September 30th, 2017 - Pots and containers

Six topics in the garden this week

One

Showing off my compost again.  Pile up kitchen waste, brown cardboard, green prunings from your garden and some grass clippings and it will turn into this brown stuff.  No need to dig it in. The worms will carry it down. It’s magic and I never cease to be excited by it.

Homemade compost

Two

I planted 100 blue Anemone blanda  into beds and pots, just pushing them in with my thumb.  Amazing how pleasurable it is sitting in warm sunshine popping them into the ground knowing they will do their thing next Spring.  So easy to do.   Should have taken a picture before I planted them.

Three

I found a gentle way to add autumn colour.  Geranium Westray has leaves with various shades of red.  So does Potentilla aurea. These low growing sun loving plants will flower next summer but add interest with their foliage right now.

Geranium variety Westray

Potentilla aurea

Four

In ten days’ time I will be visiting East Lambrook Manor, the garden in Somerset made famous by Margery Fish in the mid twentieth century.  She adapted the traditional style which was disappearing and she encouraged gardeners to create a new modern version of cottage gardening using the old plants mixed in with the new.  It was a chance visit to East Lambrook in the 1980s that made me want to have a garden. I fell in love with the feel of the place.

Five

Finally made a decision on what to put in the new yellow pots.  I’ve been doing the Container Gardening course online with mygardenschool and the week’s task was to plant up a pot for winter interest.  I’ve decided on perennials rather than bulbs and it will be three Salvia gregii “Royal Bumble” which is scarlet and my favourite fern, dryopteris erythrosora.  Not finished yet.

Winter container

Six

Still looking good –  crocosmia Paul’s best yellow.

Crocosmia “Paul’s best yellow”

This theme of six is hosted by The Propagator where you can see other people’s sixes.

Thankyou to him for hosting.