I am unexpectedly in The Fortnight Garden again – after only one week! – and so my ‘Six on Saturday’ comes from Suffolk again. The garden is growing up, or perhaps it is just that I am finding the right plants for the various corners, and then leaving them alone to settle down. It has taken a while and I have made mistakes but this year I get a real thrill from looking out of the window or just wandering about at different times of the day. It is actually a very small garden but very densely planted.
1. The Japanese Anemones are thriving and starting to flower. I planted two varieties originally: ‘Hadspens Abundance’ and ‘Robustissima’ and quite honestly I can’t tell the difference when they are in bloom, except that ‘Robustissima seems to start earlier! They are all over 5′ tall and standing upright this year. I have staked with canes and string in previous years but this year used metal supports and they are much more satisfactory. ‘Honorine Jobert’ is also in the garden but much more reluctant to flourish and flower.
2.Hydrangea ‘Annabelle’ is just pure joy this year!. She is standing upright and a carpet of white and as I tap away I keep turning round just to enjoy the sight. I have two bushes, one a cutting of the original, and I am going to plant a third, also grown from a cutting. She is growing alongside the anemones which are starting to invade her territory – a thinning job for the autumn or spring.
3.It is the little corners in the garden which give me pleasure – like this hidden space between box hedging, a laurel, and a dogwood where somehow the Brunnera ‘ Jack Frost’ seem to be happy with some violets starting to appear as well!
4.The Star Jasmine, ‘Trachelospermum jasminoides’, is absolutely wonderful – it has never looked so abundant, or smelt so sweet. It grows against a fence with lots of light and sunshine and it is partnered by the conference pear (espaliered), miscanthus, and Roseraie de l’Haye.
5.Verbena bonariensis is happily self-seeding and I am leaving it to proceed as it sees fit!
6.And I am going to end on a fiery note – Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’ is starting to flower and what a wonderful sight. It is amongst the variegated dogwoods and behind a variegated miscanthus. I think I need to increase these clumps.
These are my ‘Six on Saturday’ and I hope you will enjoy them along with the many others posted by The Propagator.
All looking very lovely. The Star Jasmine especially.
The Star Jasmine smells so lovely and is absolutely covered in flowers. I am enjoying the garden very much this year – every gardens seems to more lush and abundant this year!
I fear I also am going to have to take the whip to my Japanese anemone which are whitBoth colours are equally beautiful, but I’ll go for your white hydrangea. What a beauty that is. No wonder you can’t take your eyes off it. Jack is also looking very spry under the hedge. Such a wonderful plant.
Lucky you to have ‘Honorine Jobert’! Yes, I am digging out a lot of the anemones and they are going to help a friend with a large area of semi-woodland. I think, bearing in mind their determination, they should do a good job for her! And yes, ‘Annabelle’ is gorgeous but has taken time to settle, and strengthen.