Summer plants are f lowering!
ISandra Manning
An urban oasis in Twickenham combining trees, shrubs and general planting with a variety of pondlife and wildlife.
t’s difficult to comprehend why some summer plants are still flourishing alongside winter plants so late in the year. Winter pansies in the window boxes were meant to take over from pelargoniums, but they’re all still in full bloom.
During the summer, one of the local garden centres were selling off bulbs at knock down prices as they were past their optimum planting times. I’m therefore delighted that I’ve some purple anemone De Caen flowering in a container now!
Low sunlight accentuates the bright green stems of the dogwood, Cornus sericea ‘Flaviramea’. Meanwhile, Cornus alba ‘Sibirica’ is just about hanging onto its leaves, although in the coming weeks, the bright red stems will be revealed.
One of the delights of winter is the spindle tree, Euonymus europaeus, with its simply glorious bright red leaves. It’s easily identifiable because of its square stems. The yellowing leaves of Hydrangea petiolaris brighten up an otherwise shady corner of the garden. Wrens, robins and dunnocks flit in and out of the foliage, which provides shelter from the elements. The allotment has been a bit neglected due to the ground being so wet. October was such a good month to work on it, but then almost as soon as November comes around, the weather is much less favourable.
Indoors, hippeastrums have been planted – once they begin to grow they do so very quickly, producing large, colourful flower heads. My next purchase will be some poinsettias in readiness for Christmas.