The November Cutting Garden has never been better. The fading colours wrap around the garden forming a blanket of sorts. Everything feels soft but with a deep richness, you can feel the Earth pulling the plants downwards. Its not an overnight transformation like previous years but a slow gentle process easing into winter. Its a pleasure to witness.
There are always life lessons to be learnt from the garden. This time of year I panic. I want winter workshops to be filled asap. The garden is telling me to soften, I need to trust myself as much as I trust the Earth to know what to do. There is a pressure, I can feel it building, to make Christmas count. Outside in the cutting beds these pressures disappear. Tasks such as raking leaves and planting bulbs become so much more than jobs to tick off a list. They provide peace in a frantic world.
Getting in the beds and seeing the first glimpses of next years flowers gives hope. They are reminders that all seasons will be what they’ll be, just be there and be surprised.
I love working out in the garden at this time of year. Over worked areas start to reveal themselves as the flowers clear. The raised cutting beds need serious repair. After five years of heavy use, the scaffolding planks are rotting away. Some need cutting down, others (all) need strengthening at the edges. Now is a good time to review what space has worked and maybe look at space you could use for more flowers next year. The ability to create change each year always brings me back outside.
Sound the klaxon! Tulips are going in. Next year I want the beds to feel more wild. The cosmos have finished first so I’m planting tulips where they were. Next Spring I want my tulips in patches rather than giving them big swathes of dedicated cutting bed space.
As tulips are expensive, I’m keeping my supplier to myself. Search ‘tulip bulbs‘ and a huge list of suppliers will come up. Usually at this time of year there are some great deals to be had. I tend to choose a colour palette I want to work with for the Spring but go with what you love. Orange tulips are my personal favourite I always add at least one type every year.
I garden on heavy clay, I find planting tulips in big pots or crates is a safe bet to stop them rotting. I lost over 600 bulbs in my first year as the garden where I planted them flooded. Now I put them in my cutting beds but only where I know the ground doesn’t get too saturated.
Bulbs are such a great introduction to gardening, If you haven’t planted any before I urge you to do so. They are low risk and provide such delight at the end of winter. You can see my Spring bulb guide here, if you need a place to start. I’m excited for you!
Another job to consider is lifting or mulching Dahlias. Mine are still going strong so I might leave them in this year. I have a self seeded crop of Cerinthe mixed in with mine, so thinking its better to leave well alone…I’ll update you as I go!
Apart from the lift or leave dahlia debate and getting tulips and spring bulbs in. I like to let everything fade this side of Christmas. Winter will strip seeds heads and stems of any good stuff making it much easier to clear beds February time.
November marks a softer season, a season of change. Let’s get outside whilst we can plant some bulbs and relax into what winter holds.
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