Sorbus vilmorinii
Late last week I was slowly psyching myself up to tackle the compost heaps this weekend. A job very long overdue and now the temperatures are cooler it seemed to me to be an ideal time. However the weather had different ideas and the forecast was heavy rain all weekend. I can’t complain though since the garden is really in need of a good soaking. There has been little rain over the summer months and although we have had one or two days when there have been drizzle it hasn’t been enough to really soak the garden. So I decided to accept fate and use the opportunity to finish off decorating the downstairs toilet, a job I started back in September but that got put on hold when my mother had a stroke – she is loads better by the way.
The one horticultural goal I set myself was to get some more bulbs planted. I wanted to get the crocus and iris reticulata in as they are the earliest to flower and so logic dictates that they should go in the ground early. Some of the Crocus sieberi tricolor went into a shallow pot in the hope they might conveniently flower in time for one of the shows but if not I can bring them in the house; the rest have been planted out under the Abelia. I also managed to plant out Iris reticulata ‘Frank Elder’ and ‘Cantab’ in pots again partly for showing, maybe, but also as I find they don’t flower that well planted out directly in the borders. As you can see from the photo above there are rather a lot of pots of small bulbs!
I am really pleased at how wonderful the Abelia looks. It was moved here in the Spring and then shifted back a foot a couple of weeks ago to make way for the path. I seem to have finally found the right home for it and it also fills a difficult gap which I have struggled with for some years. Although I think I need to think about getting the wall redone!
The Cottage/Rose border is looking quite good considering it has been replanted in the last month. It is amazing how much color there seems to be although there isn’t that much in flower. The majority of the roses have rewarded me with one or two flowers which is nice as they were completely swamped earlier in the year under other plants so I missed their first batch of flowers. Even the Delphiniums have reflowered which is wonderful, although it does feel like the year is going backwards. As for the new path it was the best decision I have made in terms of the garden for a while and has made such a difference.
The Daisy Border got reduced substantially when the workshop went in and all the plants were either relocated, composted or bunched up. The ones I really wanted to save where the Michaelmas Daisies from my friend Helen Picton’s nursery and I am pleased that they all seem to have survived being unceremoniously moved although Helen did tell me that they were quite happy being moved. I need to assess the plants and work out what is what and whether they need a little rejigging so they are shown off better next year. This has worked so much better than I anticipated it would back in March when we started the project, especially given how dry it has been this year and I haven’t watered extensively.
Hopefully, next weekend I will get to tackle the compost heaps and do other jobs I want to get on with. In the meantime I have been pouring over rose catalogues trying to choose three roses to add to the Rose Border.
