Kiwi trimmed

A beautiful day but everything is frozen. A good chance to trim the kiwi. Can one trim a kiwi in January? I hope I am not doing any harm. After two hours of chopping and cleaning up a small dent is made. It doesn't grow over this side of the balcony anymore, now the other two sides!!

The pond is still frozen, the last four nights it has still been freezing, -3 degrees. But the yellow winter violets keep on going, since last october when I planted these.

Banana trees are down

The banana trees have not fared well with the frost. They are complete mash.

I was looking back at our first pictures of the garden, last May, and noticed I couldnt'see the banana trees either, so perhaps this is what they do every year?

In the fall I watched the BBC, where they showed how you should wrap them in stro. But then the previous owner told me she had never done that. So, well, I thought I would see if the thing is capable of dealing with our winters and otherwise give up on the idea of banana trees.

Lots of people (Frank, my mother) have commented last fall how much character the banana trees bring to the garden. So, from that respect it is a pity the banana tree is down.

In fall I had also tried to dig out some of the smaller new shoots, but it was impossible to dig them out without damage. So they died.

The picture on the left is from April 2008, last April. No banana trees!!??

Winter - Snow drops

I nearly stepped on these snow drops. I am exploring the back of the garden. I still want to use this area much more usefull, and in the winter it is easier to go around.

I want to put a lot of white and yellow stuff here, so it catches the eye. Snow drops are white, but to say that they catch the eye??

They are so pristine, no damage and after the -10° we have had! It is just as if they like the real cold!

Rose in ice

It is -10° at night, but the roses are still standing. After this they will surely quickly rot away, but I am very happy I didn't cut them down in fall. Each time I take the stairs in the house, I see them and point them out to little Ces.