All Change In The Corner

The wallflowers and tulips in the corner border are starting to fade so it is time to replace the winter display with this years summer display.

The first few hours of the morning were spent digging up all the plants and bulbs. The wallflowers were taken to the compost heap, the tulips placed in trays to dry off until they are reused in the autumn elsewhere, the Cornus and Photinia were heeled in until they too are reused in the autumn.

The area was then forked through to remove all traces of the old display, a granular feed added and worked into the soil. Throughout the morning we had the company of a male blackbird who greatly accepted the worms our digging brought to the surface, feeding his family of four chicks hidden in the Hydrangea petiolaris at the back of the border.

Once the border had been prepared for planting, wigwams were created to support the climbers. The plants were then brought over from the nursery, placed out and planted.

By mid afternoon, with the last few plants still needing to be put in, the wind started to blow, the sky darkened and the heavens opened, scattering the team from the border to find the nearest shelter.                           

Half an hour later, the dark clouds gone as quick as they arrived, the last few plants were added to the border. This years display, already receiving positive comments by those who passed by whilst it was planted, has an edible theme mixed with flowers. Sweetcorn 'Rising Sun', Courgette 'Black Beauty', Chard 'Bright Lights', Lettuce 'Ultimate Mixed', Beetroot 'Detroit 6 Rubidus', Carrot 'Early Nantes 2', Runner Bean 'St. George', Sweet Pea 'Flying The Flag', Sweet Pea 'Fragrantissima', Sweet Pea 'Heirloom Bicolour', Cosmos 'Sensation Mixed', Nicotiana langsdorffii, Campanula pyramidalis, Purple Sage, Gomphocarpus physocarpus, Dahlia 'Bishop's Children' and Sunflower 'Giant Single'. Banana plants and Colocasia esculeta (Taro) have been planted to add structure to the edible theme.