Hi and welcome to this w of normality or some semblance of normality as it looks like we will be in this for the long haul. Garden centres re ropened for the first time yesterday (Wednesday) which was most welcome. Personally I am not to rush there as the staff will still be getting used to the new way they operate and I don’t want to seem that desperate 😂.

On a personal level as I work in the service industry for hospitality it looks like I will not be going to back the work until the beginning of July. I will use this time like I have in the past few weeks in a positive way and will no doubt spend a large proportion of it in the garden and will complete a couple of small projects I have always put on the back burner. One of them being a tulip and Sempervivum mini bed.

This weeks mini blog concentrates on different borders I have in the garden..

1. Front border outside kitchen window.

I have a peculiar problem. I live in an ex council flat and I only have a front door which is around the back. I never know what garden to call my front garden or back garden. I guess the rule of thumb is the front garden is always the one to beside the road. There is small beds either side of the driveway gate. Both are only about 3 metre square. The beds get constant sunshine in the summer and hardly any in the winter. I think the beds are on top of the slabs but not 100% sure (will find out some day). They get really dry so I have migrated them to hold mostly drought tolerant plants. There must be about 25 – 30 plants in this bed. From a blue low growing juniper in the corner to a couple of dianthus, evening primrose, Geum, Scabacious, Rudbekia, Hebe, 2 Sunroses, several sedums and Sempervivums. This bed is filling in nicely.

2. Rear North Facing Shady Border.

You may see a theme with my borders but I like to pack a lot plants into them. This one is no exception. It’s crammed full of a lot Heucheras – I am getting quite a collection, Foxgloves, primulas, with a climbing rose and 2 honeysuckles on the back fence. The only problem I have got is there is an out of place Pycantha which does not do anything and might have to be moved. Oh an you can see the famous Brunnera leaf featured in the last SOS blog poking out the front left.

3. Main Border

The main border is filling in nicely again. This has 2 architectural plants in it a Lace Cap Hydrangea I bought for a fiver from Homebase and a shrub rose from David Austin called Tottering about Nicely. I have planted a Clematis Montana on the North facing shed wall you can just see. I will write more about the Clematis in this weeks SOS. The rest of the border is a veritable jumble of plants with many Geums, Foxgloves, Hellebores, Eryngiums, Bergenia and Alliums to name a few. The only change I have on this bed is to thin out some a Geums and plant something a little different from the norm.

That is it for this weeks mini blog. I hope you have enjoyed a virtual walk around my borders.

Thanks for reading. Stay safe and until next week goodbye.