I started planting the new London garden in the second week of April – it has been hard work but I am finally finished, apart from the ‘fernery’. You need to get down to ground level to see anything – the plants are still so small! Next to the steps into the ‘fernery’ the Hakonechloa overlooks the stipa tenuissima, alchemilla mollis, and geranium macrorrhizum ‘Ingwerson’s Variety’. The miscanthus, molinia, and verbena are also growing.

Under the damson tree the knautia macedonica is flowering in an interesting colour, the nepeta are thriving, and the viburnum sargentii ‘Onondaga’ is looking settled.

The Patio looks rather ‘thin’, but the four(!) libertia grandiflora will be wonderfully impressive in three years’ time and I want to ensure they have enough space to grow. In the meantime aquilegia ‘Black Barlow’, geraniums ‘Brookside’ and ‘Elizabeth Ann’ will spread and be pretty. In the centre is an amelanchier lamarckii.

Along the flint wall the plants are growing – slowly: brunnera ‘Jack Frost’, anemone ‘Robustissima’, and bergenia ‘Abendglut’ which should turn a wonderful colour in the winter.