Simply..a mature garden....

I find it hard to believe we have gardened here for 15 years.

It's the longest I've ever lived in one place.

I've created a lot of gardens from scratch but looking after a quite mature garden is a different skill, and fascinating. A mature garden has a mind of its own, and on the whole I like to let it have its way...(though some thugs have to be kept in check.)

Iris sibirica has made a sizeable clump now. A completely low maintenance plant its fleeting flowers are a source of wonder every year. I have enough to pick a few buds for the bedside table or under the lamp in the sitting room.

Because we are a country garden I like to let wild flowers have their place. The mini-meadow has never had as much pignut in it before, and I've left it where it has spread into some of the flower beds. So pretty. (The root is a nut-like tuber presumbably loved by pigs.)

Another wild flower which has spread itself around prettily is pink campion. It flowers for quite a long time and is easily removed if necessary. I collected seed from it last year and am growing about 80 plants to add to Coronation Wood next spring.

The acer just to the back of Astrantia 'Hadspen's Blood' is in a pot. Someone misheard me and said 'Husband's Blood? That's a strange name for a plant!' I'm just deciding whether to plant it in there or not...maybe they are a bit too similar?

What do you think?

There are just two clipped shrubs in the front garden. This one is lonicera and we keep trying to make a perfect ball out of it (it's very wobbly - I'm just showing you the best side here!) I love the contrast with all the frothy mounds and lofty spires. This is over 5 feet high now. The other clipped one is box - it is cut in an oval shape. It's a soothing job clipping them once or twice a year. 

The three cornus controversa variegata (wedding cake trees) will eventually, if they survive, be the stars of this garden. They have been slow to grow and have only flowered in the last couple of years but I love them for their horizontal layered form and their fresh colour.

These lovely lupins are about 5 years old now. They often only last 3 - 4 years and I wasn't expecting much of a show this year especially as there was quite a bit of slug and wind damage earlier, but they are covered in stout buds. I will be growing some new ones on from seed for next year, though it occurs to me that basal cuttings in early spring might be a good option as they have proved to be such robust specimens. I've not done this before - I always seem to miss the moment.

Centaura montana, the perennial cornflower, is spreading too far and too wide! The leaves get badly mildewed after flowering and I cut it to the ground and wait for fresh foliage.

All our hostas have grown into large clumps now and their beautiful foliage really makes an impact (we try to get slug pellets down as soon as the leaves appear and once they have unfurled they don't need any more protection.)


I took all these shots at about 7am yesterday morning and it was interesting to see them in the morning light. My usual time to photograph the garden is in the early evening light slanting in the opposite direction.