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!