Six on Saturday: Pots and Edits, Mostly

14.09.2024 - 23:11 / ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com / Cathy

As well as what could be classed as ‘projects’, there is a tendency for minor editing at this time of year and, on the whole, I feel the borders generally have been improving in recent years because of this.  I daresay I will never be completely happy with them and inevitably there will always be changes to be made, but at least there seems to be more cohesion to them these days and I don’t have an issue with removing plants that no longer bring pleasure. The bold borders have certainly come a step closer in their boldness, although some editing is still required in the one to the left of the gate (above), where an over-exuberant geranium has been swamping the new Geum ‘Totally Tangerine ‘ in front of it (below); moving the geranium further back in the border will be a first step.

An offset of one of the echinops in the blue & white border was planted out in the other bold border only a couple of seasons ago but now matches its parent and has been removed, creating a gap for a new phlox, a rejuvenated Clematis heracleifolia and, courtesy of Allison of  Frog End Dweller, a division of Salvia ‘Emperor’, all of which have been lurking in pots for a couple of months.

I have dropped a number pots into the borders this year, partly because I hadn’t yet determined a fixed place for them, although some will remain in their pots, particularly for overwintering. I very nearly didn’t keep Salvia ‘Phyllis Fancy’ because it never survived winters outside and never started flowering until September, but I overwintered it in a pot last year and dropped it at the back of the above border where it is just beginning to flower, so will continue with that regime for the time being. Hardy chrysanthemums, however, of which I have almost