Monday, 13 January 2014

Colouring in

The last few days have seen good weather, but with the promise of cold and rain to come, so I've been busy tidying up outside in advance of the change. There was very little colour in the garden apart from the brown of dead shoots and leaves - the winter jasmine began opening a few days ago, and that was the only bright spot. So I paid a visit to the garden centre and bought a few plants to add winter colour - plus some for ground cover. There's still a way to go, and I will need to buy in some more topsoil soon to top up planters and borders, but I'm pleased with what I've achieved so far.

Front doorstep 8th Jan
Front doorstep now
The pots by the front door have a few bulbs as permanent residents, but I usually put flowering annuals in in the spring. This time I wanted some immediate colour so have put in cyclamens and forced hyacinths. In the process of clearing out the pots I unearthed an enormously fat toad - perhaps the one which was lurking around the pots last summer, but much larger now! The trough to the left will house herbs again later, but for now has bright yellow pansies.

Along the driveway wall I've finally given up on the gooseberry cordons which I planted several years ago, but which have never amounted to anything - as the olive tree developed they were thrown more into shade so their lack of growth was probably due to lack of sunlight. In their place I've just cleared the patch and put in a few ground cover plants (Ajuga reptans atropurpurea) and - for now - some pansies. More pansies in the troughs add a bit of colour to the bay tree corner too.

I hope next autumn I will remember to put down a tarpaulin under the olive tree as the fruit ripens - olives, leaves and olive pits make a real mess on the white gravel! Each day I clear a small area but don't know if it will ever get completely cleared...

A few polyanthus and a couple of cyclamens have brightened up the planter against the front wall, and this will soon have a little more colour as the Japanese quince flowers.


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