I find it much easier to plant up a border if it has a theme. It doesn’t matter what the theme is, whether it is a colour, sun or shade, dry or wet, as long as there is something to help decide which plants to use. Our overall soil is very heavy clay which has been improved over the 25 yrs we have been here, but still needs more leaf mould and compost adding each year. We get a lot of rain here in the South West corner of England, that is why everywhere is so green and lush!
Sunset over the village.
The border I decided to make my sunset border faces North West and is where the last rays of the sun shine in the evening. Having just taken rather a lot of sunset photos, they inspired me to choose plants that were in the same colour spectrum, reds, pinks,oranges, yellows, blues and purples, as I could see all these colours in my photos. The border is in dappled shade for the morning and then sunshine for most of the afternoon.
Overview of the border.
The planting starts in January with snowdrops and hellebores and is joined in April with various narcissus. I planted some tulips in pots for May as they wouldn’t survive the winter planted in the border. I think some of them are very short as I forgot to water them! These will be added to over the next few years.
Cowslips are seeding around and spreading nicely, all without any effort from me.
Tulips are almost finished now, but I will plan more for next year.
Some English bluebells have seeded here, I’ll have to keep an eye on them to make sure they don’t spread too far.
Just starting to put out new foliage is Hakonechloa macra All Gold.
Libertia peregrinans has settled in nicely. These are bits from the clump in the opposite bed across the grass.
An Azalea bought from the Duchy of Cornwall’s nursery last year.
Geum Totally Tangerine which has been flowering all winter. The plant is covered with lovely fat buds, soon it should be a mass of orange flowers. I decided not to move the Geum which is next to the pink Azalea as pink and orange are next to each other in many a sunset.
Dicentra which has been here for such a long time, before I thought of making this a sunset border.
Milium effusum Aureum which seeds about nice and gently.
This large rhododendron forms a backdrop to the border. When the flowers open they are a paler pink than the bud.
A lovely purple Heuchera with accompanying forget me nots.
An orange coloured Carex which fits in with the colour scheme.
As well as the Azalea that I bought at the Duchy of Cornwall’s Nursery last year, I bought Acer Shindeshojo. The new leaves have just started emerging.
The leaves are such an amazing pink.
But look at the whole bush, the left half has been burnt by the north wind over the winter. I will have to move it, it was going to be to the woodland, but I think if I move it just 10ft to the right, it should be sheltered by the house. I’ll decide next autumn when the leaves have fallen, it might still make it’s way to the woodland.
The border from the other end.
There are still plants to be planted for the summer and autumn and still places left for me to plant them in! By next year it should look a lot better, but in the mean time I’m happy with the colours that are there already.
Plants are filling out nicely in the year they have been here, have you been changing any areas in your garden recently?
What an appealing theme Pauline! The selections look great together. The Geum Totally Tangerine is lovely.
It does make it easier to choose plants if there is a theme Susie, or I find it is! G. Totally Tangerine has been amazing all winter, never without flowers for months on end in spite of all the frost we had. It is now covered with fat buds and should be in full flower very soon.
I enjoyed your exposition on the inspiring sunset theme so much, thank Pauline for taking the time to show what’s planted in this border. The fresh leaves of acer Shindeshojo are such a sumptuous colour. Acers are always worth moving if conditions aren’t quite right, they seem to transplant remarkably well. If it was a new purchase maybe it will settle down this year?
I see this border from the kitchen and dining room windows and it is looking so colourful at the moment Kate. The Acer was bought this time last year and if I move it now then I will be watering it all summer, I hope that by moving it after the leaves have fallen, I should get away with far less watering!
I really like your idea of deciding on a theme to help you identify what to plant in a border, it should give it cohesion. Your planting in sunset tones is really coming together. As usual your post gives food for thought.
Thank you Sue, I certainly find it easier to plan a border this way. I’m having fun deciding which colours should be there, but they also have to fit in with the soil conditions and the amount of light they get. After all this, I think basically any colour can appear in a sunset!
A sunset border is a lovely theme, I think we all love a good sunset. You’ve chosen some interesting plants. If you want to plant a rose may I recommend R. ‘Westerland’; it is a large rose with lots of sunset colours within each petal.
We have had some beautiful sunsets recently, they have been so inspiring. I forgot to mention the rose that is there already, probably because it isn’t flowering yet, it is a pale yellow one that I was given, St. Rita’s Rose, a floribunda, but thanks for the suggestion.
What a good idea Pauline to have a theme and you have chosen a lovely selection of plants for it. The Acer Shindeshojo looks amazing. I just bought A palmatum ‘Orange dream’ and can definitely recommend it, it looks just beautiful.
Your Acer sounds delighful Denise, if I ever see it, I must make room for it! Having a sunset as a theme means I can choose almost any colour!
That is coming along gloriously Pauline – and of course your sunset spectrum is including virtually every colour 🙂 Even better that you can see the border from the house – what a great view!
Yes Cathy, any colour except white ! That is why I feel the white Dicentra shouldn’t be there, but as it has lived there for so long, I think it can stay.
I’m coming round to adding a wild card to a color theme.
One little white cloud drifting between the sun’s rays?
I like your thinking Diana, even though it would be touched with colour from the sun!
Good idea to leave some new planting gaps! I’m planning another trip back to the Duchy Nursery, they have some super stuff there.
I’ve some Agapanthus and Alliums Jessica, waiting in pots to be planted in this border and I think the front could cope with some iris, as long as they don’t rot away in the winter..There is a Rose and a Hydrangea for summer but I must still leave space for something for the autumn.
Oh you must be enjoying yourself watching this border knit together Pauline. The concept of a sunset border allows you to play with a variety of colours. I’m still on a ongoing mission to find a geum ‘Totally Tangerine’. What does the libertia do over winter?
I am enjoying myself Anna, it gets better each day as something new opens up. So many colours appear in a sunset, I think anything goes except white!
The Libertia stays exactly the same over the winter, in fact for all 12 months, it spreads by underground runners so new ones appear all the time.
Thanks for the libertia information Pauline 🙂
It’s a pleasure Anna.
Love the idea of a sunset border. Wonderful coloring on that Libertia, also I really like orange Geum.
I find it easier to plant up a new space if it has a theme Jason, although for a sunset, anything goes! I never used to like orange, but am now getting quite fond of it in all its shades.
A sunset border is a lovely idea and great fun to plan for with all those fiery colours. The geum is a favourite of mine. I love to see it flower here.
I love planting a new border Wendy and deciding which colours to use. The geum is an amazing plant, it has flowered all winter here and is now ready to explode with so many lovely fat buds!
What a fantastic border, I just love it, the name, the inspiration and the planting! I love the idea of gaps too, lots of little gems cn be added later as you say!xxx
Thanks Dina, I’m so glad you like it! Yes, I need more planting, which I’ll have to do soon before the snowdrop leaves die away, can’t go planting on top of my “specials”!
I love having a theme as well…and this is a great one….wonderful color and plant choices!
It makes it so much easier doesn’t it Donna, if you have a theme! I’m enjoying choosing the plants, I think I need a few more darker colours as there is rather a lot of pale pink and yellow.
How delightful that this border has a theme. It’s looking very nice but it’s a pity about your beautiful acer being damaged. In my garden, I’m spending an inordinate amount of time battling a running giant timber bamboo which I’ve let go for far too long.
New shoots are still coming on the little Acer Peter, but not on the half that I think was caught by the north wind during the winter unfortunately. I will leave it a bit longer before I prune any branches away, eventually it should be ok. Bamboo can be a real pain, I don’t envy you all the hard work!