I like hebes, they don't take much looking after. There's ten here. Couple of newer ones, may graduate to ceramic pots later. This hydrangea suffered badly when we had that sharp frost three months back, which killed off all the buds, but it's "having another go." There's a couple of branches there which would lend themselves to layering. I've had success with doing that with azaleas in the past, so I might give it a go. These rhodos have put on a good show of new growth, it does help if you dead-head them as soon as the blooms start to die off. The foliage is a good colour too. Thery don't get any special feed. I just blow some of the dead leaves that fall from next door's trees that end up on the lawn to the back of the bed and let them rot down. The rhodos I "rescued" in Aldi last year, which were dying off in the store, as no one waters them, are repaying me for my kindness. The lawn's not looking too bad, but a bit patchy, it might be cat pee. A bit of moss in the grass next to the brick edging under the acer in the foreground, but I gave it a dose of iron sulphate today. It just dies off, I don't even have to rake it out, it gets picked up by the mower over a few weeks.
Magnificent flower spread, Loggie. Really good. Riley, I like Hebe’s as well. I do not have any. I am waiting for the opportunity to buy one. It must be the Hebe ‘Hidcote’. I like blue in the garden.
I used to have a thing for fuchsia’s. I still like them but do not collect them anymore. Still, they do have charm.
Yes I used to collect them, used to go to a specialist nursery but only keep a few now. I used to put them on their own but they look better with the geraniums.
There were two specialists here in the surrounding villages. I enjoyed making pilgrimages to the growers’. I had decorated the big balcony with them. What a thrill it was. There are so many types with so many different colour combinations and forms. It was a good addiction to have.
Oh Loggie, I looked back at your flower piccies again and saw the lavender. It looked like one of them was a Hidcote. I like to harvest the bloom stems when they are blooming-out. I mix them with the wood shavings in my bee smoker. It seems that the lavender may make them a tiny bit calmer. I would love to be turned loose in your lavender bed haha. Please excuse this covetous outburst.
