MAGIC MOMENTS – WHEN YOUR GARDEN’S FLARING!
The blaze of colours are brief but the skeleton display left will linger right through the winter. For the moment though, much pleasure can be gained from the firey Acers of all varieties. In a similar colour range, the blooms of Chrysanthemums seem to explode riotously as most other border plants are beginning to rest. Some of the heathers turn orange and bronze.
In the woodland borders, lilac pink turtle heads add an odd, but valid touch to the fallen tree foliage. Shade loving white Cimicifuga seems even more unexpected, but then November is full of surprises and a number of shrubs and trees will also provide interest a world away from the ususal autumn colour. One of these is the Fugi Cherry with its sporadic spring-like blossom from now until April. The scented sprays of yellow flowers belong to Mahonias which make a statement in the late autumn shrub border.
On the patio, plenty of colour is provided by the use of small evergreens and dwarf conifers alongside heathers, ornamental cabbage and the all-time favourite Winter Pansies. These can all be enjoyed from indoors should the weather take a turn for the worse.
In better weather there is bound to be some reorganising which needs doing so take advantage!
Autumnal beauties not to be mist
1. Polygonum Vacciniifolium - A superb rockery plant with dense pink flower spikes set against woody red stems and increasingly red leaves during autumn.
2. Liriope Muscari - The thick clustered spikes of mauve flowers bravely sit amongst all the vibrant colours of fallen leaves. Has rather grassy foliage.
3. Peltiphyllum Peltatum - A moisture lover whose large umberella leaves change like traffic lights to amber yellow then russet before dying down. It does like shelter.
4. Actaea Pachypoda - This shade lover has fluffy white flowers in summer followed by clusters of white berries on scarlet stalks in autumn. Easy to grow.
5.Euonymus Alatus - A deciduous shrub with brilliant red autumn leaves. This shrub also has small purple and red fruits. Easy to grow in sun on a well-drained soil.
Tovey’s Tips
1. Keep an eye on forced bulbs and bring those with advanced shoots into a cool room at the end of the month. Hyacinths are a prime example.
2. Throw leaves onto borders and weight them down with homemade compost or well-rotted horse manure.
3. Brush leaves with worm casts off the lawn and lightly mow if conditions are reasonably dry.
4. Clear and rake over wild flower borders or meadows. Remove any persistent perennial weeds with a long weeding tool.
NOVEMBER is an ideal time to sort out herbaceous borders. Although the plants themselves are tending to die down, resist the temptation to cut back the old stems for now as they are a good indicator of height and even spread. This will help you put the plants in the right places.
The general idea is to keep the taller types to the back with an occasional tallish one near the front to add dimension to the border. Certainly, you will need to think about colour contrasts or complimentary planting and also consider the season or month of flowering.
It is an excellent time to divide large or congested clumps and replant the young vigorous outer portions in groups. Colour combinations do not usually come naturally to most people and only years of experience and experimentation will bring out the best in your borders.
However, the best harmonious planting often occurs accidentally. I have listed some combinations which I have personally found to be fairly successful over the course of a year.
January: Glistening white snowdrops over the dark bare soil.
February: Narcissus (February Gold) with purple Crocus.
March: Hellebores with the purple leaf Heuchera.
April: Dicentra (Bleeding Heart) with Drumstick Primulas.
May: Purple Alliums with golden Euphorbia.
June: Sisyrynchium with Lamium ‘Beacon Silver’ with blue Campanulas.
July: Hemerocalis (day lillies) with pale blue Delphiniums.
August: Pastel Achillea with ornamental grasses.
September: Caryopteris with orange Nasturtiums and yellow Rudbeckias.
October: Aster ‘Monch’ with Schizostylis ‘Sunrise’.
November: Macleaya (Plume Poppies) with Peltiphyllum Peltatum.
December: Physalis (Chinese lanterns) with Lunaria (honesty) and Nigella seed heads.
A sure way to keep your composture
THERE are many of you who will have a great deal of fallen leaves before too long and they can always be composted if you have a spare area of the garden. I like the idea of building one of those wire cages which lets the air into the heap. In most cases it would be difficult to make enough compost in an average sized garden, but composting leaves will still give you a reasonable amount of springtime mulching material or autumn compost for next year.
There are no special secrets to fast composting - in fact, you do not even need to turn the leaves. A couple of things which would help would be to use a mower to collect and shred the leaves and occasional watering of the heap helps. As for positioning, partial or dappled shade is best. An occasional sprinkling of garotta will help speed things up considerably.
In need of cold November rain
NOVEMBER will start off largely sunny but chilly with night frosts. It should then turn milder and cloudy with some rain, which is much needed for the garden. However, amounts could still be disappointing and a return to drier weather could occur by mid month. After that, we could do well again for sunshine but also further night frosts and perhaps some early snow flurries on easterly winds.
Things can only get wetter!
IN DECEMBER we shall explore seed heads of ornamental grasses along with scented early winter flowering plants. We will also have a look at some interesting varieties of holly. After the dry autumn, it should at long last be an appropriate time to move plants around and we’ll have a look at more plant combinations.
See you next month!
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