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| An Aloe or Haworthia or somesuch on the paysho* |
The Official Plant Spotter of the DeVice Mansion (prev. Castle DeVice et al) and its Extensive Witchdom, the
dazzling Jon,brought up a very good point recently: "
I wonder if the "missing Canuck" is going to be hosting the garden show'n'tell this year?".
Well, I hope
The Very Mistress does manage to get up off her quince and play Hostess with the Mostess for what will be the Ninth Annual
Infomaniac Garden Photos Event, as I've been sorting out the swampy building site (as was) to the rear of the DeVice Mansion.
No you haven't! It was me! I've done all the sorting and lifting and digging stinking horse muck into the borders and other hard manual labour, not you.
Fine. In that case, you can carry on with this post.
These two photos (above and below), were taken at the end of March, after the leftover building detritus was cleared up, and the swampy, clay "soil" rotavated in preparation for a lawn.
The photo below is how it looks now, but it's not going to stay this way, however. This is just a temporary solution until I settle upon a design or, more likely, a cobbled together mish-mash of ideas that will "just have to do".
To the left is the red greenhouse (which is obscuring a small pink bush tucked away next to the rhododendrons and climbing rose), a newly planted vegetable patch, and salad crops in the border. At the back are fruit trees (apple and plums - yet to be planted). And to the right, behind the garage, my latest project...
... A small, shady area for ferns, hostas, foxgloves and the like. The photo below is from the 1st of June when I was working out what was going where, and whether to have a paved path leading to the gate.
And here, from a couple of days later, is the current status. Most plants are in, and I decided to have a less formal woodbark path (which is currently woodbarkless - I've yet to get some).
Finally, some colour from the paysho*:
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| Delasperma cooperi "Jewel of the Desert Garnet" |
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| A miniature indoor rose (a gift from someone that's doing much better outside than in) |
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| Aeonium ("Zwartkop" I think?) |
* Because I find the pronunciation of "patio" vulgar,
remember?
It looks so neat and tidy, and next year I know that it will be looking wonderful due to all your hard work.
ReplyDeleteI have ferns everywhere, in the shade, in the sun, they just pop up from nowhere. Everything here is rampant, and out of control, BUT, on the plus side, the bees love me for my horticultural indifference!
Sx
Rampant and out-of-control ferns sounds idyllic! I'm hoping my shady area will be similar once its established.
DeleteLovely to look at. So nice to see since there most likely won't be a Garden Contest this year. I love those gerbers....and I loved seeing your succulent.
ReplyDeleteMy succulent is blushing red at the attention!
DeleteIf the Very Mistress cannot manage the Garden Photos Event this year, Jon suggested (and I agree), that one of us more regular bloggers should do so instead.
Cannot MANAGE?
Delete*flounces off*
Oops!
DeleteDella Sperma is a great "porn name".
ReplyDeleteThat's an impressive start, indeed. I have to admit that lawns are our least favourite bit of any garden, but they do serve their purpose when getting a "desert" of builders' rubble into some kind of order. I look forward to seeing how it all develops!
Jx
PS Is that an Avocado tree? Jx
DeleteYes, the lawn is just a way to keep the majority of the garden in order while I fanny around on the edges. Over time, the lawn should shrink in size as the garden encroaches on it.
DeleteNo, the tree is a winter flowering thing - it produces a small downturned bunch of highly scented white flowers (with yellow centres) from the end of each branch. Then, once the flowers have finished, the leaves come out. I don't know what it is (lost the label).
Had a quick snoop around, and I think that's Chimonanthus praecox, aka "Wintersweet".
DeleteHave I won yet? Jx
Oh, almost! I found Chimonanthus during my (not very) exhaustive search, but it's not that. The flowers hang in bunches like those of the Hoya, and have a similar strong, sweet scent. And the leaves are much like those of the avocado's - as you thought earlier.
DeletePossibly Viburnum x burkwoodi or x bodnantense, then? ?
DeleteOoh, yes, the flowers are very Viburnam-like. But the leaves are not - they don't have such defined veins, and are not so spread out (they're more like a rosette).
DeleteMy last shot before I give up - Daphne bholua 'Jacqueline Postill' (which is described as "semi-evergreen"; depends where you live, I suppose). Jx
DeleteNo, but I know what it is now thanks to your last shot (oo-err!). Bing told me that that Daphne is also known as the paper plant, which jogged a memory: that my small tree is a paper bush. I looked up paper bush and found Edgeworthia!
DeleteThank you, Jon (still the Official Plant Spotter of the DeVice Mansion and it's Extensive Witchdom)!
Unusual - especially since it's not completely frost-hardy and a bit fussy. It's common name is interesting too - according to this article: "...one of the plant's synonyms, E. papyrifera, celebrates the use of this bark in the manufacture of high-quality paper for Japanese banknotes. It also has incredibly flexible young stems that can, literally, be tied in knots." Fascinating stuff. Oh, and it is related to Daphnes. Jx
DeleteIs there a play area in the works for the Beaky family?
ReplyDeleteFunny you should mention that. Beaky has found me here, and has raised yet another monstrous brood. In fact, they're out there now chasing each other around and annoying the pheasant!
DeleteI do too that's why I call mine a lanai, like they did in The Golden Girls.
ReplyDeleteOh, yes, that's much more in keeping. The scum can keep their "pat-ee-ohs".
DeleteI just call our front and rear bits of the house "decks" or, sometimes,"verandahs"
ReplyDeleteIt's coming along nicely. And of course your rose is romping away in the fresh air.It's where it belongs! I've got MASSES of Tithonia if you'd like some...
I've seen the photo of yours, and fear your Tithonia would quickly take over here as there's so much space at the mo!
DeleteI hope all the local cats are grateful to you for providing the world's biggest litter tray!
ReplyDeleteFortunately, there only seems to be one cat around here, and the owners kept him indoors for a while after they moved in (for acclimatisation?), so the lawn was down before the cat was out!
DeleteI do not get it, sorry : Patio ? Atrium ? Kreuzgang ? The Hexenhäusli is a monastery ? I wonder if della Sperma Praecox helps then ...
ReplyDeleteI might have to rethink this, as I don't want to wake up one morning to find Della Sperma-Praecox having it away with a monk on my patio (Ger. terrasse, I think?).
Delete