Well it's been a long while coming...but I wanted to show you where I was at, with the garden last year...before the horrible winter set in!...and Oh what a horrible winter it has been! Soooo cold and dismal and what with all the snow...well I have been so frightened of what may have happened to my plants out there...everything looks so beautiful in the Summer, but looking out there now...well I dread to think, what might have happened to some of them!
Obviously the geraniums have died a death! I have no room to store them...So I am hoping to perhaps buy myself a temporary green house that I can store the plants that I want to save for next year...nothing permanent...but what with the british weather being so changeable...I would like to have the peace of mind that my frost hating plants will be all warm and cosy in something that hopefully doesn't blow away next winter Lol!
Anyway, lets get back to last years instalment of how I was getting on in my 'happy cottage garden'! You see I knew I wanted to have hydrangeas, roses, foxgloves and delphiniums in my garden, but I started to go a bit crazy, finding so many other plants that I adored and frequenting the bargain corner of all my regular haunts fastly became a very addictive habit of mine...and because I had 'cut in' deep beds, I wanted to fill everything up quickly.
Alan Titchmarsh and his team make planting look so easy...for 1. they have a limitless budget, so everything is already established and 2. they have a whole army of people to help them! I was beginning to watch every garden programme I could lay my hands on...I think in the end I had overdosed myself and just needed to take a step back..."remember this garden will be a work in progress" I told myself. But there is something so therapeutic about gardening and especially when you see the rewards that each plant beholds...its just so addictive.
So I carried on and on, buying plants in the sales etc and adding them to the beds...you know it can get quite complicated...especially knowing when and where you planted perennials...calculating when each plant is going to be flowering etc...On my goodness in the end my brain was frozen! Then someone mentioned to me about 'Hard Landscaping' Err! Pardon! me! Oh yes of course I have done that! BUT NO I hadn't! and there I was, all in a panic again!
Apparently what I should of done, was plan and plant all of my shrubs first! Oh dear Oh dear...How many books have I read on that subject...I suppose it really is not helping me being dyspraxic now more than ever and also being at an age where I forget things on a daily basis! Phew! It's hard work being me! lol!...so basically I have broken all the rule books and I have been winging it...although I seem to be getting to grips with individual plant care ok!
As you can see I decided on painting the fences 'Cornflower Blue' [Ronseal] and this Red Climbing Rose, I planted when we first moved in, which was really starting to take off...I bought the rose in Wilko in their sale for about £1.50 Bargain! So when painting the fence I had to painstakingly cover the whole rose with a plastic bin bag to make sure that I didn't saturate it...[I was using a spray gun!]...only to still manage to spray the rose with fence paint! lol! [Infact i managed to spray quite a lot of plants with the stuff!!!!]...but they all seemed to be very resillient! Thank Goodness!
I have also fallen in Love with the plant above! Do you know it? Yes it is called Cosmos. My Mum introduced me to it, so I go some for both of us...I bought these over at my local Boot Sale, there is an older couple over there that grow plants in their garden to sell at the fair and everything that I have bought from them has been beautiful...they sold me the bulb variety and all through the Summer they kept self seeding so they were sprouting up all over the place.
I also bought this Agapanthus from the boot fair and that came up a treat...I was like a little girl in a sweet shop waiting in anticipation and then squeeling with excitment when something burst into flower...Sad ain't I lol!
I grew Delphiniums and sweet peas, Salvia and Bamboo...[Infact anything that I liked and was a bargain]...and the garden was beginning to look mighty fine...
My favourite Season is the Spring...and here we are now waiting for Spring to begin. Back in October and November I planted a shed load of bulbs...150 in the back garden alone...dafodils, Tulips, Hyacinths...anything pretty that took my fancy. A few of the dafodils have sprung up...bless them. When the horrible snow appeared I didn't think anything was going to grow again...but they seem to be quite hardy...
I have also been adding in some props here and there...it all looks pretty in these pictures but looking out in the garden today, it is looking a bit of a mess! things have blown around in the wind and I am doing my own version of The hokie cokie...in out, in out of the garden, wondering when to start pruning for spring? Is there going to be anymore snow? Monty Don says don't prune until the ground warms up...Alan Titchmarsh tells you to listen for spring and if it doesn't feel right to go back in doors for another cup of rosie lea [TEA]!
Let's just pray that not too much damage has been caused by the snow and when it gets a little warmer I can spend forever an hour out there pruning, feeding and weeding my little garden into a cornocopia of wonderment...
Well that and buying many more Bargain Plants of course..lol! Can you see me????
If you would like to give me any advice on my new Garden...please do not hesitate in leaving a comment below...I would love that :) x
Speak soon my lovelies.
i have been in my house for 30 years, and have a huge garden which was mostly maintained by my dad, bless him, but for a few years now i have had to take the reins. i have turned it into a cottage garden and zoned off areas for wildlife, a native permaculture bluebell wood is underway, and of course a fairy garden is always a must for me. i am loving it. i still dont know the names of all the plants and i dont care. i buy something i love, in flower and plant it where i feel its needed. i never have annuals, everything has to come back to visit year after year. gardening is (for me) a feeling/instinct, not a subject to be book learned.
ReplyDeleteYour garden looks beautiful and fun! I love cosmos and lupines and foxgloves.... Those garden shows will get you every time!
ReplyDeleteCindy
I love seeing your posts on your home and your garden! I think you will be amazed at how tough your perennials are. I live in zone 4, Minnesota, where we have days on end where the temperature does not go above 0 fahrenheit and several feet of snow on the ground. Right now we still have almost a foot of snow in our yard. And yet, it always amazes me how resilient my perennials are and over the next month or so will start poking up green sprouts. Definately puts a smile on my face...a great big smile!
ReplyDeleteI know you are so excited to see what all comes back this spring! You did a lovely job with the garden last year! I'm waiting for my husband to spray for poison ivy before I get out clearing the winter dried foliage and getting the beds ready for spring. It's still cold here in Missouri too!
ReplyDelete