Retail therapy part 1

I'm all for rewarding hard work.  Most of the time it's better to get the graft out of the way and then enjoy the fruits of said labours.

Today I was treated first.

I'm after two trees and a shrub.  One tree is this stunning liquidamber styraciflua "Lane Roberts" in all its autumn splendour.  It's deciduous, meaning the bright red leaves will fall as the autumn becomes cooler.  In the spring new maple shaped foliage will emerge in a glossy green.  It prefers a neutral to acidic soil.  The garden centre is delivering it next weekend. 

The other tree I would like is a prunus serrula, or Tibetan cherry which sports a rich chestnut shiny bark for a bit of winter glamour.  However, I'm struggling to find one locally. 

I did manage to find an euonymous alatus "Blade Runner" in another garden centre.  It doesn't yet wear it's bright autumnal wardrobe, but I'm sure it won't be very long.  It performs best in full sun to part shade if you're looking for that bright autumn glow.

I did mention a spot of hard work, right?  This afternoon TMTC and Bumblebee moved a very heavy pot with an acer in the Yen Garden to a temporary spot beneath the pergola.

The last blooms on the cannas, also temporarily beneath the pergola before they're lifted.

Autumn colour again, this time cotinus.

Rhododendron Christmas Cheer looks very happy in the Yen Garden. 

We've had low night temperatures this week.  I'm still hopeful the Agapanthus Twister will get its moment before the frosts.  The backdrop of Hydrangea Blueberry Cheesecake really makes a statement. 

Sorry, I digress...

Three rosa New Dawn have been hard pruned, dug out and potted up.

The ferns, hellebores and hardy geraniums were lifted a couple of weeks ago but there was still a fair amount to dig up.

Before, pretty corner of the Pink Garden 

After...the rose Mum in a Million can stay put, along with the Himalayan birch, hydrangea and a couple of hart's tongue ferns.  There is a rash of primula seedlings that are still to come out.

Heuchera limes and burgundies, bergenias and a few clumps of two different persicaria varieties have now been removed from the Pink Garden, along with lots of other plants I don't want to be trampled or knocked about.  The large climbing hydrangea has been cut back hard but I won't lift it.  If it survives, great.  If not, I'm sure I can find another plant...

There is still the border in the Yen Garden to deal with, but we ran out of compost.  I think we deserve to put our feet up and watch Strictly now.

Oh...and enjoy the fruits of our labours!

Rose on a Ramble

It's been 7 weeks since we visited our lovely friends and their new garden.  As with the interior of their new home, so many changes have taken place already.

The office is almost ready, complete with a large birch tree, accompanied by a couple of roses and some autumn flowering cyclamen. 

Three younger birches sweep the lawn and a small bed of shrubs beneath the window.

Along the back of the garden, the bed expands to accommodate various perennials including ferns and Japanese anemones, along with Mr Grumpy above and Eric below.

A lovely little deck with an arbour nestled in the corner provides a great spot to enjoy the garden, with the final bed yet to receive it's new plants.  Some like this euonymous elata in its autumn splendour have already found their spot.

A wonderful new dining set graces the patio between lots of scrumptious plants yet to be positioned.

Around the front garden, there's a stunning hydrangea that is going to remain.  

The lawn is luscious since the hot dry weather has been replaced by autumn rains.

Like every garden, things will change, evolve and improve as time goes by.

September - a vision in pink

As the schools open again, there's been a definite change in the weather.  Leaves have begun to fall (although how many are due to the extreme conditions we've had this year is unclear), the nights are noticeably drawing in, the mornings are certainly slower to begin, and there's a nip in the air.

2018 has become joint hottest year since records began in England.  The Met Office has released a statement telling us that the figures were so close (.03c) that they have declared this summer was equally as hot as 1976.  It would have been an outright winner had August not dropped to average temperatures as June and July were so hot this year.  But there you go.

While some plants in the garden have enjoyed the hot dry temperatures this year, others clearly have not.

Most of my hydrangeas have struggled.  The one below in the left hand side of the patio arch border was almost lost due to a lack of water and as a result flowered poorly.

This hydrangea below however is in a shadier area, in the Pink Garden and has thrived.

The large lilac lacecap hydrangea in the front garden struggled and despite having many flowers, has lost almost all its flower like bracts which I tend to leave on over winter to help protect it.

The pair of lacecap Hydrangea Blueberry Cheesecakes have been a sorry sight for most of the summer as they peaked too soon, then had to endure tap water as the butts had run dry so early in the season.  I'm confident that they will look better next year.

The one in the right hand side of the Patio Arch Borders has fared much better.  I'm guessing this is because it isn't in full sun all day.

And finally the dusky purple hydrangea in the Long Border.  Although it's changed colour due to the use of tap water, it's stayed healthy and should be a better colour next year.

Although still no flowers this year, the Wisteria is being trained to grow over the pergola in the Yen Garden. 

The Kaffir lily, botanical name Schizostylis (Hesperantha) joined in the late summer show in the Pink Garden. 

Monty was cutting out spent Agapanthus spikes this week on GW...mine is yet to open!

A trip to the Botanical Gardens plant sale was cancelled today.  I took the executive decision that we should be moving plants out of the borders at the bottom of the garden ready for the new fence rather than adding to them, and since I've not attended any of their sales this year, this one wouldn't be a huge wrench. 

Besides....I brought some back from Devon with me!

Can't find the label for the yellow plant above, but it has leaves like a hardy geranium.  It might be a geum perhaps.

Two sisyrinchium plants, one labelled as "dragon's eye" which should be white-pale-lilac with a blue-purple eye in late spring to late summer and enjoys full sun.  I look forward to seeing what colour the other one flowers.

Welcome to Autumn.