My garden could sure use a sprinkling of snow to soften the stark bleakness!


    1. Hi Indie, thanks for dropping by. The snow was very magical – while it lasted! Hope spring relieves your bleakness soon.


  16. The garden looks lovely when sprinkled with icing sugar like that! It does make the garden look magical. Those Irises look so beautiful and delicate but they must be tough as old boots to flower at this time of year!


    1. Hi Annie, not looking so pretty now, the snow has melted away and I am confronted with the untidiness again. Hoping to cut back the hellebore leaves so that at least there will be flowers amidst the mess!


  17. We had some of that white magic last night Janet. Woke up with the garden looing bright and white! Our cat absolutely loved it too and saw so many snowmen today :)


    1. I bet your wonderful architectural plants look particularly smart with a dusting of snow. Cats seem to be a divided species when it comes to snow, some hate it. Glad you have one who knows how to play even when it is cold!


    1. Thanks Christine, now that the snow has gone again it looks as if the irises are finished too, so I am glad I captured that perfect moment. They are all too fleeting at this time of year!


  19. The snow does add it own beauty to the garden and your little snow covered iris is a really pretty image.


    1. Thanks Donna, I did enjoy the spot of magic, all the more precious for being so fleeting.


  20. How pretty! I love that last photo! A dusting of snow is all we could hope for here, though once in a rare while we may get more. Likely this year there will be none. We already have so many blooms, I hope we just skip winter and have an extra long spring!


    1. Hi Deb, how lovely to have lots of flowers already. I have to admit I rather like winter, proper winter, I like the pause before the excitment of Spring starts up the cycle again. Enjoy your garden!


  21. Oh, isn’t that BEAUTIFUL – I’m not surpassed you’ve fallen in love with it again, and those delicious little Iris reticulatas… gorgeous in the snow.

    No snow here, just rain. Or maybe that should be mist. Bleagh, anyway.


    1. Hi Kate, sorry its bleagh up your way – if it is any comfort, it has been here too, ever since the snow melted again. Warm though, and loads of new shoots popping up in amongst the damp leaf litter.


  22. Our snow has not been beautiful at all! The wind howls and makes deep drifts of the frozen snow and I can only look from inside, Christina


    1. Hi Christina, how sad, I think if you are going to be inconvenienced by snow the least it can do is make it all look magical as well!


  23. Nothing like a dusting of snow to highlight the good things in life… beautiful!


    1. Exactly!


  24. I wonderful dusting, looks like icing sugar. Here on the south coast we had no snow, although it was blowing in the wind on Friday evening. It really does transform everything doesn’t it?

    Thank you btw for visiting my blog on several occasions and taking the time to leave comments, very much appreciated and my apologies for not responding sooner.


    1. Hi Ronnie, no apologies necessary, we all get behind, I’ve learned that it is still always nice to get comments, even weeks after posting, so I am more relaxed about being late myself.

      I must admit I am missing the snow now, it all looks rather bleak and untidy out there at the moment, despite having cut some of the worst of the straggly stuff back!


  25. Looking at blogs from across the sea, will likely be as close as I get to snow this winter.


    1. Hi Les, I must admit that one of the things I really enjoy about reading blogs from all over is the chance to do some virtual travel and visit weather and landscapes very different to my own. I’d still rather live close to water myself, but in the mean time your blog helps! The least I can do is share the occasional smattering of snow in return…


  26. I love a dusting of snow…sometimes. ;-) Love those dwarf irises in the container in the snow, very cute.


    1. A dusting is just about right, isn’t it, not enough to really get in the way of life, but still transformational. I have no idea why, but the irises are flowering for much longer this year, they must enjoy the occasional cold snap.


  27. Magic indeed. Our dusting of snow was very shortlived here, and we didn’t have much opportunity to enjoy it. Glad that you had a little sparkle back in your garden.


    1. I’m missing the sparkle now, I must admit, all the unrelieved grey gets to you after a while! Role on the riot of colour from the daffs and crocuses, mine are just starting to poke up above the leaf litter.


  28. Amazing what a transformation a little snow can make! Your garden looks beautiful, especially the pot of iris dusted with snow.


    1. Thank you Rose, it is all back to looking scruffy again now, but at least the irises are still flowering!


  29. True enough Janet, we do all need a touch of magic now and then. I have noticed in the past perennials which look awful in late November can have a charm about them by the time February comes around, I am often in too much of a hurry to tidy up. Your tub of Iris looks happy enough despite the snow, still haven’t had any this year, plenty a few miles inland though.


    1. Hi Alistair, I think that might be it for the snow for us this year, quite a contrast to last year. I must admit that tend to leave things a lot longer than many people before cutting back, not least to provide the insects etc. with places to hide. It is always to find ladybirds nestling in the undergrowth even in February. It all gets a bit much even for me by this time of year though, so if we do get another dusting there won’t be as much for it to settle on!


  30. So that’s why we have snow Janet- to brush all the wintry mess under the carpet! And sugar ice the potted delicacies. Wish the housework disappeared with the same magic.


    1. Absolutely – and my indoor equivalent is to have piles of books and magazines liberally distributed, it disguises so many housewifely shortcomings, and I have many, many of those… Mind you, the advent of the Kindle is making this harder to achieve.


  31. I’m not keen on snow but it certainly does add a touch of magic to a garden! Flighty xx


    1. Hi Flighty. A little bit of snow when you don’t have to go out in it is rather magical – though I think that might have been it for this year. xx


  32. Despite your idea that the garden isn’t tidy enough right now, I think your pictures show a very beautiful and real garden. I absolutely love the first photo. I’m glad it gave you the boost you needed!


    1. Thank you, I can handle “real” – just as I am no super model always perfectly turned out, so my garden isn’t the kind of place you would find featured in a glossy magazine spread, but it is mine, even when no longer sprinkles with the magic of a light snow covering.


  33. oh my, the irises covered in snow are lovely. The blooms probably are done now but great job capturing that moment on camera. I think sometimes we need breaks from our gardens to do something else. Usually in fall it starts to lose its lustre for me but after a couple months break the garden begins to call again.


    1. Hi Marguerite, amazingly enough the irises are still flowering, though no longer covered in snow, that melted very quickly. I know what you mean about needing a break from the garden and gardening, although normally by this point I am getting all excited about the plans for the coming year. I think knowing we plan to move is part of the reason for my feeling of disconnect.


  34. It’s been interesting reading back through your comments and seeing the various reactions to the snow. I thought our sprinkling of snow last weekend might have been all we’d get this year but we had another, heavier snowfall on Thursday night. I thought it had melted then saw the open expanse of Hampstead Heath yesterday – it looked like Christmas! The light was beautiful, a real antidote to the grey slush we had earlier this week.
    very interested to read your comment on my blog about the headless snowmen, I hadn’t heard about that. I think that’s very mean! (And rather pointless … )


    1. Hi Caro, the heath must have looked rather magical covered in snow. I do love the light you get when there is that carpet of white everywhere – provided I don’t have to drive anywhere! We haven’t had any snow since, back to mostly dull grey leaden skies, which do nothing to boost the spirits. Mind you, the glint of snowdrops and a hint of crocuses helps leaven the gloom…


  35. Love the snow (well for a while anyway) as I had the perfect weed-free plot all nice and tidy……….for a few hours!


    1. Ah yes, the heaven of a weed free plot – or plots, in your case, being a glutton for punishment!

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