choosing plants for a North Facing Shady Patio / courtyard

Anemone Honorine Jobert 

Available from Claire Austin Hardy Plants

https://www.claireaustin-hardyplants.co.uk/products/anemone-x-hybrida-honorine-jobert

Hi.


We currently have a paved area surrounded on two sides by walls and on one side by a glass conservatory. It gets some sun in the summer but in the winter its in deep shade.  The paved area is dark and prone to algae and moss. Currently it is a gloomy place apart from in summer when it provides much appreciated shade.

I wanted to make it a more positive space and give it a cottagey feel like the rest of the garden. So I've been doing my homework!

I'm planning to take up some of the paving and replace it with gravel which will look lighter and also allow plants to self seed which I like. I won't be putting a membrane under the gravel. I may live to regret this!

I'll also put in plenty of pots which will I'll allow to spread seed.

I am also going to expand an existing border and make space to plant a climbing rose.

I've noticed that light yellow looks spectacular in this area so my plant list, which has taken me loads of time to do- includes whites, creams and yellows.

Anemone Honorine Jobert
Lemon Zest Marigold
Lysimachia Numulari
Hellebore Niger
Rose Alberic Barbier or Lady of the lake (the latter has some pink but I just love it)
Columbine Nivea or Chrysantha
Narcissus Minnow
Welsh Poppy
Anenome Lipsiensis
Japanese Shield Fern.

As I've just spent loads on making a wildflower lawn this remains a wish list for the moment. Probably not for long though knowing my addiction to buying plants!

Can't wait

Love caroline




To learn more about me and Caroline's Cottage Gardens please visit my website. https://sites.google.com/site/carolinescottagegardens/

Poppy Garden - a painting by Karen Mathison Schmidt

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Ever since I bought a  lovely floral/garden print by Rachel Vollerthun I've been on the look out for more garden prints I can put up at home. Bringing the pleasure of flowers indoors. Cottage garden or flower paintings can be a little twee I feel but this one is not. It reminds me of the Californian poppies in my front garden in the height of summer.

This one is called Poppy Garden by Karen Mathison Schmidt, an artist in Louisiana.
Garden and prints can be bought from e-bay. Link below.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/KMSchmidt-16x12-LTD-Ed-PRINT-fauve-impressionist-POPPY-GARDEN-red-yellow-POPPIES/162513968094?hash=item25d6965bde:g:iHAAAOSwxu5ZFj5G












To learn more about me and Caroline's Cottage Gardens please visit my website. https://sites.google.com/site/carolinescottagegardens/

The secret garden - Morroco - inspiring gardens

Hi

This has to be one of the most beautiful gardens I've ever seen. I just had to write about it.  It is the sort of garden that makes me want to recreate it for myself. 

Its in Marakesh, Morocco. Monty describes it as "breathtakingly simple". 

There are some Olive trees around the edges, Rosemary forms a low hedge around each area. The main plant used is a grass - Stipa Tenuissima - each grass plant appears to be clipped individually, and is upright. So it doesn't look like a lawn. 

There are small patches of a pale Lavender and a few patches of Cape Garlic. Both pale violet or blueish in tint which goes with the silver leaves and the tiles on the pavement. 

Why does it work - I think its because of the following. 

It has a very limited palette - Mainly green with some silver mixed in. Some pale greys and blues in the tiles (see below). There are very few types of plants so there is a lot of repeating of plants. Both of these are good design principles. The amount of green in the garden gives it such a relaxing feel. 

I came across it watching a BBC programme called Paradise Gardens presented by Monty Don. 

To see the clip from the programme - go to.  http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05txncq

The garden was designed by Tom Stuart-Smith who is based in the UK http://www.tomstuartsmith.co.uk/  You can see Tom's own garden - the Barn Garden through the National Gardens Scheme on the 10th June 2018. Its nr St Albans, Hertfordshire, UK

https://www.ngs.org.uk/?bf-garden=11970 Definitely a date for my diary.

The plants
Stipa Tenuissima Link to buy plant - Jacksons Nurseries
Cape Garlic - Tulbaghia Violacea available from Unwins see picture below.
Lavender - Pale Pretender available from Perry Hill Nurseries.
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I hope you love it as much as I do.

Caroline
x


To learn more about me and Caroline's Cottage Gardens please visit my website. https://sites.google.com/site/carolinescottagegardens/

My idea for training my new rose

Ghislaine De Feligonde Rambling Rose

My Mum bought me this lovely new rose for my birthday last year it has clusters of these beautiful little flowers.

I don't know where my mum bought it from - there is no nursery name on the label but I did see on the internet that David Austen Roses sell it. Link below if you want to treat yourself.

https://www.davidaustinroses.co.uk/ghislaine-de-feligonde

Its done very well in the gravel area near the spring seat - its grown one stem around 6 foot long in 7 months and quite a few other stems that are only around 2 foot long.

I've put lengths of wire on the fence I want it to ramble up but most of the new shoots aren't long enough to reach the wires I want to tie them to.

I knew that you are meant to choose about 6 strong stems and fan them out when training a climbing rose so I tied lengths of garden twine to the base of the rose and tied them onto the wires to form a fan. I was then able to use more twine to tie 6 of the strongest shoots to the twine fan so that they will grow in the direction I want them to.

Any weaker shoots I pruned back to an outward facing bud at different heights to give some flowering growth at different levels of the plant including near the base.

The prunings I cut into sections to see if I can grow this rose from cuttings. Its a long shot. I cut above a leaf joint, as the books suggest and then just below a leaf joint at the base of each cutting. I've buried them up to half their length and in groups of three at various points along the fence. Its not cost me anything to try though I doubt I'll have much luck.

Its likely they will produce leaves and look as though they are doing well for a few months at least but I will only know if I've been successful once they actually start growing upwards. I'll let you know how I get on.

Happy Gardening - even if the weather is far from ideal
Caroline
x




To learn more about me and Caroline's Cottage Gardens please visit my website. https://sites.google.com/site/carolinescottagegardens/

Pots of geraniums for your windowsill - very cheap or free and very easy to grow.

Painting by Susan Savad of Three Pots of Geranium on a Windowsill. Prints available see below.

Hi.

In a previous blog about bringing the garden into my home I showed a picture of an abstract painting of a garden by Rachel Vollerthun which I've just bought and love. Inspired by this I've been searching on the internet for other flower or garden paintings I might also love. I did find this one today.

I found this lovely painting on Fine Art America where they have many sized prints available for as little as £21. Link below.

Fine art america - link to painting of geraniums

One of the reasons I love it is that I've always had geraniums (aka Pelargoniums) on my windowsills in rows of terracotta pots.

They suit my frugal nature  - they an be bought for next to nothing, they are very difficult to kill and survive neglect. They flower most of the year. You will need to take off blooms that are dying by gently pulling off the plant.

You can also make loads more for free. In late summer (or most times of year to be honest) use a sharp knife to cut off the top 8 inches of a new stem. Gently pull off all the leaves apart from two or three small ones at the top. Then bury the stem in a pot of John Innes no 2 compost to about half its depth. No need to use rooting hormone.

I usually use a larger terracotta pot (very cheap) about 8 to 10 inches in diameter and put 3 or 4 such cuttings spaced out in the one pot. I then put in a well lit place but out of direct sunlight which is above 10 degrees C. Water one a week, there is no need to overwater as they store water in their stems.  Within a month or so they will start growing as they will have rooted. 

As they start growing every time a stem gets to about 10 inches tall - cut off the top 2 inches of each stem. This encourages branches to be made and a more well rounded plant with more flowers.

As well as filling your windowsill they make great gifts. They are also a great way to begin to learn gardening - skills learned will be watering, taking cuttings, pinching off tips to encourage branching.

There are loads and loads of varieties to buy. I like allwoods.com where I've bought some before for as little as £3.50 each. They sell traditional geraniums with all colours, ones with variegated leaves and beautifully scented geraniums. Below is a link to their website.

Allwoods Geraniums/Pelargoniums website

To learn more about me and Caroline's Cottage Gardens please visit my website. https://sites.google.com/site/carolinescottagegardens/

Zentangle Garden

With proverb!

Zentangle can be so relaxing to do - better than drugs I reckon.

I used to meditate for many years which was good but I find it so much easier and better for my anxiety to do something rather than do tricks with my mind. Zentangle was a real find!

Its cheap too - a very fine ink pen costs only around £2.50 - and any scraps of reasonably absorbent paper. Lots of patterns online - particularly on Pinterest to copy too.

Caroline
x



To learn more about me and Caroline's Cottage Gardens please visit my website. https://sites.google.com/site/carolinescottagegardens/

In praise of catmint - stunning combined with herbs and roses.

Good morning

Hope you slept well.

I've always resisted buying catmint - I imagined it smelled bad and had visions of it encouraging cats to roll all over my garden.

How wrong I was. I bought some last year for the first time and this year I'm going to take lots and lots of cuttings and dot it around my cottage garden. It flowered right up to mid December and now in early January it still has good foliage to add winter interest to my cottage garden border. The multitude of cats I imagined were no where to be seen and the smell whilst not the best if you squash the leaves and stick your nose into it, from any other perspective is non existent.

The leaves are a delicate grey green which go so well with herbs like rosemary, thyme, purple sage and lavender. Catmint looks wonderful with most  delicately coloured roses such as those from David Austin but particularly with delicate blush roses like Penelope. I have the above combination of flowers in my cottage garden border at the front of my house.

Key to the picture above:

Top Left is rose Penelope (from David Austin Roses). Top right is Catmint – Nepeta Racemosa Walkers Low (from Perry Hill Nurseries). Bottom left is Purple Sage  and Thyme and bottom right is Lavender Munstead (widely available)

Please note I'm not connected with any plant sellers mentioned.

Key words: Cottage Garden Gardening Plant combinations Rose Catmint Sage Thyme Lavender Beautiful pastel Herbs Scent easy to grow