Cooler Climes

"Gardens are a form of autobiography"

- Sydney Eddison

So, I wonder what the above picture tells you about the gardeners who live here...?  At least one of them is a sun-worshipper with some flair for design... Christina, on both counts!  You might also deduce that there's a desire for conservation and a love of antiquity in the way those stones are preserved alongside the terracotta pots.

Beyond that you could even hazard a guess that the people in question are drawn to a Mediterranean ambience, but no longer enjoy the fierce heat generated around its shores...

Yes, from our point of view, the weather here is a near-perfect mix of British seasonality, with its winter frosts and occasional snowfall, and sunny southerly optimism which means you can risk growing a few unusual things from the tender side of the spectrum.  In short, we relish the sun but not the sweat, which is mainly kept at bay by strong Atlantic breezes!

A couple of kind friends recently gave us a young aloe vera plant which we hope to keep in a smallish pot so that we can easily move it indoors during the coldest months of January and February. I would hate to see its succulent leaves browned or scarred by frost damage.

For the moment it looks great against our dark terracotta wall, bringing back happy memories of a trip to Arizona when we fell in love with spiky desert plants and got used to seeing them dramatically displayed against sun-baked adobe.

If we ever end up with a sheltered courtyard in town, it would be tempting to recreate something as theatrical and exotic as Frida Kahlo's garden at her home in Mexico!

Hummingbird Hawk Moth
feeding in late afternoon

At this time of year, we even have several 'hummingbirds' regularly darting around the heads of Verbena bonariensis, catching the sun on their beating wings and angled proboscis - an irresistible photo challenge.

If you're not used to them, it can be quite startling to hear a loud 'thrum' and feel the movement of air as they whizz past your ear.

A Japanese secret weapon -
and one of the best tools to have
in your gardening armory

When not disporting ourselves on sun-loungers or photographing wildlife, we can find any number of useful jobs in the garden. These include taking cuttings of plants like dianthus and salvia, or collecting seeds for sowing next year, just in case we ever need to replace our favourites.

You need to wait until the seed capsule is dry and brown before shaking its contents into a paper bag, or in the case of smaller seeds depositing them on a sheet of white paper with a crease down the middle. This makes it easier to feed them into an envelope; but don't try it outdoors on a windy day - that way madness lies!

This photo also illustrates one of our most favourite tools, given to us by a dear friend who appreciated the fact that we did so much chopping down in her garden and thus were in danger of getting repetitive strain injuries.  In fact, she gave us each a pair of these Okatsune pruning scissors which are scalpel sharp and slice through all kinds of tough stems with a crisp action requiring very little pressure. 

The fine blade is also suitable for taking softwood cuttings and I even employ these 'scissors' for occasional edge-trimming where damp grass can be difficult to cut with other tools. It seems logical (if scary) that a nation which invented harakiri should make the sharpest blades ever... 

Echinacea purpurea and Cosmos sulphureus

Meanwhile, on the subject of seeds, most of our echinaceas and cosmos have come from seed we collected in the past year or two. 

Whilst echinacea is generally hardy in this climate, it tends to disappear below ground in winter and then get eaten by slugs or snails before you have a chance to protect the emerging leaves.

Hyssop, salvia and pennisetum

Hyssops and salvias produce vast amounts of seed and it's worth keeping an envelope-full of each type just in case your plants are hit by frost.

We're also taking cuttings from them now which can root quickly in the warm soil, providing new plants which may even come to flower in just over a month - perfect for the impatient gardener!

Some seeds, like wallflowers, have to be sown around this time so their seedlings will be bushy enough to plant out in autumn, bulking up further by early spring to ensure a good flowering in April.

Pennisetum alopecuriodes
'National Arboretum'

Most grasses seem to be hardy here and the challenge is to stop them taking over your entire garden! Stipa tenuissima is prone to flagrantly seeding itself and I suspect this Pennisetum may be equally free and easy.

But the amazing light-catching quality of grasses is to be admired and, as they seem to enhance whatever plant is grown alongsidethem, I'll be happy to pot-up a few babies as gifts.

Hydrangea paniculata 'Grandiflora'
(with salvia cutting)

That hydrangea I wrote about over a month ago is still ravishing in its full maturity and I was amused to come across a review by Vita Sackville-West who also highlighted it as a shrub of distinction in late summer. 

She describes exactly how it starts by flowering white, then pink and "then it turns greenish, a sort of sea-green, so you never know where you are with it, as you never know where you are with some human personalities, but that makes them all the more interesting. Candidly white one moment; prettily pink the next; and virulently green in the last resort."

(Vita had colourful friends, for sure ...!)

Galega officinalis var. alba
(Goat's-rue)

Plainer and less interesting perhaps, but equally useful for an area in part-shade, is this little pea-like plant from southern Europe called Galega which we've used to underplant a rose. The foliage does tend to flop rather, but it's light and airy, helping to distract the eye from those naked rose stems. If it gets killed by frost, I hope it will leave a few seeds to come up in its wake.

Recently the north wind has returned and temperatures have dipped at night making one reach for a blanket. It seems early for autumn's footsteps to be approaching but our potted acer has responded by suddenly putting on a show of red and gold leaves, making me wonder if they'll soon be ready to flutter off.

Acer palmatum - another ostentatious show-stopper