No, not really, just a mulch of very white chippings on the alpine scree! Hopefully they will tone down as time goes by and not be such a startling, bright white. Old plants had spread too far, some killing off tiny, precious treasures that had been living quite happily for years, so replanting was necessary.
Alpine scree.
What we now call the alpine scree was once the old pond that the previous people built. We dug another pond at the top of the garden and fenced it off when our first grandchild was born. The base here is full of rubbish and rubble, the soil we added getting more and more gritty the nearer I got to the surface, so this is the only place in the garden where we have really well drained soil. I have some dwarf tulips in pots that will be planted when they have flowered and some crocus will be added in the autumn. The brightness of the gravel made it difficult for the camera to get the exposure correct, so some of the photos are a bit dark, my apologies.
Thrift, Armeria, on the right, with new dwarf iris, violas and Primula.
Scilla siberica seeding nicely in the front with Dianthus and Pulsatilla in the centre.
Lovely Viola, such pretty colouring.
Dianthus and Pulsatilla.
Muscari Valerie Finnis with Dianthus. The muscari have been flowering on and off since January.
Scilla siberica seeding around very happily with a new viola.
When the bulbs have finished flowering, the dwarf iris should take over and carry on the colour in this part of the garden. As I was planting the new plants, the bees couldn’t wait until I had finished, they were in there straight away. Hopefully the planting will improve as they increase in size, so by next spring, with more bulbs added, and the bright white toned down a bit, it should look a lot better.
Well that kept me busy for a couple of days, have you been making any changes in your garden recently?
We found those white quartz chips between the paving slabs when we moved here. I had to pick them out. With our mediterranean summer sun (even in winter) I couldn’t live with that glare. Still picking out random chips as they come to the surface after rain.
It will soon tone down Diana and at least we don’t have such strong summer sunshine!
I love the delicate beauty of alpine plants. What a great use of an old pond! I have a personal prejudice against all sorts of gravel. My experience in my climate is that weeds love it and it is hard to get them out. Hopefully you will have a better outcome!
We have had a gravel mulch here for years now and weeds aren’t a problem Deb. Any that do take up residence are pulled out very easily with the soil being so open, unlike the rest of the garden!
Hi Pauline,
What a beautiful mix of plants! When all the plants mature, you’ll have an eye popper. Viola are so reliable. We can’t go wrong with them unless we don’t want self seeders but, I’m thrilled by them. The pebbles certainly look like a bit of snow on the ground. Unfortunately, we had snow on Sunday and more today. 🙁
Thank you Sally, it certainly should be colourful in future years. Like you I like the way violas self seed, they seem to pop up in the most unlikely places! Sorry to hear that winter hasn’t finished with you yet, hopefully your snow will stop soon.
A good use of the old pond, turning it into the alpine scree. The Scilla siberica looks very beautiful in that setting. Such a wonderful blue.
The Scilla have seeded across the scree Julieanne, and are popping up in unexpected places, which I love, they will just get better and better each year. Such a pretty little flower, I feel it would be lost in the hurly burly of the borders, at least here they are raised up so I can see them properly.
I do love Scilla. I haven’t really been able to make many changes in the garden as of yet – too cold and I’ve had too much work on the weekend. I have a bunch of new plants coming in a few weeks – milkweeds and chokecherry trees, among other things.
I think Scilla are such hardy little flowers Jason, so tiny, yet they flower at almost the coldest time of year. You will have a wonderful time when your new plants arrive, it’s like Christmas all over again isn’t it!
Great feature. I don’t recall seeing this area before. The Scilla are so pretty.
I don’t think I’ve done a post about it before Susie, but it has been seen in many a long shot and has been mentioned lots of times. Scillas are so pretty, but you have to plant lots to be able to see them as they are so tiny!
Oh no, you tricked me for a minute! It’s fun to have something so different from the rest of the garden, isn’t it? I think it’s fabulous and I love the notion of bees lining up, just waiting for you to finish with the trowel.
Already the colour isn’t so bright Marian, some of the chips are looking more cream/yellow. We always seem to want to grow plants that we shouldn’t don’t we, this is the only place where I can grow plants that demand good drainage and I think they are lovely little plants. More colour will be added when bulbs are planted for next spring, it might almost rival the woodland!
What a lovely mix of colours in such dainty little plants, and a good contrast to the chip pings. Is that a Cordyline growing too?
Hi Anne, lovely to hear from you!
The chippings are toning down already, they are more creamy now, but still a nice contrast to all the little flowers. No, not a cordyline, but a variegated yucca with vicious spikes at the end of each leaf! Eventually, when it gets taller I’ll be safe from the spikes but for the next few years I’ll be snipping them off!
What a good use of an old pond. Nice to see the patterns made by the lichen and moss round rim, nature softens hard materials so beautifully. I’m sure the gravel will fade too, meanwhile the alpines look at home amongst the faux snow.
The gravel is changing already Kate, becoming more of a cream than a stark white. We had visions of our first grandson climbing up and falling in to the pond, so made a more natural one up at the top of the garden, where we were able to fence it off. The old pond seemed an opportunity to grow plants that I know would struggle in our heavy Devonshire clay and making a very gritty soil to plant things in was the answer. The plants still have to cope with all the rain we have in the winter, but at least they aren’t sitting in the wet!
Gosh, the gravel is indeed VERY white – but the ‘orange’ fence our neighbour erected it should tone down in time, like you say. It’s such a good way to have used the old pond feature and being contained you have had the advantage of controlling the soil mixture that has gone into it
It is toning down already Cathy, I’m glad to say. The garden centre didn’t have our usual bags of gravel when we went, so hoped this would do instead. When the plants have grown a bit and leaves have blown in between the stones, it will look a lot better, I’m sure.
I was briefly alarmed Pauline when I saw all that white stuff. It’s gone back to winter here but I thought that Devon would be milder 🙂 No doubt it will soon weather and provide the perfect finishing touch to the scree . Such a pretty viola and I do like muscari ‘Valerie Finnis’.
No need to worry Anna, no snow for us, thank goodness! Violas are such pretty little plants, I must try sowing more from seed as I’m sure they will look nice in the border backing onto the scree.
What a little treasure chest! You really made a perfect spot for showcasing a few of the smaller plants which would get lost in the bigger garden. I’m still at a loss as to where I can do this in my own yard…
Yes Frank, even if they could cope with the soil in the rest of the garden, they would have been lost amongst all the bigger plants. I do have a couple of concrete troughs for the same purpose with very special plants in them,on with Gentians and one with Lewisias, this needs covering in the winter as they don’t like all our rain!
Such unusually-shaped hail stones. The gentle unfolding of time will work it’s magic on your gravel. You’ve certainly worked some magic with the planning and planting of your scree garden.
The gravel has already lost it’s glaring whiteness thank goodness Peter, I almost needed my sunspecs each time I looked at the scree! There are still plenty more plants and bulbs to be found for the scree, I will enjoy the search!