Moved the thyme which was rather shaded by the tetrapanax to a pot (with tulip bulbs underneath) and planted 20 narcissus ‘Carlton’ in the space left. I can’t remember exactly how the tetrapanax behaved last winter, but surely it’ll lose its leaves for the narcissi to flourish next spring.
22 Dec 17
Many of the leaf bearing stalks have fallen off cleanly from where they joined the stem.
10 narcissus ‘Dutch Master’. Should I prune the spiraea or the hop? This fence is rather bare in winter.
The hibiscus didn’t flower at all again this year. If it doesn’t perform next year I’ll replace it with something else.
Meanwhile I planted 10 narcissus ‘Dutch Master’ in the space behind, and 20 narcissus ‘Curlew’ in front.
No flowers at all this year. The leaves are nice and the birds like it, so I won’t take it out even if it never flowers again. The ghost bramble is looking good, and It should cover the lower part of the fence. I might move one of the zebra grasses which are doing rather well somewhere in this area.
See also: August 17
The yellowish hardy fuchsia in F2 was damaged by very strong wind last night. A large branch, supporting ⅓ to ½ of the plant’s foliage was broken underground. I cut it away just above the ground. Let’s see how it recovers
| Plant | Notes | Action |
| Aubretia ‘Kitte Blue’ | Good, but only flowers from mid to late Spring. Treat as annual bedding. | Remove |
| Viola cornuta ‘Blackout’ | Good, but hard work deadheading. In general violas don’t seem to do all that well in my garden. | Remove |
| Oriental lily ‘Coldplay’ | Very good for a couple of weeks, then just leaves. | Plant out bulbs in F1 |
| Petunia | Good. Always fairly untidy. Now very scruffy. | Remove |
| Phlox subulata ‘Candy Stripe’ | Very good flowers in Spring. Then very good foliage | Keep for the foliage |
| Marguerite, red and yellow | Rather intermittent, and hard work deadheading. | Feed and give another chance |
| Carnation (purple one from B&Q) | Feed and give another chance | |
| Acanthus | Doing well. | Plant out in B4 |
| Achillea | Doing very well. Quite potbound | Plant out in F1 |
| Rudbeckia | Doing well. | Plant out in F2 |
If it was good enough for Monty Don on Gardeners World last night it’s good enough for me.
| Gap | Notes |
| F4 | The campanulas here are quite good, but I think I need a shrub or two. It depends a bit on what happens to the very vigorous hardy fuchsia. |
| B4 behind pond | Acanthus from pot, 10 Sep 17 |
| F1 under hibiscus | Depends very much on what happens to the hibiscus. |
| F1 near oriental poppies | Achillea from pot, 10 Sep 17 |
| F2 near erysimum | Rudbeckia from pot, 10 Sep 17 |
| F1 near pittosporum | Oriental lilies from pots, 10 Sep 17 |
I’ll leave these for another few months to see if they come again. Also the three pots of tulips planted under Armeria, Ajuga and Arabis.
I’ll also plant some tulips in plastic pots in November or December for burying in the gravel.