I know. You must be asking yourself “where does he get these weird names from?” Questions which I can’t honestly answer in full as I name areas in my garden in order to think about them “off line” specifically without describing them as “the patch at the end of the garden by the pool by the outside wall.” I think you will agree that “The Frangipani patch” is better, especially if I did a good job in getting other people to adopt them too; particularly my household and gardener. See, there is method to my madness!
Welcome to the “English Border.” The picture above is how it looked after I carted 8 or 9 wheel-barrow-fulls of sand and I was about to mix in two big bags of cow manure. This process took the whole morning and it was – once again – heavy work. I can feel every muscle in my body and my back has been complaining too. Never mind, the end result should be quite beautiful.
Like I said yesterday, I got a couple of lovely cycases from my friend Rami. I planted one in this border after completion and the other in the Buddha Patch.
This is how it looks on completion:
I intend to get this border to have two faces; one to be viewed and enjoyed from the living room, while the other from the garden. So the plantings in it will be low-high-low and you will notice that the hill I created tapers off at the front and the back to allow for this effect.
As the border is small(ish) I will refrain from planting too many perennials and dedicate it instead to mostly annuals. The perennials in there already at both extremes are the lovely tacomaria which I got for my 43rd birthday (two years ago) and I’ve planted the cycas at the other end. I think I will put a bush in the middle as an anchor and will look for something that butterflies like. I might even move the Buddleja davidii my wife brought back from Scotland in this location! Now that’s a lovely idea… onto that tonight!
