Snow is a rare sight over here, many decades ago we had much more snow as it was a lot colder in Winter. Usually it melts the same day. I took a few pictures in my garden this morning but most of the snow is gone now but there is fresh snow on the way, it could be just a little bit but it can be quite a lot, we’ll see tomorrow. I would have loved to go outside and on the street but there was ice under the snow so it was dangerous, I didn’t want to risk my new knee.
Our beech hedge was covered in snow on the top.
My viburnum bodnantense was covered in pink blooms as we had a very soft Autumn, then all of a sudden the temperatures dropped to -6 C° overnight.
A view in the garden.
A few of my pots covered in snow.
A few of my plant tables.
I took all these pictures from the backdoor as the patio looked like a frozen lake.
Take care ! And enjoy your garden if you live in a warm climate.
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It is definitly Autumn now although the temperatures are still above normal. We had a LOT of rain and part of my country is under water. There are still a lot of leafs on the trees.
There is not much to see in my garden, I still have a few flowers, roses and fuchsia’s and my Skimmia Kew Green has many buds who are waiting for Spring.
Skimmia Kew Green has white flowers and normally it has green buds this time of the year but the buds are already white now. This shrub is by far the prettiest thing that I have in my garden at the moment.
My fig tree looks ugly at the moment, it needs a good cut but the best time to cut off branches of a fig tree is between Christmas and New Year if it is not freezing.
As you can see it is still full of figs, alas they won’t ripe anymore as for figs it is too cold.
Another view of my figs.
I cut my fig three down really hard every year as I don’t have the space to let it grow like it normally grows but each year it gives me a lot of juicy figs. And the birds in the garden loves them too. I just can’t keep them off.
Russian vine or Fallopia Baldschuanica is a climber but it grows about 10 meters (390 inches) a year and every little shoot or branch that hits the ground forms a new plant so before you know it it will have taken over your whole garden, your heges and trees included. I have it in my garden cos my husband needs it for his birds, he gives them fresh leafs every day, and it gives beautiful flowers. In Winter it looks completely dead.
I took some pictures to show you what I mean.
This is the culprit I am talking about, you can see it here in bloom growing on top of my beech hedge.
The flowers here are already over the top, it is late October now, normally the flowers look more like white plumes.( see picture above)
Here you can see it forms a new plant.
This is a view of the aviary that is completely covered by the russian vine, when the leafs are gone my husband cuts all the wood down to a few inches but in Spring it comes back to life and GROWS !!! I think I can say it is invasive !!!
Once you have it in your garden it is hard to get rid of.
Last week I went to the zoo in Antwerp, it is a small zoo as it is in the middle of the city center and very old so they can’t make it bigger than it is now. And as small gardens is what I can manage I thought this was the perfect place for a bit of enjoyment. And it was but it was too big for me, fortunately they had many resting area’s and banks all over the place so I could sit down regularly. The sun was shining and it was a beautiful day.
Fauntains are always attractive, especially on a warm sunny day.
This plant caught my eye, I had never seen it before but thanks to wikipedia I found out what it was. It is called palm cabbage ; brassica oleracea var.palmifolia. It is also called Winter cabbage. It is bi-annual , winterhardy and edible. It is an ancient vegetable. In the zoo garden they used it between the flowers and it looked very pretty.
This is a cute South-African penguin called ; Blackfeet penguin, they love warmth and water and they are thriving in the zoo.
This big bird looked like a statue, I haven’t got a clue what it is called.
Huge marabou, ugli but impressive.
Crane bird.
Meercat, they had several but they are always on the move. It is very pleasant to observe them.
By far my favorite animals ; monkeys !!! Unfortunally you can’t interact with them as they were all behind glas to protect them from getting illnesses from the visitors.
Spider monkey
As this zoo is very old they have a lot of huge tree’s. This one is a platane.
This is a close up of the trunck of the platane.
A koala, they look so cuddly.
This plant was in the green house, I was amased by the dimention of the leafs.
Sweet love between this 2 young gorilla’s.
Reflection in the water of the penguins.
Unfortunately it was too late in the year to capture all the flowers, normally you have flowers every where.
They had art all over the zoo. This bronze baboon was made by Jaap Klaas (1898-1972).
This icebear was created by Erwin Peeters (1964)
There were lots of other animals but in the end I had to rest, I found myself a nice shady place near the spider monkeys and I told my husband he could go alone and see more animals, so he did.
I know it’s been a while since I posted something here but I have been busy making jam from the fruit in my garden. And lots of other things too as I finally am able to do my job after my operation. Also my camera broke down and I have a new one but I have to learn how to work with it. It is completely different from the other one. The manuel my husband printed for me is a 5 cm thick book on A4 format and printed on both sides……… I haven’t got very far yet !!
This was taken a few weeks ago, every thing was still green and lush.
My roses have done really well this year, most of them have rosebottles now and are turning orange but this tiny part of my rambler showed a few last roses. Rosa Seagull.
My Verbena bonariensis did well too this Summer, they are still in bloom.
Hibiscus siriacus flower.
Fuchsia magellanica, a winterhardy fuchsia, I have several bushes in my garden, they always bloom as if there is no tomorrow, such a gem in the garden.
My other fuchsia’s did well too, these ones go in the garage where it doesn’t freeze.
GWENNIESGARDENWORLD 
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