End of Month View - November 2011

Things are developing nicely in two of the three areas I chose to focus on at the end of each month.

Potted Garden
The plants here have grown quite a bit in the last month.

The Mesembryanthemums, Euphorbia, Arctotis and Convolvulus are flowering, as well as the golden Sedum, which is now positively identified as ""Gold Mound". I removed the mildewed violas around the Oleander and replaced them with Lobelia "Blue Moon" which picks up the blue theme from the Euphorbia, Convolvulus and the watering can. 



Thanks to all of you who suggested a blue plant here. The Oleander itself hasn't grown as much as I expected, so I hope it wasn't affected by the mildew.

I'm really happy with the three plants in this pot:

The two Origanums and the Sedum look great together, and it's a combination I'd like to repeat in a garden somewhere. These plants will all grow too wide to live comfortably together in the pot long term, but if I spread them out in a garden, I can pot up smaller pieces to renew the potted arrangement when I need to.

This garden is giving me a lot of pleasure, and looks good from several angles.  Here is the view looking across it to the garden near my pond:

You can see I still haven't done anything about fixing the gravel. Now that I really look at the concrete under the gravel, it has acquired some interesting markings and colours.  It has lost the glaring white look it had years ago, and I'm considering just taking up the gravel and not replacing it. I can enhance the aged look of the concrete if it's still too white. Hopefully this will happen by the end of next month.

Honeysuckle Bed
The developments here are exciting. This is an area that was very shaded and also dry, but after removing a Hazelnut tree and a very thick carpet of Vinca major it gained some sun and lost some root competition.  We have now removed another tree just west of this area so it is in full sun and I am taking advantage of this in the plantings. Last month there were only two plants here, both roses.  Now it looks like this:

I decided to go with really bright colours here and chose plants that should join up and form a sort of tapestry.  I've even put pink and orange together, something I thought I'd never do, but I think it will work, and it makes me happy whenever I see it. You can't see all the plants - some are too small and some are behind the rose and behind the stump, but here's a list of what I planted and a few close-ups.

2 x Salvia "Wendy's Wish"
3 x Calibranchoa "Coral Chimes"

3 x Gaura "Passionate Pink"
1 x Artemisia "Valerie Finnis"
1 x Sedum spectabile (unknown seedling)

7 x Celosia Compact Mix (Yellow and Orange)
7 x Celosia Compact Red
2 x Sedum "Gold Mound"
3 x Sedum purpurea

1 x Persian Lilac (white)
1 x Convolvulus mauritanica

1 x Oregano "Country Cream"
1 x Campanula poscharskyana

I bought some of these plants, but about half are seedlings or rooted pieces from my other gardens.

When we had the second tree cut down, a branch fell on the rose that I think is "Mister Lincoln", breaking off most of the branches. I was upset, as this rose has survived for years growing up through the Hazelnut to try to reach the sun, and now it finally had a chance to thrive.  I thought losing the branches would set it back for a long time, but look what has happened, in just two weeks:

This rose is a fighter.

The Steps

And now we come to the area where not much has changed:

I've been thinking a lot about the bed behind the steps and I think I've finalised the plants I want to put here, but it's going to have to wait.  We have decided we really need to paint the house, so I don't want to plant anything on the wall or below it until that's done, which could be a while.  I may put in some annuals just to give it some colour.  Cosmos might work, and wouldn't cost much. Chocolate Cosmos, I think, to provide a dark background.

As for the spot in front of the steps, there is some good news.  Removing the second tree has given this spot  almost full sun, so I have decided to forget about trellis and plant a shrub here.  I want an evergreen and am thinking a Ceanothus would fit the bill nicely, giving some colour before the other flowers get going, and then providing a nice dark green background.  The Acanthus here has grown up a lot from last month, but it doesn't cover the steps and will now need to be moved to a shadier spot anyway. A Ceanothus or maybe two will fill the space easily.

So that's my End of Month View.  If you'd like to see posts from other bloggers who participate in this meme, or would like to join in next month, visit Helen at The Patient Gardener's Weblog.

Something Borrowed makes me Blue

I first read about the idea of the "borrowed landscape" many years ago and it made a lot of sense. Use the elements of the landscape outside your own garden boundaries to help create your garden pictures and visually extend the area you have. This works wonderfully if the garden is surrounded by natural forest, or has views of an ocean or lake or even farmland, and I imagine lots of fun could be had framing views through trees, arches and holes cut into hedges.
My "borrowed landscape" is somewhat different.

My neighbours are lovely people, but I don't think their house really contributes to my garden much (My house probably is a similar problem for them). Some of my shrubs and some of theirs are gradually becoming tall enough to block part of the view, but what about the area above my shed?  The shed itself is not pretty and hopefully will be replaced with something a bit more attractive next year, but it won't be tall enought to block the house. That's problem area number one.

Number two is the roof of this shed which is right on our boundary (on the neighbour's side).  I have grown shrubs up to cover the fence, and the trees behind the shed would be a great borrowed element, if only that shiny roof wasn't in between!  The people who own this shed are also wonderful neighbours and they use it as a place of business, so they need it. On to number three.

This one is in the process of being solved. The shrubs on my side will eventually hide the fence and the roof of the low shed next door, and then those neighbouring tall trees and shrubs will become a true borrowed landscape for this garden bed. There is a small snag in that one of the shrubs is a Buddleia, and I like to cut it back hard every year to keep it bushy and flowering well, so the fence won't be hidden year-round, but I'm happy to live with that. This garden was designed to peak in late summer and autumn anyway, and it should look great by then. Unlike the next one.

To be fair, the pink rose is "borrowed" from next door and is growing over the fence above my Escallonia, so I shouldn't complain, but another shed! Even taller than the others. And with a tree behind it that I would love to borrow as a garden view. Sheds are useful, but I wish people would be content with low ones, or at least surround them with shrubbery to hide them. Sigh.

I'm not going to show you any more, but I counted today, and there are six sheds visible over my fences, most of them very hard to hide without planting enormous trees that would take up too much room on my block and also create too much shade.

Sometimes I wish I could move out of town into the countryside surrounded by rolling hills and sheep.  Now that would be a borrowed landscape to treasure. But I really don't want to look after acres of land.  I like my garden and it's getting better every year.  There must be a solution to the problem of the multiplying sheds. 

If you think of one, I'd like to borrow it.

Naming the Rose

The names of roses intrigue me. Some are obviously descriptive, like Fourth of July, which does remind me of fireworks shooting out (above and below):

Many, though, are named after people.  If the people are famous, there's no mystery.  Most of us have probably heard of Queen Elizabeth, and her rose is tough but feminine and very vigorous even in old age:



But who was Pierre de Ronsard? Was he rotund and complex like his namesake?

And is Zephyrine Drouhin the name of a person at all? If so, was she pretty and carefree, if occasionally a bit droopy?

I have one rose to whom I have never been properly introduced, and it worries me.  He may be Abraham Lincoln; he is apprpriately tall and upright, but I'd like to know for certain.



Luckily, Australian author Roger Mann has come to the rescue, just in time for my Christmas wish list, with his book "Naming the Rose".  Random House promises that I will "discover the individuals who gave their names to some of the world’s most cherished roses in this radiant book."  It sounds like just the thing to read in the shade on a hot, sleepy Christmas afternoon.

And maybe I'll find out if Mr Lincoln is living in my garden after all.

Centranthus ruber

One plant I've been seeing a lot around town and also in the open gardens I've been visiting, is red valerian, or Centranthus ruber.  It’s also flowering in my garden at the moment, and it's been looking great everywhere. It’s a different plant to the true Valerian, which is a medicinal herb. Other names for this plant are “kiss-me-quick” and “Jupiter’s Beard”.

Centranthus is a perennial plant, meaning the top dies off above the soil in winter, but it gets going quickly in spring, and is in full flower at the moment, although it will grow a bit taller, up to 1 metre tall and 50cm wide. Although it is called red valerian, the flowers are really dark pink.  There is also a lighter pink form, although I don’t think it is as good – the flowers look a bit washed out. The pure white form is excellent, though, if a bit later to start flowering.

If you cut Centranthus down by about half once they have finished flowering, they’ll bloom again, and you can get three flowerings from each plant before autumn frosts stop them, so they’re great value in the garden. If you leave the last flowers on the plant to set seed, you’ll have lots of seedlings coming up, but they’re easy to pull out if you don’t want them. I usually do want them, and just move them. There are some below, amongst other seedlings I also want, and the odd weed.

Centranthus aren’t fussy about soil and like alkaline conditions, so they grow well here. They prefer good drainage, and grow happily on stony banks or the tops of walls, but they don’t mind my heavy soil either.

In dry, stony conditions they look wonderful with other Mediterranean plants like lavender and rosemary, and I think they would look great with olive trees too. In richer soil they are a great companions for tall roses, as they hide the often ugly lower stems and have complementary flower colours. The first time I saw this plant in flower was in a country garden. There was a great bank of deep pink valerian and mauve catmint, with generous bushes of white roses, and I fell in love. Interestingly, I've just realised that I don't grow Centrantus with my Nepeta, or my white roses. Suddenly, I have an idea where to move some of those seedlings to...


Catmint (Nepeta)

Or perhaps to here...

Catmint (Nepeta) with Lambs Ears (Stachys byzantina) and Rose "Eglantyne".

They grow and flower best with plenty of sun. I have lots of red valerian growing out of a retaining wall made of hollow concrete blocks next to my garage.  The wall is a couple of metres high and is absolutely covered with dark pink, although I didn’t plant one Centranthus here. The top photo was taken in this area.They are never watered, never fed and never even cut back, because they are too hard to get to, yet they thrive and look fantastic, some even managing to flower twice a year despite total neglect. They are really a brilliant plant and it’s not surprising that they are grown in so many gardens.

Their masses of tiny flowers in big flowerheads attract butterflies, so they are a good addition to a butterfly garden. Their only drawback is that the flowers have a slightly unpleasant smell, so I wouldn’t include them in a fragrant garden or near an outside seating area, or pick them to bring into the house. They would be a perfect plant, though, for a wild garden, orchard or a wildflower meadow.

If you don’t have any Centranthus, you are missing out on a wonderful, easy care garden plant.  Just start with one and next year you’ll have lots to spread around.

Other People's Gardens

Last weekend there were nine gardens open in and around Bathurst, so I went to see what I could see...

The beautiful rose "Madame Gregoire Staechelin" was growing on an arch -

with quirky mosaic footprints underneath!

Another rose, "Olympic Gold" was looking great -

especially with the golden variegated Euonymus behind it (an idea I'm going to try with a paler yellow rose, "Graeme Thomas").

One more rose, "Irish Rich Marbled" was a standout near the end of a long border -

but I'm going to resist buying it because it only flowers once.  Pretty sure I'm going to resist.  Even though it's so stunning.  Pretty sure. Um, let's move on.

Cistus "Silver Pink" was looking fresh and delightful in several of the gardens - 

and I liked it with this blue seat.

If only there had been a blue Convolvulus spilling over that wall instead of the hay, the picture would have been perfect.

I was literally stopped in my tracks by this Hawthorn.  I think it's "Paul's Scarlet" -

and close up, I was rendered speechless, except for three little words:  I want one.

Some gardens showed a sense of humour -

and even a bit of surrealism.

Others were quite formal, which didn't attract me so much -

until I saw this:

which I think is just inspired, and inspiring. I love everything about this combination, and am now trying to figure out how to work a weeping white Wisteria into my garden, along with Teucrium, Catmint and Box without quite so much formal clipping (because I know I wouldn't maintain this level of perfection).

There was lots more, of course, and even quite a lot I didn't like, but I spent time in some gorgeous gardens and lots of new ideas are firing in my brain.  It didn't cost much to see all these gardens, but it could end up quite expensive in the end!

The Results are in!

Welcome back to the Spring Rose Derby.  Wet conditions have slowed down the field, but they're now rounding the final turn and heading into the straight. "Cornelia" and "Madame Isaac Pereire" are neck-and-neck:

The rest of the field have fallen behind as these two head for the finish line. With only a few strides to go, "Cornelia" stretches out...

and crosses the finish line -

just ahead of "Madame Isaac Pereire".

 Third place goes to Fourth of July, crossing the line in spite of obvious injury:

and the Derby is over for another year, although the season is just beginning.

Note:  this race was only run in my garden - in other gardens in my town, roses have been blooming for weeks already.  I just don't have any really early flowering varieties. This is because early roses tend to be the ones that don't repeat bloom, and I don't feel I have room to spare for these. But I was tempted to get Irish Rich Marbled, a spinosissima rose, when I saw this at an open garden on Saturday:

Maybe next year, one of these will win the Derby!