Dark days, mist and fog,
muffling sounds, engulfing light
and warmth; Winter reigns
~~~
I waited until 2.30pm but the sun didn’t make it through low cloud today.
The Persicaria and Miscanthus (that was in the bottom left-hand corner) were tidied away last week just before the storm. The only colour I can spot now is a couple of hardy geranium leaves.
Hope your day is/was sunnier than mine! 😉
Words and Herbs 
I’m having a great time finding amazing gardening blogs on WordPress reader. I just added your site to my reader and can’t wait to follow you into winter. I’m a gardener in Ohio and I invite you to stop by my site. Bren
Glad you’re enjoying my site Bren and thanks for stopping by!
Oh Cathy sorry to read that the sun did not break through today. We saw an occasional glimpse of it but yesterday saw glorious sunshine and temperatures in double figures! All those beautiful shades of green, gold and grey clothing your rockery more than compensate for lack of flower colour.
Hi Anna. Glad you saw the sun… now I know it’s still up there somewhere! 😉 It’s typical December weather here, but perhaps we’ll be lucky and get some snow before Christmas…
I think your rock is colourful – I managed to see the rose! And the metalic bird made me smile. 🙂
No sun in Northern Germany. Uta
Hi Uta! Yes, my woodpecker sits up there and I can see him from the house too. 😉 There is one rose bud left – it won’t open, but it looks quite pretty so I shall leave it standing.
You do have some good color there–and I like the contrast between the tlaa trees and the ground huggers. Sunny and warming here–been below zero for several nights.
Oh, and I like the haiku–especially the “muffling sounds.”
Thanks Alice – that’s exactly how it feels when we get fog, as if everything’s been swallowed up beyond the garden!
Lots of textural and color variations. The sun just popped out here for the first time after days of rain. I hope it visits you soon.
Hi Susie. The sun is certainly rare – I can’t wait for the days to get longer again!
Cold here, but sunny!
I can live with the cold, but lack of sunlight is terrible! Still hoping for sun soon… 😉
So much to love about Europe – except grey skies. 🙂
Beautiful Cathy.
Thanks so much Eunice!
Welcome friend
So pretty, even with the overcast sky. Love all that beautiful foliage. It snowed all day here, and just a tiny bit of sunlight showed up late this afternoon.
You are quite right… even with a grey sky there is still some pretty foliage and green too. Glad to hear the sun made a brief appearance. I think he’s gone on his holidays here!
The geranium leaves are a nice focal point! For once we are at least this gray and tremendously cold! I’m hoping my garden survives unscathed. My poor little succulents aren’t accustomed to freeze. But then, neither am I!
Oh, so you got that terrible icy weather too? It was on our news! I do hope your plants haven’t been damaged too much. Hope it’s warming up for you again now!
We are still having lots of sun and being further south than you it lasts longer into the day too; I’m appreciating that at the moment. A shame to remove the Miscanthus so soon, mine are at their best in January and February.
Not long until the days slowly start getting longer Christina. It IS a shame to cut the Miscanthus, but the only alternative is to tie it up tight in several untidy “bunches”, as some people do here… it was well past its best anyway! Do you cut yours back in spring then?
Pity, you removed the Miscanthus. In our garden it’s one of the stars at the moment and I wouldn’t want to be without it. Is the grey shrub all lavender?
It was looking pretty awful Annette, and makes such a mess with all its straggly leaves peeling off, but the dwarf Miscanthus is still standing and looking beautiful… when the sun shines it catches the December rays for just a few minutes and then stands in the shade again! Yes the grey is all lavender. It will need tidying up in the spring – I’m always scared to cut it back too much in autumn although I have been drastic with a couple of them again this year!
which Miscanthus variety is it, Cathy?
The dwarf one is Miscanthus sinensis ‘Adagio’ – no idea about the big one which didn’t flower again this year.
Yes, as the winter soltice approaches…dark days. Love your Haiku and the weather is about the same here but we have some snow. No snow your way yet?
Sadly no snow yet Andrea, but hoping for just a little at Christmas!
Yes, snow at Xmas is SO nice!
Beautiful Haiku Cathy! I hope the sun finds you today 🙂
We are in the gloom of December fog in our valley still! No signs of improvement, so I think I’ll have to find a mountain to climb!
Cathy, I love your Haiku describing our December days with such beautiful poetic words.
By the way – I cut down the grasses in our garden in early spring.
Thank you Elisabeth. Lovely to hear from you. I have left all my other grasses standing, but the tall Miscanthus was looking so ugly!
Shame abou the sun, but still plenty of interest with all those foliage textures and colours. Your miscanthus doesn’t stand up to windy weather then? Such a shame, one of the things I love them for is their form in winter, I have a place or two lined up for some once I get a couple of borders deepened…
I am surprised how many people have said the same… here the giant ones are quite messy and not at all attractive – most people around me either cut them back or tie them up in bunches. And mine didn’t even have any flowers this year. The dwarf one is lovely though, and may stand all winter!