The steps into the ‘fernery’ and out of the dining room into the garden are starting to take shape!


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The weekend weather was mild and so I tackled the garden. The side fence and wall were cleared of clematis and ivy, and rampant rose branches were cut out. A local man is going to build a store for the wood, using pallets left from a neighbouring building.
The Japanese Anenomes, starting to scatter seed everywhere, were cut down.
And I planted the bed which was cleared, I hope, of ground elder in the autumn. There are now five small plants of Hydrangea ‘Annabelle’, Tellima Grandiflora, Bergenia ‘Abendglut’, and Geranium Macrorrhizum ‘Spessart’.
Elsewhere there are signs of new life together with winter colour.
We have a small bed on the side of the patio and the planting needs to be ‘interesting’. Bergenia ‘Abendglut’ leaves are burnt Sienna in winter, followed by deep purple flowers in March and April, and then the leaves turn green in the summer. Allium ‘Purple Sensation’ flowers in May & June; Liriope Muscari’s lavender flowers appear in August to September, and Anenome ‘Honorine Joubert’ is gracefully white from August to October. Perhaps I should consider Libertia Grandiflora in this bed? White flowers in April and May and interesting, spikey green foliage all year. What do you think? Will this be ‘soft’ enough? Will it be snail-resistant?
The new fence is finished, two small beds are added, we have decided how the paving should be laid for the patio, and we have moved the Viburnum Plicatum, the only remaining shrub, and hope for the best.
The Camellias and Hellebores are starting in Greenwich Park!
The flint wall along one side of the garden is beautiful and I don’t want to cover it up.
If money was unlimited I might consider raising the height of the wall for privacy with pleached trees.
Or I could have a mass planting along the bottom of the wall.