Plant of the Month November 2019 - Euonymous alatus compactus

It may just be a meager specimen and a shadow of its future self...but here in the garden over the last few weeks...holding on well to its leaves is Euonymous alatus compactus.  I am choosing this as plant of the Month in my garden.  I wonder what your Plant of the Month might be?  Do make a note in the comments and mention my page too on your post, if you have one.

During the year it 'steps into the background' ....not drawing attention to itself, except that I love to peer at its winged stems.  This is a shrub I shall have learn not to trim for flower arranging material as it is slow growing.  In the spring I shall give it a good feed to try to spur it on.

I have often admired this shrub in botanic gardens, and earlier this year it was featured in one of the largest show gardens at The Malvern Spring Show :The Leaf Creative: Garden of Quiet Contemplation, designed by Peter Dowle. https://www.leafcreative.co.uk/ I loved the way the Euonymous was placed between purple leaved acers and underplanted with tiarellas and the simple round daisy Erigeron karvinskianus.  I took the picture as a reminder of its potential and possible planting combinations.

Plant of the Month October 2019 - Chrysanthemum Great Dixter

Its is not a surprise that Brian has pipped me to the post this month and also that he chose Asters.  Just to offer something a little different the Plant of the Month, for September here in my garden, and still going very strong now, is Chrysanthemum Dixter Orange.

The two pictures taken early this morning, show all the blooms facing the rising sun...by evening they face towards the conservatory, and look magnificent in the Autumn sunshine.  

They made very good cut flowers as evidenced by some of my recent In a Vase on Monday vases.

Earlier this year in January, a plant in a small pot arrived from Ballyrobert Gardens.  Yes that is early but I have to do a little post Christmas shopping!   I made two further plants from cuttings of the newly emerging shoots.  By mid August they were flowering.

The flowers hold well in both sun and rain, and only the first to emerge have gone over, been cut out, and there are still many more buds ready to open to keep a fine display for the whole of October.

Plant of the Month August 2019 - Dianthus superbus

The herbaceous plant of the month, in my garden,  for August 2019 has to be Dianthus superbus.  Slipping into September, it is still sending out its wonderful perfume..

In this September picture Dianthus superbus shows the seed heads, and when mature, seed will be harvested and shared with friends.  Various sources recommend cutting down spent stems to encourage fresh flowering.  Next year when I have more plants, and  no need to collect seed, I shall experiment with the best way of managing the plants in the garden.

I first acquired a plant after admiring the form of the bloom in a friend's garden.    In a Vase on Monday, a few weeks ago, it was on trial, and I am pleased to say that we have had no effects indoors, so it is low in allergens as far as we are concerned...yet it filled the room with its gentle and sophisticated perfume.

Last year the small plant flowered with a couple of stems only, and from seed from theses scattered on a piece of nearby soil, I had a few germinate and grow through the winter.  I transplanted a couple of seedlings in May into the gravel garden, and this is how they look this week. I am hoping that with a more open situation and less competition from other plants they will be even better!




I have cut back some other plants and came across the remaining of the seedlings growing in situ where the seed was sown,  which, in comparison are not as vigorous as the ones above.  The open situation and the gravel mulch have led to a couple of good strong plants which promise many flowering stems next year.

In the original planting position this is my first plant, shielded from the sun in the morning by an evergreen oak, but having plenty of light from late morning onwards. A little early correct staking would have been useful..but it may well have been planted in the wrong place...and ought to be in full sun?

Only yesterday flicking through the August copy of Gardens Illustrated in an article named 'The Outsider', I came across a description by Hannah Gardner of her trip to the Jungfrau Region in Switzerland.  Hannah came across a huge colony of this plant growing on a sunny grass bank. It is an excellent article and well worth reading in its entirety.  Here is an extract regarding Dianthus superbus:

"Later near the base of the infamous north face, covering a sunny grass bank, I found what I was looking for - a huge colony of Dianthus superbus, in every shade of pink from deep magenta to the palest blush rose.  This is a plant of mesmerising fragility that belies a resilient character.  Its native range extends through Europe, Russia, Japan and south to Taiwan.  Tall, slender branched stems terminate in scented feathery flowers consisting of five, deeply lacerated petals that have a tendency to droop slightly, giving an air of languid nonchalance."

Close up in my garden I love looking at the blooms....

Blooms with 'languid nonchalance'

Do you have a favourite plant this month?  I am waiting for Brian Skeys to come up with his and then will link up with his...Yes he has and what a plant..from June to now from a tuber, rushing to learn how to bring these beauties along: Zantedeschia Contor.  I am going to suggest he puts his cultivation notes up for us to learn.

Plant of the Month August 2019 - Hydrangea Paniculata Vanille Fraise

A blogging friend Brian Skeys has posted a holly hock this month, and asked if readers had a favourite plant this month. Last month I was eyeing another pot which had performed beautifully,and I had wanted to put it on as a special.  Thinking about what has or is going to be the highlight of the month in the garden is a great one to look back on.  Hopefully that special for July will still be blooming beautifully July 2020!

For August 2019 I have this lovely Hydrangea Paniculata Vanille Fraise.  Here it is still in its white form, with large blooms weighted down with the first significant rains we had overnight.  Now eight years old, and having suffered removals, and perhaps over harsh pruning a couple of years ago, it is has been in full blooms for about two weeks already. 

If you have a favourite plant this month in the garden, why not leave a comment, and if you are a blogger, even better,  why not start up this monthly post, and link in.