Advertisement ::

Enlarge Cartoon

Magic! The most beautiful snowfall has landed on the Swiss Alps, wonderful from the fast-shifting clouds at dawn to the piercing blue sky behind white peaks. Most people look up and think "skis!"

View of Vercorin, Valais above the frosted trees.

 My first reaction on opening the shutters this morning, seeing the light drift over my snow-covered garden from farmer Bernard’s barn was "Oh that’s good, the plants are snuggled down under for the winter now." My family is used to what they consider this odd reaction to snow.

But this kind of weather is in fact wonderful for the garden: not too cold, a layer of sloooowly melting damp, protection from chilly winds and frost.

Some plants and small creatures are happier indoors now. In October I moved a few plants in because I know from experience they won’t cope with temperatures below 5C. They were hit by a light frost and some of them looked like they might not recover. My greatest fear was for a beautiful plant, a duranta repens "Geisha Girl," which refused to bloom all summer on the veranda, thanks to our perversely cold and rainy weather. I worried that I had pruned it too hard or that maybe it simply can’t cope with Alpine weather. Last weekend it began to bloom indoors and today I have the joy of seeing its delicate purple flowers against the snowy backdrop of the garden outside.

I also found a little garden insect, just millimetres long, who decided the door of my refrigerator is the place to be. He has a view of the garden, just as I do, but he seems to prefer the indoor temperature. Understandable.

The happiest garden-brought-indoors bit is my dried flowers, herbs such as oregano, and grasses, which give me enormous pleasure every morning and evening when I turn on the lamp next to them, and which will last all winter.

You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.