Every year we seem to reach the end of the year a bit faster than we did the previous year. The perception of time is a very odd thing. So here we are, Hogmanay, nearly the start of a whole fresh year. In a garden full of mud (another 4cm of rain last night, high winds, dark and gloomy) I’m struggling to raise a bit of garden joy, but have found a few little things to offer for my #SixOnSaturday.

The bay tree….quite a large one at 3m x 3m, appears to be happy with the constant switching between freeze and thaw, snow and water. It has buds.

Wallflower have been teasing me for weeks. The buds seems to sit still and sulk, perhaps that’s a good plan, given the weather.

Sarcococca, also about to flower. The blooms will be tiny but offer a strong honey scent…not quite yet though.

I like pieris best just before it flowers, when it holds dark red flower stems and buds. These are currently in their prime.

Viburnum, now here IS a wonderful shrub that is in full flowering mode at the end of the year. Looks closely and it is full of flower.

Last but not least, I knew it was a bit soon, but couldn’t help taking a sneaky look at the snowdrops. They will be a while to flower, but are beginning to green up.

I hope you enjoyed my end of year #SixonSaturday. Stay safe, take care out there, and don’t forget to follow the crowd on Mastodon. We are starting to get the sixes going on Mastodon (other instances in the Fediverse are available), but we need a few more folk to toot on the topic: come join us. For regulars online, our organiser is Jim at https://gardenruminations.co.uk/. Also on twitter @JamesLStephens. And I’m now mostly on mastodon @julie3dharris@mastodon.scot.