September Rain and October Sun

It's been a while since I last posted, basically due to the amount of work that I have had on and the subsequent lack of time in the garden. At the end of August/beginning of September, I spent 2 weeks in London volunteering at the Olympic games, meaning lots of time away from the garden. However, I was able to use days off to visit gardens, in particular Kew and Hampton Court Palace. I find that visiting gardens and in particular plants across the different times of the year are ideal ways to see how they look and how other people use them.

Past
In my previous post, I introduced the pond and surrounding areas. In this blog I will expand on the bog area of the garden, which is located as a run off area behind the pond. The garden in the whole is flat, apart from the area where the pond is located. This area had a natural run off and so it felt the perfect area for a pond. The soil used from the pond, was used to landscape this area further, creating flat lawns, and dips, which is where the bog garden is now. This area of the garden is used to grow a range of plants, that primarily have one thing in common, they like wet or damp roots. 


The main feature plant is a Ligularia 'the rocket', which provides a mass of sharp yellow flowers which contrast well with the green fields in the background. Unfortunately I missed mine flowering this year, so have used a picture of the internet to show you.




Due to this area being a mix of garden compost and soil, and the fact that the garden had a previous life as a meadow means that the soil contained large amounts of wildflower seeds such as poppy. This led to a mass of flowers that had grown naturally in the bog area and created a mini wildlife haven. I think I may help this along again next year and see what happens.

This picture shows the naturally grown poppies, with the grass Calamagrostis x acutiflora 'Karl Foerster' which adds height and winter interest.














Present

In my last post I commented on the sweet peas that I had grown. I have decided that I will grow lots more next year, as there is such a wide range of colours that they will fit in pretty much anywhere in the garden. Plus, for the cost of a few packets of seeds, there is not much that will provide the amount and display of flowers. I am also working on a spring bulb area, which will be home to crocus, daffodils, fritillaria meleagris and chiondoxa fobesii and luciliae. I shall update this project next time, with pictures displaying what it looks like.

I will leave it there this time, but will hopefully post sooner than last time. As always, I am always grateful to receive your tips and if any of you have a particular flower or sweet pea variety that you feel I would like, then feel free to post. Take care and happy gardening.

CG.