I featured the flowers in the Daisy Border in my GBBD post earlier this week and Christina asked when I would show a long shot of the border. So here it is. The biggest problem is that it never seems to matter when I try to photograph the border I get some sort of glare from the sun so this is the best it gets.
As you can see it isn’t a long border – little more than 9ft but it is quite deep and very slopping. I struggled with how to plant on such a steep slope for a while but now I go for tall late summer perennials and use the slope to show them and exaggerate their height. When I planted the border two years ago the idea was soft pastels instead of the bright vibrant colours usually seen at this time of year. Believe it or not there are some purples in the border but the rudbeckia and helianthus have overwhelmed them and editing is required.
The right hand side hasn’t worked at all. There are a lot of Phlomis russeliana in here and they just aren’t performing enough to warrant their place in such a small space. They are all leaf and the flowers just aren’t good enough so they are coming out. There is a Berberis which grows through from under the fence and I let it grow to hide the fence. I will also be adding some more climbers to hide the fence. I think more Asters and some Japanese Anemones is the way forward here. The white Anemones will lift the corner.
The other end of the border – all quite leafy but not much color. Again there is an Aster in there somewhere. I think it is being swamped by an Achillea grandiflora which finished flowering months ago so maybe that needs to be moved somewhere to allow for more late summer color. Again I am thinking of adding some Japanese Anemones at this end to lift what is quite a shady area and also to tie in with the other Anemones and bring it all together – possibly, maybe!
There is a path which runs along the back off the Daisy border and you can see the row of Calamagrostis overdam which are really beginning to fill out now. There are a few Verbena bonariensis amongst them but I will be adding more to give a real purple zing. I love the grasses, the way they sway in the wind and the way they are backlit by the sun. Perching on the end of the bed you can just see on the left of the photo is one of my favorite places to rest. I am hoping my son might put some sort of seat in here for me.
The view from my secret perch.
So that more purples and pinks, less yellow, add some white Japanese Anemones and a bit of thinning and hopefully next year it will look wonderful.