Sunday, November 8

Reddish and yellowish

We haven't really been satisfied with the bed alongside the garage for a while now. It's the bed marked R/Y on the plan below. The R/Y designation will come clear later.





The bed had never really been thought out and viewed from the window disappeared behind the large bamboo and camellia.
The banana was in direct line of fire of any strong winds that ripped the leaves to shreds and the bed was filled with crocosmia and heuchera that had resulted from plants being split and there being nowhere else to plant them.

We decided that late summer/early autumn colour in the garden and decided that this bed would address that failing. We also decided on a red and yellow colour scheme (R/Y)

The first task was deciding what to keep. We moved the pieris and kept a poppy, some day lilies and some crocosmia Lucifer and Solfaterre.The camellia was pruned hard and although it has pale pink flowers as it flowers early it wouldn't interfere with the red and yellow autumn theme. Everything else was moved out
We had already bought some perennials last year in readiness and these had overwintered in the greenhouse. By the time we started planting in early June some of those plants were large enough to split into two.
We didn't have enough plants to fill the bed and so gradually bought more until the bed was more or less full.
I wanted some variety of flower and leaf shape and so bought what I thought were a yellow and a red lupin. Unfortunately they turned out to be cream and pink. The cream one may have to move but the pink may just be allowed to stay.
The plants grew really quickly, some much larger than expected in their first year.
Eventually I decided to remove the poppy as once it had flowered and been cut back it left a large 'hole' in the planting. A couple more plants were bought to fill the space.
One disappointment was that I couldn't find helenium Ruby Tuesday and so bought Chelsey instead which according to the label was also red. It turned out to be a bicolour which, especially as the red astrantias didn't flower this year, is a bit overwhelmed by yellow.
The persicaria in the above photos was sent to me by Angie and has grown at an incredible rate. It is only one of the four plants that I grew from the piece that she sent me so thank you Angie.

Although the aim was for late summer/autumn colour I have also planted some miniature daffodils and some tulips to provide some early interest.
So why reddish and yellowish? It is extremely difficult to find perennials that are truly red and so some pinks and oranges have sneaked into what is now more of a warm border.

I gathered together photos of some of the flowers planted in the bed - the geums and astrantia haven't flowered this year.
I must admit that I was surprised by how many there were. Have you a favourite red or yellow perennial that I ought to try to sneak in?

The bed is still providing colour in November so even though some tweaking is needed I'd say that was a result.

Copyright: Original post from Our Plot at Green Lane Allotments http://glallotments.blogspot.co.uk/ author S Garrett

21 comments:

  1. I'd say that is a FANTASTIC result! Like you, I have had one or two occasions when plant labels have given inaccurate information. Suppliers maybe don't realise how important it is to us gardeners to have exactly the right thing...

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    1. At least the plants were healthy specimens, Mark.the rudbeckia was actually only one plant which I split into two and it has made to huge plants. I am hoping that the plants make it through the winter now.

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  2. It's so annoying to buy a plant and then find out it's something different to what you thought. The bed's looking great though, I think rudbeckias are great for huge splashes of yellow and I bought a yellow aquilegia this year which I'm very fond of.

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    1. I was really going by the photos on the Internet, Jo. I have planted some yellow aquilegias that I grew from seed. They are in amongst the other flowers near the front but they haven't flowered yet this year.

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  3. Wow, what a lovely job you've made of it. I know you're ambivalent when it comes to dahlias, but I do love Bishop of Llandaff. Rudbeckia Cherry Brandy is lovely, but only an annual I think. And there's a red echinacea, Tomato Soup, which I've thought about growing but not tried yet. I've been slightly put off by my failure to grow a white one, I suspect echinaceas may not like me. I shall look forward to seeing the bed next year.

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    1. We bought the red echinacea the year before last , CJ and it died on us. We were warned that it probably wouldn't over winter in our soil. We have the Bishop of Llandarf and were contemplating planting that too but it would need taking up for the winter.

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  4. Definitely a result! I rather like it when a colour scheme drifts a bit, otherwise it can look too staged. Yours looks the business. Which is the helenium seven photos down on the collage, right hand side? Is that Chelsey?

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    1. Eight is Chelsey, Jessica as is the second photo down on the right. It seems that the flowers change colour but not all change to be as red as the one in the second photo.

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  5. I am often seen wandering around gardens with a solitary bloom in my hand trying to find some happy bedfellows for it, because even with the best photos in the world, the light plays havoc with certain shades of plants.
    What an improvement to your border! I think my favourite yellow flower this year has been Scabious columbaria subsp. ochroleuca. It's a pretty little thing. It's not an almighty yellow, it's far more delicate. Also there are some lovely red grasses - Panicum virgatum.

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  6. I am afraid that we must be two of the only people in the universe who are not into grasses.

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  7. How disappointing when you buy a plant only to find out later that it flowers a different colour. I had a friend who bought what she thought was a white wisteria, only to find out when it first flowered year later that it was blue. She took it back to the nursery! However it is really exciting to redo a bed or border, more so than a room in the house. I'm sure you'll enjoy your new planting. I might have squeezed in a blousey fuchsia or a bright red sedum for later in the year.

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    1. We did buy a sedum, L but it died! When we bought our magnolia it was supposed to be a purple flowered variety but in the end it turned out the normal pale pink. The trouble was it was a couple of years before it flowered.

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  8. Goodness me, I'd certainly say that's a result! I was astonished at how well everything performed! How lovely to see all those stages....you need to get round here and sort me out! I love the addition of the bulbs.xxx

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    1. It was fairly astonishing took us to, Dina.

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  9. Great when a plan comes together.

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  10. Wonderful job! I love seeing befores, durings and afters - they are so inspirational. One of my favourite red flowers is the red cardinal flower (lobelia cardinalis) - it's a North American flower, so I'm not sure how prevalent it is in the UK.

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    1. Lobelia cardinalis is available here, Margaret. The fifth plant down on the left is a lobelia but they didn't have the variety Cardinale at the nursery visited.

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  11. Great job! Definitely a result! I all all the flowers!

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  12. Hello again Sue, well I’d say this is definitely a result too! I love playing around with new plantings also. I wonder how it all looks now – how quickly a border can change at this time of year especially with all the rain and winds.

    I’m not really a red or yellow fan but it is beginning to move in. For the height you probably need I’d pick the lovely bell stems of Penstemon. I like the dark reds but did enjoy the vibrancy of ‘Etna’ in my front garden for a few years.
    Hope all is well with you :-)

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    1. Hi, Shirley the bed is a little bit battered after this weekends rain and wind, correction quite a lot battered . There are still a few rudbeckia and persicaria flowers and one or two other things bravely standing.
      I haven't really gone for red and yellow in the past either but for late flowering plants it seems those are the sorts of colours that are more common.
      I do have penstemons in the front garden and I did wonder about that as an option. I will look up Etna
      I think once the red rose on the back gets going at least that will give it a little bit more colour balance.
      Things are quite complicated with me at the moment but I hope all is well with you. I will probably post and explain more later.

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