Inspirational, Mariannese! I'm with you.

Marianne, your post made me realize how much I've missed your presence here. Your summer pictures are beautiful and that is such a lovely old rose bloom. I've experienced winters like yours in the past and know I could not bear them now. I hope that after an unusually hot summer you won't have a very severe winter, although it seems that in "temperate" regions in the US it's very cold and snowy this year. Climate change is well and truly upon us.

Another dream garden! What are those lovely pink roses? Ingrid, I'm glad for some snow in the very cold weather. If it's going to be cold it might as well snow and make everything beautiful AND protect my roses at the same time. : ) I'm thinking of dumping some over Maggie before the weekend single digits get here. It's been so mild thus far I'm not sure everything has gone truly dormant. I just got my potted plants into the garage and pool room last week!

Your garden is enchanting mariannese! I will be so happy for you and everyone when we can all enjoy our gardens and roses once again. Winter isn’t my favorite time of year either.

Marianne, you should come down to the Mediterranean coast for a while. I usually get winter blues, it's so gloomy here then, but this year we're having a drought and have had a most unusual amount of sun. Result: good mood. Now actual winter seems to be finally arriving, and my spirits are plummeting accordingly.

Up until now I've been able to work in the garden pretty steadily on account of the dry weather, and it has been lovely. We just finished planting, and now I have pruning and cleanup, which will keep me busy for the rest of the winter and beyond. We need rain for it to happen, but I'm hoping the garden will look a little better next year than it did last year. Right now a handful of winter-flowering shrubs are in bloom, and the hellebores are getting started. The true spring season begins around the end of February or beginning of March.

The rose in the last picture is the gallica Duchesse de Buccleugh (sometimes spelled Buccleuch.)

Ingrid, I've been depressed because of the drought we had and strong winds that felled our last pear tree leaving an unsightly gap. I have to reconsider many things about the garden but I'm trying to think of them as a challenge and a chance to learn about drought tolerant plants. The drought is expected to continue in my part of Sweden and the ground water level is still very low.

Melissa, my husband and I just discussed taking a long vacation in the Canary Islands next winter to avoid the flu season in Sweden. I have been ill for almost all of December and spent four days in hospital with pneumonia in spite of taking all the recommended shots. There are offers for cheap vacations of 3 to 4 weeks in winter, the low season in the Canaries.

Oh, my! How beautiful! I am so sorry to hear you have been ill. Please take care of your health.

Spring can feel far away in January with the blanket of snow on the ground... your garden is delightful. The roses and perennials look lovely!

I hope winter passes quickly for you, and that you feel better soon.

Just breathtaking—thank for posting these beautiful photos, which are uplifting in so many ways. Sending good thoughts and prayers to you, Marianne! :-)

Marianese, you will love Canary Island. My brother and his family went there last summer. He send me videos and it is beautiful out there. I deleted the videos but I think it is a trolley ( I am pretty sure it is a trolley) that moves slowly and takes you from a hotel all over.
You will love it there !
Sorry to hear that you got pneumonia. I hope you are feeling better and get stronger. Take care of your health this winter as cold can be bitter especially when you are sick. Lots of soup , stay warm and think of good thoughts.

Your garden looks spectacular. Roses are gorgeous and so are your companion plants. Love how you put them all together . Beautiful !!
jin

Get away, Marianne, get away. I'm sorry you've been sick: that sounds miserable.

Ingrid, have you ever read a book called 'The Power of Now'? You might find it helpful. Also, I'm prone to depression and find that medication can actually make a difference (also weather and light levels affect me), and wonder if you've looked into that. I'm aware I'm probably bringing owls to Athens with these suggestions, but offer them just in case.

What a gorgeous yard !

I guess we are all missing our yards, at least how they will look in warmer weather.

I still have so much prunning and clean up to keep me busy for weeks.

As fast as time goes, it wont be long now.

You make a valid point, Mariannese. As a contrast, I very much miss the pause of winter, when you can turn your attention to other activities - reading, needlework, perhaps even daydreaming. A garden that is active all twelve months of the year can be exhausting.

If I may quote one of my favorite poems, Byron's "We'll Go No More A-roving":

For the sword outwears its sheath / And the soul wears out the breast / And the heart must pause to breath/ And love itself have rest.

I do indeed love my garden. But sometimes I need a rest.

Ingrid, I think it can be very difficult for a very rational, intelligent, sensitive person to tolerate what is currently going on. So many challenges could have been dealt with head on and avoided. This is more frustrating for the more aware, sadly. Ignorance is bliss. I really don't want them taking the rest of us down in their ignorance.

Such beautiful lush gardens! I’m excited for spring also. Although I have to say I’m enjoying January more than I have in the past. I’m enjoying the rest and relaxation, Although I’ll of course be thrilled in a couple months when things start growing. Especially since waking up with temps in the single digits this morning, I don’t even want to go outside.

Rest up and feel better! Spring will be here soon.

Melissa, thank you so much for your concern. I will find the book you mention because I think it must have been written for me. I am medicated, believe me, since I've suffered with depression since the age of 4, and I doubt I'd be alive without the meds.

Sheila, you have said it perfectly, and no one could better express what I feel and the situation we're in. However, I try hard to appreciate what is all around me rather than always focusing on the rest of the world and what is to come. I'm still a work in progress in that regard, and I'm looking forward to reading the book Melissa mentions. I'm sure my husband will be very appreciative too!

P.S. I just ordered the PDF version of the book!

Good. I hope it helps.

Marianesse, your garden is so beautiful. It also has a really good feel, which one can tell just from the photos.

You will love the Canaries. I only went there once in November, in the late 1970s. I can vividly remember walking out of the hotel on the first morning. All the gardens had Poinsettas in abundance. This was a plant which I had never liked much. It was produced by the thousands for the Christmas market. Stunted and in too small a pot, it looked all wrong to me. Here however, it grew naturally. Tall, elegant, waving it's scarlet bracts in the breeze against an amazing blue sky. It really opened my eyes to how it should be. Now, whenever I see a Poinsetta pot plant, it takes me straight back to Tenerife and that morning.

Daisy