Thursdays favourite plant

I've got a lot of catching up to do here so I'll rush through a bit If you want to know any more leave me a comment and I'll answer any questions.
So here we go.

Ohh my camera (and blogger) is still playing up so I've borrowed a few pictures.

Tricyrtis formosana (toad lily)



What can I say about this, its absolutely stunning. I love the way the spots are carried through to the stamen and anthers. It flowers from about late august till about now (mine has still got lots of buds on it). This is a Japanese herbaceous perennial, that thrives in shady spots, and damp soil. It has a thick fleshy roots and is really easy to propagate by root cutting in the spring. The Leaves also have gorgeous spots on them and I'd advise giving them support as the stems can flop over a bit. Give it a good thick mulch in the autumn.

Cyclamen hederifolium

(image via flickr)

This is the native autumn cyclamen you see bursting out of fallen leaf litter in shady places, under trees and shrubs or banks and hedgerows. The flowers come up first, then the leaves follow. The leaves are stunning in different patterns flecked with silver. You can buy these as dry corms or in flower. Theres a video link to Carol Klein talking about them here


Aster monte cassino



I have a few different asters but this is my favourite. It copes with dry soil better than most asters and mine has never got mildew. I love the tiny little daisy like flowers. I have mine planted with.....

Penstemon Raven


(image via Hayloft plants)
I have a real weakness for dark almost black plants, and this one is almost velvety. My biggest tip with penstemons is to not cut the old stems back until spring when new shoots start to emerge. If you live somewhere prone to frosts, mulch it with straw around the crown to protect them. These are great for bees giving them a real feast before winter.


Euonymus alatus (spindle)
(image via flickr)

Autumn colour doesn't come much better than this. This spindle has the gorgeous pink berries and seedpods. It has these corky sort of wings along the sides of the Branch's. They'll grow to about 2 to 3 metres in height.

Liquid-amber



If you've got the space (alas I haven't) then this tree will give the most amazing autumn display, I love the variations in colours. But beware it will grow to about 15to 25 feet high.

I'm off now to gaze out the window at the rain watering my freshly moved around herbaceous border that I managed to do in yesterdays perfect sunshine. Somethings not quite right but I can't decide what it is yet, hopefully I'll figure it out in time for a break in the rain.

Thursdays favourite plant

Abelia x grandiflora



I've been umming and ahhing about getting one of these for ages, on Saturday I found one at a local garden centre in the reduced section that looked better than the full price ones so that decided it. These are known as semi-evergreen which is such a confusing term. Basically it means that unless the winter is really cold it will keep it leaves other wise it will be bare. I reckon down here in the south they'll be fine but maybe in northern parts they will lose their leaves.
Now they are supposed to be almost hardy so need to be planted in a sheltered and sunny spot. They flower from midsummer to autumn and one of the things I love is that when the flowers fall away your left with a pink bract type thing (the sepal)that hangs on through the winter (or at least it has on the ones that grow in the village).

This variety grows to about 4 to 5 feet throwing out long whippy upright stems but there are also smaller compact varieties like confetti which grows in a nice little ball with smaller variegated leaves.

I can't wait to plant mine but will have to wait until 2 other plants have flowered in the border then the huge reshuffle can begin. I have a collection in the courtyard waiting to go in the ground (I also got a 1/2 price rose on Saturday) plus I've starting buying bulbs and autumn bedding. I still need to finalise some sketchy plans and do a full stock take inventory but I'm dying to get started. Must wait for the 2 lovelies to flower as they will be featured here as soon as they do.

Step away from the spade

This is not my garden but if it was I could live with it.(Image via google images)


I love this time of year, you know being a stone through away from autumn, I don't even really mind the fact that our summer seems to be over and done with. What I don't like about this time of year is the fact my garden looks rubbish.
Late summer gardens can look stunning and there is still lots of beautiful plants yet to shine, but mine just looks a mess.
All my planting mistakes in spring show up and I think "why did I plant that there?" or "I didn't stake that well enough" or "that's a lot bigger than I thought it would be".
It doesn't help that my little patch is bordered by wild countryside and even though this year I thought i was more on the ball with keeping back the wilds I'm having battles with brambles and bracken taking over my hedges and fences and my bank that separates the chickens from the flower garden is over run with brambles and field maple saplings, tansy and bracken. It looks amazing in the spring with bluebells, primroses and violets.

I really think I'm more of a spring gardener than a summer/autumn gardener. I was so pleased with how everything looked a few months ago but now it looks shaggy and over grown. Maybe I'm being a bit hard on myself but I always seem to be a bit lack-lustre in the garden after July. The problem is I'm itching to get started on dividing,moving,and planting. I'm trying to plan a overhaul and now is a really good time to take stock of what doesn't work or look right. I really have so much work to do and I'm dying to get started but I need to wait at least until the asters and chrysanth's have had there turn.