Like many other gardeners I expect, I have spent much of the last week watering plants at the allotment and in the garden. I haven't spent that much time actually looking at the garden, so it was a real pleasure to go out this morning and capture some of the most stunning and beautiful specimens for #SOS.
With no rain in May, and not much in April, things are very dry here, although interestingly many of the plants featured here have had no watering at all, and if we continue to have such little spring and summer rainfall, I will have to reconsider what I'm growing. If we'd held Old Town Open Gardens 2020, I would have had a plant stall to raise funds to buy more plants to refresh our community gardens, however since we have had to cancel this year's event, I am in the process of giving away plants to neighbours. I have thought about a plant sale, or an honesty box for donations as another possibility' keeping plants in small pots is hopeless this weather, they need too much watering.
Anyway I'll go through my list, starting with an oriental poppy given to me by a neighbour, initially about 40 years ago. It continues to thrive all over the garden despite very extreme cutting back, and sometimes a wish to get rid of it entirely.
Next a viola bought at a plant sale from the wonderful Wildegoose Nurseries, it is looking fantastic at the moment, and isn't having any special treatment apart from a bit of water now and again.
I love Alliums, so bought quite a few bulbs last autumn to plant, and am very pleased with the results, the Allium christophii produces huge spherical balls of flowers adored by insects and with a tremendous impact.
Next an unknown magenta flowered Clematis looking fabulous growing through trees.
This Sambucus nigra Black Lace was bought as a tiny plant, this is the first year it has really got going, and is stunning this year.
Although yellow doesn't fit in well with my reds and purples colour scheme picked today, I had to include the Cytisus battandieri because having been planted by a fence by the back of a border behind lots of other shrubs, it is finally flowering. It has produced two flowers, had no watering at all, but should be better tended in future because it's gorgeous. I first saw this plant at an NGS afternoon in an Oxfordshire village on a corner of the road.
When they're put together as a collage, they look like this:
Now I've written my blog post, I can look at what The Propagator has chosen for his #SixOnSaturday.
If I look at what others have chosen, I can't focus on my choices quite as well!
With no rain in May, and not much in April, things are very dry here, although interestingly many of the plants featured here have had no watering at all, and if we continue to have such little spring and summer rainfall, I will have to reconsider what I'm growing. If we'd held Old Town Open Gardens 2020, I would have had a plant stall to raise funds to buy more plants to refresh our community gardens, however since we have had to cancel this year's event, I am in the process of giving away plants to neighbours. I have thought about a plant sale, or an honesty box for donations as another possibility' keeping plants in small pots is hopeless this weather, they need too much watering.
Anyway I'll go through my list, starting with an oriental poppy given to me by a neighbour, initially about 40 years ago. It continues to thrive all over the garden despite very extreme cutting back, and sometimes a wish to get rid of it entirely.
If I look at what others have chosen, I can't focus on my choices quite as well!
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