Another crazy week in the garden. Doing the hokey cokey with the greenhouse plants: in, out, in, out and trying very hard not to shake them all about and the layers in the new borders are building up. This week it is the turn of the alliums.
One
These are Purple Sensation. I hope they stay around long enough to look good with the Rosa Blush Noisette which is just in bud behind. Now the path is complete I need to find some low growing edging plants to drown out the weed seedlings. Or maybe I move the geraniums forward. Hhmm, I think I’ll do that.
Two
These are Allium Mount Everest, looking suitably tall. The tulips are really past their best but there is enough life in them to make the border look quite colourful. Some of the Mount Everests have done a disappearing trick, about six have gone awol causing me to set up a spreadsheet for the autumn bulb order. Otherwise I am sure to forget that I need more. I like the height they give to the border at this time of the year.
Three
And the bonus tulip is …orange! These are in a border that only gets afternoon sun and they are lasting rather well. I though Queen of Night was the lone gatecrasher in this border but this late arrival is a real stand out.
Four
The pheasant eye narcissus have been a joy in the last few weeks. Their scent drifts across the back of the garden and they are looking very happy in combination with the bluebells and pulomonaria. This corner is going to look quite empty when the spring flowers finish. More layering to be done.
Five
This is geranium phaeum which came with me in pots from the old garden. This is its second year in the new border and it has really established itself well. It’s far more stately and elegant in this garden than it ever was before. I do love a geranium and will be dividing this up and spreading it around.
Six
And lastly, the dwarf azalea has revealed its true colour and I think it has earned the chance to move out of its pot and into the border. It is just the right height for the front of the north west facing corner. But there is work to be done on that border, currently the most neglected part of the garden, home to ground elder, geranium robertianum and the ubiquitous sherperd’s purse. The RHS advice gleefully informs me that ‘a single plant is able to produce an average of 2-3000 seeds each, with three generations per year.’ Plenty still to be done there then.
Don’t forget to check in with The Propagator, host of the Six On Saturday meme for a mesmerising selection of gardening delights from around the world. Happy gardening.
n20gardener 
I will have to plant more varieties of allium bulbs this fall. I have a few that will be in full bloom this next week, but handn’t quite realized the role they play after the tulips.
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The Euphorbia lime green with the pink and purple tulips is a great colour combination. If I get a good colour effect it is just luck. It always seems to involve reducing the range of plants and repeating things; my collector gene is too strong for that.
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You are so right about reducing range. It’s a lesson I learnt in my last garden where I had one of everything and very little impact – but quite colourful! Here I am determined to repeat, repeat, repeat!
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I am building up the layers year by year, so this is the second summer with a flowering border, the alliums have been a great link up plant. (First one was spent dealing with weeds.( I am also going to look at the low growing allium christophii, I’ve seen it work well with silver leaved foliage plants.
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That’s a lovely border with the alliums, euphorbia and tulips, and the narcissus and bluebells are a gentle and pretty colour combination.
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😊 thank you so much.
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I have succumbed to the SoS tulip mania. GeeTee are currently offering a discount for early orders so I’ve spent money on bulbs I won’t see till the autumn. But at least I don’t need a spreadsheet for those. I do have one for annual bedding now, though. That’s a lovely pink flower on that azalea. Definitely a keeper (if you don’t want it let me know).
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😀 sorry to disappoint but I’ve got a place in mind for the azalea! Tulips have long been a favourite of mine and setting up the new garden has been great for trying some out. I’ve cleared a whole new corner now so I may be taking a look at GeeTee bulbs too!
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Your borders are fabulous ! These colors btw euphorbia, allium and pink tulips give a nice mix. I think you have to be happy with your new paths …
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Thank you so much. Really happy with the new paths, it brings the two sides of the border together and it is so much safer now!!
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I love your first paragraph, made me laugh! I gave up with bringing my plants in last week, hoping for the best, but it has been awfully windy. I shall wait another week then plant them into their designated spots once the forget-me-nots have died down somewhat. You have lovely borders and those euphorbia really do fill the spaces. Do you need to plant some every year or do they come back again?
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The euphorbias come back every year, the flowering stem gets cut to the ground and the non flowering stem flowers the following year. They are E. characias subsp. Wulfenii one of the larger ones. There’s also Portuguese velvet which I think is slightly smaller. My seedlings still look pretty small but maybe they’ll surge on!
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I don’t want a big one, but smaller ones would be nice. I think I shall give them a go. Just potted on loads of plugs that arrived yesterday in the middle of a heavy shower! I think I might have gone a bit wild. If all these things grow into big plants… saying that half will more than likely feed the S&S population.
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You had a busy day yesterday then! Hope you get a good number of them past those slugs and snails.
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I’m drawn to the deep tones of that geranium. Definitely worth moving with you!
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That is such a well put-together border! Absolutely lovely colours, textures, heights… Masterful! I love Geranium phaeum too.
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Thank you so much 😊
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Your alliums are looking good – particularly with the Euphorbia underneath. I have the same problem with corners looking a bit bare as spring bulbs go over – need to come up with a plan!
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Thinking caps on!!
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Mount Everest is definitely going on next years list.
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Love the narcissus/bluebell combination.
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What is with these alliums? I have seen them in the catalogues, but I know of no one here who grows them. Apparently, they appeal to those elsewhere. It seems like many of them are showing up now! I have not tried them yet; except only for onions going to seed, which are not nearly as pretty.
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Could this be a chance to set a trend? Are you tempted!!
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It is already a trend that I am not tempted by. I would like to try alliums, but only because I think they are interesting; not because everyone else is doing it. What is interesting about the articles and pictures that I am seeing online is that most of what I see are NOT the trendy sorts. That is cool. I really dislike trends and fads.
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As always your comments are on the nail.
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Beautiful borders. I’d love to do the repeat method of planting but there’s so many plants out there and so little room in my garden!
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I had the wonderful opportunity after moving house to start new borders from scratch and decided to go for repeat planting. I have to be very disciplined, which some might say takes the fun out of gardening, but so far I am enjoying the results. The challenge of planning and not being impulsive is demanding in a good way but of course there are always impulse buys!
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I love the gatecrashing tulips! We tried planting a ‘yellow flower’ section in the garden one year, only to find that what we thought were going to be yellow flowering plants, actually had been mislabelled in the shop, and that variety actually ended up flowing red (oops!)
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So many plants so little space. I think j am in the same boat as Jim, sacrificing impact for variety. I am striving for a bit both. I like the look of that hardy geranium.
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They are so tempting though!
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