"NATURE gives to every time and season some beauties of its own."
Charles Dickens may well have been referring to winter in the North East in this quote.
With frosty mornings and sunny days, and rainy days and nights – we are truly blessed.
Along with the gorgeous weather, we are lucky to have plants that flower and bring beauty to our gardens and landscapes.
Camellias can do well in many positions from full sun to part shade, and their delicate flowers bring colour and soft fragrance to wintery gardens.
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Another winter flowering favourite is Daphne – perfect for growing in terracotta pots.
Many Grevilleas flower through the winter as well, offering much needed nectar to birds and bees.
As do many varieties of Banksias and Hakeas, Thryptomene, Wax Flower, and Correas.
Some of the early Wattles have even started blooming – you can smell their sweet fragrance and see bursts of yellow as you walk through local bushland.
Veggie seedlings to plant in winter are onions and spring onions, lettuce and Asian greens.
You can shelter brassicas from frost and try to keep and even temperature in the surrounding soil with straw bales.
Look for crowns of asparagus and rhubarb as well as raspberry canes.
If you aren't planting veggies over winter, rest your beds.
Add organic matter such as aged manure and/or compost, you can even add a layer of newspaper to make sure that no weed seeds pop their head out while your back is turned.
The growing season is slower in winter so now is the best time to reduce the possible competition from weeds.
Mulch the top with pea straw to add nitrogen and improve your soil structure.
Let it rest over winter and by spring you should have a lovely rich place to plant your next crop.
Keep compost turning and heating.
You'll want the goodness ready to go for when time for your spring planting arrives.
Your compost should be moist and aerated.
If it is too wet then the microbes and goodness will rot rather than compost leaving you with a smelly, sour mess.
Ensure that you are adding the right ratios of greens (kitchen scraps, grass clippings, food waste) and browns (dried leaves, shredded paper, straw or hay, wood ash) and cover over in between adding and turning.
Clean out your shed, checking for expired poisons and aged fertilisers.
Sharpen and clean tools.
You can use methylated spirits and a rag to reduce the risk of your tools and cutting implements spreading disease.
Sand any wooden handles with fine sandpaper and rub linseed oil in with an old rag.
Clean leaves of indoor plants and ensure liquid fertiliser regime is kept up.
Also be sure to adjust the amount of watering appropriate to the needs of the plants.
If this all sounds like too much work for today then perhaps sipping a cup of hot tea while admiring your favourite plant is the best place to be.
