February - A New Start

 I'm afraid my good intentions did not last long - February already. Still on with the show!

Instead of planting large trees and shrubs as we did before, I decided to go for perennials and small shrubs that would attract birds, bees and butterflies. I had fallen in love with the Salvia family and here I was with a large bare expanse of land just waiting for them. I was also keen to plant more roses and irises as my earlier ones were becoming either shaded out (roses) or over-crowded (irises).

Once the area was levelled and raked over, we shaped the edges, then laid some pavers through the middle. A few smaller plants had survived and I had planted bulbs during the autumn to give us some Spring colour  I didn't plant much that winter as it was cold and wet, but as the weather warmed up I started  choosing plants.

I put camellias along the back edge to give some wind protection and to my delight a lovely deep pink magnolia decided that it was going to live, though all that remained after the disaster was one broken trunk about 3 feet high.

By Spring we had some colour with some daisies, salvias and tulips.

With Spring here, it was time to visit nurseries and get planting in earnest. I had the bit between my teeth.

Liz Needle