If I had a Garden in China...

A couple of floral photos from our holiday in China:

Brilliantly bright pink flowers on The Bund in Shanghai.

At the Yuzi Paradise sculpture park near Yangshuo.

Getting Ready for Winter

Did some winter prep today:
* Cut the Crocosmia back to ground level.
* Cut back the flower spikes on the eryngium.
* Trimmed the Icing Sugar where it was obscuring other plants.
* Chopped the penstemons to about 20cm above ground level.
* Cut back the lavender.

Bought Too Many Bulbs

Back from holiday, back in the garden. In September I read an article that advised to buy bulbs early to get the best ones, then store them until ready for planting. I'm not sure why early = best but I had a chance to buy some a month ago so I did. I really did.

I've just planted:

* Hyacinths - 3 in a terracotta pot in the back garden. Should flower Feb/March.

* Crocus - 15 large flowering, white. Planted half in the front borders.

* Snake's Head Fritillaria Meleagris - 24. Just over half have gone in the iron stand (I picked the baby spinach out, it was bug eaten) and the rest are in the side border at the front.

* Tulips - 5 planted in a pot at the front.

* Onions - an impulse buy. Have planted 8 in the tin tub, along with a handful of crocuses.

Have 15 crocus, 5 tulips and, oh, about 40 onions left over and nowhere to put them. My eyes were bigger than my garden. Need to go pot shopping.

Propagating (AKA running before I can walk)

I want to grow something to climb up the fence in the back garden. A friend has a lovely clematis and suggested I take a cutting and have a go at propagating. This sounded far beyond my current abilities, and I think it's the wrong time of year, but as I'm tying to learn I thought why the hell not? I followed the instructions here. This photo was taken a week after I planted the cuttings; it's now 3-weeks since and they are looking a bit sorry for themselves - but not dead! I've had the pot covered with a small, clear plastic bag and positioned by the back door which gets the sun.  

Purple Petunias

Planted these burgundy trailing petunias in the hip bath in July, they're a great colour (more pink to the naked eye). I need to find something to replace them with over winter. There's a rosemary bush behind them, ready and waiting for any time we cook lamb!

Home Grown Rocket... and Moss

This was the first of the rocket I grew this year, picked in July (it's a really peppery one, tastes great)! I've been sowing seeds in an old Belfast sink in the back garden - which also has a Wisteria in it - and it's grown well... but so has quite a lot of moss. I think the moss must have been present in some recycled earth I used to fill the sink originally because the drainage seems ok and it gets the sun. So I just picked the last growing rocket leaves and plants and removed the moss and a layer of soil. Topped it up with a soil and compost mix. Will see if that does the trick.

Beaucoup de Bacopa

I planted this mixed Bacopa into an old chimney pot in the spring because I wanted foliage and flowers that would fall down over the sides. I've found that it needs a lot of water and that if I gently shake off the dead flowers it will keep flowering - although I am not a fan of the smell that emits from a shake! I think it's an annual but will probably leave it and see what happens.

Latest Additions: Stand, Willow Planter and Spinach

 

Latest additions to the garden: a 1930s stand (need to treat the rust at some point) and a willow planter that fits perfectly - I love it when a plan comes together! It's getting late in the year but I've sown a few spinach seeds and hope to get some baby leaves at least. 

Pale Yellow Pansies

Almost all the plants in the back garden are in pots because it's such a small space. One of my first buys last year was some end of season pansies which flowered again this year and have lovely pale yellow petals. They've got leggy though so I've just chopped a cluster down and replanted them in a border at the front.

Passion Flowers

The passion flowers have been fabulous this year. I think the bees agree.

Grandma's Chair

I have finally (it took a while!) finished painting this old chair and have just nestled it between pots in the back garden. It belonged to my Grandma and I love that I've been able to use it in the garden. I'm looking forward to sitting in it; almost as soon as I took it outside a torrential downpour began. Ahh the British summer :) Everything in the photo I have added to the garden in the last 12-months with the exception of the leggy pansies which I want to replace with something that will look good in winter. I'm not minding the rain too much as I can enjoy this view from inside. 

Pruning Pinks and Penstemons

Not much time today so just did a bit of deadheading and weeding/tidying. I haven't had this Pink and Penstemon long. The Pink has flowered well throughout the summer with me just pinching the dying buds off; the Penstemon hasn't but there are a few new buds appearing now. Have tried removing some of the stems as well as dead flowers so will see if that works better.

Japanese Anemone in Bloom

I love these flowers, they really stand out at this time of year.  This is an Anemone × hybrida 'Honorine Jobert' that was planted 2-years ago. There was another one but I think I must have mistaken it for a weed at some point. Oops.

Daring Daffs Experiment

First post! So in an effort to learn more I often Sky+ Gardeners' World only to forget to watch it. But this weekend I remembered! Monty says it's time to plant daffodil bulbs. Earlier in the year I bought a few daffodils in pots from M&S (one of those 10 for £2.50 type deals). Of course the daffs are long dead but the bulbs remain so - in what I consider to be a daring experiment at this fledgling stage in my gardening career - I have replanted them into a big old Belfast sink I bought on eBay. There are around 100 bulbs and some have already started to sprout roots. I placed them about 8cm below where the soil surface will be, added and patted down a layer of compost, sprinkled the smaller ones on top of that and then added a final layer of compost. I couldn't tell which way up some of the smaller ones should go, hence the sprinkling; figured they might work themselves into the right position. So... will they grow? Only 6-months to find out. My gut (always the optimist) says "yes" so time for a celebratory beer.