A Mild Winter, Winter Blooms & Big Plans: Reflecting on the Garden at the End of 2025

Hello and welcome back to Exotic Gardening with Yorkshire Kris🌿

I hope everyone has enjoyed a peaceful and relaxing Christmas break. We’re now in that lovely “betwixtmas” period between Christmas and New Year, and I thought it was the perfect time to take a gentle walk around the garden, reflect on what we achieved in 2025, and look ahead to what’s coming in 2026.

Despite it being the depths of winter, it’s been remarkably mild – and the garden is responding in the most unexpected ways. Before diving into next year’s projects, let’s start with something that never fails to lift the spirits: flowers in winter.

Winter Flowers Stealing the Show

Right by the front door, the osteospermums are still flowering away in their pots. Not only are there plenty of open blooms, but there are masses of buds too. Seeing such cheerful colour at this time of year is a real joy and a warm welcome home on even the greyest days.

Just across from them is what I affectionately call my “miracle pelargonium.” This plant has now flowered continuously through two winters, still holding onto its green leaves and producing blooms after more than 18 months. It’s seen frost, it’s seen poor weather – yet it carries on regardless.

Adding even more winter colour are some seed-grown violas, quietly doing their thing and brightening up the front of the house.

Surprises in the Back Garden

Moving into the back garden, one of the real stars right now is Salvia ‘Honey Melon’. With its vivid red flowers, it stands out boldly against the winter gloom. This isn’t a particularly hardy salvia, yet here it is – still flowering, still holding foliage, and defying expectations thanks to the mild conditions.

Above us, towering over the garden, the Eucalyptus gunnii is also in flower. The blooms are high up, but the evidence is scattered below in the form of fallen filaments and anthers. On brighter days, the bees absolutely love it – and I’ve even spotted butterflies lingering around, which says everything about how unusual this winter has been.

Plants That Really Shouldn’t Look This Good

Some plants are still performing far beyond what you’d normally expect at this time of year:

• Tradescantia, usually grown as a houseplant, is still fully in leaf outdoors

• Autumn-germinated tobacco plants, even after a visit from winter moth caterpillars

• Aeoniums, untouched by frost so far, with only minimal protection needed

Yes, we’ve dipped briefly to -2°C, but it was short-lived – and it shows.

A Path Completed & New Spaces Created

One of my biggest achievements of 2025 is finally completing the curved garden path. The old wooden decking is gone, replaced with a flowing route that leads you right through the garden.

Alongside it is a brand-new planting area, not huge, but full of potential. There’s sun in places, shade in others – the perfect canvas for experimenting with new combinations. I’ll be sharing what goes in here over the coming months.

This path now winds past the arid planting, contrasts beautifully with the colocasias, and leads under the magnificent Butia palm, which is looking superb. Even beneath it, plants like Plectranthus are still in full leaf, having survived more than one winter when they really shouldn’t have.

Looking Ahead: The End of the Garden

The path now extends beneath the eucalyptus trees and currently stops at the lower end of the garden. This isn’t the end point forever – it’s the beginning of a major 2026 project.

The plan is to create:

• A decked seating area

• A sheltered structure to protect from falling leaves and birds

• A natural destination point with views over the surrounding fields

From here, the path will loop back, making the garden feel complete, connected, and purposeful.

A Big Reset for 2026

Crossing over the bridge brings us to an area that’s about to undergo the biggest transformation of all. What was once a dense jungle of summer planting will become a more open, family-friendly space.

The plan:

• Borders around the edges

• A large oval lawn area through the middle

• Evergreen structure using palms, scheffleras, and other robust plants

• Colour added through understory planting

This area will feel open, usable, and inviting year-round.

However, there’s one major obstacle…

The Bamboo Has to Go

The beautiful but beastly Borinda ‘Blue Bamboo’ has simply outgrown its place. While stunning, it blocks views from the house and dominates the space.

In 2026, it will be:

• Cut back in stages

• Carefully dug up

• Transplanted and allowed to regenerate

Removing it will open the garden visually and physically, allowing the new lawn area to finally connect with the rest of the space.

More Projects on the Horizon

There’s no shortage of plans:

• Reusing heavy timber sleepers for raised borders and seating areas

• Creating secluded spots for relaxation

• Preparing plants for sale at the 2026 open day

• Sowing huge quantities of new seeds

This really is a reset year, following major landscaping changes. With so many new planting areas created, there’s endless opportunity to refresh, reinvent, and push the garden further as a tropical, exotic, desert-inspired space.

Goodbye 2025, Hello 2026

As we close out 2025, I’m incredibly excited about what lies ahead. There’s hard work to be done, but also creativity, experimentation, and plenty of growth – both for the plants and the garden as a whole.

Thank you, as always, for following along and supporting Exotic Gardening UK. Join me next week as we get stuck into even more garden projects.

All the best,Yorkshire Kris Exotic Gardening UK 🌴