Articles

As Christmas approaches and the year draws to a close it is time to enjoy the evergreens in the garden. I always suggest that you concentrate a collection of plants with winter interest, either somewhere that you can see as you arrive at your home or in a view that you see on a daily basis from a window. I like plants that have good shape and colourful foliage. Chameacyparis pisifera Filifera Aurea is a golden foliage conifer with...

October is a month when the garden still sports some colour and foliage before the leaves fall in autumn. It is also the month when the harvest of fruit and summer vegetables comes to a close leaving just those robust vegetables for winter. Squashes and pumpkins come in a multitude of shapes and colours as can be seen from the photo below. They should be cut off the parent plant and left in the sun away from wet, to ripen. When you...

In early autumn the colours change from pastels to hot colours and if you plan your garden scheme you can have a concentrated area filled with autumn colour. Autumn flowering shrubs that are reliable and flowers for weeks are the varieties of Hibiscus syriacus. These shrubs will grow on most soil provided they retain moisture. They take a year or two to start to grow and also come into leaf later in spring than most shrubs. However,...

August is a month where perennials come to the fore with stunning colours and a plant for every type of soil. Daisy style flowers are always popular and one of the best for a sunny garden with soil that does not dry out are Heleniums. They grow to about 80cms tall and have yellow, orange or red flowers that last for a few weeks if you keep then dead headed. If you plant them in front of the potentially tall, light yellow daisy flowers...

There are so many flowering plants to choose from in summer. I will start with those flowers that like a sunny garden and well drained soil. Perovskia atriplicifolia Blue Spire also known as Russian Sage is a good small shrub. If you have really dry soil in summer then this is a plant for you. It grows about 75cm tall, upright habit and has grey leaves and little pale blue flowers (see photo). Cut back hard in spring to about 10 cm...

By June, the garden is at its peak with new foliage, many flowering perennials and shrubs. For those with well drained soil, flowers like Alliums are popping up fleetingly. The large heads of Allium aflatunense Purple Sensation will grow to about 75cm tall. A sun loving shrub is Cistus purpureus Alan Fradd which has semi evergreen leaves and lovely pure white flowers with red blotches at the base of each petal. Growing to about 1m in...