Garden snippets!

 

It’s a calm, dry, slightly overcast but not too cold a day, here in South Devon!

So, earlier,I ventured into the garden for a short while.

I’m in love with these little plants, Gaultheria. To me, they ooze Christmas and add that cheery touch to the winter months. Unlike Holly, they are easy on your hands! This one above, I brought with me when we moved. I didn’t bring much at all as I felt that what was in the garden should stay there. But as this pot was precious, the plant came with it. And it has thrived. This plant is three or four years old and it seems to love its home.

Meanwhile, the ‘daddy of the garden’, the Tree Fern stands in all its glory and splendour and is certainly the star of our garden! I can take no praise for this, as we inherited it and I’m jolly glad that we did! It’s a stunner!

When we moved here, these Hydrangeas were a very vivid blue colour. But even though they have lost their colour, they are still very lovely; a friend has taken some for a dried arrangement! I’ll leave them until the spring and then I’ll cut the dead heads …but there’s no rush.

 

Today. I planted this Leucothoe Zeblid Scarletta in a pot. This one is new to me. Apparently, they are also known as ‘Switch Ivy’ and provide a leathery green to copper foliage in the autumn but then they really come into their own in the winter as the foliage changes to offer stunning tints of claret/ purple. I’m really looking forward to this one! It had better come up trumps! I popped a few, new Gaultheria around it to add extra interest.

Meanwhile, everything else in the garden is just getting on with it. I put in a few heathers as the Hellebore that I planted in the early autumn are still quite small and probably won’t offer too much colour this year.

The Skimmia is always a staple and every garden should have one! I’m guessing that ours has been here for some years; it’s well established and healthy.

I’ve also planted four, bare root roses, which arrived yesterday! I ordered these at the start of September, choosing three of my favourites: ‘Peace’ ; ‘For Your Eyes Only’ and ‘Golden Showers’. I then pondered as there are so many beautiful roses! I finally decided on ‘Queen Elizabeth’. It wasn’t long afterwards that our dear Queen passed away. So glad that I made that choice. I’ve placed ‘Peace’ and ‘Queen Elizabeth’ side by side, in two lovely large containers. ‘Golden Showers’, a climber, is positioned close to a fence. ‘For Your Eyes Only’ is in a large pot, near a seat by the greenhouse, so that I can admire it when I’m working there. Roll on June!