september 2005

At least we have had some rain, enough to stave off the worst of the drought, but certainly not enough. The wind blows almost every day from the North or thereabouts. Isn't this climate supposed to be Western Oceanic - where have our westerly prevailing winds disappeared to? However this trend seems to have been a feature for the three years this site has been running. Only rarely do we get a traditional westerly wind. The clone of Roscoea purpurea is a real show stopper; the plant itself is not to tall (about a foot) and forms a neat clump. It does not flop about like the normal tall Roscoea purpurea. Fuchsia michoacanensis has tiny flowers but it flowers continuously through the summer on a neat small shrub. It will be a good garden plant is it turns out to be hardy. Strobilanthes attenuata is another plant which extends the flowering season with its vibrant blue flowers. It is easily grown in good garden soil that does not dry out, it needs some sun to flower at its best. Again continuing with a blue theme, Adenophora grandiflora is a plant worth growing and is at the end of its flowering season now. How easy is this plant? Don't know and will let you know next year (all being well) whether it is still as good. All very well buying these plants from a nursery, they look good during their first year of growth, but will they survive through the winter and continue to give pleasure for years to come? Hypericum aff. uralum is a nice shrub but everyone keeps on telling me that yellow is a no no! Yet the 'trend' in Chelsea this year was yellow. I like it even if our gardening experts don't; I make no apologies. Crocosmia x crocosmiiflora 'Star of the East' is interesting as the honey bees seem to go after its pollen with great avidity. Depending upon your point of view, this plant is either stunning or too blowsy, take your choice. Verbena bonariensis has flowered through the summer and still is looking good. This is the first season it has been grown in this garden and will be interesting whether it seeds itself around in the following years.
Irritatingly Corylopsis pauciflora and Hamamelis x intermedia ‘Pallida’ have started to produce these errant mis-shaped flowers. This is just as bad as last year and ultimately will detract from their normal spring show. As one would expect a number of plants have the odd flowers not like the previous two and these include:
Crinodendron hookerianum, Clematis montana var. rubens ‘Tetrarose’, Clematis armandii.