November - December 2024
Hello Gardening Friends,
I have met so many of you over the years at my garden that I think it's time to change to a more personal greeting. I tried to get the newsletter to you before the end of November but it was such a busy month with garden visitors and garden tasks. Then December came and Christmas was upon us.
Delightful surprises have occurred. Some plants that I thought were lost have reappeared, the giant Himalayan lily, Cardiocrinum giganteum, put on its exquisite display, and we have many more of these plants growing in one of our woodland area. Each plant, started as a seedling, takes seven years to flower.
The Soldier Poppy, originally from Flanders Fields, has reappeared when I thought I had lost it, and the strawberry spinach has also reappeared in plentiful supply. It is growing taller for me that it did originally in the potager garden. It has fortunately seeded in a red herbaceous border and the foliage is lush and an interesting shape to look at. According to Kings Seeds it is an heirloom vegetable which is over 400 years old. This year I am going to try the leaves in a salad.
The dark red-flowering Astrantia, whose name is either 'Ruby Wedding' or 'Hadspen Blood' has clumped up well and is showing more flowers than its one or two last year, and my three rhododendrons 'Lily No 7’ are giving an outstanding performance this year. With their rather large, soft pink-to-white with a hint of lemon flowers, the notable feature of the flowers is that they have no stamens. This is a gorgeous rhodo for the November garden. Another surprise was to see foliage of five rodgersias appearing. I did think that they had failed as they were planted two years ago but they are back this year. I have loved this plant for a very long time and have found them difficult to establish in my garden.
As we have so much plant material which has built up over the years we have a small range of plants for sale. In my early days of gardening I used to prefer buying plants where I could see them growing in an actual garden as it gave me a good idea of what the plant would look like in my garden. Our plants for sale are preferably smaller as it makes it easier for them to establish when planted.
I also have a shade house being built and I am so looking forward to growing plants from seed and cuttings in a controlled environment.
A selection of photos taken in November and December:
Photo 1: Dorycnium hirsutum, or the hairy canary clover. I have grown this plant in a clay-based soil in the gravel garden where it gets no special attention and it has thrived for decades. It ha survived on rain water only through each dry summer. I am sure it would do equally well in normal-to-poor soil. Dorycnium grows to a height of about one metre until it gets too woody and then I pull it out. Being a shallow-rooted plant, this is easy to do. A low spreading bush with soft grey foliage and small pale pink and white pea-like flowers, the flowering is followed by shiny black seed pods. It flowers throughout the summer. I haven’t collected the seed for propagation as there are usually enough seedlings in the garden to keep the plant going sufficiently.
It is available from Kate at Seaflowers Nursery in Golden Bay.
Photo 2: Bearded Iris Gracchus is now well established in the garden. It took me years to trace a plant, and then some years it didn’t flower. Now I think it is here for good!
Photo 3: At the end of an early December day. The dark bronze foliage of Dahlia ‘Bishop of Llandaff’ in the centre of the photo now has bright orange flowers blooming, whilst a special collection of Perigourdin baskets, crafted by the master willow weaver Mike Lilian, sit comfortably on pea straw near the vegetable garden. Things can be picked from the garden and carried inside in one of these baskets.
Photo 4: Last season we divided and replanted the dieramas, or Angel’s fishing rods, and they arch gracefully over the large rocks at the front edge. These are the seedheads of a pale pink dierama which sit easily with the seed heads of the lupins. This was taken again in early December.
Photo 5: Each year in December the double flowered Philadelphus ‘Virginal’ spreads gorgeous fragrance in the sheltered area of the front pond. I have allowed the shrub to become too tall and this year we will reduce the height by about half so that the flowers can be enjoyed at a lower level. Just finishing their first flowering in the terra cotta pots are the snow-in-summer plants, Cerastium tomentosum.
It has been a bonus having some heavy rain and cooler temperatures over Christmas time. I will write again in January.
Best wishes to you all for the new year and all of the adventures and discoveries that it will bring to gardeners,
Margaret
