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/

So excited about my new short wildflower lawn

Hi
This is a bit of an experiment. I've a large area of gravel surrounded by flower borders in my garden.

As a child we had a lovely lawn full of clover, daisies and buttercups and I wanted to recreate it. .

I phoned the people on wildseed.co.uk for advice. They were very helpful and they recommended mixture EL1 for my clay soil. This can be regularly mown but is still full of flowers which is good as I want it to be a bit tidier than a wildflower meadow so I can still enjoy my existing borders. So I ordered it this morning. Here are the flowers and grasses it contains. Its got Red Clover and Buttercups just as I wanted and lots more besides. I'm planning on leaving the middle of the area a bit longer and mowing a winding patch through it a bit shorter for effect.

I had asked if their mix included daisies but was told that its too difficult to collect Daisy Seed but if I steal a plant from somewhere and plant it in the lawn that it will rapidly self seed.

https://wildseed.co.uk/mixtures/view/56


I then got quotes for the topsoil I need but they were coming in at around £700! I really needed poor quality soil as this is what wildflowers need but that was even more expensive at around £850. This is too much for frugal nature I'm afraid.

So I'm trying a compromise of my own invention. I'm going to remove the membrane under the gravel, spike the underlying clay soil with a fork to loosen. Then mix the good top soil I've ordered with all the gravel that is already there. This brought the price for the top soil down to £220. Much less painful for my purse.

So its a bit of an experiment.

The mix comes with instructions for the whole process and maintenance after - no mention of using up waste gravel though!!

This weekend I'm preparing the site and the new soil arrives on Monday  - so I can sow the seed mixture in early spring.

Wish me luck - I'll let you know how I get on.

Caroline

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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/

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

A garden romance inspite of my mistake

HI there.

As you know I've cut back a lot of Ivy from the fences around my garden in the past few days to make way for other climbers. I have left patches of Ivy as I know birds like to nest there and also possibly roost over the winter.

While I was doing this a couple of days ago out fell a little nest - it was very soft and the moss woven into still green so I felt guilty. Although this is the middle of January and birds shouldn't be nesting one of my garden birds hadn't looked at their calendar!

Shortly after this I was sitting inside with a well earned cup of earl grey redbush (my favourite) when I saw Mr and Mrs Robin scavenging for nesting material and carrying it off to a patch of Ivy I had left.  I felt a little more cheery. Their beaks were stuffed with stuff on each trip - they obviously meant business and were feeling in the mood!

Today Mr Robin was plainly building up his stamina as he was only a couple of feet from me when I I was working in the garden and he was gobbling up wriggly creatures I'd disturbed my moving a rotten log.

Our swing seat is near the Ivy where they are nesting - I will be looking out for the little ones later in the year.

If you like the photo above it came from the website of a charity called Little Foxes Wildlife Rescue. Please do drop by and perhaps make a donation. Link is below.

http://www.littlefoxes.org.uk/

Happy gardening

Caroline






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/

Problem solved - Evergreens to cover a problem fence frugally

Hi

My garden is wider than it is long. It also has a horrendous 6 foot high wooden fence all the way round it. Disguising it is an ongoing problem in the winter particularly at the back of the garden where I can't use shrubs as the back fence only has a shallow border in front of it which, as its the sunniest place in our N facing garden is needed for roses! There are also too many climbers on it to paint it.

I have a clematis Montana on it and although its covered a lot of fence as it loses its leaves in winter.

I have also had various Ivy's which can look really nice but  they invade the border below where I like to grow things!I swear they wait until I'm not looking then grows another 4 foot in either direction tangling up with other climbers and smothering plants in my borders.

Last year I've put in a lot of lovely climbing roses which are so far only a couple of feet high but should take off in 2018. So my job over the last few days has been to trim back climbers I want less of such as the Montana and Ivy to make space for the roses and to put in more wires for their support and begin to train them on the wire.

I've also put in some Boston Ivy - Parthenocissus Tricuspidata Veitchii - which has amazing red leaves in autumn that look particularly spectacular when wet. It only went in last year but has shoots up to 3 foot high so I'm hopeful for 2018.

All this - and still ugly bare patches in winter. Wish I could have a lovely brick wall!

So being a frugal gardener  - how can I solve the problem.

I'vealready put in some self seeded cotoneaster Horizontalis I found in another part of the garden - but they are tiny at the moment. I shall have a hunt around for other suitable seedlings.

I've also pinched some cuttings of a white buddleia last week and have popped them in a pot. I am hoping I can put some of these into the borders in front of the fence as they can be semi evergreen.

I have a Lonicera Nitida which is continually breeding babies nearby - this would be evergreen and would cover a bit of the fence if I can keep it back narrow enough so it doesn't take up much of the border - I shall dig one of the babies up at the weekend  - it would be a good time to transplant it. 

I also have a mature Trachelospermum Jasminoides in the front garden. I've had it about 15 years - its evergreen but has some red colour in the leaves in autumn and winter which is nice. It also has strongly scented white flower in summer. Its easy to keep under control.  According to the RHS website propagation is by layering or semihardwood cuttings. I think I'll try both! Another job for the weekend.


Will this year be the one where my fence looks nice in winter? Wish me luck!



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

My most favourite rose of all time

Dear Reader

This stunning rose is Lady Emma Hamilton. It is the best rose ever I think!


https://www.davidaustinroses.co.uk/lady-emma-hamilton

I bought mine from David Austin Roses - link above.

I bought it last year and have fallen in love with it. I've a lot of lovely roses, some with fantastic scents in my garden but this is the most beautiful and has the best scent of all. It is named after the mistress of Lord Nelson!

It is the most gorgeous blend of colours. I usually go for things like blush pink roses, lavender, catmint, and generally pastel shades in my garden - this is an unusual choice for me but it looks stunning with the colours I already have.

It leaves are a wonderful colour - you can just make them out in the picture, I'm not sure how to describe the colour but there is dark green, red and bronze in there!

The scent is just wonderful its like marmalade and citrus. I picked a bloom and put it on the dash of my car just as we were heading off carpacking  in the wilds of the NW coast of Scotland. For a week I could bury my nose in it and enjoy the scent which lasted, unchanged for at least a week.

Its repeat flowering, its leaves are still on the plant and its mid January. It has good disease resistance and certainly has been looking healthy in my garden. It has won an award of garden merit from the Royal Horticultural Society. It also won 1st Prize for its fragrance in the Prix International at the Nantes trials in France. I think it richly deserves these awards and I hope it got to go to the ceremonies and had a good tea afterwards.

I do hope you try it out in your garden

Caroline
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To learn more about me please visit
https://sites.google.com/site/carolinescottagegardens/


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Key words - rose scent "cottage gardens" best perfect "English rose" "david Austin" "recommended rose"

Bringing the pleasure of gardens into your home

Hi there

I've been looking for a cottage garden painting for ages to put up in my house - but they are a little too idyllic for my taste.  I've just found the one above and love it - I'm ordering a print of it for my wall at home and the colours give me such a lift!

Yesterday we had an amazing morning looking at the paintings of a local artist Rachel Vollerthun. She uses colour very much as we use colour when we choose plants, mixing and blending and trying things out.

I particularly loved the paintings she had involving flowers and the wonderful colours she uses. The one above seems captures the beauty of a garden but with out some of the potential tweeness of some old cottage garden paintings. I just love it. She has some prints for sale of the above painting and many other originals and prints for you to enjoy and perhaps even buy on her website.

http://www.vollerthun.com/


I came home, got out some inktense pens and tried to recreate some of her ideas. I have a long way to go but so enjoyed it.

Here are some more of her paintings I loved. If you like them too please do share them with your friends via facebook, etc.

When there is not a lot of colour in the garden what a lot of pleasure I get from such pictures. I hope you do too.

Love
Caroline

Key words Colour Garden "Colour schemes", paint, beautiful, "cottage garden" Design "garden design" "working with colour" art Cambridgeshire Gardener "oil painting"

free plants found in first gardening session of the year!

Free plants - Ivy Leaved Toadflax and Golden Marjoram

Good morning

Yesterday morning the weather was brilliant so I headed out for my first gardening session of 2018.

In the sunny border in my front garden which is surrounded by a brick wall and slightly raised I spent time clearing away dead leaves, twigs and cut back the dead growth from plants like Aquilegia and Feverfew. I cut back my Nepeta (cat mint) which is now looking a bit straggly and was cheered to find new growth waiting for spring, I'd only planted it last summer so it was reassuring to see its doing fine.

As I tidied up I found a few seedlings of an Cymbalaria Muralis (Ivy Leaved Toadflax)  an old cottage garden flower.  Last year I had put a mass of them on a tub and they looked lovely. So I put the seedlings by the edge of the wall at the front of the border, grouped together. They should look nice spilling over the low wall in the summer.

I also cut back  a golden marjoram which I have had for many years and is a large clump which had become straggly, again underneath was a mass of young leaves. I love it as it gives a lovely splash of colour to the border all year round. Once it was cut back  around the edge I found a couple of little baby golden marjoram plants that have grown out from the main plant. I dug them up and put them either side of the path to the front door so they spill over the path a little. They should look nice with the welsh poppies, daffodils and yellow aquilegia I have in that area.

Happy freebie hunting

Caroline
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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

My New Year's Wish For You

Wishing you contentment and love in your life in whatever form it takes for 2018

Caroline
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The photo above is one I took last summer of the Herb Garden at Barnsdale Gardens nr Rutland where I volunteer. The climber in the background is Humulus Lupulus Aureus - Golden Hop. Also in the garden at this time are Artemesia, Rosemary, Sage, Thyme, Mint, Lavender, Bay, Oregano. Its only a small garden but its lovely.




Keywords: Love, New Year's, Barnsdale Gardens,Herbs

How to make a cottage garden patchwork gift card

Hi

I spent my Sunday Afternoon making a patchwork from cottage garden paintings I found in a book. It was like making my own mini cottage garden but without the backache.

First I cut out a piece of thin card the same size as the front of one of my blank cards. I drew a series of lines on it to make random sized rectangles and squares and numbered each of them.

 

I cut out the shapes and used them as templates to cut out sections of the pictures I like.

I kept the cut outs with their numbered template.

I then glued them on to my blank gift card.

However .... the ideas was that the sections did not overlap but went back together like a jigsaw  - but I went a little bit wrong and around the middle it didn't work. I think perhaps I should have laid it out first - then transferred to the blank card. The ideas was that there were no gaps which I did achieve.

I think I might try this patchwork decoupage as I've fabric patchwork books which will give me lots of ideas of patterns.

Certainly doing a gift card like this is very achievable in a short space of time so good if you have a busy life.

Hope you have a lovely relaxing evening. I'm going a light a real fire, and curl up under a rug with my husband to watch a film.

Take care

Caroline

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