After what feels like months of gloom, the sun came out for my final visit of the year to the Gardens, bathing the now-faded autumnal tints in light, bringing the promise of new life just around the corner.

And blue skies always serve to lift the spirits!

Foliage comes to the fore in a winter garden, whether it is the spent leaves being recycled or new shoots of vibrant greens …

… and made all the more festive with diamond droplets as adornment.

Seeds and berries too, feeding birds of all kinds, from flocks of Goldfinches to ravenous thrushes – Blackbirds, Redwings, Fieldfares and Mistle Thrushes all vying for their share of the fruit bonanza. Thankfully there is still plenty left for if and when the frost and snow sets in.

And flowers! There are the hangovers from autumn…

… the midwinter staples, sustaining the few insects still flying. Even in the weak sun, Mahonia was attracting social wasps, hoverflies and bluebottles.

… and the first harbingers of the spring to come. Just a week from the solstice and life will be returning!

So ends another year at Beth Chatto Gardens, each season tumbling inexorably after the previous. But for our native wildlife, insects in particular, it has not been an easy year across much of England. Whether to do with weirded weather, longer-term climate collapse, habitat losses or the post-war raindown of pesticides on our planet (or all of the above), insect populations have been lower than at any time in recent memory, which of course means birds, bats and other consumers have also suffered.

What is especially pleasing though is that the only place I have reliably been able to find good (albeit not great) numbers of insects this year has been in the Gardens. Of course, we have the luxury of space, to ensure continuity and complexity of provision of nectar, pollen and other food resources, water, breeding sites and shelter for wildlife. And we must be doing something right!

Most of us do not have that luxury of so much space, and so many hands to work it. But hopefully inspired by our example, some of us will make one change, some of us will make another. And the sum of us will then make the difference. I wish I could claim credit for this philosophical insight, but no – it comes from Manchester poet Tony Walsh, a poem for the pandemic – but the idea has such resonance across all fields of collective endeavour, it seems too good not to reuse it!

Anyone wanting to enjoy the Gardens in their winter plumage still have a last opportunity this next Thursday to Saturday before Christmas. Thereafter, opening every Tuesday to Saturday from 4th February 2025, and unless we are enveloped in snow, spring should be springing right from the start! Book your visit here: Entrance – Beth Chatto’s Plants & Gardens