This month the effects of Storm Bert and Storm Darragh on our garden, and some winter colour. Storm Bert at the beginning of December came from the south – not a direction we normally get our 65+mph winds, and it caused not only the fence to go over – which if it had ONLY been windy from the south would have blown away from our plants into next doors’ garden, but the billowing gusts spun the fence around, and in its dance it flattened one of our climbing frames to the ground (and the climbers on it – two large honeysuckles, and a Pyracantha coccinea ‘Orange Glow’, over the top of a couple of rose bushes, the Cardoon, (Cynara cardunculus); Echinops ritro ‘Veitches’ Blue’; Geraniums, including Versicolour and Endressii; and Crambe cordifolium. The latter four mentioned being hardy herbaceous perennials I wasn’t too worried about, but the rose bushes might have been snapped below their grafts…. never mind the climbers might have been snapped at the base. When the storm abated this is what I found:-
Whilst temporary fence repairs were effected, I left the plants where they were. Following Storm Darrah, the green you can still see standing behind the second section of fence, also came down, the storm having snapped not only our temporary fix, but more fence posts/sections away. Here was what the climbers looked like from behind (i.e. next door): –
You may be able to see not only how tangled through the climbing frame this was, but how it had fallen over the honeysuckle on the five bar gate at the left of the photo. The only way to proceed was to dismantle the climbing frame and unthread the wood from the plants.
This is what the stem of the honeysuckle Lonicera periclymenum ‘High Scentsation’ looked like after we dismantled the climbing frame from around it (it being the easiest to do as it displays a more woody type of growth than the Lonicera periclymenum‘Graham Thomas’ you can see here which is more twiggy/tendrilled in habit:-
As you might imagine, the combined weight/size of the climbers’ growth meant I couldn’t lift them all up together and push them back to reattach them to a new climbing frame. They had to be disentangled one from the other (and a lot of material cut out in the process.) The easiest was the Lonicera periclymenum ‘High Scentsation’, as it was reduced to its main stem – as you can see from me holding it up to the new frame:-
You may be able to see here one rose looks safe beside the tied in honeysuckle, and also, just how much growth there was in the other climbers still to put back up.
However, I would REALLY not recommend wrestling with a Pyracantha, never mind how many gloves you have on – it is not called a firethorn for nothing, and I still have thorns in my hands that went so deep I was not able to dig them out and have had to leave them to be grown over. At least it doesn’t cause festering like Blackthorn thorns do. It was extremely difficult to separate the Pyracantha coccinea ‘Orange Glow’ and the Lonicera periclymenum ‘Graham Thomas’ as they were really really entwined in growth. If you look below, the lighter stems are the honeysuckle, and the darker ones the Pyracantha:-
But here they all are back up again – though tied to the front of the supports, rather than through and round the back of them:-
This photo really shows the difference in growth habit between the two honeysuckles – with the deciduous ‘High Scentsation’ on the left of the photo with its more stubby woody shape stems, and the evergreen ‘Graham Thomas’ with its mass of tendrils that the birds love to nest in on the right. Time will tell if all the battered stems survive, but not one of them snapped completely through, not even the Pyracantha! You will be pleased to know that the strong winds we had on New Year’s Eve did not cause either the climbers, the frame OR the replacement fence post/fencing to come down. Nor did the battering we had with Storm Eowynn, or Storm Herminia shake them loose from their frames, so fingers crossed, they survive the rest of the winter weather.
In terms of winter colour, here is one of the “usual suspects” – Mahonia x Media “Winter Sun”:-
And another being the Black Grass, Ophiopogon planiscapus nigrascens :-
A shrub that himself is very taken with is Callicarpa Bodnieri Giraldii ‘Profusion’ – for its absolutely amazing berry colour:-
We first encountered this plant in the Hillier Arboretum Winter Garden in Romsey, perhaps 20 years ago, and my initial thought was they were a “prank”, someone had put plastic berries on the shrub. But no, they really ARE that staggering metallic purple. They certainly don’t seem real to me – and the birds leave them until the very, very end of the winter too – good for a colourful display in your garden? This year is the first time I have seen them for sale prominently in the garden centres – perhaps they have cracked the mass propagation of this shrub and can offer it widely.
A less extreme version of metallic berries that I found in a winter garden visit this year was of this shrubby lonicera – Lonicera ligustrina var pileata ‘Blue Pearl’ first a wide angle to show the habit then a close up of the berries:-
Much more “realistic” looking to my mind!
Trying to steer clear of the plants I usually show you each year – how about this yellow-flowered hellebore – Hellborus x hybridus ‘primrose-flowered’:-
Or this reticulata Iris, Iris ‘Harmony’:-
In Galanthus news (well, it IS February!!!) I went out on New Year’s Day to see how they were doing, and some clumps of Elwesii snowdrops (particularly G. James Backhouse) were already well up, and beginning to colour slightly under the Pear Tree:-
As were my Greatorex Double G. Hypolita:-
We then had the two-week freeze, and when I rechecked progress on 17th January, the James Backhouse were not any more out – though more elwesii snowdrops were pushing up as you can see: –
But progress was much more noticeable on the snowdrops under the acers – here is G. M1 well out on 17th, with the G. Hypolita in the background:-
Since then each day more and more snouts poke out, and more and more flowers are opening. We visited a snowdrop garden locally which is in a valley position in full sun (as opposed to my east-facing slope) on 1 February, and the snowdrops there were in full flower. My G. nirvalis (as opposed to specialist early types like those mentioned above) still look like this:-
So it just shows that though we are within a few miles of each other, aspect (ie valley bottom and full sun compared to easterly hilltop slope) makes a huge difference in snowdrop development. We are visiting other snowdrop gardens, in the early part of February, so next month I’ll tell you of my snowdrop purchases, and talk about two different propagation techniques for plants that have winter interest.
Sheila May
