New home, new garden!

So we moved here last August, and we have just got most of the urgent internal work finished. (Hoorah!) Since we had some decent weather this week, I decided that I would make a start on the front wall. Never really had a wall to plant up before, so this is a bit of an adventure!

The Glorious flowers of the flowering Cherry tree. These beauties needs lots of water, and should be sited carefully, bearing in mind their needs and their proclivity to invade any source of it (including drains and your house foundations!).

In January we had a struggling Cherry tree taken out which overhung this wall. When we arrived in August, its few remaining leaves were falling, and then small branches started to drop off, too. Clearly it was unhappy; probably due to a combination of the very dry Spring, and it being planted in a sort of raised bed. Cherries love lots of water - so this was not the ideal place for it. At Muirlands the Cherries were planted well away from the house, so that there was no danger of them seeking out water under the foundations of the house. Here it is different. I still love Cherry trees, but maybe I'll have to settle for a Bonsai version growing a pot. We'll see.

The frilly flowers of Dianthus 'Rainbow Loveliness. The flowers are both deliciously scented and can look quite spectacular. They come in pastel shades of pink, white, mauve, and lemon. Rairly seen, but worth seeking out. Easily grown from seed.

But back to planning the planting for the wall. The lane we have moved to is long and has lots of walkers going up and down to access the footpaths that lead across the fields to the rear of the house. They pass with their children and dogs on a pretty regular basis. I love scented flowers, and imagine that the wall, planted with suitable beauties, could be quite a spectacular feature in mid-summer, both for the eye and the nose. However, the plants will have to survive in pretty much alpine conditions, and look appropriate (not too big or over-showy). My thoughts went immediately to Dianthus - they have myriad forms, many of which like dry conditions, and therefore, should be able to cope fairly well. I am hoping that some have survived over winter at my son's house - my particular favourites are the multi-hued, frilly Dianthus 'Rainbow Loveliness'. Though it can grow up to 12 inches tall (30 cms), it does tend to sprawl a bit, and I am hoping it will trail elegantly down the side of the wall. 
I am on the lookout for other scented alpines (not many spring to mind off hand, but then alpines have never been my preferred options in the past, as we had deep clayey loam at Muirlands - not exactly preferred planting conditions for alpines!) I shall start combing the seed catalogues.
Whilst I fantasize over planting, the grim reality of soil preparation has now reared its ugly head. The current planting is riddled with couch grass, which I have started to dig out, by hand, bit by running roots, bit. As this wall is thirty feet + in length, there is quite a lot of work to be done. This garden is going to be my retirement project. I am going to give it 3 years to get it as I want it. That may be a bit ambitious giving the current state of my ageing body, but no pain no gain, so they say!
It's started to rain, so time for some armchair gardening. I wonder if I still have that copy of 'We made a Garden' by Margery Fish?

Dodecatheon- Shootings stars!

Dodecatheon full plant

Dodecatheon are also known as shooting stars, though they always seem to be on a rather precipitously downward trajectory to me. The Merriam Webster dictionary gives the etymology of the name as Latin deriving from the Greek for Twelve Gods, which apparently has some connection to primrose. They are natives of North America, living in a variety of habitats, but all need a soil that does not dry out during the flowering season.
Dodecatheon is indeed a member of the Primulaceae, and as you would expect is a Spring flowerer, appearing in late April here in Cumbria) and flowering through much of May. Once seed has been set it starts to die back, so that by July, it has almost disappeared completely, leaving only a nobbly surface bud as evidence of its presence (do mark its position clearly - you don't want to dig it up and discard it by accident). 
It is therefore a member of that gorgeous group of plants known as the Spring Ephemerals, which includes other beauties such as Trillim, Erythroniums, Dicentra and Sanguinaria.
The plants pictured grow to about 16 inches high, the clumps bulking up each year. These are ready to be split as the flower heads are getting a bit congested. This is best done about the end of July. Good garden plants!

Little shooting stars!

I have only one form at the moment, but they are available in other colours (white and pink) and slightly different forms. I shall be growing more of the species in the future and hope to have a limited number of plants on sale in the Spring of 2018
).

Iris ensata

Iris ensata 'Rowden Caliph'

There is something quite stunning about the cultivars of Iris ensata. Cultivated and selected for hundreds of years, first by the Japanese nad then by keen plant breeders in the west, they are some of the most spectacular plants in the July garden.

To see my full article about these majestic plants, go to www.thelifeeclectic.co.uk

Happy gardening, Bernadette!