We always think of winter as a time to see the structure of a garden, but I would argue that few of us tend to spend time out in the garden in the cold days of winter.  Rather, it is as winter gives way to spring that we venture outside for longer and actually look at plants for longer than a few seconds.

Euonymus europaeus hedge Hursley

Euonymus europaeus

I see this hedge at work every day and ever since I recognised it as Euonymus europaeus, I have kept an eye on it as I have the same plant in my front garden.  Though I have to say this plant is much more mature than mine.

Euonymus europaeus stem Hursley

Euonymus europaeus structure

Last week, I was looking at the Euonymuos closely and looked through the external twigs / branches, to the trunk behind it.  I suddenly realised that what I thought was a hedge was actually just one plant.  Seen from the back, this becomes very apparent, but I had never before looked past the clothing of the plant to actually look at the structure behind it.