Berty is in South West France, where the summers can be hot and dry (typically high 20s and low 30s) and the winters cold and damp (lowest temperature I've experienced here is -15c). We rarely get snow. But even in winter, the daytimes are often wonderfully sunny and warm, so even in January you can eat lunch on the terrace and garden in a T-shirt. In general, lots of the same plants as in England, though we are at the southern extremity of conditions for northern european species. It's not a Mediterranean climate, so doesn't suit olives or oranges.
Living in an area of limestone hills, our soil is basically chalky with some sand and clay, but we are in a river valley and benefit from a good layer of silty topsoil. The 3 acre garden was a field until about 18 years ago.
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Snowdrop. I don't know the name of this particular variety, but it has wide strap shaped leaves. Flowers from late Jan - Feb
Chaneomeles Japonica. This photo taken in late March, but I see that this year the buds are already showing colour at the beginning of Feb.
Mid March. Scilla Siberica.
Mid March. Wild plum. See April for a photo of this with the Chaneomeles Japonica
Late March. Ornamental prunus of some kind - has bronze foliage. Makes a lovely picture with the forsythia in the foreground.
Laet March. Epimedium versicolor. You have to get close up to see these delightful flowers. Great ground cover for shade or semi shade. I bought these plants from Beth Chatto's. More photos and another variety in the April section
Late March. Aubretia with daffodils behind. You may spot an anenome blanda in the foreground of the left hand picture. Here's a closer look :-
Anenome Blanda
Sweet violets. These seem to pop up all over the place here. I love them for their scent, and they can make a nice ground covering border edge
Jul - Sep - coming soon
Oct - Dec - coming soon
Please also see my page of Grasses growing at Berty.