1. Sunshine on Salvia Amistad in November attracting pollinators and looking superb at the back of the border.
2.. Not only have I been thinking that a choisya would go very nicely in the garden for some time, last week Cathy featured some late blooms in her vase, so when I saw a plant for sale on a mooch around Castle Cary this week, the dice were already cast.
Choisya ‘Aztec Pearl’ was the first hybrid of the genus developed by Peter Moore.
2. The old Weigela, at least five years old, had suffered dreadfully during the summer. I had given it a rather severed pruning just after flowering, and it had been hobbling along. I have a couple of good rooted cuttings in the wings should I decide to grow it again in another part of the garden. It was good to come across a couple of young slowworms in the leaf litter, Really the whole bed needs a revamp, and since I have some roses on order, I may well prepare it in readiness over the next few days. Is it too late to lift/move bulbs which will surely be sending down roots? Advice appreciated, there are snowdrops, narcissi etc.
3. I am late this week both collecting pictures, and thinking what I would write about. After a lot of rain and some very gloomy days, the sun came out today, and we had bees and butterflies. The late flowering Chrysanthemum Hillside Apricot was buzzing with bees and I managed to catch this Red Admiral.
4. Silver leaved Centaurea 'Silver Feather'. although not in flower for a good leafy plant reflecting the sun, and adds a bit of drama now everything around it has been trimmed.
I have a couple of good plants started from cuttings early in the year. One I shall keep as a standby to overwinter in the shed, and the other I shall take to our HPS meeting. I also have four other cuttings smaller ones which appear to have rooted and may be easy to carry forward to the spring in the shed.
5. Geranium Rozanne too is loving the late autumn warmth.
6. The low growing Rosemary too is covered with flowers.
Him inside will probably want to go out tomorrow if it is as nice as today, and since he did a good job on cleaning the conservatory today, I think that is what we shall do, even though I am itching to get out on the garden and sort out that bed.
Oooh - the fine leaved Choisya. My mother-in-law has that one - it's a good un. Lovely sunny photos.
ReplyDeleteYou will have to wait a few years for the Aztec Pearl to be large enough, but the thin leaves are very attractive. This is true compared to the common variety I have here.
ReplyDeleteI do have the patience, but also I don't want too large a shrub, so it will get thinned and contained. I think all the varieties are lovely Fred, and you have such a big garden that can accommodate a large shrub.
DeleteYou're right... 2500m2 the house+garden and 2500m2 the field... I have enough to be busy!
ReplyDeleteAs always I enjoyed reading about your six selection Noelle. My eyes were drawn to the blues. Isn't 'Rozanne' an absolute star!
ReplyDeleteThis is a wonderful arrangement and I like that you decided not to add cultivated flowers to it. I don't like to mix the tropicals with wildflowers in my garden. I love the teasels and suppose I have never lived far enough north to see any. Very interesting article about the wool industry, I am from Tucker, Georgia and wonder if that is where the name originated.
ReplyDeleteCheerio,
Amelia Grant
Garden Designer and Author
Blog address theshrubqueen.com
Thanks for your email and I've pasted your comment here. The origin of names is very interesting, we have a Tucker Street here, but I could not find the origin of the name, I may ask at the local museum.
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