Terracotta and Stone

The first of those typically French iris comes into flower

At the end of winter most of us have a number of empty pots to play with, and many of those lovely terracotta ones will have been damaged by frost.  It's worth remembering that flower pots don't necessarily have to be planted-up in order to look attractive.  The above scene shows how a casual arrangement of unused - or even broken - pots can add to the 'Greek island' atmosphere on a small terrace. 

Don't despair if your favourite piece of terracotta develops a life-threatening crack after getting wet and then frozen in winter.  We've restored several of ours with Araldite glue, carefully holding the pieces together with a wire noose - which you can just about make out on the rim of this old pot below.  

And planters don't necessarily have to be filled with annuals, which can demand a lot of watering and dead-heading. 



Pots soften hard edges of terraces

Experiment with perennials from your garden, using violas instead of pansies, nemesia instead of lobelia, mixing them with various herbs and bulbs, which won't demand too much water.  In this way plants and containers will look more natural and in keeping with the general landscape. 

Edging plants like nemesia (here on the right) can be considered perennials in our climate.  This pale pink one was bought in England years ago and has a strong vanilla aroma which really comes out on a hot terrace.   I've divided it many times and used it in different areas of the garden as it flowers from April and continues through the summer, withstanding a fair bit of drought like so many plants which originally came from South Africa.

Useful ground-cover in a hot climate

Dark tulips make a dramatic contrast against the pastel flowers of nemesia or, as shown here, amongst a bed of creeping thyme.

Rooted pieces of thyme were given to us by a gardening friend and its leaves can be used with feta cheese to make an authentic-tasting Greek salad.  Here, it has provided a growing carpet of neat green foliage and lilac blooms under a mulberry tree where the soil is particularly dry.

Coronilla valentina glauca with Lamium maculata

Another useful ground-cover for shady areas is the spotted deadnettle, with those attractive silvered leaves, used here as underplanting for a coronilla bush.  They tend to flower at the same time and complement one another perfectly.  Some people find the strong honeyed scent of coronilla makes them sneeze... in smell and colour the flowers are similar to those of rapeseed. 

Although it can be short-lived and rather straggly in habit, coronilla is easy to grow in those shady, dryish areas under trees which are otherwise difficult to fill.  You can cut it back quite hard after flowering, and don't worry about killing the plant because it will have generously left a few seedlings nearby!

On warm days, our meadows throb with the sound of crickets and marshland echoes with the calls of amorous frogs.  Insects abound and with them come the predators.

The exotic hoopoe

We spotted a hoopoe high up in our ash tree, closely followed by a wryneck which almost drives you mad with its loud, repetitive call.  Behind the shutters on our cottage is a small colony of bats - probably pipistrelle - which we try not to disturb.  Apart from the fact that they're protected, I'm sure they're useful mosquito-eaters!

Lastly, on the subject of terracotta, we came across an irresistable 'job lot' of small pots at a brocante, in the days before we realised how impractical they would be in summer. 

Primula auricula Mixed Hybrids

I grew some auriculas from a mixed packet of seeds and we planted them up in some of the pots, top-dressing them with grit to conserve as much moisture as possible. 

They're kept on the shady side of the garden, aranged on an étagère (another brocante purchase) and look pretty at this time of year when the afternoon sun hits them.  They cope well with hot and cold weather, as long as they're potted in a free-draining compost, and don't seem to attract snails or other pests.


Other plants which could be used in this way would be succulents such as sedum or sempervivum.

Hot Flushes

Take time to sit out and enjoy your garden!

Relax... it's easier said than done now that everything is growing apace.  Hard to find time for picking a few flowers to decorate the lunch table, even though we have more than enough blooms to spare and vases that sit in cupboards rarely seeing the light of day.

Even the above picture is 'contrived', insofar as we had to come up with a new shot for the lettings website and needed to make the table look more colourful.  But, I'm glad we took a few moments because acid green and mauve complement each another so well.



Lunaria rediviva



It's funny how each year certain wild plants tend to predominate, according to how their seeds have been distributed and what kind of weather prevails.

This time it's definitely the turn of honesty, which has seeded itself in various (cooler) places around the back garden but also chose quite a 'hot spot' here next to the euphorbia.  They look fabulous with the afternoon light shining through them.

In addition to tall clumps of honesty, our wet winter has also led to a lot more cowslips along the verges... gosh, it almost looks like England! 

Brunnera macrophylla 'Variegata'

In shadier parts of the garden it's still early spring and another happy combination is provided by a brunnera which is flowering next to a stately Helleborus foetidus. 


Although it wouldn't have been my first choice, I've come to love this brunnera which was given to us by a gardening friend.  It has the double attraction of silvery green leaves overlaid with delicate sprays of blue flowers. 


The flowers are slightly smaller than those of the myosotis scattered around it and, once they've finished, those variegated leaves actually provide even more interest.  Unlike many of our other perennials, brunnera stays compact and doesn't seed itself all over the garden.  Altogether trouble-free.

Ranunculus fluitans

For those who read my earlier post concerning the possible invasion of our local ponds by water hawthorn, I'm thrilled to report that after extensive research on Google Image - so useful - I've come to the conclusion it's actually something called water crowfoot, an altogether more delicate member of the buttercup family.

We found it growing in a dewpond over the road and got close enough to see the individual flowerheads - 5 petals with a golden centre.  Instead of being a menace, it's a sign of clean water apparently; but I've yet to find mention of its exquisite scent.

Elsewhere on the marais, reed beds are filling out and providing nest sites for various birds, whilst bulrushes are starting to explode with seeds.  I once made the mistake of bringing some home and leaving them in a pot in the garden... thank goodness I didn't actually bring them indoors.  When they let go of their seeds it's as if someone has had a fight with a kapok pillow - fluff flying all over the place! 

In the space of a week, those hillsides which were lined with snowy blackthorn blossom are now edged with the even whiter blooms of wild cherry (Prunus avium), interspersed with the creamier guelder rose (Viburnum opulus).

As gardeners, we can't help being interested in what's going on in the landscape all around us.  In this climate particularly, our scenery changes on an almost daily basis as warm air and bright sunlight encourage flowers to bloom and fade quickly, leaves to unfurl, catkins to drop.  Each day is to be relished for its unique qualities.

And whilst our gardens are carefully tended, it's also important to have some 'wildings' like honesty and forget-me-not to take up residence where they please.  We're cottage gardeners at heart and like nothing better to see things growing in a natural fashion, filling in spaces (nature abhors a vacuum...), adding some vibrant colour and scenting the air with ephemeral perfume.

One plant does all three and is well worth growing from seed in autumn - the humble wallflower.  Last year I planted up our sunny front verge with some seedlings, cursing the fact that it was a mixed packet and I couldn't tell which particular colours would emerge.  Somehow, they all managed to be slightly different but equally stunning, in sight and scent.  So my advice would be - 'Grab yourself a packet this summer' !

Cheiranthus cheiri 'Persian Carpet'

Wild Things



Vineyard near St Seurin d'Uzet

 Well the sun might be warm and the sky might be blue, but that old north wind is still blowing cold and our 'blackthorn winter' is very much in evidence.  The top picture is pretty typical of our region: undulating hills of limestone, some of which are ploughed for crops like spring wheat, and many of which are laid to vines for making wine and pineau.

Fields that were soggy and black with mud last month have now been scoured white by this wind... some days the air around us seems dusted by chalk blown off the hills.  I can't take a walk without reaching for my camera to try and capture the changing light.



Storks produce up to 3 chicks in April



Yesterday we went to a nearby salt marsh in search of avocets.  We'd seen some on a pond last March, but this time the lakes were being disturbed by hunters with dogs looking for wildfowl.  Instead we were rewarded by the sight of a couple of storks on a platform, waiting patiently for their eggs to hatch.

Getting out of the car near one of these ponds, we were struck by the heady scent of something unusually sweet in this bare landscape of reeds and blackthorn bushes. 

The nearest pond appeared to be covered in a snowy mass of blooms, piled up at the edges like real snow.  Could this be water hyacinth, one of the most invasive species in warmer climes..?

Heavenly-scented and not a bird in sight

We couldn't get close enough to photograph the individual flowers but I have to say the overall effect was lovely, especially with that fabulous perfume!

The marshland or marais is criss-crossed with drainage channels which have been invaded by another 'foreign' species - the coypu or ragondin, which is considered a pest because its nesting habits destroy the riverbanks.  This time of year you often come across a little family out for a swim, enjoying the spring sunshine and blissfully unaware of the traps which may await them. 

Not unlike 'Ratty' but with big front teeth!

What does all this talk of pests have to do with gardening you might wonder?  Well, it takes time to appreciate that plants which might need careful nurturing in the UK sometimes turn into rampaging thugs when let loose in this climate.  (I'm sure I'll gradually compile a long list as this blog develops...)

Meanwhile, my current preoccupation with rampant garden weeds has received a timely reminder that these are just 'flowers in the wrong place' and shouldn't be wholly disparaged.

Vines are carefully pruned during the winter months

During a rare spell of sunshine, we came across vineyards that were striped yellow with a thick crop of Smooth Hawksbeard - much prettier and less thuggish than the dandelions in my lawn.

Hawksbeard mixed with Star of Bethlehem

Mingled amongst them were dark blue muscari neglectum and a few wild marigolds, which have been flowering all through winter.  Vineyards, generally, are a great place for wild things in spite of weed-killers and the spraying of Bordeaux mix. 

In fact, my book tells me that Grape Hyacinths were once ubiquitous in vineyards but have tended to die out because the ground is ploughed much deeper these days.  (Well, well - and there was me thinking the term 'grape' referred to the shape of their flowers!)

I must say that writing this blog, as opposed to just keeping a personal gardening diary, has prompted me to look up plants and check my references before committing the words to print.  I'm sure I'll still make mistakes but at least I'm learning some new things in the process.  (It's also a great way of keeping my hands occupied when it's too cold or wet to be outside... )