Big day in the garden today. It's my birthday next week and yesterday T and I went to Swanes and T bought me lots of beautiful plants. It was a perfect autumn day today and I wandered out to the garden, gardening basket in hand, to plant the first of my presents, a blushing pink iceberg standard. The growers notes say, 'Blooms best size and colour when formed in cool weather...flowers have an exquisite pink blush, painted as if by hand. Occasional flushes of white blooms during the summer or when flowers are forming in hot weather'.
It has taken me five years to refine how I plant. The soil in my garden is clay-very dense and usually I have to dig the clay out completely and replace it with potting mix. I used to dump the clay in a pile absent mindedly and then have to put it in a bucket and take it to the compost. Now when planting I have two big flexible buckets, one empty, which I fill with dug out clay or poor soil and another, full of potting mix. I also soak the plants in another bucket or weak seaweed solution before planting as this is encourages strong root formation. I keep a bale of sugar cane mulch near my compost heap and once I have dumped the clay, I fill the bucket with mulch and mulch all around the newly placed and well watered in plant.
T bought me three David Austin roses, 'The Prince', 'Sharifa Asma' and St Cecilia.' 'The Prince' is described as a short, bushy plant with 'rich, royal-purple, full rosette flowers and a strong and delicious Old Rose fragrance'. 'Sharifa Asma' is medium size with upright growth. It has 'Delicate, blush pink flowers with a delicious fruity fragrance'. 'St Cecilia' is a medium, bushy shrub with 'Beautiful, slightly open, rounded flowers of pale apricot pink. Very strong and delicious myrrh fragrance'.
I planted 'The Prince' in the front garden, beside the rosemary and the burgundy/white iceberg standard. I planted the other two in the back garden. I pulled out 'Othello' because it has never flowered, I put it in a pot. If it doesn't flower in spring I'll chuck it. I planted the two new David Austins in a bed with a pomegranate and 'Marie Rose', which is a lovely, tall bright pink rose with a strong, musky scent.
T also gave me a daphne, which I planted under the Japanese maple, with the blueberry bush on one side and an azalea on the other. They like free-draining, acidic shade, warmth in winter and protection from strong sunlight in summer. I am hoping I have planted it in the perfect spot.
I will continue later, dinner is on the table.
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