As I was tidying up some of our potted plants over the weekend, sorting and grouping them together in preparation for the winter (as well as just being organised, or attempting to at least) I had a sudden thought, why am I hiding the evergreens?
First, a bit of autumn color in the garden...
It was very damp, grey, and misty over the weekend and although it never actually rained while we were in the garden the atmosphere was so cool humid that it felt like we were gardening whilst there was a constant drizzle. Still I wasn't complaining as the temperatures were at least mild and it was atmospheric, like gardening amongst the clouds. And I'll take this condition anytime over freezing temperatures.
Still out and on display - Echeveria 'Compton Carousel' (note the dew, the air was that damp)
Most of the Acers are just changing leaf colours now and have provided some wonderful autumn colours during the weekend. Other deciduous plants are fast following suit too. They look great at the moment but I know in a week or so those colourful leaves would all be shed and fallen for us to tidy later on.
Going back to sorting out some of our potted plants (the hardy ones that won't be going in the greenhouse) I tend to loosely group them together, roughly in the following categories:
Fully deciduous - herbaceous plants that have gone dormant now and are just pots of soil are grouped together, and with them too are leafless woody plants that looks like sticks on a pot at the moment. This is my favorite group for apart the occasional weeding of their pots they just fend for themselves all winter and I rarely worry over them.
Hardy evergreens (but not quite) - although they generally should be fine left outside all winter, because of their size and susceptibility due to being in pots (rather than on the ground) they could do with being shoved under cover if the weather gets really cold. These plants I huddle together just outside the greenhouses and outbuildings ready to be moved in at the last minute if needs be. Our potted Scheffleras are in this category
Hardy evergreens - evergreen, hardy, and generally tough plants that can take whatever the weather throws at them.
As I was grouping plants together and putting the last category in our utility area I thought, why am I hiding this lot? So I shifted some of them on the side passage, on to the brick edging that are usually occupied by potted tree ferns during the warmer months.
Okay, they are in black plastic pots and I don't intend to repot them for a better display but their evergreen leaves are enough to bring lushness and cheer to an otherwise bare stretch of a brick wall.
Makes me wonder now though why did I even think of hiding them somewhere functional in the first place when these tough evergreens are currently at their element, during the dreary colder months.
Mark :-)
