Starting Afresh

"Winter is a season of recovery and preparation"

- Paul Theroux

New Year's dawn over the marais

As usual, the heaviest frosts waited until after Christmas and the cold air on January 1st will have revived many a late-night reveller!  This was the scene that greeted us when we drew the curtains: there's a patch of marais where the reeds are, behind which our neighbour, Robert, has planted some colourful willows and dogwoods.

Frosted leaves lingering in shade

Looking out of the same window this morning, I saw that Robert has erected another of his stork platforms just behind this little copse.  Great news!

For years now, there have been storks nesting on his other platform further up the valley and we've enjoyed watching the juveniles grow up each spring and summer.

Whereas they used to migrate to warmer climes in autumn, there's now a tendency for some to remain here through the winter - perhaps they want to safeguard their nest sites, which are few and far between?  At any rate, a new platform will definitely be welcomed... by storks, and by certain birdwatchers with cameras!

Scabious caucasica 'Fama Deep Blue'

It's by no means the first time I've posted a picture of this scabious, but I reckon it's earned another place on the blog by producing a couple of gorgeous blooms to adorn our Christmas table.

The cut stems lasted in water for about three weeks, so it's no surprise that florists like them. Each flowering seems to produce a different shade of blue - its winter hue being palest of all.

Dianthus gratianopolitanus 'Sternkissen'

Although our garden is rather short on flowers at present, this is a time to celebrate the shape and structure of certain plants, particularly Alpines like this dianthus 'Sternkissen' which form neat mounds of foliage. Here it has a light dusting of frost and is starting to be encroached upon by cerastium 'Silver Carpet'. 

Together they sit on the edge of our new raised herb border, surrounded by a nice clean mulch of oyster shells.

A few indoor bulbs go a long way to satisfy ones craving for colour and scent, although it's difficult to keep them going in a heated room.  Once these started to droop, Christina cut off the stems and put them in a vase so we could enjoy them for a few more days.  (This wouldn't be such a good idea if you wanted to keep the bulbs for outside planting.)

It's impossible to do any gardening when the ground is frozen, so we took some bracing walks instead, relishing the frosts and fogs which lend atmosphere to photographs and highlight those plants which have survived the chill.

There are a surprising number of roses to be found out and about... this one is sadly in need of a good prune but puts on a brave face none the less.

Rosa no-name

Each winter we walk past a pretty pink rambler which grows in a sheltered garden near our local port.  It seems to produce flowers every month of the year and Christina says there's a name for it, which she's forgotten(!) 

But at least I finally remembered to take a pair of secateurs on our recent walk so that I could brazenly remove a couple of non-flowering stems to make cuttings:-)

From the photographic point of view, I think my favourite of the 'winter collection' is this apricot-coloured rose, still in full bloom at the front of a south-facing cottage.

It just looks 'sunny' next to those traditional lace curtains and the grey-green windows.  Again, I think the shrub could do with some thinning out of its stems, but maybe it's churlish to argue with such floral gaiety in the bleak month of January!

A pear tree resolutely holds its leaves into New Year

Birches and dogwoods are perfect for the winter garden

And so to bed...

"Autumn is the hush before winter"

- French proverb

We're creeping into December - and those yellow leaves still cling stubbornly to the vines.  Most deciduous trees are bare now, and we're constantly treading down the contents of our leaf 'cage' to ensure that its layers are well-packed and will mature into soft, friable leaf-mould come summer.

Hydrangea paniculata
'Early Sensation'

One of the shrubs which will benefit from a top-dressing of leaf-mould is the young hydrangea we planted this year.

It enjoys a damp environment, like the fern behind, and if your garden is without leaves for composting, try using a mulch of bark instead.

The species 'paniculata' comes from Asia, so my book tells me, and some appear to have the bonus of wonderful autumn colour.

Diospyros kaki
Japanese Persimmon

Another popular import from Asia is the persimmon tree, which can remain unnoticed in many gardens until it suddenly sprouts vivid orange fruits! They continue to decorate the hanging branches long after the last red leaf has fallen.

The persimmon fruit is, in fact, a large berry - called 'kaki' in French, it has a high glucose content and should be fully ripe before being eaten or it can taste bitter. 'Sharon fruit' refers to a particular cultivar grown in Israel.

Although an interesting tree, don't be tempted to grow it in an area where you're likely to be walking. One small garden we looked after had kaki fruits raining down on the terrace where we inevitably squelched them underfoot. Yuck! (The same goes for fig trees and terraces - an unholy combination in my book.)

Ceratostigma plumbaginoides

The hardy plumbago with the unpronounceable Latin name continues to provide lovely splashes of colour under the stems of a lilac tree. 

It doesn't seem to mind dry conditions and I've noticed that the reddest leaves emerge in areas which still get some sunshine. An excellent ground-cover plant but needs to be kept in check otherwise it will cover the entire garden.

Camellia sasanqua 

'Plantation Pink'

Shrub of the Month

Returning to the Oriental theme, some friends recently presented us with an autumn-flowering Camellia sasanqua - a species which originated in Japan and happens to be something we'd been lusting after for a while!

It's produced new flowers since being re-potted and looks very happy outside, but I've read that it needs to be kept moist through the winter and given some frost protection, so perhaps we'll have to move it indoors at some point.

Salvia elegans

Meanwhile, those South American salvias I mentioned back in September are still flowering their socks off - even the cuttings which we took as an insurance against losing the parent plant.

They are exceedingly good value and provide some much-needed nectar for the odd bee still doing the rounds. 

We've not yet had a frost to test their mettle but, in anticipation of this happening soon, we cut down one of the more exposed plants (Salvia leucantha) and covered its crown with dried hydrangea flowers. This may not be sufficient if the temperature goes to minus 5'C, but past experience suggests this won't happen until Jan/Feb when we get hard frosts.
The idea of shrouding plants in white fleece blankets doesn't really appeal, partly from an aesthetic point of view but also because the wind is quite likely to rip them off anyway!

Weed of the Week

Well, yes, the damn things keep growing despite this colder weather... particularly these little onions that seed themselves all over the place. The stalks may resemble grass but they have an unmistakable onion smell and, if not removed early, the bulbs get bigger and their leaves just become more unsightly.

However, there's no point trying to uproot them in dry weather as the bulb will probably be left behind to continue growing. Either water the soil before you dig, or wait until there's some good rainfall to aid you in lifting out the whole thing.

Lavandula dentata

Our new herb bed is now well-stocked with plants, including some tiny lavender seedlings of 'Munstead Dwarf' which I'm hoping will have bulked up by early summer.

We couldn't resist buying this slightly tender French lavender  (Lavandula dentata) because it often produces flowers in winter and has such attractive toothed leaves. Again, I hope it proves to be frost hardy in this new raised bed because we've lost some in the past - possibly due to poor drainage. 

I've just about managed to plant out the various seedlings which germinated in early autumn, so there remain a few little pots to over-winter in the cold frame.

As usual, we had too many wallflowers for planting in the front verge and down the back lane, so we put the rest in pots where they seem to do quite well. 

Once they start to bloom, we can move them around the driveway and courtyard areas, adding a splash of colour where needed. The same goes for various containers we've filled with tulip bulbs.

I'm now thinking that by the time Christmas arrives, everything should be tucked away neatly and all nefarious weeds dispatched... well, that's the theory anyway!

Winter sunset over the Estuary

Mellow Yellow

"Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower"

- Albert Camus

Our neighbour's lake with willows and ash trees

I meant to do another posting in October as it was a busy month in the garden, but all that fine weather got the better of me.  Despite the odd gale and rainstorm, every day seemed to be sunny with above-average temperatures and people were still swimming in the sea during that final half-term weekend.  A fabulous end to a rather mixed summer.

Shrub of the Month

If, like us, you have a smallish garden but crave some autumn colour, then look no further than the delightful dogwood, which can be used as hedging or as a stand-alone specimen plant.

Cornus alba or coloured-bark dogwood

I think originally I bought this shrub from Hilliers in Hampshire - how we miss their garden centres! - and it was probably called 'Winter Flame', or something similar, due to the stems turning bright red and really standing out in the midst of a grey winter.  

At this stage, though, it's enough just to enjoy its lemony yellow leaves which light up our hedgerow every evening when the sun is behind them.  Like most willows and dogwoods, it's very easy to grow from cuttings - just push a cut stem into some damp earth when the weather is still cool.  This one seems happy in either chalky or sandy soil, as long as there's some moisture retention.

We normally cut back half of its stems almost to ground-level in spring, ensuring a new flush of bright red bark to enjoy the following winter.

Veronica spicata incana
'Silver Sea'

One of the plants we bought last month was a Veronica spicata which we planted in the new raised-bed.  This has free-draining sandy soil suitable for our favourite pinks and lavenders which do so well in a sunny position.  

As it's a smallish area, we want to keep it mainly for grey or silver-leaved varieties which don't grow to more than about 30cm in height. This pretty veronica immediately took to its new environment by producing a couple of fresh flower spikes.  Very "spicata" indeed!

Weed of the Week

You may ask why I've included the humble

Viola odorata in my list of weeds...?  At first

glance it looks quite dainty and does produce

tiny sweet-smelling flowers in spring, so you 

could keep it in a woodland setting where it

will only be competing with a few bulbs.

  But it does grow and spread rapidly, producing

tuberous roots which anchor themselves firmly

in the soil, leaching out goodness which would

benefit other plants. Hence it's become a pest

 in my book, to be uprooted tout-de-suite!

Hydrangea paniculata 'Magical Moonlight'
underplanted with Lamium

Most of the rear garden is in permanent shade now so it's important to have a few plants which can 'glow' in the dark.  White flowers like this hydrangea perform well in shady conditions, as does the ground-cover Lamium maculatum which has large splashes of silver on its leaves.

Brunnera macrophylla variegata

Another indispensable perennial for a damp shady border is Brunnera macrophylla, originally from the Caucasus, with attractive heart-shaped leaves. There are several named varieties of this plant but look for those with silver markings - like 'Jack Frost' - as opposed to the ones with plain green leaves. 

Its flowers also come in various shades of blue and look very like forget-me-nots, although in fact the plant is more closely related to Anchusa.  Clumps can easily be divided in spring or autumn.

Geranium 'Orion'

This autumnal weather seems to have benefitted the above cranesbill, Orion, which has produced several sprays of large flowers almost as soon as it found itself languishing in the shade.  Clearly some geraniums can withstand sunny, dry conditions better than others and we might move this one to a cooler site next year.  

Salvia leucantha

We've sited our herb bed where there are still a few gleams of sun in the early morning and evening.  This particular salvia, or Mexican Bush Sage, grows quickly during the autumn and the clump is now almost a metre tall, with long arching spires of purple and white flowers which are still attracting insects.

We've taken several precautionary cuttings as we've lost these salvias in the past during icy weather.  We acquired this new specimen some weeks ago, expecting it to produce mauve blooms like the one we'd had before; but this fellow seems to be a cultivar with added white bits - slightly odd but still delightfully fluffy! 

Eragrostis trichodes "Summer Strain"

Similarly, the oddly-named Sand Lovegrass (above) makes an effective display in our remaining patch of sunlight.  Its delicate sprays look like water droplets blown on the wind and I only hope it doesn't throw its seed around with similar abandon...  Since we're not growing it in sandy soil, perhaps it won't feel so inclined!

Walking down by the shore recently, I was struck by the wide variety of grasses which thrive in this part of the world.  It would need a specialist to identify them all but, if I ever have the time, I'll compile a photo-inventory of the native grasses we come across on a daily basis - there must be dozens.

Aster tripolium - Sea Aster

Right now they're interspersed with seed heads of many kinds, including these sea asters which are well-adapted to salty conditions and can apparently be eaten in the same way as samphire.

Teasels on the marais
- good for attracting flocks of goldfinches

Last, but not least, our enterprising neighbour Robert, who has the beautiful tree-lined lake nearby and loves to collect unusual animals, has just acquired a handsome Poitou donkey - or baudet as they're known in France.

They're one of the largest donkey breeds, with a very shaggy coat which hangs in long cords, and were in danger of dying out until conservation efforts were begun 30 years ago.  They have a reputation for being very strong but also exceptionally gentle and friendly... unlike certain little ponies!

Poitou donkey with his feisty companion, 'Paprika'

-    In case you're wondering why I've centred all the photos in this posting, it's because Blogspot's word-wrap function no longer seems to work for me.  Perhaps it will right itself in due course but, meanwhile, any suggestions would be much appreciated :-)

  

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

Late Summer

"Only with absolute fearlessness can we slay the

dragons of mediocrity that invade our gardens."

- George Lois

Harvesting continues to attract birds and other wildlife

Distinctly mixed weather for the remainder of August and, because it has tended to be on the cool side, I've continued to sow seeds and put in a few new plants for next year.

"Is there anything worth growing apart
from catmint?"

In this endeavour I've not been greatly assisted by Couscous, who has now decided that my zinc-topped potting bench gives him a nice warm perch for the evening!

Luckily he leaves the actual seedlings alone and saves his enthusiasm for jumping out and batting me when I'm trying to do some weeding in the border.

Amongst the seeds I'm starting are a new batch of hollyhocks (Antwerp Mixed) which might seem odd, given that they grow all over the place locally and you can easily collect seed. 

But I've done that for several years now and feel the need for some "new blood", especially if they turn out to be more snail-resistant. Rust isn't so much of a problem here but molluscs can do a lot of leaf-munching over the course of the season and I hate any plant to look ratty, even if it's just for planting in the verge outside.

Salvia horminum grown from seed

Other more unusual seeds include Sanguisorba menziesii, Lysimachia atropurpurea 'Beaujolais' and Bupleurum rotundifolium 'Garibaldi' which I selected with an eye to Piet Oudolf's recommendations for prairie-style planting.

It may take at least one season to evaluate whether any of these will be successful in our type of garden and sometimes you need to try out a plant in more than one location.  The Salvia horminum above, for instance, seemed to get lost when grown in its pink and white forms; but the one with velvety- purple bracts is definitely to be encouraged and seems to be doing well under the olive tree and mixed with other low-growing herbs.

Scabious caucasica
'Fama Deep Blue'

This Scabious caucasica proved harder to grow as it needs quite a rich soil but the intense violet-blue colour of the flowers is well worth the added effort required for cultivation.

It normally blooms in early Summer but perhaps the added rainfall this year has encouraged it to produce a few more flowers now in September - and that late season colour appears to be stronger than ever.

Trying out different varieties - whether grown from seed or purchased at plant fairs - is by far the best way to slay those "dragons of mediocrity"!

Verbena bonariensis with
Cosmos sulphureus

With the sun dipping ever lower in September, take advantage of the extremely bright light at either end of the day and sit where you can enjoy backlit flowers of cosmos and verbena, in addition to those indispensable grasses like stipa and pennisetum.

Much as we love this style of prairie planting, as advocated by the likes of Messrs Oudolf and Gerritsen, in practice we don't leave our stems to provide winter interest because they would simply generate thousands of seedlings to overwhelm us in spring!

Birds have more than enough food to feast on in surrounding meadows and frost rarely decorates our borders in that classic way of English gardens, so we take whatever seeds we need as soon as they appear and chop down most of the herbaceous plants as their flowering declines.

The exotic Diplandenia given to
us by a generous guest and
putting on its second flush
of pink blooms

When you first live here, it's exciting to grow a few exotics like citrus fruit and bougainvillea, which can sit outside happily for 8 months of the year - and perhaps longer in a very sheltered spot.

But December to March can bring short spells of both frost and ice, not to mention freezing winds, which quickly kill off any unprotected plants that are unreliable at temperatures below -10'C.

We've reined-in the number of semi-tropical things which we over-winter inside the house, otherwise there's a risk  of red spider mite infestations or scale insects if it's too warm, and unsightly amounts of leaf-drop if it's too cold.

Those with plenty of land can opt for a heated greenhouse, but on the whole we've found a cold frame is adequate for seedlings and cuttings. One advantage of having a lettings property is that, when necessary, we can use it as extra plant-housing in winter: I think that's where the "dipla-doodah" pictured above will find its home in a couple of month's time!

Argiope bruennichi -
the scarily efficient orb weaver spider

Talking of insects, I'm glad to say we don't have to put up with many in the house due to careful insulation and the use of mozzie blinds in summer. But outside is a different matter and I'm always fascinated by these Orb Weaver spiders which produce characteristic zig-zag lines of silk between plants. There's nothing worse than blundering into its web by mistake and getting caught in the sticky threads.

Common blue feeding
on a salvia flower

We haven't had such a diversity of butterflies this year, maybe because of the wet spring; but one of my favourites has just returned and I can't resist including a photo even though it's nothing more exciting than the so-called Common Blue.

Although quite small by butterfly standards, its colours are just magical: the male sports contrasting blues on both his upper and underwing, whereas the female has more brown on her upperwing. Fabulous.

Looks like summer is all rolled-up...

Evening border with yellow Rudbeckia hirta, Sedum,
Verbena bonariensis, Cosmos sulphureus and
white Gaura lindheimeri