Yes, it is dull, and not at all evergreen. I may scrap it, even though it does look good for much of the year.

See also June 17

Looks familiar?!

One salvia nemorosa ‘Lubecca’ in B1 cut back. Two left. Some geranium ‘Rozanne’ foliage cut back. Some erysimum ‘Bowles Mauve’ in B3 trimmed.

The thalictrums in B1 and B2 have gradually thinned out as the season’s progressed, and you can now see through them quite well.

Early September 17

Cut back all the thalictrums, and most of the salvias.

See also May 17

Fuchsias are new plants for me. These came with the original garden, and must have survived for several years. The yellowish one is easy to cut back from the neighbours’ path, and doesn’t seem to mind this treatment. The reddish one lost its leaves in a drought last year, but recovered quite quickly. The tips of some branches died over winter and needed pruning in the spring. F4 is rather dry anyway, and needs a lot more organic matter. Both of them would benefit from a fairly severe prune in spring. See RHS advice

A couple of months ago this bed was looking a little like a municipal car park with its low mounds of foliage, but now the plants are in flower I think it’s really successful. Perhaps a few tall grasses would help. The way the plants are spilling over the edges of the beds is perfect.

The persicaria in B2 softens the edge of the bed nicely, but there is too much of it, and it’s rather dull in winter when the foliage dies down. It certainly needs to be reduced, and new plants planted behind it. This variety is ‘Donald Lowndes’, has an AGM, and is said to be partially evergreen. We’ll see what happens this coming winter.

The valerian from the original garden flops nicely over the gravel where the car is left near the bay tree. It seeds freely in the gravel, but the seedlings look quite nice and can be pulled up easily. There are quite a few valerian seedlings under the car. They must grow while I’m away, but of course, I very rarely see them. There’s a lot more scope for planting in the gravel, particularly in the front garden.

There is at least one cat round here that gets driven into a frenzy by my catmint (Nepeta × faassenii). It gets rolled on, scratched and worse. The plants don’t seem to be as attractive once they’ve grown a bit. These covers made of chicken wire are showing some promise. I might try Nepeta ‘Six Hills Giant’ which should be more durable.