I planted some dahlias in the front beds, white pompom ones for Snowy's bed and pinky white ones in the Chinese Toon bed. There were three lots of tubers in each packet.
I have also found some more hellebores for $5 each (thank you, Warehouse) so they are underneath the apricot tree. They are oriental breed called Lenten Bouquet.
Finally I planted some festuca grass, called Banks Peninsula grass, as I saw them on a roadside bed and I just love the colour, for my rock garden. I moved a trough to the back of the rock garden against the house. I am arranging my plants for a more pleasing effect. I have decided that, I will have a glaucous color scheme for the rock garden...(glaucous is my new word) so most of my plants will be bluish green. This includes olive, metrosideros tahiti, succulents, hens and chickens, borage, carnation and lavender. I will have white alyssum come up through the gaps.
I am planning to visit Ayrlies with my friends in September. I have gotten over my plant envy and think, well, having such a huge garden must be a lot of work to maintain, so, maybe it's just as well. I remember David L Culp's garden where he had a garden seat and never got to sit in it!
I have one more episode to watch of Around the World in 80 Gardens. Monty is going to visit South East Asia. The two most well known gardens in England he had visited were Rousham and Sissinghurst. Rousham is the epitome of Capability Brown landscape garden design complete with magical woodland, follies, sweeping vistas and classical statues. It's a grand manor garden that only the very wealthy aristocrats could afford to create.
Sissinghurt is THE quintessential English country garden. It has everything, garden rooms edged in buxus, set in an old fashioned castle, roses, herbaceous borders, hedging, topiary, pergolas, and randy English people getting it on. (Well, that's what Monty thinks, I'm not sure about the last bit myself, but I suppose so.) The most famous of the different gardens in Sissinghurst is the white garden..where all the herbaceous plants have white flowers. They set the green of the foliage off and give the garden a dreamy, romantic air at night. As white flowers are the most strongly scented, the whole garden is suffused with scent. I think this is lovely.
I think of constructing a lover's garden, with little bowers for romantic rendevous and valentine flowers, like bleeding hearts, love in the mist, love carnations and forget-me-nots. Little topiaries clipped in heart shapes. Jasmine trailing the walls. An ivory tower for Rapunzel, complete with ivy. Rambling roses for Sleeping Beauty. A dovecote for lovebirds. A wishing well to grant one three wishes. A tree to carve ones initials inside a love heart. A Swan Lake that will freeze in winter to become a winter wonderland for ice skating couples. And a balcony with window box full of geraniums for Juliet to look down on Romeo serenading her outside. I will call it 'Kissinghurst'.
