There is much going on at the moment. Projects in the house and the garden are keeping me busy. Last weekend was good gardening time. The first and second earlies are now all in the ground. The onions grown in modules were planted out and the hydrangea has been moved. The choisya got a stay of execution! It is in bud so how I could I chop it down? It is definitely one plant with a split personality: one side healthy and one side poorly. Here’s what else is happening:
One
I failed to get all my new tulip purchases in the ground last winter. My bulb planter was reduced to a mangled mess, my hands hurt and I kept hitting the spots where previous tulips were lying dormant. The surplus went into pots which were lined up against a south facing wall. The warm weather has encouraged them to flower. The purple ones are ‘Ronaldo’ which I was expecting to be a deeper red. In the other pots are ‘World Friendship’.
Two
I am making progress on my lawn extension project. In preparation for the new turf – which arrives on Monday – I set about digging up the hydrangea. It turned out to be two hydrangeas, one very nearly dead! Deep in amongst the hydrangeas were tulips. I lifted these and very quickly planted them up again in pots. I hope they won’t notice the disruption. So far so good. I can’t wait for the new lawn patch to be laid!
Three
The two hydrangeas may eventually be recycled somewhere but for the moment they have been planted in the north facing border along with my overwintered foxglove seedlings. This will do for now as next door to this section is the doomed choisya. More thinking needs to done for what goes in here when that finally comes out. Current front runners are choisya ‘Aztec Pearl’, a pinus mugo and possibly a camellia. But I’d also like to fit in a sarcococca confusa. Any other suggestions for interesting north facing shrubs gratefully received. Ideas for smaller plants for the front are also welcome.
Four
The north facing border is getting most of the attention this year. June 2016 is a memorable time as that is when we moved in – and I’ll leave it at that! After nearly three years in the house I have worked my way round to this side of the garden. This patch here is reserved for the deep shade white planting scheme by Joe Swift as featured in Gardeners’ World magazine August 2018. The first planting has been made. A local nursery was offering a good discount on Hydrangea anomala subsp. petiolaris – the climbing hydrangea. Two 10l pots were purchased. More planting to follow but the Melica altissima ‘Alba’ is proving difficult to locate.
Five
The mahonia in the front garden is looking particularly fine this year. I hope this is due to the meticulous prune I gave it last year – dead, diseased, crossing etc all done by secateurs rather than a chop over with the shears!
Six
The long border in March. My monthly photographic update. The tulips here will be out in April/May. The delphiniums are shooting away so fast they have outrun the slugs. Also racing ahead are the hemerocallis ‘Golden Chimes’. I have new plantings of sanguisorba tanna and some extra alliums – but I can’t remember which ones, nor can I track down the order. Another garden mystery to unravel.
I’m hoping to find time for some gardening this weekend and will no doubt be inspired by the garden reports of fellow sixers. If you are looking for inspiration check out the links at The Propagator’s blog.
The trees in the garden are beginning to put on a show. First up is the persimmon tree. There was a bumper crop last year but I’m not a fan. I inherited it with the garden and it does look fabulous in winter when the leaves have dropped and the orange fruits remain.
I also inherited a number of apple trees and here is some delightful apple blossom from one of them. Again, there was a bumper crop last year, we don’t store the apples and there are only so many we can eat so the majority of them are taken off for juicing. We are still drinking the 2017 vintage.
The leaves on the fig trees are just opening. Not such a good year for figs for me last year and the squirrels always get the best of them. I managed to bag a handful!
And after my winter pruning efforts it is always a great relief to see new leaves on the vine. It does produce grapes but so far they have split before we get the chance to taste them. The grape variety is Black Muscat, which I understand is also known as Black Hamburg. Again, I was fortunate enough to inherit this well established vine which shades the pergola.
There is a great foaming wave of Choysia in one sunny corner of the garden. It’s perfectly lined up with a view from the window. Many thanks again to the previous owner.
Finally, all my own work! The white triumphator tulips are still hanging on and are a great companion to the irises that have just begun to flower. There is also a glimpse of the almost open allium ‘purple sensation’ – something for next week!
So this is the path looking shockingly new but I will soon get that sorted out with a few trips up and down with the wheelbarrow!
The clematis pruned before the last batch of cold weather has survived and is surging onward. It will soon be covering the trellis again.
A sure sign that everything is growing. This is most likely an ash tree seedling. Neighbouring gardens are well forested and every year I have to be super vigilant to pull up all the seedlings that come my way. Ash and sycamore are the most common and then the odd oak courtesy of the squirrels.
The tulips are coming through. This beautiful pink edged leaf could be from China Girl or Angelique. These two were planted along with Spring Green in a mixed clump in November. They should be in flower come April/May.
Right plant, right place I think. I planted half a dozen cowslips in a very wet border last year and this year there is a great crop of seedlings. I shall gently separate them and spread them around this border and elsewhere. Lovely free plants!
Don’t they look tempting. The first lush shoots of the delphiniums. I can just hear the slugs smacking their lips. More vigilance required.
n20gardener 