Six on Saturday: 28.9.19

1. Aster-New England

These asters have been shooting up in height for a good while. They were a wedding gift last year. This variety grows very tall and has a mass of flowers the bees are enjoying for late-season food. They look a bit odd in the border currently as these are very tall surrounded by shorter plants so I need to look at something mid-height to break it up a bit. They are looking a bit droopy in the rain but will recover when we get some sun.

2. Hebe

This Hebe was a birthday present a few years ago. It is a short variety with wider dark leaves. It is possibly the wrong side of tender as the leaves have browned off badly through winter each year but it has recovered. The flowers come late in Summer or early Autumn adding some bright bursts late on in the year. The evergreen leaves keep a bit of structure through winter as the perennials around die down.

3. Crocus-White

I’ve made a start on some bulb planting with a few croci going in the two small planters that flank the front door. The hostas will die down soon. The crocus will grow up before the hostas return. As with the cyclamen I’m sticking to white flowers in the shaded front garden as they stand out nicely in the darker front garden.

4. Layered planter

I’ve got a number of irises, crocus and alliums on orders but not bought any tulips yet. So I made a start with a layered planter from Tescos. I’ve normally looked for these when discounted but thought I’d get one for more. The crocus tommasinianus will come up, followed by the armeniacum muscari and the triumph tulips “purple flag” later on. I’m trying to create more pots with successional planting so I don’t spend as much time shifting pots back and forth and replacing pots. When these have finished flowering the muscari and tulips can be moved to the borders. The crocus will go in the lawn.

5. Fairy door

My mum has had a fairy door built for Alice following on from her fairy garden and dinosaur garden. She has loved playing with it and it gave me a bit of time to get some ground cleared ready for bulbs and got two of the passionflower seedlings into the ground.

6. The view from above

I haven’t featured the view from above in a while. The garden is taking on more of an Autumnal feel. The dogwood leaves are changing to orange. But we still have lots of colour on offer. The dahlias and cosmos still going strong. The late-flowering clematis and passionflower are still putting on a good show. The builders are back so I have the pots and table back on the lawn while they work. But hopefully they’ll be done soon and then I can start putting the patio back together. I’ve got lots of evergreen heucheras, grasses and ferns to go back on to keep the interest over winter. The right-hand border is more filled with late-season colour while the left shone in early Summer with lupins and foxgloves and lychnis.

The front garden is filling out. The hostas have got fairly well established before they die down for winter. The hydrangea limelight is settling into its position. Many of the heuchera and ferns are evergreen so they will keep some foliage going over winter. Then alchemilla is filling up gaps with self-seeders. I’m hoping to edge the path next holiday and then get a layer of compost, then bark down to tidy the ground up a bit, suppress weeds and gradually improve the soil.

The rain has started for the day. I didn’t manage to get the irises in the pots I planned to do last week so I still have that to do. I was suckered in by another Thompson and Morgan deal on £2.50 clematis so I have four of those to plant. One evergreen for the fence. One I’m thinking for a obelisk in the border. The other two I’m thinking will go in pots. But I need some bigger pots for this so I may need a trip to the garden centre some point. Enjoy your weekends. Hope the yellow weather warnings don’t cause too much damage.

If you fancy taking part in six on Saturday check out the guide.

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