In Bloom for September

Summer is still clinging on here in London. We had a gorgeous couple of days last week where the temperature hit the mid 80's...and I was out planting Spring bulbs! It felt quite strange to be doing that in the sunshine, but nice to work while it is still warm.

There are lots of blooms still going strong, not least the roses nearly all of which are in flower again.  This is Joseph's Coat, my absolute favourite rose. I just love the myriad of colour changes it goes through and it's incredible scent. I can smell it a long time before I even reach the plant.

Arthur Bell, still producing it's beautiful blooms. This flower has some apricot shades that I've not noticed before. Very pretty.

My newest purchase is The Prince's Trust Rose, a climber that I've bought to grow up the trellis alongside Joseph's Coat. The full blooms are lovely, but not as deep a red as I was expecting. I do find plant labels can be very misleading a lot of the time, but it's growing well so I guess I shouldn't complain.

Korresia is just about to flower. I'm looking forward to seeing this plant mature as it's a gorgeous rose but was in my front garden for the best part of the year so I missed out on most of the blooms and it's fragrance.

The Japanese Anemone Honorine Jobert is showing no signs of giving up blooming. It still has many unopened buds and seems to be preferring its new spot in the woodland border.

Helenium Mardi Gras has joined the late summer party. I LOVE this plant and have my fingers crossed it will spread out quite a bit.

Echinacea is still going strong.

And so are many of the summer annuals like Impatiens, Nemesia and Geraniums.

They're looking really pretty around the pond area and are cheering up the patio.

The Fuchsias are looking spectacular and more Lilies are just beginning to bloom.

The Sedums are out. This is the least floppy of the ones I left after my mass culling.

Campanula, flowering for the third time this year. It's such a useful ground cover plant.

The Cyclamen are looking great under the Willow. They're gradually spreading out to make a lovely patch here.

The Pickerel Hyacinths in the pond are still producing, even though I had to divide the plant as it was starting to take over. Funny how I've had this a number of years and this is the first time it's ever really done anything worthwhile.

Lastly, I have Winter Pansies and Violas now in bloom. I'm in two minds if I should plant these now or leave them for a few more weeks as the Summer bedding is still looking great. Hmm, maybe I'll put my feet up for a week and then decide :-) .

You might also like:

In Bloom for August

Read More

Working on the Woodland

I was recently offered the chance to preview eminent plantsman Keith Wiley's new book, Designing and Planting a Woodland Garden: Plants and Combinations that Thrive in the Shade.

If you are interested in creating a woodland garden, or even a woodland patch within your garden, then this book will become an invaluable source of information. The visual appeal is always important to me in a gardening book, and this one has it in spades (excuse the pun!), with plenty of inspiring photographs depicting wonderful and practical woodland planting combinations.  Keith Wiley offers his vast knowledge of woodland planting throughout, and an informative and extensive directory helps you choose the right plant for the right place. It really fired up my imagination to get out and make a few changes in my own little woodland border.

Now, my area couldn't be classed as strictly woodland, I'm not sure you'd find many bamboos on your Sunday stroll through the woods, although Keith does give them a mention in the book. The majority of the plants here do fit in with a woodland theme though. Of course there are ferns. Many ferns!

In fact, there are ten in this small area, and I was delighted during my recent garden revamp to discover three baby Cristate Male Ferns just behind the parent plant. I've potted these up and am looking forward to filling the space out with them (what little is left) when they're a bit bigger. It is definitely one of my favourite ferns thanks to it's tall, statuesque dark green fronds.

After reading Keith's book, I decided to move all of the Hellebores scattered around the garden to this area. I've always thought they looked rather out of place in the other borders but never knew what to do with them. They look so much more natural here, especially the tall Xsternii which was a bit of an eyesore elsewhere.

I've always been stumped by this shady little patch right of the bamboo, against the fence where it meets the patio. Nothing much grew here, and I've tried many plants over the years. I could have added another fern, but wanted something with a spark of colour that would cover the fence. Thanks to the book, I think I have now found the low maintenance solution...a Pieris!

This one was growing in my front garden, or rather outgrowing the raised bed it was in. I'm sure it will happily romp away here.

I let plants like Campanula and Hardy Geraniums have free reign in this border. They looked lovely in the summer.

Dianthus are slowly starting to spread out and clothe the border edges.

And hopefully the Brunnera will do the same. It seems that just as a new plant pops up, it gets destroyed by slugs and snails. I've already picked half a dozen nibbled leaves off the three that have survived from last year.

Not a woodland plant, but one that really adds some colour is Houttuynia 'Flame'.  It's planted in a pot in the ground here as it is incredibly invasive, I do keep a close eye on it too. It prefers damp soil, so being able to control the moisture in a pot is ideal.

Colour is what has been missing from this border during late summer, other than green, so I've moved all of my Japanese Anemones here and I have more growing on to go out next year. They should mix nicely with the earlier flowering plants that are already here.

And I love my Acer! This is Sango-Kaku. It has yellow/orange leaves in Spring that turn green in summer , change to pink and then yellow in the Autumn. So pretty! This is in a pot in the ground as it can have quite a large spread and I don't want it taking over.  It seems to be doing really well and I'm highly impatient for it to get a bit taller.

Natural ponds can appear in woodlands and my ones here in the border have matured nicely.  The frogs really appreciate having all the undergrowth to hide in and sitting on the bench and looking back on the woodland patch is relaxing.

I'll be adding some spring bulbs here and then I think it will be mostly complete. One border down, three more and a front garden to go!

I hope you enjoyed my little woodland patch tour. Keith Wiley's book will be published by Timber Press early 2015 and will be available from AMAZON. One to add to your Wishlist!

You might also like:

Working on the Wildlife Ponds

Read More