welsh hills again

If you have been reading this blog for a while you may remember that last year I reviewed a variety of plants from Plant me Now , an online plant nursery.  The plants were always well grown and everything I had from them last year  has survived really well so I was very pleased to be asked to review some  perennials  for them this spring. I am on a bit of a mission to increase the number of perennials in my cutting garden.  I have so far relied heavily on annuals and grown most of them from seed.  This is fine when you have the time and attention to devote to seed raising but this year is not the year for that.  I can pretty much guarantee that if I disappear down to Devon  every couple of weeks for a few days things will die and I can do without that.  The garden has to sustain me this year and not be too hard work.  It has to be somewhere that restores and recharges my batteries (is that possible?  not looking to...

September rushed past in a blur and here we are at the end of month view again. Here is the side garden.  From this distance it all looks a bit fluffy although from closer to you can tell that the bed at the back of this picture is working quite a bit better than the bed at the side.  The side bed has been planted mainly for spring and summer.  The back bed works well in spring, is a bit empty and sad in summer and comes into its own later in the summer as the crocosmia Lucifer and the sedum bulk up, the rudbeckia shines and the dahlias and cosmos fill out to take the space earlier occupied by the oriental poppies.  It is in this bed that I am intending to put the miscanthus which (having seen and admired Karen's fabulous grassees) I have ordered from Knoll Nurseries. I love this sedum and, wonderfully, it loves our soil and produces enough extra plants every year to allow me to spread it about the garden. I love this dahlia too.  When the new grass goe...

Today has been a day of total perfection: the light was pure and clear, with a pale golden glow like a glass of wine. I have spent all day in the garden, with three wheelbarrow loads for the burn pile to show for my efforts but remarkably little difference showing in the garden. I love echinacea and I am stupidly proud of the fact that I grew these from seed. I love the way the petals curve back from the cone and way they hold their heads to the sun. I am going to have a go at taking root cuttings from this one. The cosmos has been flowering its heart out for weeks and weeks. I spent a happy half hour deadheading a dozen plants in the hope of keeping them going until the frosts. This year lots of cosmos had self seeded in the cutting garden (posh name for a big bed in the field). I suppose I had better not be too thorough with the deadheading if I want it to the same again, which I do. It is so exciting to find little seedlings busy pushing up in spring without any assistance from the ...