Sacha writes

I think it's so interesting to see what's going on all over the place,
really. This is a 3 acre garden which to some is large and to others is
merely a starter plot!

It all depends where you're looking at things from, doesn't it! Most
urban gardeners think I have a huge garden, but it's not even a quarter
of yours!

But what we have in flower in the garden now are not 'plantsman's'
plants, I think.

No indeed - think that's a bit what I'm getting at. My winter plants
are bog standard reliable winter flowerers, planted because we always
have a cold, damp, dark winter, and they are doing their normal stuff.
Other years, people have commented on all sorts of things which have
been in flower, and have produced long lists of things. This year, have
you been cut back to the basics? What are the things you would have
hoped would be in flower and which are not?

Maybe the fishtail Camellia is unusual but it's still a Camellia.
Everything else is pretty standard fare, I think.

There's degrees of standard! Rosemarinus marenca, Mahonia bealei, Correa
backhousiana, Cestrum parquii,Fuchsia excorticata are not quite as
standard as winter jasmine, Viburnum bodnantense, Prunus subhirtella.

I think that could well be the case. It's been a lot colder a lot earlier here.

We've had more snow than is usual this side of Christmas, but we have
certainly had December snow in several of the last 10 years. Frosts have
been getting later and later, but we still have seen the first frost
before Christmas each year. Although we have been going down to about
-6, that is not at all unusual, nor is it unusual for the ponds to be
frozen. What has been unusual is that the ponds have now been frozen
continuously for almost 3 weeks.
--
Kay