Rain helps to paint a pretty picture
We’ve had a few wet days of late and the view from the kitchen to the back garden area is transformed with rain drizzling down the window panes. It almost looks like an Impressionist painting! There are many varied pansies planted in the pots, which are starting to look colourful. I’m so looking forward to spring bulbs coming out, which will make the view quite magical. The National Garden Scheme has updated its website with the gardens scheduled to open this year. Driftwood is one of those, but after an enforced year off in 2020, I’m approaching it all in a rather different way! I’m holding three public days, with visitors needing to
pre-book. Booking will be limited to a maximum of 14 visitors in each hour and a more limited choice of refreshments, served at the tables in the garden. It will allow for a more informal visit and give me the chance to talk with more people throughout the day! I was amazed that quite a few tickets have already been purchased.
Recent jobs completed in the garden by a local company are the replacement of the entire back fence with a new structure, including concrete bases, to prevent the rot that had occurred to the old wooden ones. Thick, red bamboo rolls have been added for additional height, too. This area behind the studio is a great storage space. The side of the summer house, most exposed to the elements, has had repair work, too.
When I clearedthe garden up ready for winter there were many osteospermums that had grown very tall. I decided to cut them back and leave for the winter. Several of them did really well and were flowering profusely again over Christmas.
Last year I invested in a rather expensive new plant, a mangave. I’m pleased to say it did well and when I put it in the greenhouse for winter, I noticed it had a baby growing. I successfully managed to remove it and pot it
In the garden, berberis ‘Atropurpurea Nana’ has held onto its very bright red leaves. At one stage during the summer, I thought I’d lost it due to the dry conditions, but it soon perked up again. Winter jasmine provides a ray of sunshine, with its yellow flowers clinging onto bright green, square, arching stems, while winter heathers and Viburnum tinus skirt the edge of the pond. Skimmia japonica ‘Rubella’ up and now have a second plant, albeit much smaller, doing well in my office garden at the moment. An indoor plant that always amazes me is a monkey-tail cactus hanging on the wall in the window of the front porch. It bursts forth with gorgeous orange flowers that look so dramatic. They don’t last long but are stunning. (male variety) has clusters of bright red flowers, which look nice in a vase with some red cornus stems.
The bird box, which was inhabited by blue tits, has been thoroughly cleaned and refurbished. Inside was a bed of incredibly soft moss with a very small indentation in the middle – they’ve had quite luxurious accommodation! We’re keeping our garden birds well fed and in turn we’re being rewarded with the beautiful songs from the robins and blackbirds. Starlings descend in their numbers and produce quite a cacophony of sound, which is equally welcome. Ground feeding birds have loosened the soil enough for them to entice worms to feed on – the wildlife have certainly kept snails at bay this year.
The back garden looks very neat and tidy, despite the time of year. Touch wood, the new fleeces I invested in last autumn have withstood the ravages of the strong winter winds. Not one has been torn so far!
The beach garden still looks pretty amazing and the bergenia has started to flower behind the new lobster pot acquired a few weeks ago. This is the first colour to be seen when walking up from the road.
Read more about the garden at www. driftwoodbysea.co.uk.
l