The planter issues continue

The new bed is proving problematic, if it's not problems finding the plants, it's the central raised planter.  The idea was to build a poured concrete circular planter for the olive. It seemed simple, the plans put into action, but became obvious very quickly that it wasn't going to work.

Next up 60m of rope.

We had already made a circular raised bed out of several layers of bamboo barrier so it was more about the looks than strength.  The top was going to be the most important bit, and to ensure it was level we started from there.

Once the top row was all glued and set it was a much simpler case of wrapping the rope around and ensuring it was firmly up against the row above.

All done, and is fine, but I'm not sure. It needs to weather in, and for the plating around it before we can say for sure if it is going to work.

What do you think?

In the mean time, the plants are starting to go in. There have been a few purchases, an agave Blue Brian and a yucca rostata from Urban Jungle.  They turned up perfectly packed with no damage which is always a good start.  The agave is lovely, and I'm torn if it should be planted or not.  I'll do a post once I decide. Having got a fair few of my hardy agaves from them there is no doubt that Urban Jungle are one of the best the places to go in the UK for hardy agaves, and they have just added a larger selection of Cacti as well. Plus they have a great cafe, which I understand on colder days has not just blankets but hot water bottles.

One of the plants going in the planter is trailing / creeping rosemary, one of my local nurseries, the Palm Centre, had some in stock so I went down to get a couple.  Bad idea. visiting any tropical nursery means a look around their succulents.  In their yucca rostrata section was a double header, in the smaller / affordable size!  I looked at the price expecting it to be more expensive, but no. The same price as the single headed plants.

So now I'm the proud owner of a double headed yucca rostrata. It could be two separate plants, washing off all the soil would give the answer, but then I may be tempted to split them. So better to just keep it as a double.

At this rate I'm going to have to be supervised when I visit nurseries!

Time for the tough choices.

You can relax, this is not another episode of "Live or Die" but instead an update on the last problem areas in the rockery.  I have been looking at this yucca purpurea since spring. It has been leaning more and more since being plants.

It now almost perfectly mirrors the yucca rostrata and  with winter around the corner it was decision time. I thought about moving it, replanting it there and cutting the main plant off.  In the end I went with the final option and top cut it.

Doesn't look as good at the moment, but they seem to grow quickly for me,  so in a year or so the two pups will be nice and big.  The main trunk will be dried for a few days then potted up.

We have had such mild winters since these have been planted they haven't really been tested.  The top should root quickly and then can be planted somewhere to go wild. Has anyone seen a really big clump of these?

Anyway the real benefit of cutting the main stem is that I can now use a simple cloche to cover that corner this winter.

It hasn't been covered before, but the aloe polyphylla is just too nice now and I should be able to rig the cloche into an L shape so it covers the aloe, the yuccas and the agave parryi.  I'll probably set it up as a test and then take it down until we have cold or snow forecast, hopefully not for a long time yet.

Accepting it has to go

There are two large yucca rostratas in the main succulent rockery and while one has settled, the other has being going down hill.

I have been putting it off, hoping more water and food would kick start it. Sadly not and the time has come for it to be dug up.  It didn't take much, there were no roots at all and the first sings of rot.  But you never chuck a yucca away, so it is into intensive care for this one hopefully to re-root and get back to its best.

Doesn't look good does it.  I'll move it to the greenhouse over winter I think anything to give it a bit of a start.  Trunked plants like this a expensive and can't afford to loose it. Plus it was a real feature so need it back.

The problem with removing plants to bring the back to health is they leave a space.  What to do?  It could be left empty under the assumption the plant will back next year. The space is very prominent and it is going to be at least a year until the plant is looking anywhere near healthy again.

So replacement plant it is.  I purchased two smaller yucca rostatas a little while back specifically for this purpose.  Placing one of them into the spot showed it was not going to be as simple as a straight swap.

With no trunk the area is too messy, it just doesn't work with the kniphofia caulescens behind it. I have been unhappy with that kniphofia anyway, it hasn't flowered and continues to get bigger.  I expected it to be smaller, apparently not.  So it was going to be moved anyway. One problem solved, but what to put in its place. I'll solve that one next year, it gives an opportunity to do some end of year sales shopping.

So  yucca planted, with enough time to settle in before winter.  It feels a little strange to already be thinking about winter and if it is ok plant or not. It makes a massive difference though, the last thing succulents need is to be planted and then straight away get frosts or cold and wet.

Now keep you fingers crossed for the sick yucca. It needs all the positive thought it can get.

A quick trip to the Palm Centre

I am fortunate to live close to Kew Gardens and RHS Wisely so there is always something to see if I want a plant fix.  Interesting nurseries however are a bit rarer. There is however one good local one, The Palm Centre which usually has a good mixture of exotics.  Not having visit for a while, it seemed time to pop down and see what was new.

As the name suggests it specialises in palms, and they always have a massive amount of different size.

I do plan to get one of these trachys at some point in the future, but it is destined for further down the garden where the garage currently is.  So for now time to move on.

Next up where the chaemaerops humilis. There were quite a few of these, of various shades of green/blue.  One of these was going to come home with me.

Then it was on to see the yuccas, there was a big table of yucca rostratas.

It had cacti on one side and cycads the other.  There were some lovely yucca rostratas, including a few double headers.

This was one of the plants on my list, so I spent a good amount of time going though every plant and selecting the best.  They were on special offer as well.

You don't have to limit yourself to these small sizes.

The puyas were interesting, very blue in colour.

It is puya coerulea and there were a few of different sizes.  The problem with puyas is they are just so vicious with teeth all along the edge which have a nasty habit of catching you. So far I have managed to avoid any in the garden, but these were seriously tempting.

They had some really nice yucca filiferas.

I love them when they get that big, such structural plants. They also looked great against the brahea armata.

The nursery also has large fern and bamboo sections, but by now I was too distracted with my purchases to explore today. They do mail order as well, so well worth looking them up.

So what did I come home with?

The chaemaerops humilis is staying roughly there, the two yucca rostratas are for else where.

These were some of the bluest I have seen, hopefully they will stay that way.  One is set for the front garden, the other is sadly to replace one of my large trunked ones.  The builders knocked it out of its pot, and just pushed it back in during one of the wettest winters on record.  When I came to plant it there were no roots.  I thought it would be fine and re-root, but sadly was wrong and it has gone downhill this year.

The spear is still good, so I have decided to remove it and plant it up somewhere to be nursed back to health.  Obviously there is a slight difference in size between this one and the replacement, but I can't afford another one that size, and the small one should be interesting in that spot.

At the same time I picked a few pots, one for a plant a friend has given/lent me.  It is a lovely yucca whipplei.

It is staying in a pot and going in the front, so I thought I would re-pot to refresh the soil.

A quick trim showed it already has a bit of a trunk.  It is going to look great out on display. It may well be re-called to the original home when he sees this.

It has been a long time since I have bought any big succulents, so it was fun. They can all stay there until the weekend when I can plant and move everything around. 

Yucca and cordyline get in on the act

It is great at this time of the year, everything seems to be sending out new offsets or splitting. So it great that even the larger plants are at it.

One of the yuccas that seems to be getting more popular in the UK, is yucca aloifolia purpurea. The opinion on hardiness seems to vary, so far it has not done too badly and has settled into the succulent rockery.

Seems to hold its colour well, although will turn green if kept in the shade for any period of time.

Back in March I noticed an offset poking it's head above the gravel.  It has grown at a good rate and been joined by a second in the last couple of weeks.  The oldest now has a few leaves and is starting to develop the distinctive purple colour, the new one is just getting going.

If it carries on like this, it's gong to be a pest like the normal form.  Can't be digging up the offsets all the time.


The only cordyline currently in the garden is the more unusual cordyline karo kiri. Another of the test plants. The last one didn't do well in a pot over winter, this one in the ground was fine for this mild winter.

Please forgive the photo which makes it look like the cycad is growing out the top.

Photos on the internet show it as a clustering plant and someone in the UK has one which was damaged and sent out side shoots.  In fact when the original plant died, it sent out a few new shoots from the base. In the Uk you usually see them as solitary plants.

It needs to offset as with on one stem it's starting to look a little leggy, and in this garden that only ends one way: with the plant being cut up.  So was please to see that there are a few offsets / new shots forming form the base.

Lots of new shoots there to give a nice bushy plant. I am going to have to make sure I water and feed it over the first part of the summer to get some good growth, then consider what to do come winter.

All these new babies in the garden, it should be a much fuller rockery by the end of the summer. If it every stops raining that is.

A little time in the garden

At this time of year it is about sneaking hours in the garden when the weather permits.  We have warmer spring days, then it's winter again and the rain moves in.  At the moment time is spent between the front and back gardens.

In the back it is simply watching as the garden gets into growth.  I have covered the eremurus to keep the worst of the weather of.  I believe extra warmth also helps them flower.

There are now two shoots on the e. oase and they are growing at a good rate.  The e. stenophyllus have also shown up as well, On Saturday there was one little shoot.

I checked again today and there were three shoots, which is the same as last year.  It will be a great addition to the dry bed if these flower and there are fox-tail flowers scattered throughout it.

There are also signs that at least one of the hardy orchids survived.  The orchid trial was more about how they would cope with a dry gravel bed, than the cold. If they do come back then more will be scattered around to give something a little different in flower and leaf.

The wrongly named yucca aliofolia purpurea is looking a bit tatty, but the new growth is all good. I know it is not really hardy, but with the mild winter it was fine.  It is going to be tough to decide what to do if we do have a bad winter in the future. The first pup is starting to grow properly.  There have been a few false starts on pups, but this one finally seems to be sending out leaves.

This is not the most surprising survivor though, I'll do another post on that soon.

In the front the neighbours have been busy. Both sides have had their front gardens redone, mainly replacing walls and driving spaces, but they have cleaned up the beds and put out pots.  Ours now stands out as being decidedly scruffy.  As it was always the plan to do something about it this year we made a start on digging up the weeds and removing the builders rubble.

It was great to have my better half out there with me, although I think she regretted selecting the digging as the thing to help with.  As with the back, the so called "cleared" garden turned up a man-hole cover, lots of whole bricks, bits of ply-wood. All conveniently buried a few cms below the surface.

Having finished that bit, we turned to admire our hard work, only to see the rest of the garden still un-dug and mocking us. You see I told you it was scruffy and needed to be sorted.  I have no idea where the foxgloves came from, there were none in the garden before or in any of the gardens around, but they obviously liked the free run.

We don't really have a plan yet, probably a mixture of gravel garden, orchard, and bee friendly planting. As we dig it over, we are looking through books and pictures online, pulling out plants we like and ideas.

The butlers sink is a gift from next door.  During the clearing up they found it and offered it to me to plant up.  This is the second one I have, the first was going to be placed on the gravel section, but with two I may have to do something in one of the other sections.

The rocks are left overs from the main rockery.  They are to be used to form the shade rockery in the back, another project that needs to be completed, or should be started, once the weather settles.

Yet another day of digging and moving rocks

It seems to be that days in the garden involve hours of digging and sorting soil, or moving rocks. Today did not disappoint, with real progress on the main succulent rockery. The idea was to build a bank up to the top of the patio wall and continue it around along a new wall down the fence line.

The photo above shows the area ready for work.  The plan for the day was to start the bank and see if it would reach the top of the patio wall.  It started ok, but very quickly became clear that there was not going to be any where near enough material to bank all the way to the top.

I have been given strict instructions not to put anything sharp near the top of the wall, it will form a seat for the table, and it would be a shame to spike anyone sitting there.  With the lower height and saving the big agaves for the far corner it should be save.

Sadly even with the reduced height I am going to need to sort out some more ballast; we are down to the last pile of builder rubble and that is almost gone.

That lot is not even going to get me to the fence, so it is time to think of a back up plan.  In the mean time I can plant up the first bit and it will give me an idea of how much soil and gravel I am going to need.

With the first part getting there, the patio end to the garden is starting to pull together.

There is still a way to go, but hopefully I'll meet my deadline of getting the succulent beds built and planted before the end of July. I have strict rule of no planting succulents in the ground after July; it gives them time to settle before winter and they have a better survival rate.

It is good to have the yucca rostratas back again. They have not liked the move and being in pots. Given they drop their roots as soon as you suggest touching them I guess it is no surprise.

A major case of plant and gaden envy

One of the main reasons for the weekend in Norwich was to visit Keith and Melissa's garden.  I have posted about it a few times before, mainly here and here. Melissa makes my obsession look like a passing interest, there are succulents EVERYWHERE. Mind you it helps when you have so much space to plant them out not to mention one or two greenhouses.

This is not exactly the best time to visit her garden, the covers have only just come off, and the jungle and fern areas have yet to fill out.  Given the mild winter and early spring it was however looking the best I have seen it on these early tips.

So starting in the cactus house. Lots of very happy plants in here.  It has filled out a bit since the last visit, but there is still space for a few more plants.

This aeonium looks really strange, it seems to be forming new heads, but the rosettes are not opening. I don't think it is a weird flower. 

I have a massive soft spot on this form of agave titonata.  It has a great colour and lots of good teeth and who wouldn't want one that size! Sadly they are not at all hardy and space limits what I can bring inside.

This variegated aloe arborescens is one of the plants that got me totally hooked.  Years ago now, she posted a picture of it and it was love at first sight.   It should have formed an amazing clump by the end of the summer. The cacti on the right  reminds me of "cousin it" from the adams family.

She has recently started planting up unusual pots to enter into her local cactus and succulent society meetings. Apparently no one else does, so she always wins.  This tea cup is one of her larger ones. Her latest was an tiny snail shell.

The cactus house is on the edge of sunken garden.  Both were finished last summer and the mild winter was a welcome break to allow the plants more chance to settle.

The dalmatian puppies are all grown up, but still have their puppy energy. Apparently they are not ones for sticking to the paths and have formed their own tracks through the undergrowth.  Thankfully the sunken garden is mainly dog proof. There are so many lovely plants there including this aloe polyphylla.  It is strange that some spiral young and others take a lot longer (mine seem to be taking their time as well).

The cycad corner still looks great. I can't wait to get my cycads in the ground like this, almost more than anything they add an exotic look.

One of her larger agave parrasana which is almost perfect. It is a good combination with the ice plant and looks really blue against the bright green.

Typically Melissa got there first on the pines, although we have spoken about them before, so maybe I can claim she stole my idea. This dwarf blue one looks great, there are a few around the garden, explaining why Urban Jungle didn't have any when I was looking for them.

The other greenhouses are still in winter mode, so it would be unfair to post any photos in there, instead moving onto the main succulent plantings. Melissa has been trying to convert me to having some cacti outside and this one shows why. It is amazing what you can grow with a simple rain cover for protection.

At this time of year there is a lot of colour, from the alpines.

I am so jealous of these mounds, there are a few scattered around which are all doing well. I keep killing mine, maybe they don't cope with my flood or drought type watering.

Onto the bank and some of the agaves are a really decent size now.  Last summer and the mild winter means there are all in good shape. I am certain it makes a massive difference to hardiness if plants have a good summer to put on some growth and then a gradual led into the cold giving them a chance to shut down.

One of her groups of agave montana, I thought mine looked good, these are even better. I am guessing they must be some of the biggest in the UK.

Back towards the sunken garden on the middle path and there are more pines.  Are you seeing how well they work yet?

If you don't like the blue creeping forms, you can go for one of the cone or bush shapes.

Finally my favourite yucca this year. It is strange I usually just walk past this one, but this year have added it to my list of plants to find.

The middle path takes you via the green roof which was already looking good.  The alpines are just getting going here.

It is always worth the drive to visit the garden and Melissa and Keith are great hosts.  My only complaint is the plant and general garden envy I always leave with.

To finish a couple more pictures of the dogs, I know there are a few dog lovers who look in.