Virtual gardening

Good luck with the planting!

Lovely planting plans Sheila. I look forward very much to seeing how they 'pan out'. I've just been out in to the freezing cold grey-ness to plant my two new roses (dortmund and warm welcome) that arrived yesterday. Brrrr....you're right. OH is watching footie and I'm off to get a gardening book! :)

Looking forward Thu the Photos!

Sounds splendid Sheila, will look forward to the photos.

Those beds sound lovely sheila lots of pics please !!

They do sound good, best of luck don't forget before and after photo's.

Thanks chaps. 'twill be a while before all that is done, but Ll's idea of "before and after" pics is a good one. It'll give you a laugh if nothing else!

I've been trying to plan my beds out myself; it's getting warmer & I'm ready but not all of my planned purchases are available yet. Just had some fly poison (Amianthium muscaetoxin) delivered & should get more ferns next week. I also found a source for the US native aconite, Aconitum uncinatum, very hard to find - but they don't start shipping until April! The anticipation is killing me since this is a plant I've been searching for for a while.
Looking forward to seeing your photos!

It's exciting planning isn't it. I love kojo no mai. It's one of my fav shrubs.

My Kojo is JUST beginning to flower Hywel...how is yours...bet it's in full bloom!

It hasn't made a move. I think it might be dead !

Oh no! Surely not? I do hope not Hywel.....I guess it might have succumbed to disease....:((

It's in a pot. Maybe it just needs watering. I'm going to have a look at it tomorrow.

Oh right, so it could have been frozen solid for a while then? Perhaps it does just need watering though ......:)

Oh dear, Hywel. We have three in the ground, and two in pots, but they are all flowering about the same (I did water the pots recently though). Hope yours come back to life!

It was under cover in the bad weather but it must have got frozen - it was so bad. It probably needs watering to wake it up :)

Yeah! It just needs a morning cuppa....I need one too, every morning! I'm off now, I am getting very silly. I can't take two glasses of wine any more, not even on a Saturday night..how SAD am I? ....lol...hic! Goodnight all!

Good night Karen :) x

virtual gardening is an excellent idea! have you painted a picture of what they will look like too?

NO Sticki!! I can't paint anything without seeing it in front of me - nice idea though. (I now have plants ready for the "empty" bed . . . just have to wait for OH to paint the wall behind . . .)

what colour? i like the idea of the planning ~ do you write out their names on a piece of paper in the shape of the bed? i would have to sketch their shapes i think. since doing more to the garden and buying a lot of plants last year i now need to plan ~ i know that sounds back to front but there are still a lot of gaps in the border, the basic structure is decided ~ now i need to put in colour and shape around the seasons if possible.

The wall is the front wall of the house (cream) and the empty bed below the window is covered with Cotswold Cream stones (on R looking at house, and will match the bed on L, planted with Nandina etc. see pics!). So it's easy, as the shrubs will be spaced out . . . I place each one (still in its pot), then move them around bearing in mind eventual size till they look right. It's unusual for me to plan - in the back garden I tend to buy things I like, then decide where they will go. :)

You have quite a task there - it's different with a normal flower bed as I suppose you need to picture their final spread - but I'm sure you'll enjoy juggling the colours. Sketching their shapes sounds a good idea - just like a proper garden designer!

cotswold cream stone ~ sounds like a real cottage. ive seen some nandina and wondered what they were like ~ how they grew etc.

Lovely evergreens -leaves change from greens to reds to bronze any time of year. at least 2 varieties . . . Firepower grows to 3 ft, the other to 6 ft.

i will have another look at them ~ thanks.

I love Libertia Sheilabub, lovely plant all year round. Good luck with those lovely big beds (gnash, gnash..jealous of all that space!)

Thanks Tet! I think I've lost the Libertia 'Blaze' though - was keeping them in the greenhouse as they're tender, but guess the cold got to them. I'm keeping them a bit longer, just in case.

I lost two small ones I bought last year..they dont like being too damp and tho they were in 1 litre pots, the soil was too wet and they rotted off at soil level.

Oh no! Wish I'd known that . . . looks as if I've killed them with kindness then. :(

Yeah, me too. Ive got another couple now, plus a big one in the front garden. The one in the garden is shaded from the sun to some extent - at least the base of the plant is. Ive watered it twice this year. This ground is clay and damp below but dry at top level, so Im guessing its best to water about 3 inches or so out from the crown of the plant.
The others are in pots and I now water from the base. Seems to be working.

Thanks for the advice, Tet. Are yours all Libertia 'Blaze' (or 'sunset' as I've just realised mine are!)?

Like the colour of your new avatar, but can't work out what it is . . .

Ive got the Formosa, the Grandiflora and the Goldfinger..or perhaps its Gold Stripe, The goldy one in the garden.
Its an Iris Germanica, Sheilabub, an italian creation. Hoping for more pictures this year, but cant see a bud yet!