My Little Garden - a look back at summer
When summer seems like a distant memory, I always enjoy a look back at summer photos. Even though new life is stirring in the garden and the first snowdrops (Galanthus reginae-olgae) and hellebores are in bloom, I’m still very much in the planning stages for next year. Reviewing last summer’s successes and failures is the perfect place to start and I have a few plants on my wishlist for 2022. I’m also going to replace the old arbour with a swingseat of some description after a couple of years of procrastination. It will be a case of what I’d like to buy versus what I can justifiably afford to buy, and also to convince the husband that the purchase will be a necessity rather than a luxury. Not sure that will go well!
Anyway, after a spring selection last week, my six choices for the Saturday before Christmas all feature my garden in summer.
- Rose and the condemned arbour
This lovely rose is ‘Gertrude Jekyll’ which has a grand flush of flowers in June and then carries on producing blooms throughout the summer. The aforementioned arbour is in the background, looking very dilapidated, which is fine, but there’s lots of rotten wood. I’ve had it a long time and it doesn’t owe me anything, so it’s days are numbered.
2. Clematis
This is Clematis ‘Remembrance’. It flowers prolifically and hides the fence. I don’t like fences, but if you could see the horror that is my neighbours property!
3. Astrantia
Astrantia and lots of other things too. The buddleja on the far left has gone. It took up too much room and I can use the space so much better. Even the butterflies ignored it in favour of other flowers. Currently I have a Korean Lilac standard situated there in a pot which I can’t decide whether to plant. Something really tall is out of the question as it would block the evening sun from the west facing seating area.
4. Hydrangea
A new purchase for 2021, I’m a big fan of Hydrangea ‘Little Lime’ for a small garden.
5. Echinacea
I couldn’t decide what number five should be, so I’ve chosen Echinacea ‘Green Envy’. I love echinaceas and they seem to be ok as long as I plant in spring to allow them time to establish.
6. A mistake
Now there’s absolutely nothing wrong with this annual. It was part of a ‘Bee Friendly ‘ mix of seeds that I experimented with by planting in two very large rectangular containers. I suspect I used a few too many seeds, but the result was that this phacelia just dominated everything. The bees loved it but when it got battered by rain and failed to go upright again, I pulled it out to give the poppies, nigella and other seeds a chance. They grew but it definitely wasn’t a success and if I plant mixed seeds in a container again, I need to be more careful about what’s in the mix.
So there we are, that’s my six on Saturday for this week and until the start of January.
If you want to read the other Sixon Saturday blogs follow the link below and the hashtag #SixonSaturday on twitter.
https://thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com/
Have a great weekend!
