New Garden

Purple border, Sissinghurst, August 2013

Living in the White Garden at Sissinghurst has inspired me to get back into the garden. Before we went to Switzerland and England in August I had decided to replace the large garden bed outside our bedroom and replace it with a border and turf, which is more practical now I am working full-time.

The plan is to transplant the standard roses in the border, along with whatever shrubs and perennials that will also fit. I am going to do it bit by bit myself, rather than pay someone else to do it. Today I made a start, moving two buddleias from nearer the bedroom to a a spot behind the front fence, eventually the three bushes (one still to move) will make a hedge. I was going to pull the buddleias out, because even though they flower profusely, there are always a mixture of dead and fresh blooms on the plant and they can look scrappy.

Butterfly bush in Sissinghurst

I have always been ambivalent about purple flowers in the garden, because the effect can be dull and lifeless. The Purple Border at Sissinghurst, though, was stunning. The yellow rose-hips, purply-pink dahlias and dark leaves on the stone wall made a perfect, jewel-like combination.

Purple Border