Nymans Garden in East Sussex

• 20th January 2015

How wonderful to be able to stroll around in the sunshine after all the wet weather we have recently been having. And how encouraging to see hellebores, cyclamen, camellia, hamamellis (witch hazel) and daphne bursting into bloom everywhere.

My favourite winter flower without a doubt is the hellebore and Nymans has some wonderful specimens for me to drool over that's for sure. But when it comes to winter shrubs there really is no contender; the intoxicating daphne wins hands down. For me there can be no more delicious scent at this time of year than that!

And having just become grandma to Hayden, I couldn't resist buying a shrub to plant in my garden to commemorate this momentous occasion. This will become Hayden's shrub and I am sure it will give as much pleasure as he will...