Alstromeria Update

Earlier this year I posted about how to plant an Alstromeria, more specifically Alstromeria Indian Summer.  It was a donation from a good pal who had divided his plant to invigorate the parent. I had coveted this plant for a long time and was delighted to be given a very good size division. It is in the blue and orange bed and is now looking its magnificent best. What is particularly pleasing is that it has, as part of the back drop, a Verbena Bonariensis which was also a generous donation. It came from an ex colleague who has a enviable knack for propagation. 

Shown below are close ups of the key plants in this part of the border and despite the heavy rains of the past week are looking cheerful and summery. I even caught a little bit of the wild life in some shots!

the Alstromeria

the buddleia

the Verbena Bonariensis

the Lavender Hidcote

Of course, when the camera is out a certain feline, aka Mili, just has to get in on the act.

Spring is Yellow

This week I noticed how many of the spring plants in the Pennine garden are yellow. I am not referring to the iconic daffodils which have now been and gone but to a selection of quite different plants, from trees, through shrubs and down to weeds.

The colour yellow represents, happiness, clarity and sunlight. It isn't surprising that yellow symbolizes these positive characteristics given the appearance of the yellow sun and its effects. In ancient cultures where a god or gods were associated with the sun, such as Egypt and China, yellow was the highest and noblest of colours and thus, the colour of religious figures and royals (who were thought to be descendants of the gods). All colours have a flipside, a degraded meaning that traditionally opposed the positive one. Along with warmth and happiness, then, yellow also represents cowardliness and deceit.

However, this does not deter me from choosing the laburnum tree as my plant of the month. It is a beautiful tree which will barely grow above 10 metres and with a narrow trunk fits perfectly into the space at the top of the garden. Its compact size make it an deal choice for many domestic gardens, top tip review your plot and see if you have a little space for one of these lovely little trees. The drooping vivid yellow flower racemes make it a sight to behold in the spring. Just one word of caution it is poisonous if any part of the tree is ingested.

The proximity of the flowers to the deep purple of the berberis thunbergii make a fabulous contrast of colour. 

Also in bloom at the moment is the broom. Similar in appearance to gorse but without the spines it is a very easy to grow shrub. It is at the back of one of the borders and looks at it best with a blue sky behind it.

 

Finally, a yellow splash of colour that inveigles itself into all the little nooks and crannies in the garden is the Welsh poppy (meconopsis cambrica). Most definitely not a favourite as this little weed tends to get everywhere but there is no denying that it does have a certain beauty.

Garden Springing into Life

The garden is beginning to come alive now Spring and some seasonally pleasant sunshine has arrived. The Pennine garden is also alive with the night time scuffling of the badgers. It is noticeable that the set under the shed is being well used and trails of bedding are found leading to the entrance most mornings. The video was taken last night as the badger came down to the pond, so the light levels are obviously quite low.

The snake's head fritillary are also looking pretty and qualifies for my plant of the month. I am aware that ours are somewhat behind (as a long time friend and gardening pal, has already noted) but its plant of the month status has been prompted by his keen observations in his own garden.

Melancholic Charms

View Looking Towards  St Johns

 This might not be the busiest or prettiest time of the year in the garden but it certainly has a peculiar melancholic charm. Cold temperatures, rain showers and high winds have conspired to reduce our time outside, consequently, when I do make a foray up the garden it is all the more pleasing. The prospect of cold wet paws means that I am more often than not on my own but it is quite hard to explain to Hecate and Mili just what they are missing.

Snowdrops

Of course, there are those tough little plants that are already making a good showing. We currently have a bonny display of winter aconites under the weeping copper beech tree at the front and of course there is the annual snowdrop display, now approaching its best, which stretches from the curb side up to the front door. This is the first year that the aconites have really done anything other than just sprout leaves. I hope this will now be a regular annual showing as we have been patiently waiting for 3 years! Consequently, I think they deserve the plant of the month award.

Winter Aconites

Sadly there is always the need to patrol for winter damage. The wind has blown down several fence panels and the badgers are still digging up the lawns. Top tip: keep on top of the maintenance work while you can, the busy spring months will soon be upon us. This might not be a labour saving tip but it is a sensible way to spread the efforts across the calendar year. So as tempting as it might be to find some indoor jobs, wrap up and get outside.

Badger Scrapings

Agapanthus

Sometimes plants will really surprise you. I was not expecting a great deal from our agapanthus this year, given how much less sunshine we have had compared to 2018. These African natives (African lilies) do like to be warm and bathe in sunshine, so I was pleasantly surprised to see how well they have done. Most of them are still in pots, which have been buried in the soil until the end of the season when they will be brought indoors. I have read conflicting advise about how root bound the agapanthus should be, so for the record these are pretty well pot bound! 

Consequently, these are my plant of the month. Besides, it is claimed the agapanthus can also be used as a fertility charm and carried by pregnant women to protect and ensure the health of a growing fetus ("agape" is a Greco-Christian term referring to love, "the highest form of love, charity").

Plant of the Month

 The previous post made reference to the beauty of dahlias at this time of the year. However, they will get even better as summer progresses. So I fall back on one of my all time favourite plants, the iris, for my pick this month. The picture is a dutch iris on the patio. It is hard to explain why I am drawn to the different types of iris that we have, it is certainly not because I find them easy to grow. The dutch iris is not dissimilar to the reticulata which is a staple of our spring bulb lasagnas. The delightful veined, blue petals with perfectly contrasting bright yellow patch (the signal) make for a perfect flower. However, it is much taller (at about 60 cm) and it seems to last a little bit longer. In fact I think the beauty of the iris is such that it does not really need a companion plant in its pot, I just grow it alongside some ornamental fennel, which has a rather more attractive and ethereal foliage than the long thin leaves of the iris.

While I am on the theme of ethereal effects in the garden, the lower photograph shows Mili posing in the dappled sunshine just beyond the blood grass and pony tail grass.This is, of course, the season when the ornamental grasses really start to get going, expect to see a few more pictures in the weeks ahead. I have been busying  inter planting some cornflowers, ox eye daisies and poppies, hopefully for good effect. Despite the accepted wisdom that all these flowers will happily self seed, in my experience this is not the case, with the exception of the yellow Welsh poppies which proliferate! Ah the vagaries of trying to work with nature.

The iris germanica (bearded iris) has also done quite well this year. My top tip is to be absolutely rigid in ensuring that the  top of the rhizome is left exposed above the soil. It really does need to bake over the next few months ready for next year. I have to be careful when applying a mulch, such as chipped bark, to the rest of the bed ensuring it does not cover the rhizome.

Details

This picture encapsulates so much of what makes gardening fascinating, the detail. Take a moment to look closely and it is surprising what you will notice when looking around a garden, it might be your own, a friends or a show piece stately home. I think most gardeners have an eye for the detail and we all notice different details. It is not simply what might catch our eye, but also what we look for in an outdoor space.

At first glance it might appear an ordinary photograph of the upper pond. I might examine the scene and think of the work that needs doing tomorrow. But a closer inspection might reveal something different.

In the background is a tub with one of our dahlias "Edge of Joy". A candidate for my plant of the month but there are not quite enough blooms open as yet. It is the first time I have put a tub in this part for the garden and I think I rather like it up here. But the beauty of a tub of plants , it can always be moved!

A little while later a further detail caught my eye around the edge of the pond:

the frog "picnic" in the sunshine. If you look closely you will notice an army of five frogs enjoying the summer sunshine!

Plant of the Month

Last week, before the severe gales, I was inspecting the garden, brew in hand, trying to decide what were the early spring highlights.

Hebe 

Narcissus

Primrose

The hebe midnight sun is a plant for all seasons and I cannot recommend this easy to grow little beauty too highly. Of course, daffodils and narcissii are always a breath of dazzling colour and the primroses, a new addition to several spots in the garden, have also been a cheerful sight.

However, I must confess to having a particular fondness for irises and this year there have been some nice reticulata including a new one for me, with a lovely, pale blue flower. They are part of the bulb lasagnas on the patio so that even on the days when venturing outside seems less than appealing they are visible from the kitchen window.

The Magic of Snowdrops

The mid winter months are undeniably a little less exciting for the gardener and resident felines than the warmer months of the year. However, there is always an excuse to get outside, even if like Mili it is simply a case of hiding in the grasses and avoiding the indoor chores. It might be chilly but wrap up warm and embrace the season.

Even when much of the soil is bare and the majority of the trees without leaf there are still some sunny spots of colour to be found. So I decided it would be nice to nominate a plant of the month.

My first thought would be to nominate a new Jasmine we have by the upper seating area, only planted last summer it already has produced some vibrant delicate little blooms. I was also tempted to choose an indoor plant, the daffodil "Erlicheer" on the windowsill does look rather stately, with its modest size flower heads atop of the upright stems. But I have just had to go back to an old favourite the snowdrops we have on the mossy bank at the front of the house.

 The snowdrops are unmissable every time somebody should use the front door. As surprising as it may seem I am particularly fond of them when it has passed sunset. They have an iridescent, glow in the dark quality, which means they stand out even under the gentle light of the stars and moon

 
The fallen snow or solid frozen ground seems no obstacle to this remarkable little plant, so tough yet so seemingly fragile. Close inspection gives a different perspective to the mass swathes (or modest mottled carpet in our case) and the brilliance of the white is just pure joy.

Lone flower, hemmed in with snows and white as they

But hardier far, once more I see thee bend

Thy forehead, as if fearful to offend,

Like an unbidden guest. Though day by day,

Storms, sallying from the mountain-tops, waylay

The rising sun, and on the plains descend;

Yet art thou welcome, welcome as a friend

Whose zeal outruns his promise! Blue-eyed May

Shall soon behold this border thickly set

With bright jonquils, their odours lavishing

On the soft west-wind and his frolic peers;

Nor will I then thy modest grace forget,

Chaste Snowdrop, venturous harbinger of Spring,

And pensive monitor of fleeting years!

To a Snowdrop, William Wordsworth

Winter Is Approaching

The last vestiges of autumn are proving a mixed bag. Today I have retreated indoors to escape the grey skies and freezing downpours. The garden furniture has been put away or is now undercover. However, only two days ago there was still a lot to enjoy, while collecting the last of the leaves. It is precisely because the majority of the trees in the garden are now bare that the vistas have changed, there may be fewer daylight hours but the garden now feels that little bit more well lit with the reduced shade from the canopy.

Grasses benefit from extra sunlight

Not a hole but a reflection in the dark water

The top boundary of the garden appears entirely different without leaves on the branches but the clear reflections in the upper pond are a welcome distraction from the jobs. My plant of the month is the laurentia "avant garde" which is still doing its best to add a little colour into the borders. Maybe it is because this is my first year with the laurentia that I have been so impressed by its longevity and toughness. I will certainly be using this again in 2019.

Laurentia still going in mid November

Laurentia (foreground) in mid summer

Pastel Bed

pastel theme with plants of differing form and textures

Our garden might be regarded as the antithesis of the Mormon temple. The mixture of pastel themed plants visible from the kitchen is intended to be informal and pleasingly haphazard. In reality it is anything but ad hoc, this year a lot of thought has gone into the planting scheme. In truth, it is still far away from the finished article and plans are already being made as to how it might be improved for next summer.

The sea holly, achillea and gaura work well but the central position of the cranesbill which has long been over and done rather detracts from the seasonal picture. The sweet peas screening the shed fit nicely and I am pleased that the crocosmia has been pared back to the far fringe of the bed.

It is also a space much enjoyed by the bees at this time of year. It is vital that there is a season long supply of nectar rich plants for them to utilize. 

However, it is not from this section of the garden that I have selected my plant of the month for July. The water lily has to take the honour again although the hare's tail grass will soon be at its best.

Upper Pond

Hare's Tail Grass

Hecate is better at resting than helping

Hebe Midnight Sun

I know this plant of the month has been mentioned before but it is a gem that just keeps on giving. Take a close look at the pictures and you will notice how the purple flowers are now bi coloured with a vibrant white. How appropriate that it is on the black and white terrace as the plant is simultaneously both. Just marvelous!

Vertical Garden

 The patio area is looking particularly lovely at this time of the year. The main attraction for me is not the pots and baskets but the vertical garden on the retaining wall. There is a current trend for this type of planting, the idea being to make ugly walls into attractive or productive garden spaces and at the same time to make the very best use of space. particularly where it is at a premium.

It is possible to buy hanging baskets and planters from any garden centre. Connected drop down fabric pockets are also increasingly popular. DIY enthusiasts can use reclaimed pallets for vertical planting schemes but we have been lucky and are able to plant directly into the gaps in the retaining wall. It really is surprising how many plants can cope with quite small amounts of soil in the most difficult sites. Some plants like the ferns will just find a home by themselves others have to be helped along. I would strongly encourage any gardener to try out a variety of plants and flowers, certainly do not restrict yourselves to alpines, which are the traditional standby for vertiginous locations with thin soil.

The patio area is sheltered but does not always get the best of the sunshine. However, it is where you can find my plant of the month, "Gran's lillies". These tough little flowers have grown towards the top of the wall for decades. Planted by our Gran in the early 1980's they come up every year without fail and the only attention they need is to have the dead foliage cut down to ground level every October.

Their beauty lies in their unfussy simplicity and of course the sentimental value they have for us both.