End of Month View – February 2017

The Shady Bed is looking good despite the gloom.  Here is probably the largest clump of Hellebores and they’re joined by the sweetly scented Sarcococca and the constant Fatsia japonica.

Elsewhere, the main view is very gloomy (not helped by timing my photos an hour before some watery sunshine emerged).

In the troughs there are plenty of shoots, but as yet no colour.  Did I mention that I’d replaced the old Stocks at the back with new cuttings?  And whilst they don’t seem to be making much progress, the self seeded Cerinthe in the path in front is romping away…

The Swing Beds are still looking quite full but hardly flowery.  Many herbaceous plants still need a cut back, as do the roses, which are looking extremely wild and woolly.

The two Clematis cirrhosa ‘Freckles’ are still blooming well on the pergola, but definitely rather tatty on close inspection.  And I fear pruning the Rosa St Swithun growing amongst them is going to be a little challenging!

More bulbous shoots in the Grass Bed, but as yet no blooms here either.

I’ve pruned all the roses in the Mid Century bed, but still haven’t attacked the Salvias.  In the foreground you can see some overwintered Antirrhinum which look closer to flowering than some of the bulbs!

The soil level has fallen in this bed again this year

so lucky I’m prepared!

On the other side of the garden in the Oak Bed the Hamamelis (H. Arnold’s Promise) is glowing against the wall.  It probably deserves rescuing from all that dead foliage!

In the Bronze Bed the Narcissi ‘Cragford’ are the furthest advanced of all my daffodils and will soon be ready to ‘pop’.

Also ready to pop any minute, my other Hamamelis, H. Aphrobite.  Just a couple of blooms so far, but much promise and such a lovely colour.

In the greenhouse, the Winter Sunshine Sweet Peas have now been planted out,

there are seeds stirring in the damp darkness (I hope)

and on the windowsill a few perky Muscari latifolium, returned again from the Wedding Flowers of two years ago.  Step niece Hannah (whose wedding it was) is now proud mum to Hamish so, looking at the colour, I should probably have sent them over!)

And to finish, you can’t beat a jolly pot of ‘Tete a Tete’.

With thanks to Helen at the Patient Gardener for hosting everyone’s EoMV.

Wordless Wednesday – you’re so Vain

Seedy spreadsheets!

Today marked the beginning of seed sowing for 2017 with nine varieties sown.

Despite being more restrained with my purchases this year, leftovers from last season mean there are still over 80 seed packets vying for my attention and consequently a spreadsheet is called for.   And, as I already spend plenty of time working with spreadsheets, it has taken a week or two to knuckle down to preparing it, but now it’s done and I’m off!

There are old favourites like Cosmos ‘Psyche White’ above, Malope trifida ‘Vulcan’

and Molucella laevis,

but I’m also trying again with one I’ve always struggled with – Nicotiana alata ‘Lime Green’ (why can I grow all sorts of other Nicotiana but not this one?)

In addition there are some new varieties including Nasturtium ‘Jewel Cherry Rose’ which I saw growing at Sarah Raven’s when I went to her ‘Feast’ in 2014 and a new Helianthus on me, H. ‘Double Dandy’, described as ‘soft brown and crimson’.  We’ll see!

On the veg front, again some stalwarts such as Courgette ‘Romanesco’ and mini Cucumber ‘La Diva’

but also new varieties Courgette ‘Blanca di Trieste’ and Cucumber ‘Crystal Lemon’ as well as Sweet Pepper ‘Alma Paprika’.

However, I’ve realised today that I haven’t bought any new tomato seeds and, although I have some left from last year, I think further purchases are called for.  There really is no hope!

What are you growing from seed this year?  And what wouldn’t you be without?

Wordless Wednesday – still standing!

Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day – February 2017

One solitary Tete a tete Narcissus to herald this February’s GBBD!

With the photos taken in Sunday’s gloom, it was a joy to find more yellow elsewhere from Cornus mas,

rather tatty looking Erysimum ‘Ivory Giant’

Hamamelis ‘Arnold’s Promise’

and the rather acid yellow of an Aeonium flower head.  (This latter one in the greenhouse!)

Less yellow and more green, the emerging flower spikes of Euphorbia characias Wulfenii. The joke is that this burgeoning clump is self seeded, whereas the plant I bought and positioned carefully closer to the swing, is a complete wimp in comparison.

The following pair were featured ages ago in a Wordless Wednesday called ‘Blues Brothers’ – they are both members of the family Lamiaceae, and both flowering now – Rosmarinus prostratus and Teucrium fruticans,

The pergola is still smothered in Clematis cirrhosa ‘Freckles’ but I have to admit that the recent wind and cold has made the majority of them look rather chewed.  I had to work hard to find this one!

I don’t have much white in the garden as I find it hard to mix successfully with other colours, but at this time of year there are a few exceptions – beautifully scented Sarcococca confusa,

Viburnum tinus

and this pot of Crocus – Crocus chrysanthus Miss Vain.  These have been growing in the greenhouse so now they’re out in the open I hope they don’t get eaten.  Wouldn’t be the first time.  Grrr.

And to finish, a lovely clutch of Hellebores.

With thanks to Carol at May Dream Gardens who hosts everyone’s GBBDs.  Why don’t you pop over and see what others have blooming now?

In a vase on Monday -fishing for compliments!

Last Wednesday I received an email from Erin at Floret flowers about her imminent book launch.

And, whilst I know it will never happen, I do still hanker after a new life as an incredibly successful Flower Farmer (you know, the sort who wafts through fields of blooms on sunny days – apparently like Erin – not the sort who regularly gets up before dawn and has permanently grubby nails, I have those already).  So, I went onto a well known site I really should embargo and pre-ordered said book. Whilst there, I found myself clicking on all sorts of related tomes and another one fell into my digital basket, “The Flower Workshop” by Ariella Chezar.

It arrived on Saturday and absolutely made my morning.  After a chilly, blustery dog walk, I snuggled down with coffee and book and was in flowery heaven until the OH returned from golf and the usual chaos ensued.

Consequently I’ve been inspired to return to IaVoM, despite a paucity of blooms to pick from (and certainly not the peachiest, gorgeousist blooms my new friend Ariella had to play with).

So here it it is, a play on green and white, with a sacrifice of a few Hellebore blooms which weren’t getting their due attention in the garden.  The Hellebores are supported by new Cerinthe major purpurescens growth, similar hued Euphorbia myrsinites and then bulked out with Viburnum tinus.

I was trying to do one of those ‘sweeps’ from high right to low left, but not sure I exactly achieved that.

Ariella is a big fan of the ‘compote’ – what she calls a footed wide vase.  I do have one of those but was lacking either chicken wire or a ‘frog’ and floral putty, so I made do with my lovely sister-bought Orla Keily vase, but I think it made ‘sweeping’ a little trickier.

And why the title?  Well, look what also got placed in the hall this week:

With thanks to Cathy at Rambling in the Garden who hosts this lovely meme.

Wordless Wednesday – Duver dawn

Now you see it…

…now you don’t.

So, apologies to those who told me not to move the Acacia baileyana purpurea now, but the deed is done.  And so far it’s still looking pretty perky, but time will tell.

The Acacia move is all part of the realisation that I’m already behind and it’s only February.  None of which would matter apart from two things

1. I’m now officially full time at work (three days in London, two at home)
2. Not only am I opening the garden for the village Secret Gardens on June 25th this year, but I’ve been persuaded to take over organisation of the event.

So now you know.

But if there’s one thing I love it’s a deadline (oh and two college deadlines this month too!) and somehow, moving the Acacia was the sort of dramatic progress I needed, even if I kill it in the process.

The next question is, what to replace it with?  When it was first planted as an interesting purple leaved ‘mound’ it looked wonderful, but as soon as it became a tree I didn’t like the way it competed with the metal obelisk.  However, that doesn’t mean the bed doesn’t need something quite large to give some structure.  As some of you know, the bed has a ‘bruised’ coloured theme and so I am seriously considering a second Cercis canadensis ‘Forest Pansy’ but that wouldn’t be evergreen (or indeed ever-purple).  Perhaps I could consider a purple Phormium – there is one in the bed in front to the right of the photo, but I don’t really like them and doubt I’d ever move it.  And whilst it would work quite well with the obelisk, it would seem a strange bedfellow for the roses.

Thoughts please!

Meanwhile the Acacia has now been moved to the left hand Lavender bed and is deliberately sited between the two existing trees.

Another thing I finally did this weekend was order my seeds.  Last year I bought them on Black Friday the year before (October 2015!) which felt far too early and resulted in me going rather bonkers as a) I didn’t have plan but b) I did have a discount.  This year, ordering them in February, definitely feels too late and I’m quite sure I’ve forgotten some.  And I’m also quite sure that annuals I’m hoping will be flowering by June won’t be.

Wish me luck!

Wordless Wednesday – holding me to Ransom?