Silent Sunday: colour today

Today has been another steaming hot day here. It was a day I had in the diary as plant moving day. Now I am officially pale and pasty as I have the sort of skin that burns and consequently I keep out of the sun so the prospect of the heat meant that we set off at 730am to load the pickup with plants.

My friend is relocating to North Yorkshire for six months and she wanted to give me her potted plants as they were too big to move and she couldn’t bear for them to die. Generous to a fault these are all beautiful. My six today are some of my new plants.

For the sunnier spot is this beauty:

Melianthus or honey flower can get to between 1.5m and 3m tall. It is semi evergreen and half hardy so it will need a good wrapping over winter in my exposed garden. It is coming from the protection of a walled garden so the poor thing is in for a shock. It looks as if its foliage has been created with pinking shears. It is a very handsome specimen in a pot and already about 50cm tall.

This is Vietnamese mint or confusingly Vietnamese coriander . It has pointed leaves with a dark reddish variegation. It needs heat and damp and is not hardy. Another plant that’s going to need careful attention here. Its leaves can be used in salads and stir fry. It is invasive in the right conditions but here it will be a battle to keep it overwinter.

I do have this Hosta but to be honest it has spectacular dinner plate sized leaves which are so impressive I can definitely home another one. The green is slightly lime depending on how much light it gets. A spectacular hosta.

I am not certain on the variety but I reckon it might be Hosta Francee. A large leaf Hosta with attractive white margins. This will be a very attractive addition to my hostas.

I do not know the exact species but it is certainly Acer palmatum and I am guessing here but from searching online it seems most likely to be ‘Sango -kaku’

One of the most challenging moves today was this stunning Acer. Liz purchased it five or six years ago for about £6 and has nurtured it into this.

Here it is free from its pot, lashed up against the garage bound up and wrapped in a blanket. The poor thing!

Nothing would give me more pleasure than to be able to plant this into my garden. Instant impact and a true beauty. However my garden is very exposed and I know that it would be miserable subjected to constant wind. So I am it’s guardian for a short while until my hapless colleague, who had the heavy end moving the pots today, finds an XL container to house it in his garden.

Is that six? Not quite. I have dozens of plants out of pots awaiting their new home. Hostas, lemon verbena, ferns, an olive, large Euonymus a hebe,and a lovely white hydrangea.

What a kind and generous gift but also what a responsibility. I need to get them in the ground at a time when my clay soil is like concrete. The watering will be onerous while they are out of the ground or awaiting pots. They are currently on a ground sheet in the shade of my garage. Yikes. I am going to be busy. But what a statement and addition they will be to the garden. Watch this space to see how they fare and where..

That’s it. Just time for me to thank Liz( I’ll do my best) and our host The Propagator

Enjoy the rest of your weekend wherever you are and thanks for reading. D.

Small Town garden, Twickenham

08 Tuesday Oct 2013

Posted by digwithdorris in Before and After

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Acer palmatum, cercis siliquastrum, curved path, Hydrangea paniculata limelight, small garden

This garden has been in the same family for decades and was serving as little more than an outdoor space in which to hang the washing. A great deal needed to be done and the owner felt overwhelmed by the task. The primary request was for a new path as the existing one was tricky to walk on. The shed had to go before it fell down and the aim was to ensure that the owner would be able to see the garden from the comfort of an armchair which faces out the living room window, shown below.

The shed had to be sorted as it housed a collection of old tools, garden chairs, pots of paint and bits of old carpet. The windows from the shed had disappeared many years ago and consequently wildlife had moved in during the Winter months. Once sorted and any useful items put on the ‘keep ‘ pile the rest could go. Similarly all plants were scrutinised and a number were dug up as ‘keeps’ with a total of six mature specimens marked with blue ribbon to save for the new garden.

Costs were to be kept as low as possible and although the owner wanted plastic grass to avoid mowing, in the final plan grass was permitted.

The latter part of the day sees the sun roll down the garden, from the house end to the bottom end by the gate. To make maximum use of the sunshine, a small area of patio was agreed to give space for a small bench or table and chair, or perhaps a statue. The owner liked this idea as it would mean less grass to look after.

Once the shed was demolished, any useful tools were to be kept in the empty coal shed or outside toilet as this left space in the garden and saved the expense of a new shed.

The area which for so many years had been home to the shed, was to have a small raised bed with stepping-stones behind it to enable access to the outside wall.

The path was to curve into the garden, to create an interesting area for planting, finishing at the gate. Indian sandstone met the budget. Work took four days.

Planting which was ‘saved’ in-situ included Weigela, Euonymus fortunei, Fuschia, Hibiscus, and Winter Jasmine. Others were dug up and split including Sedum, and hardy Geranium Johnsons Blue. Cuttings collected from other gardens included Pulmonaria and Acanthus mollis.

New planting included three small trees, two forms of Acer palmatum and the slow-growing, Cercis siliquastrum with its heart-shaped leaves. Shrubs included the Hydrangea paniculata Limelight and a Sweet Box for winter scent. Cercis siliquastrum Acer palmatum Hydrangea paniculata ‘Limelight’

Shown below are the plants in their new home.

Hibiscus still wearing its blue ‘keep’ ribbon

The tree is underplanted with a selection of Allium, hardy geraniums and Alchemilla mollis which will cover the ground and tumble over the sides of the raised bed. The home owner was rather pleased with the outcome but seemed even more pleased by the stream of friends and neighbours who called by to admire her new garden.