Tidying Up

"Nature, to be commanded, must be obeyed"

- Francis Bacon

The little border of lavenders which we planted last year have been cut back quite hard to keep a rounded shape.  This is a good time to trim all your woody herbs before they get forgotten under fallen leaves.

Back in the UK we're always told not to prune into 'hard' or old wood in case it kills the shoot; but here, in warmer climes, you can be pretty ruthless with lavenders and they will reward you by staying tight, producing lots of leaves and regenerating right from the base of the plant.  Herbs definitely respond to tough treatment!

Shrub of the Month

Rhamnus alaternus
'Argenteovariegata'

This Italian buckthorn, which is also sold under the name of Rhamnus 'Variegata', was planted some eight years ago - what you might call a Slow Grower, which is no bad thing over here!

Again, it's an evergreen which you can cut into a tight shape at the end of the year: now is a bit early because it will simply put on more growth in the mild weather.  Its small grey-green leaves look wonderful against dark wintry skies. 

This is a robust, drought-tolerant shrub which needs very little maintenance - and the RHS recommends it too. 

New acquisitions from the plant fair - properly labelled!

September saw our annual pilgrimage to the plant fair at Blaye, desperately in search of Salvia 'Amistad' to add to our collection.  This one is a 'must-have' because its flowers are such a dramatic dark purple - luckily we were able to grab one as soon as we arrived.  (Yes, it pays to be early at these events!)

As you can see, we also invested in three geraniums, partly because these newer hybrids are difficult to raise from seed and are protected by plant growers' rights.  It seems we're always in need of more cranesbills for ground-cover and recent introductions, like 'Rozanne', have proved to be very long-flowering.

Geranium 'Azure Rush' is a sport of 'Rozanne', but reputed to be more compact - so we bought one of those; and 'Orkney Cherry' is a dainty, bronze-leaved variety, with almost luminous flowers, which is suitable for edging or possibly trailing from a wall.  Now to find some space...

There's no doubt that bright-blooming salvias have provided some dramatic late colour in the herb garden. Here you can see four different varieties which contrast beautifully with scabious, yellow helenium and orange cosmos.

Some strong winds have taken their toll on our taller salvias and we've had a few broken stems.  But many of these we've treated as cuttings, sticking them in a bare patch of earth and marvelling at how quickly they produce roots!

Salvia elegans in bud

Our pineapple sage, on the right, has now developed from a small cutting into a tall bush with arching stems, whose scarlet blooms explode like firecrackers in the herb bed.

This plant originated in Mexico and Guatemala, so it's obviously going to be a bit tender in our climate; but we're growing it in a sheltered spot and will keep some cuttings in the cold frame as back-up.

Salvia elegans dominating the herb bed

Despite continuing to be very mild into mid-October, the sun is starting to disappear from our back garden and soon even the herbs will be left in shade all day.

To stop everything getting too dank and messy as autumn approaches, we've been busy cutting back perennials and collecting fallen leaves to put in a pile for leaf-mould.  

Comma - a late visitor

Although tidying up can be tedious, it's also an exciting time as the soil is still warm enough for planting and we keep discovering new spaces where we can squeeze in another plant or two.

Now I have an opportunity to plant up some of the seedlings I grew a couple of months ago: an apricot variety of foxglove; some small cornflowers or centaurea, and Lysimachia 'Beaujolais' which has glaucous foliage.

Weed of the Week

Convolvulus or bindweed
successfully colonising a clump of grass

Whilst helping a friend to weed her border recently, I came across this prime example of a convolvulus run riot.  If left for too long, especially in nitrogen-rich soil, this bindweed will artfully twine itself around plant roots as well as the upper structure, effectively strangling it.  

The message is: Get it out as soon as you see it !

Sternbergia lutea bulbs and
Ceratostigma plumbaginoides

On a gentler note, it's nice to discover the low sun illuminating bits of garden which have been hidden away in summer. Years ago we buried a few bulbs of autumn crocus or Sternbergia lutea in available spaces under hedges and trees; then promptly forgot about them.  

Each year at the end of summer they pop up to surprise us, having multiplied into clusters of bright yellow stars which look striking next to the gentian-blue flowers of ground-cover plumbago.  (Don't confuse this perennial with the pale blue plumbago which is usually grown indoors... this one has a nightmare of a Latin name which is very easy to forget!)

Now that most holidaymakers have gone home and our gite is empty once more, we've taken advantage of the sunny weather and gone for interesting walks along the shores of the Gironde.

Crithmum maritimum

The other afternoon I snapped this picture of a basking lizard surrounded by a natural garden of rock samphire which looks very decorative with its greeny flowers turning to red berries.

Apparently this plant is not to be confused with marsh samphire, or Salicornia europaea, which is the edible kind - often used as a salty accompaniment to seafood.

Tiny ferns growing between roof tiles

Our love of fishy places also took us out to the nearby island of Oleron, in the heart of oyster country, where there are endless possibilities for seaside photography.  It's also famous for its mild climate and for the mimosa fair in February - in reality a large brocante, where locals sell off swags of mimosa blossom in addition to bric-a-brac from their lofts!

Colourful oyster huts at St-Trojan-des-Bains