Katharine Coulson

Northern light As the days get shorter and the sun has all but abandoned this patch of land I am learning to love the beauty of silhouettes against a grey sky In the new year the yew hedges will get their annual trim, but just now I appreciate their fuzzy outlines which chime with the feathery branches of the old ash - - - #ashtree #fraxinusexcelsior #yew #yewhedge #taxusbaccata #countrygarden #englishgarden #topiarygarden

Huge thanks to @eva_nemeth, @carolinebeckwriter, @clarefostergardens and @houseandgardenuk for the beautiful feature on my Cumbrian garden in winter, in the January 2025 issue of House & Garden (out now) - - - #houseandgarden #wintergarden #englishgarden #topiarygarden #walledgarden #countrygarden

Looking south across the front garden to the gazebo (aka the bus shelter) and the old ash on the fell, under a moody late-November sky The strict, parallel lines of tightly clipped yews running north-south, intersected by dry stone walls running east-west, form a grid that holds together the complicated sequence of levels. In winter these structural underpinnings are most clearly revealed and hold the eye when the distractions of colourful flowering plants no longer dominate the scene - - - #walledgarden #topiarygarden #englishgarden #countrygarden #wintergarden #yew #taxusbaccata #irishyew #taxusbaccatafastigiata #drystonewall #gazebo

The intensity of winter sunlight on a frosty morning - - - #oaktree #quercusrubra #topiary #yewtopiary #taxusbaccata #walledgarden #englishgarden #countrygarden #wintergarden

Back to the north just as winter arrives - - - #greenhouse #glasshouse #kitchengarden #topiarygarden #countrygarden #englishgarden #walledgarden #wintergarden

Clusters of seedheads breaking up the solid masses of clipped, evergreen shrubs and adding a certain airiness to the Luberon garden as it hunkers down for winter. Drifts of Phlomis fruticosa provide the most sculptural forms with their bronze bobbles floating above the sage-green foliage on wiry stems 1 Perovskia atriplicifolia 2 Phlomis fruticosa 3 Santolina ‘Primrose Gem’ 4 Ballota pseudodictamnus 5 Bupleurum fruticosum 6 Phlomis fruticosa 7 Phlomis fruticosa - - - #seedheads #phlomis #ballota #bupleurum #santolina #autumngarden #drygarden #jardinsec #stonegarden #greengarden #luberon #provence

After a cold, wet night the mist has cleared and the garden, in its intense greenness, is slowly warming up again - - - #greengarden #jardinsec #drygarden #stonegarden #cupressussempervirens #italiancypress #luberon #provence

As we head towards the end of the year the quality of the light across the Luberon garden sharpens and shadows deepen. The crispness of the swerving, parallel lines of foliage plants becomes more dramatic and adds a sense of movement - - - #phillyreaangustifolia #teucrium #phlomisfruticosa #perovskia #autumngarden #drygarden #jardinsec #greengarden #stonegarden #luberon #provence

Morning light over the Luberon garden The garden is looking peaceful but this is a busy time of year for me. I’ve just returned from my annual visit to Pépinière Filippi to collect my plant order. Each year I assess how every variety of plant I grow is coping with the changing climate. Some years I make no changes, in others, like this year, I bulk up on plants I trialled last year. I had been looking out for later-flowering plants and both the tall, blue-spired Campanula pyramidalis and the mauve umbel, Tulbaghia violacea, were especially successful. The Campanula is still in flower in mid-November This is the optimal time of year for planting down here. There is still enough warmth in the soil from the summer heat and the prospect of plenty of moisture from the autumn and winter rains. The young plants can get their roots down and be well-established by the time spring arrives, ready to shoot away - - - #drygarden #jardinsec #greengarden #stonegarden #olivierfilippi #luberon #provence

Back in the south the yuccas are coming into their second flowering season in the Luberon garden This is a plant that is completely at home in this region’s arid summers and cold, damp winters, freely self-seeding in rocky crevices. At a time of year when nothing else is in flower its tall, architectural spires of creamy bell-like flowers cast their luminous light across the evening garden - - - #yucca #yuccarecurvifolia #drygarden #jardinsec #stonegarden #greengarden #luberon #provence

The Pak Choi has bolted but it’s still giving. The loose clusters of tiny, brilliant-yellow flowers, like pinpricks of light, make a perfect foil for the tightly clipped box topiary - - - #pakchoi #kitchengarden #vegetablegarden #potager #buxus #boxwood #boxhedging #boxtopiary #topiarygarden #englishgarden #walledgarden #countrygarden

Pyracantha ‘Saphyr Rouge’ espaliered on the south-facing wall of the barn - part of a series of Pyracanthas trained on hazel frames as 2D versions of freestanding topiary pieces in the main garden The berries began to appear a couple of months ago, starting out almost white, gradually shifting to a soft shade of coral and finally, as the temperatures drop, deepening to a vibrant ruby red. The dark, slender stem stands out like burnished bronze against the soft pink background Not quite as many berries as last year, but still enough for the birds - - - #pyracantha #topiary #topiarygarden #englishgarden #walledgarden #espalier #wallplants #redberries #countrygarden