End of Month view – November 2017

A rather autumnal shot to start this month’s Endof Month View,ispast the yellowing mulberry towards the swing.  This mulberry was in a pot for years and is still barely fruiting now despite  having its feet in the ground.

My mother in law was kind enough to buy me a Mulberry ‘Charlotte Russe’ (the RHS plant of the year 2017) for my birthday earlier this year and, as one of its attributes is supposedly early fruiting, it will be interesting to see if it overtakes this rather more established plant!

This shot shows the magnificent Ricinus communis ‘Carmencita’, still in rude health.

In the troughs the stocks grown from cuttings are looking much more established and there are still flowers on the Pelagonium.

Likewise the Pelagonium ‘Surcouf’ still has the odd bloom.

The Veg patch is in a state of general collapse and needs clearing and mulching, but at least the Diving Lady’s pool has been newly planted with Muscari.

In the Swing Beds there is little to now see except the Salvias.

and rose hips –  I’m hoping the birds leave these alone so I can pick them for Christmas decorations.

The Grass Bed was cleared a while ago and has now been planted with daffodils and tulips.  However, bearing in mind the thievery which went on last year, serious precautions have been taken..

Walking past the house you can see the Rose carpet roses are still, rather incongruously, pumping out their bright pink blooms.

Past the tin bath and whilst the Osteospermum and Gazanias are shrugging off the chill, the rather crispy looking plant at the front off this shot is (was) a Chocolate Cosmos.  I really don’t learn as I’ve lost these plants before.  Whilst we’re blessed with a very mild climate here, they really are not remotely hardy.  (Note to self Jen!)

The leaves are nearly all off the Cercis, with just this pair clinging on in the sunshine.

The Bronze Bed is now largely a tangle of decaying dahlia stems which need to be cut down

but in amongst there is still the odd jewel!

Climbing up the wooden support for the glass awning is this Clematis ‘My Angel’.  I bought it from a specialist Clematis nursery but sadly it’s been really disappointing.  The flowers, which are similar in shape to ‘tangutica’ but supposed to be tawny/orange (to match the Bronze Bed which is directly in front) turned out to be rather insipid in the flesh, and also really small.  Not surprisingly, the seedheads are also really small which is a shame as I think they’re lovely in arrangements but I don’t think these would really work.

The jury’s out as to whether ‘My angel’ will get sent to plant heaven!

The succulents have now been tucked under the glass awning but I think if really cold weather is forecast that won’t be protection enough and they’ll need moving again.

This sink, however, is currently still out in the open and, having only been planted up this year has filled out really well.  In my enthusiasm to show it off, however, I did completely miss the enormous nettle in the bed behind.  Oops.

Here’s yet another pink Pelagonium, this one bought on the cheap from Waitrose.  It’s a perfect match for the Flower Carpet roses so I’ve just taken a whole lot of cuttings with the view of filing a big pot of them next summer.

Into the greenhouse and the banana (not my purchase!) is annoyingly looking better than ever

and there are plenty of cuttings coming along well.

One thing not looking so good is the state of the glass.  I hate cleaning the greenhouse (let’s face it, I hate cleaning) but this is definitely something on the jobs list

together with barrowing all this around

oh, and still planting the rest of these:

Wish me luck!

With thanks to Steve at Glebe House who hosts EoMV.