The Demise of a Ladder

Friday 11 March.

Today has been a truly beautiful day, sunshine all the way. So this had to be the start of the big garden tidy. After a winter of extremely wet conditions we can finally get to work.

A sad site greeted us, my favorite Auricula ladder had all but died. Luckily I had removed the pots during the winter to save them from cracking with frost. The ladder however had taken a turn for the worse. I know it wasn’t going to last long being outside in all weathers but it was still sad all the same.This ladder was given to me by my lovely son in law, a rescue from a University skip.

old ladder before collapse

The legs had crumbled and some of the steps had started to come away from the side supports, so there was only one thing for it. The legs have been shortened and is now wired to the fence down the garden where Clematis Alba Luxurians and two roses will keep it company. But… I now need another wooden ladder to replace it !!! I do have another being used for Auricula that was Mr Malc’s grandfather’s but it is too big for this space.

This is the last time you will see this ladder full of Auricula. Although, this picture is now going to be published in a book about Auricula by Barnhaven Primroses in the very near future. Saved for posterity …

15 March

As for the big tidy up this was started on Sunday, the garden waste bins are full the borders are looking better. All ready for feeding and mulching…that can wait for another day.

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Specials

I don’t know about you but my garden seems to have flushes of one colour. We have had a blue/ purple theme, then the roses came out and it was decidedly pink not my favourite colour at the best of times. This is now my most enjoyable period in the garden, this is when most of my ‘specials’ start to do their thing. Eucomis are budding up, the dierama are sending forth their beautiful, if fleeting, wands and the Roscoea have opened their first flowers. I love the exuberance of the garden at this time of year but sometimes you get overpowered by all around you. So it’s good to have a special corner where all these smaller more delicate looking and less showy plants can be seen more clearly. This has always been known as my White Garden, but over the years soft yellows and purples and blue have crept in, along with hips and berries in shades of red and orange in the autumn/winter. I have a plaque above one of the gates to this area and it says ‘secret garden’, the girls call it this but I still think of it as my white garden …. old habits etc ….

Along the boundaries are the Hydrangea paniculata, Roses Navada, Iceburg, Ginger Syllabub and Veilchenblau. These are filled out with various lost label clematis. This makes this tiny space quite secluded and private. I can sit in here with a cuppa and feel quite relaxed. It’s especially nice when the sun is setting and the birds are singing their bedtime songs. Here are a few plants that are flowering at this time.

Dierama ‘Guinevere’ a beautiful pure white flower reaching just a metre tall. This is one of several different Dierama I have, most grown from seed.

I might need a bit of help with the ident’ for this. A campanula I presume but again no label but I like it’s lush leaves and really large pendulous flowers.

After R’ Veilchenblau has finished the honey suckle and a seedling clematis take over.

Clematis Integrefolia Alba looks stunning growing through low perennials.

Romnya coulteri. Not growing in this area at the moment but at the end of the year this will be moved to a new spot.

This plant was only bought from Elizabeth Macgregor two years ago and has already reached two metres plus. So I have cleared a large space for it the White Garden.

Anemonopsis macrophylla a very beautiful choice plant loves the cool shade of the W/G. Only growing to 60 cms.

Lots of Primula florindae have seeded around the damp area and the perfume is wonderful. Some have now seeded a soft orange but I will leave them here as they compliment the yellow.

This florindae is fasciated, the stem is almost two cms across and has many many more buds than normal. I can’t wait for it to open a bit more.

Roscoea beesiana, the first of many in my collection of Roscoea. Looking just like orchids, they are quite tough plants bulking up year on year.

I’ve cleared quite a large part of this garden of overgrown shrubs to make way for more special plants. This will soon be achieved when we go to North Wales this year as we will be visiting my favourite nursery Crug Farm Plants. I’ve mentioned them before and several of you out there already pay them a visit too. I have to make long lists off their web site as I never know what will be available by the time I get there. That’s my excuse what’s yours….

Enjoy your garden come rain or shine, we are off to a family gathering, should be fun…..

Surprises

On Friday I took a final walk around the garden for October 2014. I was pleasantly surprised to find several plants flowering out of season.

Now both of these blooms just shouldn’t be doing this, Camellia Nobilissima and a large flowered clematis in October !

The camellia usually flowers, if I’m lucky, around Christmas time provided the frost doesn’t get it first. The clematis, well that’s an early summer flowering type.

The drying heads of Hydrangea and Clematis Alba Luxurians. Now I did cut the clematis down at the end of it’s usual flowering time, but it just seems to be going on and on.

And my favourite an unnamed Auricula looking perfect in the autumn sun. There are several more pots with buds showing.

Now all of the Astrantia seem to be enjoying this weather as well. Roma along with Shaggy Florence and Venice are all giving me cut flowers.

The Dahlia Purpusii has made an enormous amount of growth this year. During the spring I took more cuttings and have four more plants growing, all equally as prolific.

The only thing to do is enjoy the display while you can, it surely can’t last for too much longer…….

End of the day

Yesterday I spend several hours pruning the climbing rose Iceburg. This is growing on a fence between us and our lovely neighbours. Amongst this are growing several clematis and all but one I could safely cut down, the last is a spring macropetala which has stopped me in my tracks. I now need to wait until the remaining bits of the rose have lost their leaves and a Virginia creeper has given me it’s lovely colour.

So at the end of the day I was left with some lovely roses and a piece of clematis that was having it’s last growth spurt of the year.

So this is my Vase on Monday….thank you Cathy from Rambling in the Garden for hosting this theme.