The Rebirth

We had planned to go to our local HPS monthly meeting last Saturday but the sun was shining and the lure of the garden was so strong that we abandoned the idea and spent most of the day gardening instead, oops!

Usually Kniphofia thomsonii almost totally disappears in the winter but this time it remained evergreen and the old growth has gone floppy hence it's received a good trimming. White crocus have emerged between it and the Cotula hispida

Now the garden has been pretty much left to its own devices for most of the winter. The areas that were affected by the fire last summer were pretty much untouched from the point when the builders had finished constructing the new jungle hut up until last Saturday when we started clearing and tidying up.

Eremurus have started to creep up, together with Cyclamen seedlings

The garden recycling bin was filled up in no time!

Trimmings get dumped in the middle patio first before they get taken to the recycling centre

How nice it was to finally get stuck in again! We didn't do any clearing out of debris and dead plant materials in the autumn and winter and now that spring is looming we must remove all of them to make way for new growth, and more importantly to make our garden look nice again.

This Dicksonia antarctica fell down during the fire and was never propped up since then. Late in the summer it threw out new fronds much to our delight but as it was lying sideways the growth continued to go skywards...

It was well rooted on to the ground before the event. We'll be propping it up again very soon and bury almost a foot of the trunk on the ground to give it the best possible chance of recovery and make re-rooting much quicker (and make it more stable too). It will be one of the first things we'll do in this month before the new growth comes out so the fronds won't be lopsided in relation to the trunk.

This one wasn't a victim of the fire but of winter 2010-11. It will be used as a pathway edging.

It looks like there are loads to do and it also feels like we are starting all over again. But after spending nearly the entire day clearing out and making plans we reckon it won't take us long to sort things out. 

The gravel is heavily contaminated with ash, broken glass, and other debris that the top layer needs to be skimmed and replaced with fresh gravel

Where a tall Magnolia delavayi once was has now been finally cut down to a stump. Some new growth sprouted at the base and we'll let that take over. Hopefully its growth will be vigorous.

Some surprises - Chamaedorea radicalis sprouting back and...

Chamaedorea microspadix making a comeback after this potted plant was totally burnt to nothing but a charred root ball. The plastic pot was gone and was just a black ball but the rains have washed the soot to reveal the roots and looks like also triggered it to throw out new growth.

We're feeling quite excited on how the garden will shape up this year. The rebirth of the garden has begun.A Phoenix will rise.

Mark :-)

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Pretty Plants and Bob Brown

Yucca rostrata is on the 'list'

For the last few weeks I've been itching to go plant shopping in a specialist nursery but alas I have had to restrain myself as life in general has been busy and tidying up the garden has taken priority above everything else. After all getting cleared up first puts you in a better mood to think about the growing season ahead and in an even better mood to go plant shopping.

We have been to Crews Hill several times in those past few weeks but I regard it more as a place to acquire bigger items as opposed to smaller, more obscure ones you can find in specialist nurseries. And speaking of Crews Hill, the weekend before last we met up with fellow garden bloggers Victoria, Julia and Paul, and Rob for a spot of shopping in the area as well as some needed pub lunch. The fab Victoria has just written a blog post about it and you can read it here.

But back to the itch to visit a nursery I had a little reprieve last Saturday when we met the lovely Bob Brown of Cotswold Garden Flowers (CGF) at our local Hardy Plant Society meeting, and we were able to buy some of the plant treasures he had brought with him. We also heard his talk about his favourite plants from a 'Plantsman's Perspective' (i.e. devoid of emotions, objectively selected based on performance and garden worthiness, etc.) and it was interesting to know what his criterias were and how many on his list we have got in our garden already. And more importantly how many we don't have yet and might be worth acquiring for our garden. I always welcome ideas and suggestions from various sources, and most especially from esteemed plants people like him as you get a good insight of great performing plants or simply get to know ones you haven't heard of before.

Say cheese!!!

As for the ones in his list that we have already in the garden; Beschorneria septentrionalis, Trochodendron aralioides, Cobaea pringlei, and Yucca rostrata were there. A lot more weren't of course and of the ones that appealed to us I have jotted down their names to be included in our wishlist so can keep an eye on them on our future nursery visits.

Bob Brown, as mentioned above did bring lots of plants with him grown at his nursery and not just the ones on his favourites list, loads of other plant treasures too that caught our eye and made their way back home with us, here's just a few:

Saxifraga nipponica 'Pink Pagoda'

A pretty shade loving, woodland plant. I'm not that fussed with the flowers but rather attracted to its foliage.

Sanguinaria canadensis f. multiplex 'Plena'

Ok, we have a few of this plant already but I thought it would look nice introduced somewhere else. Upon picking it up I was immediately told it doesn't travel well as the petals of the flower are delicate and falls off at the slightest touch. Again, pretty the flowers may be I grow it mainly for its foliage.

Primula auricula 'Matthew Yates'

I found this primula very attractive with its dark purple, almost black flowers and rounded grey-green leaves that would look great with green slate mulch. A plant for one of our new raised beds!

Helianthus salicifolius

This is a fantastic foliage plant with fine, filigree like leaves that grows really tall and sways as it catches the wind, lovely! Not much to look at now but as the season progress the growth rate should accelerate too. This plant is included in Bob Brown's list.

Saruma henryi

One of my favourite woodland plants that grows reasonably large leaves later in the season. Again a plant that we have already that I thought would be nice introduced somewhere else in the garden.


CGF is definitely up there as one of our favourite nurseries and we have visited several times before through the years, and more likely visit again several times this year. So it was a pleasure to meet the plants man responsible for this wonderful nursery and discuss a few plants that we both grow in our gardens (and some of them were originally bought in his nursery!). It was not a substitute for a visit to his nursery of course, rather it has whetted my appetite and I'm even more raring to visit again very soon!


Mark :-)

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