A Winter Conversation

When I arrived home on Friday I was greeted by the fragrance of narcissus as I got out of the car. With the narcissus in full bloom in the bed under the oak, the parking terrace has officially adopted its winter look.

The Narcissus under the oaks

The kumquats are ridiculously heavy with fruit but beautiful with the bright orange citrus fruit resembling tiny oranges. Keith and Shawn have pruned all the roses and made holes for the six replacements required in the rosarium. Some of the original roses planted 23 years ago needed to make way for new ones. The rose nurseries are always introducing new varieties and part of the weekend was spent deciding which ones we will introduce into the garden.

Kumquats adding colour to the Winter Garden

The pruned and prepared Rosarium

The orchard resembled the rosarium with big holes where I want to plant the new fruit trees. When I planted the orchard, I dreamt of a mature orchard with ancient trees in them but the reality is that as trees get older than 20 years they tend to bear less and for a small orchard you need the trees to perform well, bearing ample crops.

The Orchard awaiting the new trees

The pruned row of quince trees

The quince row looks neat and naked and ready for a good rest. With night temperatures now reaching an average of -5° C, most of the pests and diseases will not survive. The cold weather will force the trees and roses to go into a deep rest which will allow them to be stronger and healthier in the spring.

Flambéed 'Kaapse jongens' crepes

The cold weather called for ‘slaphakskeentjies’ and lamb shanks, stews, soups, flambés and kudu burgers.  It was good just to sit at the kitchen table, eating, drinking, dreaming and planning with Keith who was soon to be heading back to Pretoria.

Giving the wine cooler legs to stand on

With the size and weight of the new wine cooler, we had decided to get it its own legs in the form of an antique riempie stool. The wine cooler can easily hold 12 bottles of wine with the required ice and will be very handy over the summer holidays.

A generous wine cooler

Keith has replaced a weathered and fragile pedestrian gate and the new gate is hanging well with the locking mechanisms working smoothly and easily.

The last bouquet of the season

Packing up on Sunday to head home it was with a heavy heart that I threw out the last bouquet of roses for the season, a luxury that the pruning had provided. We said goodbye to the old but wait with anticipation for the new.

The garden looking more and more like winter