Veg Plotting

This time last year I was mourning the loss of the huge box ball by our front door due to box moth ripping through the whole of Chippenham. Much to my surprise I found the pictured cyclamen , still green and alive despite 15+ years of being completely covered by the box. A silver lining to my problem! Earlier this year I created a small bed surrounding the box's stump and planted some grasses and a couple of ferns, both tough as old boots: they need to be as the ground was hard and unyielding. I've also added a couple of hellebore seedlings I found self-seeded in the gravel path in the back garden* and added a thick layer of mulch a) to keep the lawn weeds at bay, b) to lock in some moisture in this extremely dry patch, and c) to kick start soil formation. The cyclamen has found a new lease of life, pretty much doubling in size in terms of its ground cover over the summer and now it's rewarding me with its pretty white flowers which help to brighten up this north facing pat...

We had a lovely welcome home from the garden in the shape of these bulbalicious hyacinths greeting us at our front door when we returned from Italy. It was a serendipitious moment as I'd originally bought them to decorate our kitchen when Helen  came to stay back in February. However, our cat Skipper was paying them far too much attention, so I moved them to the hanging basket out front. The cooler weather there meant they've only started to bloom recently, and most welcome they are too. Once flowering is over, I'm taking a top tip learnt from my time at West Green House and planting them out in the border. I have a plan to revamp the front garden after last year's box demise and these will go there alongside a couple of ferns I have languishing in pots out the back. Waste not want not as they say. These are not the only bulbs I've been chatting about recently. Over on Insta I'm celebrating the pictured  poet's daffodil  posing on my windowsill as one of m...

Like many gardeners I've been evaluating the plant casualties in my garden resulting from last year's drought/cold winter/this year's record rain spring. Mine include some winter flowering clematis, dahlias, and some - but not all - of the Mexican fleabane. I also thought the hardy fuchsias in the front garden had gone, unlike their cousins in the back. I naturally assumed this was down to the front garden facing north not quite giving them the conditions they need to thrive. I even bought a replacement ' Hawkshead ' at Malvern show recently as I'm particularly fond of its more delicate, pure white blooms. And then, I saw last week the stems I'd cut down to the ground in the spring have sprouted lots of lush, new growth as shown in the top photo, so my latest 'Hawkshead' has a new spot in the back garden instead. I shall bear in mind the top tip I was given in Malvern and give all my fuchsias a thick layer of mulch in late autumn to help them through...

The snowdrops are finally coming to the fore this week, does anyone else think they're later this year? Of course I could be comparing them to years when they've been early 😉 Early, late or on time, they're still most welcome. The photo above shows some of the snowdrops I planted over twenty years ago - the first time I'd tried my hand at guerrilla gardening. They form a welcome to the shared space on our part of the estate and it gives me a warm feeling when I hear local walkers saying how pretty they are. Last year I was gifted two huge carrier bags full of snowdrops in the green, so I've taken the opportunity for some experimental planting in gravel having seen some of mine have self seeded themselves there elsewhere in the garden. We have two narrow strips of gravel which border our front drive and the path which leads through to the back. I planted lots of small clumps there and I'm thrilled they've come back this year to welcome us home. The rest I ad...

Happy New Year! It's a gorgeous day here at VP Gardens , so I've been out planting hope in one of the large pots in my front garden. It currently has some deep red Alstromeria , which more than takes care of the summer, but I reckon these daffodil and tulip bulbs are just the thing for spring. You may think these are rather late to plant, but I've checked the bulbs and they're still sound. Fingers crossed for some frosts and they'll still perform magnificently, though probably a couple of weeks later than if I'd planted them last autumn. I've also looked around the garden this morning and there are plenty of signs of other bulbs pushing their noses through the soil. It's always a good time to do this when the nights are at their longest because it all adds to that feeling of hope. Let's face it we all need as much of that as we can get these days. More floral hope can be found by taking part in this year's New Year Plant Hunt , which ends tomorro...

Sunday's scarecrow trail over at Pewsham provided the latest unusual front garden in the shape of a vintage lawnmower used as a plantstand. It's quite ironic seeing there's no lawn! ATCO  is a century-old* lawnmower manufacturer and judging by its appearance this is a relatively old one. Unusually it's been quite hard to find out much information about it online. According to this guide , my best bet is to go back and see if there are any useful looking numbers on the metalwork. * = just over as the company was founded in 1921

My wild and woolly front lawn has just got a little woollier with the surprise addition of the above beauty. I spotted a strange looking spike emerging a couple of weeks ago and hoped it was what it's turned out to be: a lovely, lovely orchid. This one's a pyramidal orchid ( Anacamptis pyrimidalis ), which according to the link likes a milder climate and chalk or limestone grasslands. It also goes on to say that it's developed a liking for the more artificial kind of environment - such as beside roads and canals - so perhaps a front lawn on a limey clay soil is just the kind of place it likes to be nowadays. I'm delighted it's chosen my front garden! I've asked NAH to refrain from mowing the lawn for a while to enable it to set seed, though he's keen to mow the 'meadow' now No Mow May has finished. Perhaps we now have the perfect compromise, leave the front lawn so there's taller herbiage there with a lower back lawn to offer the shorter grass ...

From my door to your home, I hope this time is as merry and bright as it can be under the current circumstances. This year's wreath is foraged greenery on a straw base with ornaments saved from previous ones. It's bearing up remarkably well after nearly 3 weeks despite no moss or oasis base to keep the foliage moist. New-to-me greenery used in this way are the Clematis 'Winter Beauty' I pulled from the pergola, plus lots of fragrant rosemary from a friend's garden. I spent a lovely morning at my neighbours recently where we all managed to create something beautiful for our front doors in aid of Dorothy House , a cause dear to her heart as they looked after her late husband so well. Enjoy the turning of the year towards the lighter days again and I'll see you in 2022!

  These tightly clipped trees have brightened many a lockdown walk as they remind me of lollipops. I've spent so much time smiling to myself when I see them that I've totally neglected to identify them. Sometimes it's good to just go with the flow and enjoy things for what they are. A closer look at what lies beneath reveals more formality in the shape of a traditional urn and circles of clipped hedge. These remind me of a similar sight at West Green House , where apple trees and tulips are planted inside similar circles and other shapes to make a spectacular show. I've wanted to do something similar for our front garden for a while, though my attempts at growing enough box cuttings to make a start were a dismal failure a couple of years ago. I think I'll start again with some Euonymus 'Green Spire' instead to avoid the dreaded box caterpillar or blight. I'm also toying with the idea of some Camassia or alliums within the circles and I await further i...

This was a local discovery by some of my friends towards the back end of last year. I knew I had to walk over sometime to see this cheerful tableau for myself and a couple of days ago I found the ideal opportunity during my ongoing quest to walk on every street in Chippenham. I hope it cheers you up too. I wonder what happened to Bill and Ben ?

This is a new addition to one of the local routes I walk on a regular basis. There are more questions than its presence answers... if it ever gets used I think we'll know about it! Update: I bumped into the owner on my walk the other day, a quite young chap who was loading it onto a trailer. He admitted it was 'a random purchase' made under lockdown as a project for him to get it into working order again. He was taking it to a friend's field to test it out, after all as he said, 'I'm not taking it onto the water until I know it doesn't leak'. Then it's off to winter storage, so this particular walk is set to look more normal again. Just replacing the skirt cost him £1,000 and by a strange coincidence one of my friends told me her dad used to make them when he worked for Avon tyres in Melksham.  What discoveries have you made out walking this year?

As promised last month , here's the latest wildflower addition I've found here at VP Gardens . We don't need to go far to see it because it's popped up at the edge of the front lawn, just a few feet away from our front door. There aren't that many orange wildflowers here in the UK in my experience*, so this time a simple Google of 'orange wildflower UK' came up with the instant answer. We're looking at Pilosella aurantiaca aka fox and cubs, the latter name is so much easier to remember! **   I guess it was only a matter of time before this plant arrived in my garden, as I've admired quite a few broad swathes of it on the grassed areas on our estate here in Chippenham. I now have a dilemma; whether to leave or not as it's invasive. The site linked to above has dire warnings about it, despite its attractive appearance: "This attractive member of the daisy family makes a wonderful display in summer when it appears on roadside verges and bank...

2020 is proving to be a spectacular year for wildflowers, not just in terms of their abundance, but also for new ones popping up. A few weeks ago I spotted this newbie peeping out of the shade in our front side garden. A closer look and I'd instantly consigned it to a member of the deadnettle family owing to its nettle-like, hairy leaves without the familiar tingling sensation when touched. There my identification would have stayed; thank goodness for blogging and Wildflower Wednesday to encourage me to investigate further! A quick glance at Plantlife's information on the red dead-nettle and I could see straight away my initial ID was wrong owing to the rounder leaves and rather pink flowers. It doesn't have the distinctive markings of my garden's plant.  I turned to my trusty Francis Rose and found the answer within a couple of minutes in the form of exhibit A on the page. The leaves and distinctive flowers mark it out as hedge woundwort ( Stachys sylvatica ) inste...

Most hanging basket guidance will give you a look that is burgeoning, beautiful, and relatively high maintenance. Last year's health woes meant I was not only later with planting up my hanging basket, there was also a limited choice of what I could actually put in there. Burgeoning was out and budget was in. Then I remembered the clever use of Bidens I'd seen on holiday at Bishop's Castle a few years ago. Luckily there was still some left for sale, and the pictured basket was the result of just one plant . Not only that, it flowered right up to December. I learned later that Bidens can be grown as a perennial in the UK, though we tend to use it as an annual. Sadly my plant didn't survive past the first hard frost, though if I'd moved it from its north facing position to a warmer spot in the back garden, I may have had more success with overwintering. Another accidental shortcut was my use of Dalefoot's Wool compost. Remember last year's drought?...

We're almost at peak snowdrop here at VP Gardens and I'm pleased to see the ones I've guerrilla gardened on the side bank are beginning to bulk up nicely. I plan to help the smaller clumps in the above photo and beyond by burying their seed heads into the leaf litter in a week or two's time. I love how the ones at the top of the side garden have begun to throw themselves over the boundary and join their cousins on the bank below. There's no helping hand needed from me here, but maybe I will. Meanwhile in the back garden, the planned combinations are beginning to take shape. I gave the cyclamen a helping hand a couple of seasons ago and they're beginning to take off in their allotted space beneath the winter honeysuckle. It's made me appreciate how much hard work goes into the enormous spreads of cyclamen I've seen underneath the trees at Hodsock Priory , and more recently at Wakehurst . This year I have another snowdrop dream... in t...

A huge pot plus a large-leaved Heuchera makes a striking statement in Linda Hostetler's Viginian garden I've always been struck by the bold use of pots at the gardens visited on previous Garden Bloggers' Flings and this year was another visual feast. The planting combinations are varied and exceptional, often using plants - such as coleus - I've dismissed previously as not my 'thing'. Unlike some Fling bloggers*, I have only a few photos to show what I've liked and learned from this year's trip. Instead, I've realised sights like the one above have influenced the simple summer pots I've put together since I got back. I've started on a makeover of my front garden and one of the tiny baby steps along that path is to replace the multitude of small pots on the ugly telephone junction box at the very front. I don't usually go for plastic with my pots, but I found this one more attractive to usual. Besides, I need to keep things rel...

We have several Cotoneaster horizontalis plants in the garden and just like the Unexpected Honeysuckle I wrote about for December's Blooms Day , I've never planted any of them. Cotoneaster has had a bit of a bad press because it features in many a public planting scheme. It's tough as old boots and as you can see thrives almost anywhere. I suspect the pictured plant and the others at VP Gardens were brought to us by passing birds, possibly from the roundabout in the middle of the estate. Another plausible explanation for the origin of the pictured plant is it's a seedling from the one which magically appeared in the large planter by the front door. Despite its proximity to our boots when we arrive home, it's definitely surviving against the odds. I think the photo reminds us of its virtues. It has glossy green leaves and an attractive habit. In the spring it bears a profusion of creamy flowers which the local honeybees love, followed by bright red berries...

I expect to see my winter honeysuckle starting to bloom at this time of the year, so it was a bit of a surprise to find this summer flowering version  instead on my walk around the garden this morning. It's a self-sown flower too, so it qualifies as a double  Against the Odds for my front garden this month. It suddenly appeared through my Euonymus 'Silver Queen' last year, presumably a gift bestowed by a passing bird. It must be a keen survivor as it germinated in a deeply shaded spot. The scent alerted me to the second flush of flowers appearing after its usual summer blooming earlier this year. It's not one of the most spectacular of summer honeysuckles in looks, but it certainly makes up for it in terms of scent. I'm undecided whether it'll remain in my front garden. Tough as old boots and scented plants are usually welcome, but like the old man's beard which has crept through from the hedgerow nearby, this one looks like it's set to dom...

A walk round my garden this morning revealed a surprising number of leaves are yet to fall

The blooms at VP Gardens are breaking all kinds of records this month, with all of my late season perennials hanging on and flowering in profusion. My garden's had just one slight frost so far this autumn, which hasn't been enough to bring these plants to their knees. I've been meaning to tell you all about my favourite fuchsia for quite a while, but I never imagined a November Blooms Day would be the ideal time to fulfil that promise. In most Novembers, the pictured blooms would be a soggy, brown looking mess by now. I adore the elegant simplicity of Fuchsia 'Hawkshead' . Its porcelain white flowers remind me of dainty ballerinas dancing across the stage. They're a more delicate looking form which belies their hardiness. I see the common name for this species is Lady's eardrops , and I've often thought the flowers would make great earrings. I forgot to prune the branches down to the ground in the spring and my neglect's been rewarded wit...