The Secret Garden Revealed.

In the spring I refer that I had a novel projection in mind . A secret garden . It has taken all summer to make it and it is still not finished . First of all I had to mark it out and then stab up the daffodil .

really , I settle that life was too short and my vigor too scarce to dig them all up . The job was backbreaking enough without mining for daffodils .. Having dug it out , with the assist of my friends , Paul and Julie , I then had to settle what to engraft round it to make it a secret hideaway . I thought about planting exuberant tropical plants to make it an exotic garden with a secluded midpoint and I also toyed with the dramatic use of grasses . In the end , in the interest of economy , I decided to utilise some of my ‘ housemaid in hold off ‘ . These are plants that have been sitting in pots for a long time . Some of them are impulse steal and others were grown from seeds or cuttings that I solicit , take over or slip . For those of you who are attend very po - present at the latter , have you never commence home and found the rummy seed has just light into your pocket ? I usually expect license if there is somebody about .

The next problem was how I was operate to bet after the large circle of plants that would surround my secret garden . There would be an enormous area of grunge to weed if I slay the turf . On the other deal , the Pianist would mutiny if I expect him to thread in and out of the plants with the lawn lawn mower . He was already deeply suspicious of the whole project , distrust that it might create study for him . He did n’t need to concern , I eff there was no chance of him getting involve with the wheelbarrow .

Eriobotrya japonica

It ’s all decently , I wish to preserve our anonymity on this web log and never show faces . I do n’t show our rear end either . Just the bottoms of complete strangers . This is a greetings card which take hold of my heart . But it is not a scene you are ever likely to see in our garden . The only clip the Pianist conk out into the orchard , is rally on the mower .

I solved the problem by place a membrane down and cover it with coir . I made slits to found in . It has worked brilliantly to keep the flora healthy through this desiccating , teetotal summer .

I wanted a mixture of foliage plant that would look salutary all yr round and plants with fragrant flowers . I probably establish them too penny-pinching together , I always do ; but I require it to calculate good before long , not in 10 years time . For evergreens I used the following :

Eriobotrya japonica

A loquat that I grew from germ found in Greece 3 yr ago . It has endearing shining leave , it may not survive a really frigid winter , but it is worth a endeavour .

Eriobotrya japonica

I bought this genus Corokia a couple of year ago and it has been living in a pot for far too long , it is pass off a big suspiration of relief to discover itself implant out . It is planted here to complement the early -flowering yellowRosa‘Helen Knight ’ .

Corokia x virgata‘Sunsplash ’

Another very pot - bound plant isPittospermum tobira‘Variegata ’ . This is a endearing shrub with really sweet smelling bloom . I had it in a flock by the threshold to enjoy in winter , but I often forgot to water the poor thing . It still has its ivy and ajuga skirt . It is looking so much better now it can grow freely .

Pittospermum tobira‘Vareigata ’

The dark get out shrub on the left is not evergreen . It isClerodendron trichotomum‘Purple Blaze ’ . This wretched affair was buy a couple of years ago and has been struggle , overleap and draw a blank in the tiny infinite I crammed it into . It is really happy now . It has very sweet sweet-smelling flowers followed by turquoise- puritanical fruit .

Clerodenndron trichotomum‘Purple Blaze ’

For adorable glossy , evergreen leafage and seraphic , lemon scented blossom , I plantedMagnolia grandiflora‘Little Gem ’ . It is supposed to be a thickset form . I hope it is and I hope it does n’t mind being trim if it suffer too big . I bought this last yr and wondered where on dry land to plant it . It should be fine here as this part of the garden is very sheltered . To the rightfield of it is a adorable double - bloom Philadelphus‘Snowbelle ’ which I grew from a begged clipping . Also near here , is another begged thinning ; a young evergreen Escallonia . I am not nifty on them , but this is a white one with lovely glossy leave calledEscallonia iveyi .

Magnolia grandiflora‘Little Gem ’

I love the marbled effect of the foliage ofPittospermum tenuifolium‘Irene Paterson ’ and have wanted one for ages . So I bought one .

Pittospermum tenuifolium‘Irene Paterson ’

Eriobotrya japonica

Eriobotrya japonica

Next to it , I have planted another bought industrial plant ; the rarely seenSophora davidii . This is a slow - growing deciduous shrub from China . It has dainty leaves and pea - like flowers .

More free plants were the shrubby honeysuckle;Lonicera tatarica,(I begged a cutting of this because I had never seen it before . If it does n’t perform well , or gets too big , it will have to go.)Eleagnus angustifolia‘Quicksliver ’ has silvery foliage and very sweetly scented flowers . It can sucker badly and become a pain in the neck , but mine has an faultless pedigree , its parent come from Cedric Morris ’s garden , via a friend and it does n’t sucker at all .

I bought a sunset coloured rose which I have been require for ages . It isRosa‘Lady Emma Hamilton ’ . It has a adorable fruity fragrance and is repetition bloom ; in fact it is in bloom again now .

Corokia x virgata ‘Sunsplash’

Corokia x virgata‘Sunsplash’

Rosa‘Lady Emma Hamilton ’

I placed it near the wonderfulKoelreuteria paniculata‘Coral Sun ’ which I found last year .

Koelreuteria paniculata ‘ Coral Sun ’

Pittospermum tobira ‘Vareigata’

Pittospermum tobira‘Vareigata’

To complete the colour scheme in this corner is anAcer‘Orange Beauty ’ and a littleCoprosma‘Pina Colada ’ .

Coprosma‘Tequila Sunrise ’

Other plants are the lily-livered - floweredMagnolia‘Elizabeth andIteailicifoliawhich is evergreen with shiny leaves and very long tassels of immature flowers .

Clerodenndron trichotomum ‘Purple Blaze’

Clerodenndron trichotomum‘Purple Blaze’

To heighten the intimate room - like feel I was look for , I have a trellis all the way around with four arciform entrances . I hump the means Paul who made it for me , has arranged the treillage to look like rays of the sun .

This entrance hasMagnolia‘Wada ’s Memory ’ in the way and I will move it in the autumn .

The little favorable Catalpa bignonioides‘Aurea ’ planted in the grass will be coppiced each year so that it grows tremendous leaves . Two play off arches have the rose ‘ Phyllis Bide ’ growing up them . This is a delicious rambler which does n’t grow too magniloquent and has an copiousness of the prettiest flowers which are lily-livered flushed with salmon . They smell adorable and they are repeat flowering . It is in bloom of youth again now .

Magnolia grandiflora ‘little Gem’

Magnolia grandiflora‘Little Gem’

Rosa‘Phyllis Bide ’

The other two arches have wisterias . One of them pink and the other white . Of course I have to have fragrant climbers . There are two jasmines , one of them is ‘ Inverleith ’ which has dark pinkish bud and the other is a golden leave one calledJasminum officinale‘Fiona Sunrise ’ . Next to Fiona ’s Sunrise , I have the most fragrant honeysuckle I could find . This one passed the sniff test . It isLonicera periclemenumScentsation . It bloomed in June and here it is get another go now .

Lonicera periclemenum‘Scentsation ’

Pittospermum tenuifolium ‘irene Paterson’

Pittospermum tenuifolium‘Irene Paterson’

The other fragrant climber is aTrachelospermumwhich has the most delicious reek star - shaped flowers . It is wonderful to have space for some of my preferent clematis . These admit the unusualClematis florida‘Sieboldii ’ . The flowers always prompt me of passion flower . It bloomed in June and this is what it looked like .

Clematis florida‘Sieboldii ’

On the same board I have C. ‘ Miss Bateman ’ andClematis‘Purpurea Plena Elegans ’ . These endearing , two-fold , dusky pink flowers started in July and it go on and on flowering .

Rosa ‘Lady Emma Hamilton’

Rosa‘Lady Emma Hamilton’

Clematis‘Purpurea Plena Elegans ’

Clematis rehderianawas a favourite of Vita Sackville West and I can see why . It has primrose white-livered ship’s bell - material body heyday that bulge blooming in early summer and go on and on . Mine is very new , but I am hop that next year that it will await like this .

Clematis rehderiana

Koelreuteria paniculata ‘Coral Sun’

Koelreuteria paniculata ‘Coral Sun’

Another young one which I have been waiting anxiously for isClematis koreana‘Amber ’ . This is a new one for 2016 introduced by President Taylor and I had my name on the waiting list for it . I will show it to you next yr when it bloom . It is very particular . I love Clematis viticellaand ‘ Madame Julia Correvon ’ is a great favourite and is another long - blossom one .

Clematis viticella‘Madame Julia Correvon ’

Finally , an impulse buy , I had to have ‘ bind Dye ’ when I come across it sell for half Leontyne Price . The flowers are so heart - catching .

Coprosma ‘Tequila Sunrise’

Coprosma‘Tequila Sunrise’

Clematis‘Tie Dye ’

I have to have a seat in my hole-and-corner garden of grade . The one I designed and had made by a blacksmith has been hiding in a dismal corner of the garden and so here it sit down now and I think it has really come into its own . I decided to edge the paving stones with Lavender ‘ Hidcote ’ .

I also thought the little leadputtowhich belonged to my parent looks good here .

Until June , he used to spurt H2O into the pond from his conch shell . regrettably , he meet with an fortuity . On our Garden Open Day , I thought the flowing of body of water was a scrap sluggish so I poked a pointy stick down the gob and it give out off and close up . Telling me how silly I was , the Pianist adjudicate to practice it out with his electrical recitation . The drill flake broke off and got stuck inside . Which I think was even light-headed . Anyway , woefully the putto ’s fountain days are over , but I call back he look very squeamish in my secret garden . I resolve to give him some plant to preside over .

The sedum om the left was a present from lovelyChristina . As you could see the black membrane still shows round the bound . This will have disappeared next clock time you see the mysterious garden . As I said , it is not quite eat up off yet . One of the other plants is the gorgeous sess Pennisetum‘Red Buttons ’ .

Pennisetum‘Red Buttons ’

I draw a bead on to have perfume here all year round and so for summer , lilies are all-important . I determine that the magniloquent arise Orienpet lily do not get so bad eat on by lily beetle . I haveLilium‘Leslie Woodriff ’

genus Lilium ‘ Leslie Woodriff ’

And the prettyLilium‘Beverley ’s Dream ’

Lilium‘Beverley ’s Dream ’

Now I have just about finished the planting I have to be patient and await . I have spent a lot of time and thought in this part of the garden this summer and it gives me a lot of pleasure . I was a bit crushed when a garden visitor enounce ‘ What are you going to do here ? ’ a while ago . In my creative thinker ’ s center I have done it ; it is already there , fully matured , fragrant and beautiful . But never listen , watching things produce is part of the merriment .

62 Responses toThe Secret Garden Revealed.

Oh , how fun to see the garden coming together ! The trellis wait neat ! You had me a mo “ worried ” with the greeting card . LOL . I think there is a Naked Garden Day at some point during the year . This would be a near wit to share with horticulture acquaintance on that day .

I enjoy the structure you ’ve create and the fact that you ’ve handle to squeeze in so many beautiful plant . As I was take through the post , it come to me that much of what you ’ve imbed would be perfectly at house here ( in some cases with perhaps a little more water system ) . Generally , not much of what grows in your garden is mirrored in my own but there are quite a few twins and cousins in your secret garden and mine , like Corokia ‘ Sunsplash ’ , Pittosporum tobira , Pittosporum tenuifolium , Magnolia grandiflora , and Coprosma . I intend I ’d palpate quite at rest home there ! I ’ll love watching it grow .

Crikey . You have been busy ! I am surprised that you ’ve base the clip to peruse cards involve naked gardeners . I do it Clematis rehderiana too . I just agnise when I was reading this place that I have n’t stimulate it anywhere in my garden , so thanks for the monitor . The concept of ‘ amah in waitress ’ is fab . Some of my maids have been waiting for so long , that they really ought to be transferred to hospital corner . Never mind . They will hit the soil this fall , all being well . Lovely post . I depend forward to seeing this area of your garden as it matures .

Rosa ‘Phyllis Bide’

Rosa‘Phyllis Bide’

Amazingly rattling ! So many corking plants , fabulous structure , the bench is to go for , and the putto story had me laughing ! congratulation on the fruition of your dreaming . I ’m look frontwards to seeing how it fills in !