Some readers may remember occasional bulletins with pictures of my parents' garden in Willaston in Cheshire in England. This is what it looked like in the summer.

You can see more photos of the garden in summer in a past posting called A Garden is a Lovesome Thing, God Wot. Now, visiting this past December it looks very different. Because this is an herbacious border planted predominantly with perennials, which die back in winter and then regrow from roots and tubas in the spring. I can remember when I was young seeing everything cut to the ground in the autumn. However, the garden in Willaston looks like this.

When I asked my dad, if he was planning to cut everthing back at some time, he told me that he was in no hurry. He felt that the dead stalks and flower heads had a different sort of beauty and so would leave it until they start to shoot again in the early spring.

So even in winter there a beauty to this, and it can be enjoyed provided you can view it from the warmth of being indoors - in the conservatory with large glass windows.

 

and here is the summer view

and back to winter again....the sages retain some greenness even at this time of year.