The temperature has really dropped today as the wind goes around to the north and the leaves are falling thick and fast on the lawns. Every couple of days they are removed and each morning I look out to see more. So far the Sycamores have begun to shed the most whilst the Beech and Hornbeam are still covered in green leaves. Beech and Hornbeam both hold onto a lot of their leaves until spring even though they turn brown, which is why they make such good hedging plants; they still make a good screen even through the winter months. I like to compost the leaves separately in cages made of pig netting – the bigger the leaf the more quickly they seem to rot down and I should have some decent leaf mold for the Rhododendrons and Azaleas next spring.
I have planted some of my containers with dwarf Tulips and now that we have a new cat in our household, hope he will deter the mice so that the bulbs are not devoured through the winter! Oscar is a year and a half old, with plenty of energy so he should work for his keep and will hopefully have a long life as did Thomasina before him, who lived to eighteen and a half.
Some of the summer bedding plants in containers are still full of flower including a pot full of Lobelia richardii – a ball of blue and white flowers which has bloomed from the beginning of June until now and will continue until we get any hard frosts. The trailing Begonias too are still in flower and I will bring them into the greenhouse for the winter, dry them off and start them again in fresh compost next year.
However, I would like some color in our open front porch and the container there has ‘gone over’ so can be stripped out with the contents added to the compost heap. I usually put mini Cyclamen in a deep Christmas red color and Ivy there but fancy a change to something a bit more substantial this winter that will be a nice welcome for guests and friends. Heuchera always catch my eye when we visit our local Notcutt’s branch – there are so many varieties available now from lime green through amber and burnt orange, to pinky peach and deepest purple black varieties. The plant breeders have certainly been busy over the last few years!
The Cabbage Palm (Cordyline) is very well behaved in a big pot and gives a good vertical accent with plenty of planting room beneath it. I have opted for C. ‘Southern Splendour’ which has pink and gray tones and I will also plant two Heuchera ‘Marmalade’ with burnt orange leaves that have a warm red reverse. A few bright pink Cyclamen which will flower through the winter will complete the container and it should look very tasteful on the doorstep!
Now I need another trip to Notcutt’s for compost, slow release fertilizer and the plants along with a new lawn rake to remove all of those pesky leaves over the next few weeks!
