St Peters RC Church Hamilton

December is the earliest month of winter, along way yet to go!

Winter flowers banish the hours of dreariness,

Too much darkness, gloom and despondency all around us.

Get out in the garden instead

And look all around until you see signs of promise.

Certainly not bringing up the rear, the earliest winter shrub to appear

flowering

Is the towering, tall mahonia with black fruits amidst clusters of yellow

flowers,

Sitting in architectural splendour at the back of a winter border.

Amidst the earliest emerging flowers will be the aconite, a delight,

Bright and cheery in sunny yellow highlighting anywhere shady,

And complementary to both the ‘Eranthis hyemalis’

A lemon yellow cup of loveliness, also tiny,

And the ‘Coronilla Valentina Glauca Citrina’,

A very grand name for a scented, flowering deciduous shrub,

Compact and neat, a winter garden treat from December to April.

Yellow is so very bonny on a grey December day.

What else can shift your gaze, life your mood?

Your attention may well be taken by scent.

Perfume drifting across the garden attracts our notice.

Several fragrant flowers are capable of this fortunately.

We are always at the mercy of a God of generosity.

Perfume lingers deliciously from the winter honeysuckle,

Shrubby and semi-deciduous in creamy white,

Boasting spicy sweet diminutive flowers throughout the winter.

Most winter flowering shrubs have tiny flowers.

Why? Because fierce winter winds even up to gale force,

Would tear to shreds any larger flower, as the Creator does know,

So as carefully to attract pollinating insects not by size.

Petals swaying a ‘come in’ invitation like flags, but scent is used instead.

In the winter flower bed the skimmia japonica,

Perhaps not the prettiest of flowers, offer exhilarating perfume.

This is a small, neat shrub like the Christmas box

Which unlocks its scent from amidst tiny flowers,

Almost hidden away beneath glossy, dark green leaves.

For scent and good looks, viburnum are the choice,

Pretty in pink clusters of blooms intensely perfumed.

Deciduous and evergreen shrubs both claim pride of place.

Shrubs and tubs always add interest to the borders.

The spidery blooms of witchhazel are a delightful winter winter,

Both for colour and their sweet scent, at its best in January.

As these finish a shrub called ‘Edgeworthia chrysantha’ can take over,

A compact habit, perfect for a specimen pot, has clusters of butter rich yellow flowers,

Emerging from the bare stems enclosed in elegant white tubes.

Yellow really stars in winter with golden yellow jasmine,

And if you wait until February the ‘Buttercup witchhazel’ appears,

With lime yellow, sweetly scented dangling blooms lasting until April.

Whilst the spicy scented ‘Chimonanthus praecox’

Have waxy yellow petals in layers like a petticoat is worn,

Its denser, richer shade becoming maroon in the centre.

Winter flowers are not the size nor range of colour as their summer

counterparts,

But this season is unrivalled in the grandness of bare bark,

Splendid stems and brilliant berries, all forming interesting structure.

Consider seedheads on a frosty, sunny December morning,

The reluctant to let go, bonny, deepest red crab apples,

Or the elongated rose hips, a pop of splendid orange red,

And the ornamental hedgerow hawthorn masquerading as a rose among

thorns.

Not to mention the all time favourite come Christmas,

The classic bright green holly with

Plump berries, a particular feast for hungry birds.

Striking shrubs because their stems are leafless,

Include the daringly bright, scorchingly hot dogwoods in waves of colour.

How well they glow in the low, bright light of December’s sun.

December has an individual splendour of winter interest,

But thankfully, each month has a feature which is spectacular,

All due to the Mastercraft skill of the Creator.

Let us then, never feel gloomy, but seek to be happy!

Lord, I used to really dislike winter. That is until You gifted me faith. Thank You that faith opens our eyes to see the beauty which previously went unnoticed. In this is Your generosity of far reaching love. I am truly

grateful. Amen.

CATEGORY: (NATURE, Winter)