This weekend I am off to hear the banns being read in church for my upcoming nuptials. So off to enjoy the in-laws to be garden. They have a lovely cliff side garden. Last time I visited the pond had just been re-dug and had attracted newts, so be interested to see progress.
My own garden had become quite crowded. The ox eye daisies had gone past their best, as had a number of geraniums. So they have been chopped back. Some are already giving new flowers, but lower to the ground. They were growing very thick, so now it has revealed areas that have been concealed for a month or so. Quite a lot of bare ground that is tempting to fill.
1. Heuchera
I bought these two last year and had growing in pots for some colour over Winter, but it was too sunny a spot. I added them under the acer. They have recovered well. This area is all about the foliage ferns and heuchera give all year colour.
2. Cyclamen
This was grown inside. After the flowers were best their best inside I planted it out. It’s given a second burst of flowers. I don’t know what variety it is, so don’t know if it will survive the Winter. A pleasant dash of colour for now though.
3. Hebe
This Hebe suffered badly this Winter and I considered removing it. It has just about recovered, but it’s growth is a bit patchy. Hopefully it will sort itself out. The flowers are bee magnets.
Luckily I took cuttings, which are now putting on growth. They’ve been easy to get going and keep going. I’d like to establish a few more to take a few for the school garden.
4. Fern-polypodium vulgare ‘Bifido multifidum’
I’ve bought another fern for the fern patch. Common polypody is a hardy evergreen variety. It likes free draining soil and prefers loam or chalky soil. As I have neither I’ll need to mix in some sand and grit into it’s planting hole to give it good drainage. Currently I have tongue and feathery shaped leaved ferns. So this will add a bit of variety with its more rounded leaves. It’ll need watering through the Summer to get settled in. The leaves from the trees above will give it a good mulch when they shed.
The ground is hard as rock right now. So I will hold off on planting and soften up the ground for a week or two watering it well. This is the patch it will be added into.
5. Love in a mist
These were sown directly into the soil and are growing up through the Charles DeMills rose that has finished flowering. The feathery foliage is a photographers dream for soft focus shots. Stunning!
6. Rain
Finally we got rain. All the singing and rain dances have worked. A day and night of on and off storms yesterday has refreshed the garden. The lawn looks lusher already. Our wash water has been keeping the hydrangea going. The tomatoes have been a daily task. But for one day I can have a rest. So we’ve gone from worrying about drought, to now worrying about flooding.
Hope you all enjoy your weekends and all your gardens have benefited from the promised rain of the weather forecast.
