My last post was in February and it was a six. Four months on, there is much progress to share. Pull up a chair and join me on a tour of the front and back gardens at the Gulag.

Front garden

I transplanted both Chandos beauty roses from the plot back in February – you can see one in front and to the right of the valerian. The leafless holly joined the gang in April and promptly dropped it leaves – no idea why. The cold weather wiped out the Molly penstemon and for the first time in about 20 years, I no longer have a tall white penstemon in the garden or a pot or propagating in a shady corner. I feel sad. On a brighter note, the local garden centre is pleased I’ve moved to the area. I’ve added a lilac (far top left) and just out of shot (middle left edge) a sambucus black lace.

Now let’s go through the house (excuse the mess) to see what’s been happening in the east-facing back garden. The soil needs much improvement, so that will be my focus in the autumn. That said the plants don’t seem too unhappy, just a little under-developed maybe. The front garden had a ton of top soil added before I started planting and it shows.

Sarcophagus

The rose and witch hazel have settled in nicely and I’m looking forward to seeing the floribunda display. The jasmine is too embarrassed to show itself; another one that dropped its leave but copious watering and regular feeding has resulted in new shoots.

Herbaceous border of dreams

This is filling out nicely. I planted the plot dahlias in this bed a few weeks ago and although they are growing, they are not growing at the rate they have done at the plot. Maybe they want to go home as well! In the second shot behind the dahlias are some seed grown antirrhinums, apple blossom who are definitely not happy with their accommodation – I’m making regular offerings of liquid feed. On the upside, the hydrangeas, foxgloves, salvias, and pyrethrum are all doing well.

Pergola

This was still at the planning stage back in February and now it’s finished. The long term plan is to have the wisteria growing elegantly across it; while we wait the pigeons are using it as their poo perch which makes sitting in that spot less appealing than I had hoped. On order are pigeon spikes and a sun canopy that will likely double as a poop catcher.

The pergola bed

I don’t want the type of garden with long straight borders, albeit mine does have straight edges! This Border is in full sun and creates a punctuation in the garden between the flower garden and eventually beyond it the working garden with the greenhouse and polytunnel. I sent a begging email to First Tunnels today, asking for a quote to come build it for me! I just can’t find the motivation to do it for the third time. At the front of this bed between the geums (six plants from the old plant!) are agapanthus – another plant I’ve had for many years that almost didn’t make it through the winter. In the middle is a stipa gigantea (yet to live up to its name) there are two more dahlias, a foxglove, delphinium and verbena bonariensis- I’m hoping for a plant curtain effect. To the left is a plant/seedling nursery but I will turn that into another bed.

The north border

This has really come back to life in the last four months. I’ve always been drawn to flowers but I really enjoy the shapes, textures, and various shades of green in this bed. The bluebells that survived the squirrels appetite are setting seed, so I’m hopeful they like it there and will decide to colonise. The hydrangea has a flower! The lawn has perked up too.

That’s my six. Step over to Jim’s at Garden Ruminations to see more. Enjoy the weekend.