Sunday 27 February 2011

west bed updates

Now that the mess from the flood has (mostly) been cleaned up and summer is quickly turning to autumn I thought I'd update on how things are looking.  The gaura needed to be tied back so they don't flop all over, and the lavender got its autumn trim.  The geum is doing ok, it wilts if it gets too dry and probably wouldn't survive one of our hot summers.
http://www.alexareynolds.com/garden11/westbedfeb1.JPG
This side of the west bed is thriving.  Look at the size of that colocasia in the corner, it's huge!  It's much happier there than the maple tree ever was.  The vitex has really surprised me with how quickly it's growing, too, hopefully by summer 2012 or 2013 it'll have spread enough to cast some shade around.  It's got lots of flower buds but they haven't opened yet.  The dichondra "silver falls" has realy taken to that bed, although it doesn't seem to want to spill over the front as I was hoping it would.  Some wild violets have seeded at the back of the bed and I've decided to let them stay, they form a nice dense green ground cover and love shade.  Some "weeds" can be very helpful.
http://www.alexareynolds.com/garden11/westbedfeb2.JPG
The Amazon Queen colocasia is going crazy too.  It makes this whole bed look very lush which I love.  The hellebores have held out well over the summer heat (the crowns can die back completely but mine manage to hold on), the plectranthus cuttings are really growing along and the ajuga "black scallop" are slowly spreading.
http://www.alexareynolds.com/garden11/westside1.JPG
Overall, not a bad effort.


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