Winter Magic
November’s winter gloom, lightened only by bonfire night with its smells of mulled wine and scorched blue touch paper, is an evocation of a childhood yearned for throughout our adult lives. Soon it will be Christmas. Thoughts of the approaching festive season fill our hearts with yet more nostalgia – memories that stay forever. With any luck, snow will grace the landscape covering all man-made imperfections, dusting trees in magical splendour.
A garden in winter is pure theatre. Lean hedges and bare grass create a stage for the low winter sun to play a leading role. Long shadows stride across lawns; deep, dark shade possesses sinister corners; and side-lighting glances across the bleached bones of summer past. It’s time now to write the script and cast the players for next year’s performance.
John Neville