We December

We love
December
It is a different sort of December this
year. I fear that we will all need to work
a bit harder on the Peace on Earth
and Goodwill to All Men bit. Gardeners,
however, are stoic creatures: we have
all lost seedlings to ravaging slugs.
Our prized plants have, at some point,
been flattened by footballs or chewed
by marauding squirrels. Do we retire to
sob and whinge? We do not, we learn
and move on and look to the future.
Our gardens have got us through a
pretty dire year and our 2021 gardens
look full of promise and excitement.
Onwards. WORDS JAMES ALEXANDER-SINCLAIR

STAR OF THE MONTH

Hedera helix
At Christmas I no more For much of the year ivy gets a bad press: there is

desire a rose, than grumbling about ivy throttling trees, ivy pulling the
pointing out of walls and ivy generally being a bit of an
irritation. Until December, when everybody suddenly
wish a snow in May’s sees the good things: we have Christmas carols (although
admittedly it is second string to holly, which of course
new-fangled mirth bears the crown) and festive wreaths, and suddenly we all
love ivy. Seems a bit unfair, as this is a plant that provides
William Shakespeare a lot, such as insulating buildings and being amazing
groundcover in tricky places. Its berries, which are a winter
bounty for birds, are seen here with a frost-laced hebe.
PHOTO: SARAH CUTTLE

Easy to grow. Works both as a climber and groundcover. Propagate

by taking summer cuttings or digging up a bit and potting on in a
mix of sand and compost. Height x Spread 10m x 6m

December 2020 gardenersworld.com 7