It is the time of year when you begin to sit down with the catalogues and start to plan how you want the garden to look next year. Very soon we will be clearing this year’s fading annuals ready for planting out new bulbs and biennials.
It is often difficult to remember what exactly worked and what didn’t and so I have started to look back at the year’s photographs to see what struck me as note worthy at the time.
It is really very satisfying to do this and here are six combinations that seem to have worked particularly well in 2018.
One: Philadelphus and Clematis ‘Niobe’
Taken on 9 June 2018 this picture shows the striking combination of the purple Clematis variety ‘Niobe’ clambering through the fragrant white Philadelphus.
Two: Meadow style
This charming open meadow style planting was at its prime on 2 June 2018. It combines the delicate pink oriental poppies with mixed coloured Valerian (Centranthus), cottage garden blue/purple aquilegia and ox-eye daisies (Leucanthemum vulgare).
Three: Foxgloves in the rose garden
I would like to think this was planned but the combination of these tall (over 7 feet) Elsey Kelsey foxgloves with the rambling rose ‘Constance Spry’ was striking . The picture was taken on 16 June 2018. Next year’s Elsey Kelsey foxgloves were sown in June and will be ready to plant out in mid-September. I will certainly be placing these charming white and purple foxgloves here again next year.
Four: Nigella, alliums and foxgloves
Again taken in early June this relaxed planting of Nigella damascena, interspersed with Allium cristophii backed by foxgloves worked well. We tend to let the Nigella self seed each year and then thin them out in the spring to create this dramatic effect. It has real movement as the breeze travels through the garden.
Five: Hemerocallis and Clematis ‘H.F. Young’
This butter yellow Hemerocallis is one of our favourites. It is a slightly smaller plant than some of the other Hemerocallis varieties we have. The combination with this almost pure blue Clematis ‘H.F. Young’ works very well at the back of the small garden behind the house.
Six: Pond edge
The final selection here is a picture from the pond edge border. Yet more foxgloves (we like foxgloves!) sit wonderfully well with a large planting of sweet william (Dianthus barbatus), feverfew and the contrasting dark foliage of Persicaria ‘red dragon’. Just visible is the fresh green foliage of the cosmos which grows through to take over as the summer continues. The photograph was taken on 16 June 2018.
The Six on Saturday meme is hosted by The Propagator. Click on the link to see what other plant lovers are chatting about.
These are beautiful combinations. I especially like the Philadelphus-and-clematis and the foxglove-and-Constance Spry combinations. But all lovely.
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Just a lovely group of photos, couldn’t fault a single combination, but I especially like the last one.
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It’s everyone else’s photos I need to go through to plan for next year, like yours. I love the way you combine annuals with shrubs and perennials.
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What stunning combinations!
I’m about to plant white foxgloves with my pink roses after inspiration from Mottisfont where I visited in June. OMG that place has such an amazing walled garden.
I love the nigella combination. I started with loads of nigella but then nasturtiums took over! I will have to try this again. Absolutely stunning 6. Thank you for sharing.
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A very beautiful and inspirational Six. You’ve got us all thinking and planning…
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What pretty combinations of flowers! I particularly liked that with the nigella-allium-foxgloves. Thank you for all these ideas as it’s soon to prepare the garden for next year!
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Beautiful pictures and lots of food for thought
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All lovely but i particularly like the nigella combo. I tried to grow that this year but they did not transplant well. I’ll just sow direct next year.
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Yes Nigella certainly don’t like root disturbance. With the larger N.hispanica we have had some success in growing in small modules then planting out but you do need to let them grow large enough to ensure the root ball does not fall apart as you are planting out.
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