Some floral flops and a feast of flowers
In the flowerbeds, the gardening year has been topped and tailed by white. It started with snowdrops in early spring and has ended this month with the determined blooms of a large clump of Shasta daisies and a Gladiolus murielae.
Since we moved here, a lot of work has gone into the borders, removing overcrowded shrubs and their roots, and boosting the depleted soil with compost and manure.
Special mention must go to perennials, including globe thistles, sea hollies and Viburnum bonariensis, which filled the borders with amazing foliage and flowers for months on end – hard to believe when you look at the bare and brown winter beds.
The AG free seeds grew successfully and offered a longlasting blaze of colour from early summer right through to the first frosts of autumn, when the Rudbeckias finally gave up the ghost.
however, one area that needs a rethink is a narrow strip of soil at the front of the house. Plants growing there include alliums, perennial evening primroses and a robust Glauca citrina. They look marvellous, but either flop across an adjacent pathway or grow over it.
Plans for the new Year include moving the alliums and primroses to a more suitable spot and training the Glauca up the house wall.
Looking at the garden now, when a few doughty cyclamen and violas supply the only colour, it’s hard to believe it was a riot of colour and scent just a few weeks ago.
So time to get planning next summer’s glory, methinks!