Wandering round the garden yesterday looking for interesting foliage, I had hoped to find lots of new shoots. Unfortunately not, all our cold weather must have made the plants decide that it wasn’t time to put out new shoots yet.
The only new leaves I could find were on the Osmanthus by the front door.
Paeony mlokosewitschii has been at this stage for a couple of months now, it obviously doesn’t think it is warm enough to grow any further at the moment.
Box balls form a bit of formality near the house.
Pittosporum Tom Thumb not showing any new shoots yet, they will be bright green when they do appear.
This is the new area in the woodland which I planted up last year. The honesty at the back and the white foxgloves in front have grown nicely, will they flower this year, maybe or I might have to wait another year.
More and more Fritillaria meleagris, snakeshead fritillaries, are popping up where the woodland floor is slightly lower and therefore stays damp for far longer than the rest. Just another month and I will be on guard duty, pheasants beware!
The Libertia near to the back door is putting up more shoots each year. Is it L. formosa or ixioides, its name escapes me for now.
Colchicum foliage is reminding me where there will be lots of lovely flowers in the autumn.
This used to be Stipa arundinacea, the pheasant tail grass, I’m afraid I can’t remember what its new name is. This is spreading its seed just a bit too far, but the plants are very easy to remove.
It is now time to be cutting back lots of plants. A shame to cut off all the new growth from Buddlias, but they do benefit from a good haircut.
I’m so glad I took the previous photos yesterday as today it is pouring down. The gravel area at the back is nearly all evergreens which I brighten up in the summer with pots of tender plants. From the left we have a senecio, with Euonymus Emerald and Gold behind, then the remnants of a phormium next to Euphorbia mellifera and Pittosporum Irene Paterson. In front is the rug of Ophiopogon planiscapus nigrescens and on the right is Phormium Yellow Wave. It was raining so hard that I took this photo today from inside the conservatory, I think the rain is set in for the day so no gardening will be done, a day of rest for both of us!
Thanks to Christina at My Hesperides Garden for hosting this meme once more so that we can see lots of different foliage around the world., please pay her a visit.
Pauline I think your Libertia is pelegrinans, I have it too, and always forget to include it in GBFD. Like you I am hoping that my foxgloves will flower this year, if not they will suffer if the summer is hot even though they are planted in shade. Thank you for joining in so consistently every month Pauline, I always enjoy your posts.
Thank you Christina for the name of the Libertia, I think I will have to do a detailed plan of each bed with the correct names of all the plants before I forget them all!
Thanks for sharing your foliage. I have a patch of that Libertia too, that is spreading just a bit. I’d like to move some of it elsewhere in the garden, but I’m afraid it might not survive the move. Yours looks so good popping up in the middle of all that dark foliage.
The Libertia is spreading Alison, but I have moved some to the opposite side of the lawn and it has taken very well. I think you should be ok moving it now while the soil is moist from the winter rain.
Your box balls are beautifully pruned. Mine tend to flatten a bit on top (perhaps an effect of heavy snow in winter). I wish I could do as good a job of it as you do!
Not me Alain, one of my former woodcarving students comes to cut the box balls, he now carves them instead of carving wood and makes a really good job of them. I’ll pass on your praise!
It’s very refreshing to see all that green and growth. (Our melting snow is only just revealing a few new shoots). I do like that gravelled corner – the Euonymus are wonderful!
Plants never seem to stop growing here Cathy, but I think most have been marking time while we had our freezing temperatures. I’m sure that when your snow finally departs, then all your bulbs will pop up!
The Stipa (or whatever) certainly does spread, as I’ve just discovered, but it’s a beautiful grass. Glad to read that the offspring are easy to remove. The foxgloves will make a beautiful addition to the woodland when they start to bloom.
The grass really is easy to remove Jessica, it has to be when it gets everywhere! I’m hoping that the white foxgloves will brighten up the shade in the woodland which comes when all the leaves are on the trees.
I love the evergreens near your gravel area. ‘Irene Patterson’ is a gorgeous complement to the other ones. Your garden is just on the verge; there is so much promise of spring glory!
There is still a bit more tidying to be done in the gravel area Deb, then all the pots to plant up before they can be brought out in May when the dangers of frost is over. In future I could plant up pots with spring bulbs then the interest would start earlier, maybe lots of tulips which don’t like my heavy soil.
I love your box balls, a timely reminder that mine need clipping! How good that woodland area will look when the foxgloves shoot up. I have those grasses too, they are lovely, especially in a breeze, but as you say, they seed everywhere, they seem to love the cracks in my flags!xxx
Glad you like the box balls Snowbird, but I think I would wait to clip yours until the weather is a bit warmer. I’m hoping the foxgloves will flower this year, I grew them from seed last year so I might have to wait a little longer.
Pittosporum Tom Thumb looks like a nice garden feature. I read it is very slow growing?How wonderful to be thinking of white foxgloves already.
Pittosporum Tom Thumb only grows to about 3ft x3ft, it never outgrows it’s space Susie. I’m hoping that eventually the white foxgloves will take over from the snowdrops, narcissus and Fritillaria meleagris and extend the interest in the woodland for another month or so.
Hi Pauline! new name for stipa arundinacea is anemanthele lessoniana. Nice grass btw!
I love that rusty orange Libertia and the colour of that pittosporum, really impressive!
Thank you so much Alberto, I have now started a list of new names in my notebook, so hopefully I will get it right next time!
The Libertia is a lovely colour all year round and has small white flowers later in the year.
Your garden is looking exceptional today, it has all the promise of spring showing 🙂
The peony buds look almost good enough to eat, and the grass looks as fresh as ever. Will it be cut back as well?
Yes Frank, the grass will be cut back soon, hopefully before it starts growing again. The peony will give months of interest with its foliage before it flowers, it certainly earns it’s space in the garden.
Pauline,
It is still deep winter here in Minnesota! I am a volunteer working on this year’s Friends’ School Plant Sale in St. Paul, MN. This sale has grown to be the largest annual plant sale in Minnesota; it raises a good deal of scholarship money for the school and has for over 20 years. We have a wonderful print catalog each year, but it can only accommodate photos of a small percentage of the plants we offer. Our goal is to have a picture of each plant offered on the website. I am a volunteer tasked with finding the pictures for new plants and I am have a difficult time finding good photos of a Delta’s Sarah fuchsia.
You have a beautiful picture of it on your blog.
https://www.leadupthegardenpath.com/news/super-summer-in-september/
Might we use it? Proper attribution would be given.
If we find others that we need, might we use them as well?
If you would like to know more about our plant sale, here is our website:http://www.friendsschoolplantsale.com/history/ or you can ask me!
Please contact me if you have any questions,
Laurie
Thank you for your request Laurie, unfortunately when I went onto the link you gave it said “Page not found” However I was able to click onto other information and am therefore happy for you to use the photograph of Fuchsia Delta Sarah as long as accreditation is given. You may use other photos but please ask each time.
Beautiful foliage, even in the rain! Spring is just around the corner and soon there will be new growth everywhere.
We have actually had some snow showers today Peter, but they came to nothing. I’m sure the new growth will be sprouting soon and spring will be rushing in, pushing winter away for another year.
Hi Pauline,
It feels early still for Fritillaria; I must go check if I can see any of mine popping up. Good luck keeping Mr Pheasant away from the flowers year!
Yesterday we were forecast rain, at first it started out OK, then turned grey and eventually we had sleet and snow! Thankfully nothing settled! But I really wish they would get the forecast correct once in a while.
I’ll be flooring my Buddlejas soon; generally I stagger them with the intent they’ll bloom at different times. But in fact they do generally bloom around the same time regardless.
More Fritillaria leaves come through each day Liz, those in the wettest bit always seem to come through later and I always think that I’ve lost them!
We actually had sleet and snow today, 3 lots, but nothing came of it.
Time to cut back the fuchsias and buddlias, plenty of work to do when the rain stops!
Oh, what a beautiful Osmanthus it is, though, certainly well worth the spot light. And I love your box balls; they put such a flourish on the garden.
Thank you Marian, I like the Osmanthus except when it prickles me at weeding time! I like the box balls too, they all started off as tiny cuttings many years ago, now they are really solid.
Lovely foliage, I am mad on the Pittospermum Tom Thumb, I saw one the other day with the sun on it, and just like in your photo, I thought it looked fabulous. Is it quite hardy and does it need a sheltered position?
Stipa arundinacea is now Anemanthele lessoniana, but how we are supposed to remember it I don’ t know.
Pittosporum Tom Thumb is hardy for me Chloris, but I do have it tucked on the sunny side of a hedge, so it must be sheltered from east and north winds.The winter of 2010/11 was bad in this country and even in the SW corner where we are, temperatures went down to -10C.
Thanks for the new name of my grass, it will be added to the list at the back of my book, at my age, names just disappear, for people as well as plants!
Your garden is getting in the mood for spring Pauline. There are so many lovely plants you have highlighted this post. Looking forward to seeing those foxgloves, they’ll make a lovely addition to your woodland.
I don’t think spring is very far away Angie, the temperature just needs to rise a couple of degrees. I’m looking forward to the foxgloves too, they should brighten up their corner of the woodland.
I think your foxgloves will flower this year Pauline….as they are biennial. I think Stipa arundinacea is now known as Anemathele lessoniana.
Thank you Sue, very good of you to leave a message. I have made a note of the Stipas new name, many thanks for letting me know.