Pretty as a Picture 28/07

Don't usually have words on Pretty as a Picture, but today is my birthday (number undisclosed) and Susan in Hebrew means Lily, so here you are...2 for 1!

Good Companions!

Some planned, some good fortune, some a total surprise...not much more to say!

hosta Satisfaction with self seeded sedum

spirea with inherited climbing rose

hosta with geranium Blushing Turtle

heuchera Palace Purple with geranium Elke

hosta aureomarginata with self seeded valerian officinalis

sambucus nigra with rosa Erfurt

hardy geranium with valerian officinalis - both self seeders

rosa Blush Noisette with clematis The President

geranium sanguineum striatum with golden marjoram

Room to Move

Just about a month ago I wrote about my mobile garden of pots.  Following a fair bit of rainy weather and a few days of sun this part of our garden has truly blossomed.

early May

I don't know why but it comes as a surprise to me every year that I have to drag the pots further apart as the season progresses and the plants overfill their alloted space.

early June

in the background is a lovely hosta whose name escapes me and guacamole in the foreground

francee in the background and aureomarginata in the foreground

There's a lesson here for me in the 'planted' parts of the garden: give plants room to grow and spread.  However it's a difficult lesson to learn as I'm always tempted to cover up bare soil with leaf and flower.  Perhaps this is one reason I tend towards herbacious perennials as these can be easily removed or lifted and spilt when they outgrow the space available.

Anyway, in the pot garden no such issues as the pots simply move out and the 'border' at the back of the house covers more of the gravel path and becomes ever more lush.

My Mobile Garden

At the back of our house is a wide gravel path that stands bare and uninspiring through the late autumn and winter.  However at this time of year I begin to bring our mobile garden of pots away from the relative warmth of the house walls and cold greenhouse and build a border of plants along the path.

For the most part these pots contain a passion of mine for hostas.  They suit being grown in pots here as our garden has very little shade and the soil is sandy and free draining.  Being in a pot they can benefit from the east facing aspect at the back of the house and I can ensure that they are adequately watered; there is also the advantage that when they die down in the winter I can move the pots out of sight.

So last weekend I began to construct the arrangement of potted plants.  The hostas are off and running into growth; as the season progresses they will provide lovely lush and spreading foliage, which means that the pots will move further apart and eventually, by June, run the whole width of the house.  There are also a few pots of lilies to add scent and height to the display.

The combination of the hosta foliage, the little bubbling water feature, japanese acers and the bush fuchsias (added to provide some floral value) give me a delightful view from the kitchen sink!

September in Bloom

It can't be the middle of September already - can it?  Seems like it is and it's time for Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day courtesy of May Dreams Gardens...so here's what's blooming at Holly Grove this September...

Lilium White Heaven opened its buds on 1st September; it's as lovely as I remember when I bought the bulbs at the Malvern Spring show in April this year.  It is a very robust lily and about 90cm tall and the scent is gorgeous.

This is the first of my sunflowers to bloom this year.  A poor show for me with the first batch of seeds failing to produce anything.  It was an old packet so I'll be gathering some new seeds from this flower for next year.  I expect the weather has played a part too - not sunny enough for these chaps.

This little nasturtium has selfseeded itself right next to the little purple-black viola below; what a lovely combination!

I planted several violas earlier this year and they have been flowering non-stop since June. This one is viola Rosecastle Black, I also have viola Rebecca Yellow and a pale blue one that I can't remember the name of at the moment; all little gems.



I've planted two of these pretty blue autumn flowering shrubs in the past year - ceratostigma willmottianum - and they are beginning to settle in and produce their flowers.  With the leaves blushed pink at the edges they promise to be a lovely autumn addition to the garden.



We have several lavatera around Holly Grove, this one is lavatera Bredon Springs; they flower profusely from June to the first frosts.  Although a realatively short lived shrub they are so easy to propogate from cuttings (and they selfseed so easily in our light soil) that we are able to replace any losses.  They also have the advantage of speedy growth filling a space and adding height to a border in a single season. 



This malus Sunset has produced lots of lovely apples this year though it will be a little longer before they are ready to pick.  This variety provides a relatively late harvest around the end of October when the apples are a glorious bright red.

This unusual plant was a last minute purchase for a shallow basket.  I know it as cigar plant, cuphea ignea, it is a native of Mexico and therefore is grown in the UK as an annual.

These hardy fuchsias are growing in a very difficult spot at the back of the swing seat; they receive very little light and the soil is very dry as this corner of the border is very tight to the hedgerow.  Despite all of this they produce these lovely bright flowers and, hopefuly, they will grow into large shrubs providing interest through the autumn.

Well, there's more blooming at Holly Grove in September that I expected; have alook at other gardens in bloom around the world at the Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day hosted by  May Dreams Gardens.

August Bloomers

I've recently discovered Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day over on May Dreams Gardens and thought I'd join the fray this month; so a selection of blooming lovelies follows:

pelargoniums

dianthus

blush noisette

nasturtium

dimension



patricia's pride



ground carpet

Close Quarters

I spend a lot of time in this garden at close quarters with the plants as I deadhead, weed and generally tidy up throughout the summer months.  One of the advantages of this close contact is that I get to fully appreciate the texture and scent of plants up close and personal.

fuchsia stem colour and leaf texture

I'm a big fan of fuchsias especially the trailing varieties, then whilst clearing up some fallen blooms from this plant I really took notice of the red stems and the contrast with the fresh green leaves; the flowers just felt like an added bonus.

hosta guacamole

In a large terracotta pot next to the fuchsia is this hosta.  It's a sublime green with large ribbed leaves crying out to be touched.  A couple of weeks ago it also had the addition of tall, white, lightly scented flowers, but it's the leaves that win this plant its place in the garden.

pinus sylvestris 'Chantry Blue'

Sticking with the green theme, the arrangement of the needles on this Scot's pine are mesmerising, I could stand and stare for ages (and often do!).

sedum spectabile 'Brilliant'

The combination of fleshy, succulent leaves and impending flowers give this plant real status in the texture stakes.  Then when the flowers open and its nectar brings the butterflies it's a supercharged plant for the late summer border.

marguerite

This close up of a large pot of marguerite standing on the party patio reminds me of a Laura Ashley fabric, pretty white petals with dainty yellow centres and flowering profusely throughout the summer - a bargain buy!

Generally on a visit to someone else's garden I don't get this kind of view; I think it might look as though I'm searching for faults rather than appreciating the plants.  However by not adopting this stance I'm missing out on some real treasure, so next time I visit a garden or flower show you may well find me down amongst the foliage and flowers appreciating the real detail of the planting.

New Arrival

Hurrah!  The lilies mentioned in my previous post have burst into bloom, and they are fantastic - what a colour! 

lilium Dimension in bloom

Just waiting for Patricia's Pride and White Heaven to join the display.

In Anticipation

As I write I'm awaiting the arrival of lilies in bloom.  The white ones (name long forgotten) I've had in pots for about four years have just come into bloom and look and smell luscious; though I understand that not everyone is a fan of lilies and/or their scent, I'm smitten.

old favourites - name long forgotten

The anticipation is for the new lilies purchased at Malvern Spring Show earlier this year and as advised immediately planted with the hope of flowering this year.  As you can see it looks as though that flowering will happen any day now and I'm so excited!

lilium Dimension

lilium White Heaven

I'll publish more photos if and when the blooms open to reveal the beautiful colours and delicious scent that I recall - watch this space!

Friendship and Flowers (VFTA No 4)

The next in my sometime series of reviews has been prompted by a visit made a few days ago to my dear friend, C in Devon.  It's about a 200 mile trip from Holly Grove most of it on motorway, so not very picturesque and always with the possibility of traffic problems and delays, but also the prospect of spending time with a close friend.  C and I have been friends for just over 29 years (we met when I was very pregnant with my youngest son, but that's another story).

The fun began shortly after I arrived chez C; just time to freshen up and change out of travelling clothes before we headed off for a salsa lesson.  Neither C nor I had tried salsa before and we had such a laugh, though we did manage to master a few of the steps as well.  So great fun as all this was, what's it got to do with gardening, well...

C has a small courtyard garden and when I saw it the next morning in the light of day I was bowled over.  The garden consists of one border the length of the garden on one side and a small summer house and lots of plants in pots on the other with a gravel path between.  The flower border is densely planted giving a beautiful cottage garden effect - just my kind of planting. 

C has made good use of the vertical too, with clematis and even a sambucus niger (black elder in photo next to climbing rose) kept close against the fence line.  The number and array of plants is amazing and the density of the planting means that weeds don't get a look in.  The colour palette is mostly pinks and blues but with accents of red.  The soft colours create a peaceful ambiance with the reds providing focus...it's very tempting to copy this whole planting scheme in a border at Holly Grove!

I was particularly charmed by a couple of plants that I would like to add to our Holly Grove borders - potentilla thurberi 'Monarch's Velvet' and salvia greggii 'Icing Sugar'.  The salvia is hardy to -8 but if we have a winter like last year it may struggle here in Shropshire where the freezing cold winds come across from Wales and down over the Cheshire Plain pushing the temperature frequently downwards well below freezing; quite a different climate to the milder winters of the south west, but worth a try and if I can't overwinter it in the borders I could try growing it in a pot.  The potentilla is fully hardy, so that's definitely one for the borders.

all photos courtesy of C

I was astonished at how much interest C has been able to create in a small space; truly inspirational!

Note: Be careful if you are buying the salvia as there seems to be a purple/lilac Icing Sugar that is described as both salvia microphylla and salvia greggii - the pink one in C's garden is definitely salvia greggii according to the RHS; I have also seen the pink one listed as salvia jamensis, microphylla and jamesii - help!!!

Pots and Baskets

I spent some time on Saturday morning browsing around our local plant nursery for suitable candidates for our summer baskets and pots.  I wanted some of the usual suspects: bright red geraniums (more correctly pelargoniums) and various fuchsias.  There was a fair range to choose from but not as good as in previous years and the plants were larger and more expensive than I would normally pay.  This is due to me being well behind on the basket front this year.  I did manage to find a bargain or two at the supermarket to add to the fray!

I normally buy my pot and basket plants as plug plants and grow them on in the greenhouse from April.  This year it's the end of May and I'm just getting around to thinking of summer containers, so I've paid the price quite literally! 

The Handyman and I have agreed to cut down on the number of hanging baskets this year as the watering every evening takes up such a lot of time.  So until we work out an automatic watering system we'll restrict the number of baskets and plant a few more flowers in the borders where watering is less of an issue.

The afternoon was spent potting up the containers and phaffing around to get them in the right position.  It normally takes me two or three attempts to be happy with the positioning of the pots.  After that I can sit back and wait for the summer show, as long as I keep watering, feeding and deadheading they should go on until the first frosts.  Look out for updates on progress in future posts.

Postponing and Potting

My intention to complete the greenhouse was good, however my effort was meagre. I managed two panels before I gave up for the day, my excuse being that I had some fuchsias and pelargoniums that needed potting up in their final position.

To be honest I needed a day without the frustration of construction, the weather was warm and balmy and to ease my conscience I first cut the grass on the circle lawns and front garden. Now it was time to treat myself to some creative fun assembling the soon to be (hopefully) sun-baked pots on the terrace. Every year I create large and small pots of pelargonium for the Handyman's pleasure, he especially loves the brightest red. This year I have the usual bright red, but also a delicate pink, called Appleblossom.

The red geraniums I have teamed with deep blue lobelia in black pots whilst apple blossom is matched with a soft blue lobelia (Cambridge Blue?) in blue glazed pots. I started to pot up the bush fuchsias and some coral pink Busy Lizzies (Impatiens) at the back of the house where they will live mostly in the shade, then I ran out of time and daylight and i still had the baskets to water...watering by moonlight, a sight often seen at HG.

I'm hoping to finish off the pots today and maybe add a panel or two to the greenhouse, but at the moment it's raining steadily, so the Handyman and I are going out to search for some new garden furniture to dress the party patio - now a six or eight seater, teak or metal, round or oval...hmm?