Six things from the Garden in Mid November

I am writing this on Friday evening with the sound of very heavy rain outside, courtesy of Storm Claudia, but thankfully no heavy winds at the moment.  Maybe others are writing their posts, and I am sure Jim is just tidying up his, as it is always full of excellent garden plants, hints and tips etc.

1.  The three Cistus x hybridus 'Little Miss Sunshine' which I bought early September still has not been allocated any space in the ground, that is they have not been planted out yet. 

Cistus x hybridus 'Little Miss Sunshine' now repotted

They were starting to root through the base of their plastic pots into the soil.  With all the rain and very poor light this week, it was a treat to go out one dreary but not wet day and get these three potted up.  This picture was taken on the one sunny day this week. Each went into a vacant pot, and will hopefully add a little sunshine to the pot garden, and they can be moved around and again placed on the garden where there is a gaping hole.  

Described as being really compact relatively new hybrid variety of Cistus, it was its wavy edged primrose yellow variegated margins on mid green leaves which first attracted me. At the time, I thought they would look good in the front garden with all the other cistus, but I need to observe where the tulips and other bulbs are coming up before deciding whether and where they would go amongst the other Cistus. 

2. The forecast for next week is for night time temperatures to approach freezing, and the Canna probably won't like it in its pot stood in the wet and cold.  I definitely want to keep it for next year, and hopefully I shall be able to divide it.  Since its leaves are quite attractive could it be moved to the conservatory? Yes it could, but will the conservatory be too congested, if so it will have to sit in a corner of the shed.

Canna 'Tropicanna'

3. I've made little miniature gardens with  arrangements of one, two and maybe three plants in a little containers for as long as I can remember. When I came across the concept of Kusamono and Shitakusa I was beguiled by the various plants and ceramics used.  I rather like the characterful hand made pots such as the ones I saw when in Grange over Sands a few weeks ago. I have a few old bonsai pots which I pick up from Charity Shops which I used for my sempervivums. I took an empty one off the shelf in the shed, and enjoyed making this one up from plants I already had in the garden.  

The 'tree' is a rooted piece of Lonicera nitida 'Baggesen's Gold, and the low growing soft feathery leaved plant is Leptinella squalida 'Platt's Black. In the sun it will turn bronze black and should be a good foil for when the leaves regrow after I have attempted to 'bonsai' the little shrub.

4. When I visited Broadleigh Gardens early in 2024, one of the plants I came back with was Scilla hughii.  During the very hot and dry weather it died down completely unlike 2024, and thinking it was probably dead, did not give up and planted it in the garden.  Thankfully it is up now Comparing it with the Scilla Peruviana, there is a distinct difference compared with Scilla hughii, or at least the one I have. 

5. The Jasmine nudiflorum is one of the few original plants from the previous owners.  It is getting in the swing of things now, but not sure that this crop of blooms is bearing up well to all the rain.

6. Over the years I have grown several Pelargoniums, and have not necessarily continued all from one year to another.  Now I have very few, but one that did exceptionally well is Pelargonium 'Salmon Angel'.

Close up of flowers of Pelargonium 'Salmon Angel' in July

There are still a few flowers on it this week.

I took some cutting only a few weeks ago, and have repotted up three good ones to a pot ready for next year. Thank goodness I took them into the shed before the deluges of yesterday.

Succession planning with cuttings

Pelargonium cuttings can be taken any time of the right if you have the right conditions, so I am taking some stems to the HPS meeting today.  Some potted up Pulmonaria Sissinghurst White will also be in my basket: for why not spread the joy, if you can, by taking cutting and divisions and sharing them with other gardeners