So, made it to the end of my first term in my new nursery. I’m still enjoying my time there immensely but it is time for a break. We have been getting into the festive mood at home with some garden craft. I received my last RHS assignment back and got almost full marks, so that was a nice little boost mid-week.
1. Christmas wreath
After Amy’s success with her autumn wreath she has gone onto do a lovely Christmas one. She bought it as a kit with choices over the colour scheme. By next year we might have enough foliage from our own garden to do one.
2. Hanging basket
Amy had done such a good job of the wreath I felt I needed to update the hanging basket. I had filled it with fuchsia grown from cuttings. These had gone past their best now. I made use of one of the discount heuchera from a few weeks back, a cyclamen that was hiding under a shrub and some self-seeded ivy from the back. Hanging baskets don’t do too well with our sea winds but it will bring a temporary burst of cheer. Then the plants can be taken out to recover in the border.
The cyclamen is a nice festive red.
The ivy is a lightly veined type. Looking at it together I probably could have done with one of the plants having darker foliage but it is looking alright.
3. Pyracantha ‘orange glow’
I’ve added a pyracantha to grow up the fence. It’s a spiky plant with evergreen leaves. Its main purpose is to provide berries for the birds. There won’t be any this year but it should provide some next year. The berries are bright orange and are particularly popular with finches. I’m trying to provide more natural food sources to supplement the bird feeders I already put out. The honeysuckle is well established and gets picked over. I have cotoneaster that is still quite small but should contribute eventually. The holly golden king has provided a few berries this year but it will be many years before that provides any serious bounty for the birds. Whereas, the pyracantha will look attractive and provide relatively quickly.
Quite a thorny plant but it is at the back of the border out of harm’s way.
4. David Austin rose ‘Peter Pan’
This is the last of my treats for my exam result and completing my last assignment. I need to include more roses within the plant profiles I write for my RHS level 2 so I decided I would get a David Austin rose. I settled for Peter Pan, a small dark red flower with dark leaves. It doesn’t look like much now but hopefully, this will be a good repeat flowering rose for the patio. It was bought bare rooted. Roses are easier to transplant in winter when dormant. You find there is a better range available and they are usually slightly cheaper.
5. Ilex x meserveae ‘Blue Angel’
This is a perfect little holly. While many hollies are sold on the fact that they are spineless or low on spines that isn’t really the holly you want in the festive season. It is a cross between English Ilex Aquifolium and Japanese Ilex Rugosa The leaves have a lovely dark green colour with a good shine. It is fairly compact growing up to about 4m but this will take quite a long time. It can be pruned into hedges or topiary. It has the RHS perfect for pollinators award and it forms berries for the birds. A great little wildlife addition. This isn’t in the ground but may replace the camellia. I don’t really like the double blooms of the camellia. The camellia doesn’t really offer many benefits to wildlife and that was part of what got me into gardening. This also suits the conditions of my garden better.
6. Ilex x Meserveae ‘Blue Prince’
However, ‘blue angel’ is no good on its own as hollies are dioecious. They have a gender. Blue angel is a female holly so in order to get the berries a male needs to be nearby. That is where ‘Blue Prince’ comes in. This is a male holly which will form the flowers, to fertilise ‘blue angel’, but not the berries. Some descriptions of the plant online say it will form berries, but I believe these are inaccurate. It has an award from the European boxwood and topiary society. They are both tolerant of sea winds and clay soil making them good choices for me in theory. This has been planted near the shed replacing a patch of thuggish hardy geranium that was getting out of control. It should form a nice block of evergreen foliage that blocks line of sight to the bare back fence. It will also act to some degree as a windbreak for some of the surrounding plants.
I have managed a few garden jobs this week. A few more bulbs have made it in the ground but I still have more to go. Hopefully, now I am off work I’ll be able to get back on top of the garden jobs. The garden isn’t looking too bad but it could do with some attention to get it back on track. I leave a lot of the perennials over winter for wildlife to shelter in but a few are in need of a cut back as there are other plants coming through for winter that are hidden by the dying growth. I have Lou Nicholls talk on auriculars to enjoy this weekend. This may leave me with a desire for auriculas.
I also bought pyracantha this year, I think they are lovely despite the thorns, and with a dual season of interest; I’m looking forward to seeing the bees enjoy the flowers too. Really like the colour of the cyclamen combined with the hanging basket pot, good combo!
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It may be a few years for the pyracantha to get going but they are wonderful once they do. It’s at the back where the thorns won’t cause too many problems.
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We grow a long stretch of that pyranantha against the house wall and it is a tough old thing with good flowers and a great display of berries – which vanish in the blink of an eye when they are ripe for the blackbirds adore them!
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Hopefully have hordes in future years.
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Well done with your assignment results and also well done Amy for another lovely wreath. Lovely festive cyclamen, I do love them!
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Thanks. I think anything that flowers this time of year can be appreciated for the colour it adds.
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Holly romance! Love the pairing of Blue Angel and Blue Prince – sounds as though they were made for one another.
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I did buy them together with the intention of keeping the prince in check, allowing it to flower, but keeping small. So the angel can form berries. There are a lot of hollies locally so would probably be to pollinate it but I’d rather know it’s provided for and bees love them.
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This photo of cyclamen is a success!
I don’t know if you have already grown auriculas but for my part not yet.
I often see gorgeous photos on Twitter and think you are going to have a great time listening to Lou this weekend ! A merry Christmas to you and all your family
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I have a few auriculas, some Victorian Lace in the ground but nothing you’d call a collection. I like the idea of an auricula theatre but I don’t think they’d do that well for me with wind. Hope you have a good Christmas too.
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Nice hanging basket and wreath. Very Christmassy with the holly and the ivy. Have a lovely time with Alice next week…….Happy Christmas.
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Pyracantha are great shrubs, though I’m always very wary when pruning it! Those hollies look very healthy and glossy leaved.
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Yes, the hollies are only small currently. But seem to be in good health. Nice glossy dark leaves. Should form a nice block of evergreen foliage for future winters.
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I’m very keen to see how Peter Pan turns out. I see it’s in a pot as a patio rose? I do love roses on pots and David Austin have some great choices – a well deserved treat for your. Happy Christmas to you and your family.
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Peter Pan is sold as a patio rose, though not listed as one for pots. But it only grows a metre so should be alright.
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Well done on the assignments. The cyclamen photo is lovely, nice colour too. I bought a couple for the front steps recently just to cheer up the entrance, though my female skimmia have lovely red berries now. Just a shame one isn’t white as expected! Have a lovely Christmas as best you can this year. I’m sure Alice is already excited.
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Congratulations on your RHS results!
The information about the hollies is interesting. I don’t know this. We don’t see holly much in our area, perhaps it’s often too hot and dry here. We do see a lot of pyracantha though and it’s often found along the edges of the roads. It looks very jolly in the winter.
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Hollies are pretty tough plants for most UK extremes of cold but maybe not so good for you. Pyracantha seems to be looking really good all over my town and I want in on that action.
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Congratulations on the results from your latest assignment! That is great news!!
I love the Christmas wreath, and the colourful hanging basket!
Enjoy your break from work, and have a peaceful and Happy Christmas!
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