Any digging at this time of year brings out the inevitable Robin seeking something to eat.

 

 There has been a good deal of flooding in Bedfordshire in recent days particularly along the River Great Ouse. I was reminded of this photograph from a couple of years ago. The trig point shown above is the highest point of the Pegsdon Hills and the view is looking out across Bedfordshire.

 I've written a number of entries about this range of chalk hills which are the easternmost tip of the Chilterns. Mainly this is a diary about botany but a bit of geography is noteworthy in this case. The hills form a section of the watershed between the London Basin and the Wash i.e. the rains drain one way or the other. Rain that fell hereabouts will be contributing to the deluge that's heading east across Bedfordshire.

 

 Christmas dinner for the birdies. From late autumn to early summer I put out bird feeders with sunflower seeds, peanuts and fat balls.

 

 The Nasturtiums that carpeted a large patch of the allotment around the bean canes have run their course. They flowered for months and seeded copiously (having grown from self-seeding last year). 

 Nasturtiums are not usually classed as a green manure like Phacelia or Buckwheat but they grow so well on the allotment that they do in effect serve that purpose. The mass of decaying tendrils will add a good amount of humus and nutrition to the soil.

 The humble Nasturtium has edible leaves and flowers, and I gather the seeds can be pickled in brine when still green. It's reckoned to be a good choice for companion planting, attracts bees and makes for a moisture retaining weed suppressing groundcover during the growing season. And a green manure/mulch at the end of the year. Nasturtiums give a lot for very little effort.

 

 We are passing through the Winter Solstice. The shortest day and the longest night heralds the rebirth of the sun. In the garden the first Snowdrops are starting to rise up from the damp earth and decaying leaves.

 

 Stinking Hellebore (Hellebore foetidus) flowers early. The ones in the garden have been flowering before Christmas in recent years. No doubt this is due to London's microclimate and warmer winters in general. Mine are from cultivated stock though it is also a UK native. 

 There are not many plants with green flowers. The flowers and stems of H. foetidus are of a particularly luminous green rising up from rather shaggy foliage of a darker hue.    

 

 Winter Sunshine. That's the name of this cultivar of Mahonia x media. It lives up to its name flowering deep into December. On sunny winter days bees come out of hibernation to forage on the flowers.