Front garden: Spring 2020 overview, in pictures

The front garden, May 2020

The front garden has really come a long way since we first moved in. So this is an overview in pictures (I am too exhausted to write much at the moment), particularly as so many plants are now looking so good.

For comparison, this is what the front garden looked like when we moved in.

November 2017

So, going back to earlier this Spring...

March 2020

Overview near the front door

Under the Quince treen: Primula vulgaris and Anemone blanda, with grassy leaves

from Stipa tenuissima.

Looking towards the lounge room window

Quince tree

View from the front gate

One of my favourite daffodils, the fragrant Narcissus 'Cragford'

April 2020

Overview

Quince flower, Cydonia oblonga 'Vranja'

Under the quince tree, Muscari aucheri 'Blue Magic'

Planter under the lounge room window. Tulipa 'Ballerina' (orange), plus a rouge that was pulled out!

Tulipa Ballerina and Tulipa Havran (beetroot colour), plus Myosotis sylvatica and other plants

Viola 'Butterpat', which also has a lovely fragrance. Planted next to the front door.

Tulipa 'Abu Hassan'

Front: Primula veris, back: Primula elatior

May 2020

Overview

 Quince tree and Camassia leichtlinii 'Caerulea'

Camassia, in detail

Planted together: red Geum 'Mrs J. Bradshaw', and orange Geum 'Totally Tangerine'

Geum 'Mrs J. Bradshaw' up close

In another part of the garden, Geum coccineum 'Koi'

View from lounge room

Primula bulleyana and bumblebee

View from the front gate, with a young Acer Griseum

The front garden has come a long way since November 2017! Whilst I do all the designing and planting plans, the garden wouldn't be where it is without the help of my gardener Andrea. Thanks Andrea, we've created, I believe, a beautiful space.

Autumn: Salvia 'Amistad'

I thought it was time to show some flowering plants in my Autumn series. This is Salvia 'Amistad', which yes, does start flowering in late Spring, but continues on through Summer and into Autumn. I'm enjoying it so much in the front garden now, that I felt it was worth including. Also, it's purple, and I love purple.

It's clustered flower stems rise up above the foliage, adding height to your border. You need to come in close to enjoy the detail of individual flower.

Even in late October it still sending up plenty of new flower stems. With luck these will flower, offering some late blooms for bees. Yep, bees like to crawl up into the flower for the pollen.

In my garden it doesn't mind the light shade that comes from the beech hedge.

The young flower heads are a dark purple, but the flowers come out lighter colour. Two-toned purple - ba dum tish!

S. Amistad is a fuss-free hardy perennial that gives me flowers over a long period of time. And in case you didn't notice, it's purple. Purple!

* * * * *
Other posts in the series:
  Autumn: Acer palmatum 'Sango-kaku'
  Autumn: Prunus mume 'Beni-chidori'
  Autumn: in the Peak District
  Autumn: Cornus 'Norman Hadden'
  Autumn: Fagus sylvatica

I got sunshine, on a cloudy day: Rudbeckia fulgida var sullivantii 'Goldsturm'

Rudbeckia fulgida var sullivantii 'Goldsturm'

Truly, if there was ever a flower to give you sunshine on a cloudy day, Rudbeckia fulgida var sullivantii 'Goldsturm' must be it.

This flower glows even through the night; I can see it through the heavy frosting of our bathroom window!

I did try cutting some for the house, but found they didn't like being in a vase. Something this strong needs the outside, it seems.

I discovered that one flower has some petals coming through it's central cone. A type of fasciation I believe.

Fasciation literally means banded or bundled. Scientists aren’t sure what causes the deformity, but they believe it is probably caused by a hormonal imbalance. This imbalance may be the result of a random mutation, or it can be caused by insects, diseases or physical injury to the plant. Think of it as a random occurrence. It doesn’t spread to other plants or other parts of the same plant. Source: Garden Know How

It's happy in my heavy acid clay, and after only a year in the ground, is clumping up very nicely. I've notice bees and butterflies are attracted to it's charms too.

Flowering from late summer through autumn, this Rudbeckia gives me sunshine every day, even through autumn storms.

#Florespondence: Tulipa 'Ballerina' and 'Havran'

When I first got interested in gardening, about 18 years ago, I was lucky enough to come across the Christopher Lloyd book, Colour for Adventurous Gardeners. It brought together colours that you might not consider go together, and showed you that they could. It inspired me to ignore convention and experiment. When I was designing my current front garden, the theme of which is a 'hot' garden (hot colours), I thought I'd do some more playing around with colours.

One of my favourite tulips is the flaming orange, Tulipa 'Ballerina', which really flowers its socks off for around three weeks. I wanted to choose something to grow with it, and decided upon the beetroot red of Tulipa 'Havran'. This is the result.

With direct sun, and the petals fully out:

Orange Tulipa 'Ballerina' and beetroot red Tulipa 'Havran'

Under clouds, they revert to their fluted glasses look:

I think they look splendid in sunlight, and elegantly beautiful in muted light.

Tulipa 'Havran'

Tulipa 'Ballerina'

The tulips are going over now and are looking a little punch drunk. However, the colours, though fading, continue to make me smile.

I'm so happy with the colour combination, that I'm going to buy more of the same species to plant in this part of the front garden, to really fill it up for next year.

Front garden - 3 months in

New front garden

The front garden seems to have come a long way since the landscaping was done in June.

Before the landscaping:

After the landscaping (view from above as I seem to have not taken a photo from the same position as above/below):

Plants added in:

Now:

The circle and hole in the middle is because this is where the Quince tree goes when it comes in November. I got the landscaper to dig the hole because it's extremely hard clay and it made sense to use his muscles! I have four Stipa tenuissima there in pots, to go around the edge of the Quince border, then I will be adding bulbs and and corms, like Anemone blanda blue, Narcissi falconet, and some snowdrops.

The path is for both function and form. It makes accessing different parts of the border for maintenance easier, and I hope it invites you to want to wander around and explore what plants are in the ground.

I have added the new Acer Griseum tree. Again, I got the landscaper to dig the hole so when the plant arrived it wasn't too taxing on my limited energy to get it in. In the below photograph, it's in the top middle, but I think it's hard to see if you don't know it's there. It's a young tree but will grow and become much more noticeable. I've planted it just where the afternoon sun in winter will hit it to highlight the beautiful paperbark branches (it's known as the paperbark maple).

The wooden structure is the bin store. As time goes on the plants will grow around this more. I've got some Allium purple sensation to go along here as I thought they are tall enough to stand out well against the wood.

It's starting to fill in a bit, but I can see some gaps, even allowing for the eventual full size of those plants currently in the border. So I guess this means I'll have to buy some more plants - what a shame!

The large planter has three different lavender in it, but they are currently swamped by the nasturtiums, which have attempted world domination. I'm hoping the nasturtiums will self seed around the front garden. Eventually I want it to look like a sunny hot jungle. Well, maybe not jungle, this is Sheffield after all. But the primary colour scheme, reds, yellows and oranges, along with the secondary, blues and purples, should look nice and hot.

Still to go in are lots of bulbs, plus some Primulas, more yellows and oranges. And I think I'll have to add a couple of yellow hellebores. Along with the different grasses, I'm trying to give it structure and colour all year around. Also planted are two Sarcococcas, S. confusa and S. hookeriana var. digyna 'Purple Stem', near the path/front door, so we can savour the fragrance going in and out of the house.

I'm really pleased with how it's going along. It's more attractive to me, to bees and butterflies. And to Goldfinches. I daily have flocks, nay, gangs(!) of Goldfinches descend on the bird feeder, which I can see from sitting on the sofa in the lounge room.

Oh, I really need to add some new plants into the Gwenfar's Garden box! I'll get there.