I always do a tour of the garden looking at it with fresh eyes as soon as I have finished juggling sprouts behind steamy windows and have stowed all the Christmas paraphernalia.  As their new flower buds are starting to emerge through the soil, it is a good time to cut down all the old leaves of Oriental Hybrid hellebores and mulch around their crowns with year-old, half-ready leafmould.   The flowers look much more spectacular powering upwards during the next few weeks if they are divested of all last years messy stuff.  On mild days I have a bit of a tidy-up, open up cold frames and greenhouse doors, inspect the plants within and remove yellowing leaves.

As I write this we are having our first frosty spell of the winter in the South East.  For those elsewhere who have escaped thus far, may I remind you to fleece up or move to shelter all those tender things in pots that might be harmed.  The next few weeks are likely to be the really bleak, icy ones and – remembering last year’s minus 11 degrees – anything can happen with the weather, anywhere, with little warning.  Take comfort in the fact, however, that the days start to lengthen noticeably by the second half of the month.  Meanwhile, if it is too horrid to garden, just enjoy doing a little forward planning:  sit around in your socks leafing through seed catalogues.  Happy New Year.