Finally finished off clearing up the back courtyard and the roof terrace, in preparation for winter and early spring.
Out go the old tomato plants, the potato plants, peas and butternut squash. In go daffodils, snowdrops, winter aconites, glory-of-the-snow, iris reticulata, crocuses, kaffir lilies and some grasses.
I also placed a winter jasmine out the front of the house and put some cyclamen hederifolium at the base of our magnolia the previous weekend. So we have a bit of colour to keep us going until the jasmine blossoms, which, fingers crossed,will continue up until the first of the spring flowers.
I was, though, disappointed at the lack of an even half-decent garden centre / nursery near to Brighton. Instead, as I was in a bit of a rush to get my hire car back in time, I had to put up with a quick search in Yell.com and ended up going to Wyevale’s. Although I managed to get a few of the above whilst there, there was precious little on offer that really made me stop in my tracks and tempt me to throw one extra plant in because it was so irresistable. It was like the plant equivalent of wandering around your local supermarket, compared to the nursery run by the local gardening eccentric – itself the equivalent, perhaps, of the most exquisite of delicattesens.
Once more, the homegenisation of the UK’s retail outlets. I will have to find some decent nurseries and get back to you.