Month: April 2019

Six On Saturday: The borders take shape

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This garden has a long history of growers. The very first owner here was a prize winner for a plate of three raspberries and the second owner was a committed fruit grower.  When I came along the fruit growing had taken priority and the borders were being taken over by weeds and grass.  There are still plenty of weeds and fruit bushes around but flowers are gradually being reinstated.

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The monthly long border shot.  This year I have gone for two smaller wigwams of sweet peas.  I planted out the early sowings last weekend.  On the left  ‘April in Paris’, a white variety and on the right ‘Midnight Blues’.  I now have a gap where the large wigwam went and although I have some annuals lined up to fill the space I feel the need for an evergreen shrub to give more form to this end of the border.  The delphiniums are shooting away and with storm Hannah blowing through I need to get out there and do some tying in.  In case you are wondering, the bamboo cane is there to remind me not to step on the emerging echinacea ‘White Swan’.  Roses, geraniums and knautia are also making good progress, ready to take over from the tulips and euphorbia.

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The left hand end of the north border. This used to be home to a stand of blackcurrant bushes and in turning over the soil for the nth time I found a label: Ben Tirran.  Four of those bushes went on to new homes so I will pass on the information.  The others have been found temporary homes elsewhere here.  So this end of north border was ready to plant up this year.  First to go in were two hydrangea anomala subsp. petiolaris, climbing hydrangeas for the back fence.  Last weekend I planted 23 geranium sanguineum ‘Alba’ and six anemone ‘Honorine Jobert.  I have two more geraniums waiting to go in once the front row three of pittosporum tobira ‘Nanum’ arrive.  I’ll fit the last two geraniums in around them.  The black pots along the back row are representing 10 melica altissima ‘Alba’.  These are proving elusive at the moment and I am hoping I don’t have to resort to a well known but more expensive on-line supplier.  I am following a plan from Joe Swift – Five plants for a deep shade border – as published in Gardeners’ World August 2018.  I also have some seedlings of astrantia major to fit in and finally I plan to add snowdrops for some early interest.

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At the other end of the north border the Choisyas are opening up.  This can mean only one thing.  The days are numbered for the ailing one.  For the moment I’ll enjoy the scent and the green and white colours.

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Patiently waiting to fill the space soon to be vacated by poorly choisya is a skimmia ‘Kew Green’.  Most descriptions use the very attractive phrase ‘no need to prune’.  The scent is described as’ lilly of the valley’ and it does well in shade.  Sounds perfect.

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I was lucky enough to inherit a greenhouse, old and needing some glazing repairs but it looked wonderful to me.  I put in some automatic openers but the frame on one side sticks in one corner and I haven’t solved the problem.  Last week the frame gave way at its weak point – the glass.  I made a temporary repair with some left over plastic and clingfilm but storm Hannah has curled her lip!  I am hoping the local company that helped out with the glazing last time will come to my aid again.

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The sowing of tomatoes for the greenhouse are coming along well.  Time to move them on I think.  That will encourage me to get that window repaired.

The weather has changed dramatically.  Cold, wet and windy.  I am grateful for the rain as already the water butts were getting low.  Fingers crossed that the wind isn’t too damaging, there is so much blossom around now.  I hope your garden stays safe and don’t forget to take a look at Mr P’s blog for more news from SOSs around the world.

 

 

Six on Saturday: Hip hip hooray!

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I’m cheering for the sunshine, the long weekend and the surge in growth that is taking place in the garden.  I’m getting a tingling feeling! For the full ASMR experience please read this post in a slow, gentle whisper.

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Tulips, tulips, tulips.  These are planted out in blocks along the long border central path. There are four types: Queen of Night, Shirley, Violet Beauty, Barcelona.  Queen of Night comes along a little later which seems appropriate.

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This is the sunny end of the north facing border – which is in truth slightly angled east-west.  The iberis sempervirens is in full swing and the tulips here are just appearing.  I’m waiting patiently for the trachelospermum jasminoides to run riot over the back fence.

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Down at the hedge border I have two groups of tulips comprising of Angelique, China Town, and Spring Green which are just waking up.  The shorter ones with the creamy edged leaves are China Town.  These are absolutely lovely!

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New to the garden this year is leucojum aestivum ‘Gravetye Giant’. Billed as reaching 90cms in height, this hasn’t quite made it this year.  But I have high hopes!

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The apple blossom is opening out.  Such beautiful colours.

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Rosa Mdme Alfred Carriere was planted out last year on a shady back fence and it is running away very nicely.  After a week away I was very happy to find it  lush and full of buds.  I’m looking forward to them opening out.

I am now heading off to do some gardening.  Some more of the plants for the less sunny end of the north facing border arrived this week and I have 25 geraniums and 6 anemones to plant out.  I know it will take twice as long as I think so I’d better get started.  I’ll post on this new border next week.

I know someone else who will be out in the garden this weekend, but Mr P, host of this meme will find time to share the links to other SOSs for your enjoyment.  Have a great weekend.

Six On Saturday: Sorry, Sunday!

/ n20gardener / 12 Comments

A late posting this week due to unexpected 48 hour lurgy having struck.  Feeling better now but the task of planing out the main crop potatoes does not sound that appealing.  I think they can wait another week.  I’m hoping to have the energy for planting out the sweet peas, dead heading the daffs and sowing a few annuals.  If the thought of gardening is exhausting you too go to The Propagator’s blog  for armchair gardening or the inspiration to get out there for real.  Here’s my six for the week.

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The first of the irises have opened.  These were divisions from a neighbour’s garden at the old house, brought along in pots when we moved and now in their third summer in this garden.  They are putting on a better show than last year so perhaps they truly feel at home now.  Just in time for another division?

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Six on Saturday is a good thing to get involved with!  Thanks go to Sedums, dahlias and hayfever for sharing their enjoyment of the Edinburgh Botanical Gardens some time back.  It went onto the list of places to visit and this week was ticked off.  It’s a fantastic place with a series very impressive glass houses.  Thanks also go to the Rivendell Garden blog for regularly sharing alpine plants in his sixes.  Having spotted armeria maritima last week what chance did I have when I saw three pots of the stuff for sale in the plant shop.  Purchase made.  The alpine section at the Botanic Gardens is also very much worth a visit.  In fact I may have to do a separate write up – I must be feeling better.

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Before heading off to Edinburgh there was an intensive spell of 5 minute gardening to be done.  Of course it always takes at least half an hour but I did manage to get the first rows of rocket planted out and this year’s new try out – edamame beans. These were an impulse buy when I was picking up my compost for the summer sowings.  The beans have to be boiled for 10 mins to kill off the toxins!  I thought they were the healthy option.

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This interesting collection is the result of sowing 45 seeds of euphorbia oblongata last summer.  Only four germinated and very late in the season.  I had really given up on them but somehow they struggled on so I potted them up to overwinter them in the greenhouse.  They have all made very different progress. One fatality.  I’m keeping them in the greenhouse for a few more weeks before they go outside but their place in the garden has been lost.  They were intended as the underplanting for the Darcy Bussell roses.  I’ll scout around for a new corner for them.  Looking at them here I am tempted to pinch out the tops.

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The first of the lettuce seedlings are ready to be moved on.  I will plant some in the greenhouse and some outside.  These were sown at the end of February if I remember rightly.

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I found this growing on the compost heap and with a gardener’s optimism planted it up.  I am hoping it is sweet woodruff.  Any thoughts?

Well that’s my lot for this week.  Back with a bit more vim next week.  Those potatoes must be planted by then.

 

Six On Saturday: revelations

/ n20gardener / 21 Comments

My inspiration for this week’s six comes from a ‘conversation’ with a fellow sixer on how nice it is see the garden as a whole as well as the splendid photos of individual flowers. So here we go:

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This is the western end of the north facing border.  I’ve been de-weeding it for about two years! It gets slightly more sun particularly at the right hand end where osteospermum flowers very happily in the summer.  Of course I haven’t managed to include that corner in this selection. But you can see the large healthy choisya on the right and the two tone unhealthy choisya on the left and the middle. Honestly, it is one plant.  When that’s flowered it’s going and this is where the wish list plants will go.  This week I added skimmia ‘Kew Green’ to that list.  In the middle I have planted the climbing rose ‘Souvenir du Docteur Jamain’.  I’m expecting great things as I need it to cover that fence fast.

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This is the narrow border against the wall and the border where I was trying to squeeze in more tulips last November.  I did succeed in getting some ‘World Friendship’ in, these are the yellow ones but I have two pots full that didn’t make it into the ground.  The climbing roses are ‘Blush Noisette’ and ‘Scepter’d Isle’ is just coming up to fill in the gap in the wall.  I’ve decided I need a clematis here as well, but which one?  The verbena bonariensis also grows up against the wall here.

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The short border that faces east.  This is a very wet border so the perfect place for cowslips, Siberian irises and the hydrangea ‘Blushing Bride’ which does need its annual prune.

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I call this the hedge border.  The hedge of box, bay, eleaganus and viburnum marks the change to the veg plot behind.  It’s slightly north facing at one end but enjoys the afternoon sun at the other end.  The soil is very heavy clay here and the wonderful salvia ‘Amistad’ have not survived the winter.  They did make the perfect backdrop to the three r. ‘Darcy Bussell’ so I am tempted to plant them again and take cuttings for insurance.

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The turf has been laid.  This is the top end of the south facing long border.  Previously shaded out by the large BBQ and the large laurel, I now have a planting opportunity for some sun lovers.  I may be in line for some crinum bulbs.  It’s not a plant I know but I’m told it likes the sun so I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

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Tulips of course.  These are the ones in pots.  The orange ones, unknown,  were dug up with the hydrangea plants and don’t seem to have minded too much about being disturbed.  The purple were featured last week and I can confirm, once and for all, that they are ‘Ronaldo’ planted alongside ‘Flaming Spring Green’  and the yellow behind them are ‘World Friendship’. Which is a good note to end on!

More world friendship is on offer at The Prop’s blog.  Enjoy your garden this weekend, don’t fret about the weeds and feed the roses!