The Parsonage Garden Blog - Winter

For many a week and many a day

My heart was weighed with sinking gloom

When morning rose in mourning grey 

⁠And faintly lit my prison room. 

But angel like, when I awoke, 

⁠Thy silvery form, so soft and fair, 

Shining through darkness, sweetly spoke

⁠Of cloudy skies and mountains bare;

‘To a Wreath of Snow’ - Emily Brontë, 1837

The arrival of the snow in November this year really did brighten our garden with a wreath of snow. After seemingly endless days of streaming rain, beating down so many plants and cascading through swirls of golden leaves faster than we could sweep, it was a joy to see the three sisters clothed in snowy capes and bonnets on that first bright morning.

Not only were the sisters wrapped in icy cloaks but also many of our shrubs and plants were too. Anne’s rose in particular looked stunning, peeping out through a cap of crisp snow. The winter jasmine by the front door twinkled brightly, more vigorous than ever, and our splendid pine trees were covered in individual white fans.

The previous few weeks had been a constant battle as we gardeners tried to keep on top of the soggy piles of leaves, seeking desperately to keep some stems intact for the overwintering of insects. In spite of it all, we have managed to plant plenty of spring bulbs and produce pots of tulips for our borders. We have Queen of the night, Shirley and Angelique varieties to look forward to. We did thankfully have drier times when we could top our leaf mould container and work on our compost heaps.

Our composting area is turning into a true hive of activity, thanks to Christine’s enthusiasm! We already have ample compost to pot up any plants we have propagated and to mulch the garden beds. Talking of propagating, we must mention our fine, new shed which will provide us with ample room for sowing and growing our seeds such as Sicilian sweet peas which did so well this year. We also used lots of our compost in the troughs by the entrance to Parson’s field. Caroline wheeled quite a few barrows over and started to plant herbs and comfrey which will be supplemented in the new year.

The volunteer gardeners once again produced lots of sturdy plants and shrubs, all potted in our own peat-free compost, of course, for our annual garden stall in the summer. As always, it was very well attended and it is amazing how the garden not only flourishes through the seasons, but also how it provides so many little pots of wonder which many visitors like to take home as a souvenir of their visit.

As a team, we gardeners also rose to the challenge of producing the three Brontë sisters out of flowerpots for the Keighley flowerpot trail and, although they may not have been as elegantly turned out as Charlotte, Emily and Anne, they certainly gained lots of attention with their flower-filled bonnets! Around the same time, we also decorated the Baptist chapel for this year’s Brontë Festival of Women’s Writing, adding an abundance of foliage and hydrangeas from the garden and another splendid Brontë bonnet from Clare.

As the gardening year draws to a close, we have just completed decking the Museum rooms with winter greenery, dogwood, dried honesty and pine cones. Berries were few and far between in the garden, despite our efforts to plant even more berried species this year. The birds certainly had an early feast but when we saw the lovely nest hidden in the snowberry bush, we had to smile and say rightly so.

Activity is a word which calls to mind a particular member of our gardening team! Jenny Whitehead, who has been associated with the Parsonage for over 25 years and has worked tirelessly to make the garden as we see it today, has decided to hang up her gloves and trowel. Thank you for everything Jenny, but we are all sure that you won’t be long gone. As soon as the sun shines, you will be popping in to see us and your advice will be as welcome as ever.

We hope that you will all pop in to visit the garden this winter and maybe seek out your own ‘Wreath of Snow’.

~ Theresa Slack, member of the Brontë Parsonage Volunteer Gardening Team