Skip to content

I’m painting in nature

The new decking that my husband and I have had created in the garden over the last few weeks has made a massive difference to the way the house and garden join together, as well as connecting  the lounge and kitchen together more internally, amazing what a difference it has made…more than the sum parts of its total if that could be possible.

And after the guys had finished working on it I was able to dig out the border around it, as narrow as I could make it (as its high summer and the ground is as dry as rock to dig!!) but wide enough for the plants I had ordered to go in and give them room to grow. I am aware as they grow larger that the borders may come out a bit in a couple of places, but that won’t be til next year. 

Then came the fun part…the plants….

And some of those plants have been waiting for a few years to be planted there…because they came with me from my garden in South Derbyshire from before I got divorced, and have sit waiting patiently at my last house in Leicestershire to grow and become the beauties they have the ability to be. Two of them are a very very fragrant white flowered shrub whose name I have forgotten, but I remember how much I loved the scent of them. I took cuttings from the original shrub ten years ago, and seven grew, but four died last year in the heatwave that last summer brought when we were on holiday in France and hadn’t expected it or could do anything about it…the three that survived came with me to Kent, one was planted out last year in another part of the garden, and these last two are now ready to go into this border by the decking. 

There is also a pretty red rose that also came with me when I got divorced and has patiently waited in a pot to be planted out. 

But the other plants are new ones…bought via Amazon whilst we’re still restricted in lockdown and the Corona virus restrictions.. 

I have got a white Cistus, and a white Mock Orange (another very fragrant shrub!) and a white Hebe, and another white flowered shrub I can’t recall the name of at the moment, and of course in pride of place the Summer Jasmine that I also had at the house from before I was divorced, not that I am trying to replicate that garden at all, that was then, and this is now…but some of the plants are favourites of mine, and even though I had to leave them behind when I left that house, there is no reason why I can’t have new versions of them in my new life in Kent. As far as I am concerned a garden should bring pleasure, and this one will be as fragrant as I can make it to add to the sensual delight of it. And by the decking is the obvious place to put them! 

But this border isn’t going to be all white… although they follow on from a white clematis that is on the old part of the decking..there is a pattern there of colour following on…but I have also put into the border two of the “For your eyes only” Cistus roses which I have never seen before, and are a surprise and delight to me, as they are both orange, and pink, and have red parts to them, almost like a Mallow….

And as well as that I have put in some plants that I had never seen or heard of before about two months ago, a pale pink “Beauty Bush, that will grow very tall, and when I went for a walk around the village where I live and saw the most astonishing plant I had ever seen, bright yellows with browns and oranges, strong colours, against bronze foliage..they stopped me dead when I saw them in someones garden, and made me smile big time when I saw their vibrant beauty…but it was two months later when I saw an advert in a paper for “Peruvian Lilies” that I learnt what they were.. and these specifically are “Indian Summer” (well named!) so I ordered some of those, as well as other Peruvian Lilies in pinks, yellows, and creamy pinks…to compliment the others. I suppose I feel a bit more empathy for them as I’ve been to Peru….so that will be a lovely reminder in this mix of a garden of that trip.. 

So, those are the plants, all smallish except for the rose bushes…but they will grow… and be beautiful in their growth, and will be seen from the decking, and smelt from the decking, and grow up and around it, and will be fabulous additions to the garden (which was basically grass and hedges and a few trees when we arrived 14 months ago..). 

I can picture them, and feel that I’ve been “painting in plants”….. plants that will make this artist very happy…