June is hot this year, but the garden has benefitted from the cool Spring so it is coping pretty well. 30°C and climbing! Phew! Glad I got that mulch down in time!
The other day I posted about the Vegetable Plot, the Butterfly Bed and the Oval Bed. Today I am taking you on a tour of the remaining beds. It’s a long post, so settle down with a cool drink in the shade! 😉
So first of all the Herb Bed.
There are a few plants in there that aren’t herbal actually, but the majority is edible. 😃
This is the hottest, driest part of the garden for most of the year, and in late winter a cold wind whistles round the corner where this Geum stands… but this is its third year, so it clearly doesn’t mind!
The Lemon Balm has grown into almost a shrub this year. The silvery foliage on the right is curry plant (Helychrysum italicum). It really does smell of curry!
There are some Hypericums and Echinacea, and all the usual kitchen herbs in here: parsely, chives, thyme and oregano, sage, winter savory, dill and borage, coriander, fennel and mint.
Under the Hamamelis tree are some wild strawberries. They smell (and taste) fantastic! Last year this bed was plagued by mice. 🙃 This year we have been lucky so far…
A few ornamental sages are planted here too. This one is Salvia greggii ‘Syringa Blues’, which does in fact look more blue in real life.
One plant I can’t wait to see flower is this Moldavian Dragonhead (Dracocephalum moldavicum) grown from seed. I have no idea what to expect!
Next up, the Moon Bed.
It was tilled autumn 2020, when a few things were planted, and then the rest of the planting took place this spring.
The bed is actually a half moon shape, and the planting is predominantly whites and blues with some silver and cream. Allium Mount Everest has already gone over, but the bees loved it while it was in flower.
Shrubs and plants include a white lupin, veronica, phlox, lavender, a dwarf Philadelphus, a white broom, Spiraea arguta, Sea Buckthorn and a pretty willow (Salix integra) called Hakuro Nishiki. The leaves are variegated with creamy white and a hint of pink. So pretty!
The ‘moon’ in the centre is a hollow rusty metal ball – a gift from my Man of Many Talents. 😃A silvery Miscanthus is planted next to it and behind it a pink Heuchera (wrongly labelled!) has crept in…
…but this bright pinky red peony was added as a fun touch; it is called Cuckoo’s Nest. And it is the cuckoo in the nest, standing out among the softer colours. It smells wonderful. I love it!
Another peony currently flowering is Jan van Leeuwen. It’s a gorgeous flower – big and blousy with a golden centre. But sadly it has no fragrance.
Several Geraniums are planted here, including the perfectly blue Mrs Kendall Clark and the strikingly white ‘White Ness’ seen here with Rozanne.
I have planted lots of annuals in between, yet to make a show… Cosmos, Cleome and Gaura (the latter is often winter hardy here but not reliably).
Let’s move on to the Sunshine Bed.
This is glorious right now with the Californian poppies, Oriental poppies and Geums lighting it up.
Sunflowers, Tithonia and then the perennial Helianthus will provide more sunshiny colour later in the summer, with some grasses in between. A yellow broom has gone over now, but here it about two weeks ago in full bloom on the right. What a lovely honey-llike scent it has. Another favourite with the bees. 😃🐝
Finally the latest bed. The ‘Edge.
Not a hedge, exactly. But almost. Hence the apostrophe. And this long curved bed marks the outer border – the edge – of the flower garden.
This is what I have been working towards from the very beginning. I knew it would be tough – it is 25 metres long! Hopefully it will eventually meet my expectations, but currently it is still looking rather sparse. The stunning Lupin in the middle has been flowering nonstop since mid-May.
Then there are grasses such as Miscanthus, Calamagrostis and Imperata, some shrubs such as a Forsythia, Cornus, Hazel and Weigelia, some ground cover like Spiraea and Heuchera, and some sunflowers and Tithonia yet to flower. This is a lovely shrub that is new to me. Physocarpus opulofolium ‘Lady in Red’.
The bed is exposed, to say the least, and will be put to the test over the next twelve months. But the soil is wonderful and the wood chippings as mulch help keep it moist.
Well, I hope you have enjoyed the tour. Thank you for joining me while I keep records of the garden developing, and have a wonderful weekend!
Happy Gardening!
Words and Herbs 