Thursday 17 May 2012

Berberis

A few weeks ago, many of you helped to identify my Berberis in the garden. It's funny isn't it, but once you know what something is, you see them everywhere! Having said that, I don't often see a specimen quite as fine as my own. When I was home and opened the curtains on the first morning I was greeted with a gorgeous sight and I am afraid that, as usual, the photo really doesn't do it justice. It's about 10 feet tall and a riot of bright orange flowers.



Tucked away underneath in a very unassuming position is a large clump of delphiniums and a mysterious rubber pipe. The rubber pipe disappears into the ground and seemingly does nothing. Odd.

Now that my garden is getting going as spring makes way for summer I am learning what plants I have already, a very healthy and well established purple geranium, tulip bulbs, honeysuckle and clamatis, sedum, primulas, mombretia etc. It is lovely to inherit these things and watch them come to life over the summer and I am sure there are a few more surprises to come.

I am lucky because although there are plenty of established plants in the garden, it is far from overgrown and has been left without much character and personality, making it easy to put my own stamp and ideas onto it. I once lived in a house with a garden so overgrown and chocablock and full of bindweed that I never really got to grips with it (just in a rented house, I didn't live there very long) and I am so happy not to have a similar experience this time.

14 comments:

  1. Awesome! Could that pipe could be some sort of watering tube leftover from previous occupants?

    Such a pretty tree. And I'm LOVING that old stone wall!

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    1. yes, the wall is beautiful, I'm going to put some alpine plants in the cracks.

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  2. In the back field behind our house there is a long hedge of 'Berberis', it looks amazing as you say...Thanks I can now put a name to it.

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    1. A whole long hedge of it must be beautiful.

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  3. It takes a while to get to know a garden when you first move somewhere - eventually though you will put your own stamp on it and it will become even more precious.

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    1. It will look better and better as the time passes and, just as you say, will become more precious.

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  4. You are lucky, indeed! I have bindweeds everywhere in my garden and can not get rid if them, no matter how much I dig and pull them out of the ground, the re-appear just a few weeks later. It makes my gardening very hard work at times.

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    1. They are so hard to be rid of, but your garden looks healthy and beautiful so I am sure you are slowly winning the bindweed battle.

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  5. That is the joy of gardening isn't it. Not only putting your own stamp on things but waiting to see what you've got. I'm glad I got hubby to make me some identifying colour coded canes as the snowdrops have now disappeared leaving only their little white tipped canes to identify where they once were.

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    1. I can't wait to see when things flower over summer, especially the massive purple geranium.

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  6. Its the a sapling or has there been a tree near to the pipe?
    sometimes they can be used to water plants!

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    1. It is under the berberis, so I suppose it could have been there to water, I will investigate further when I am home.

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  7. With that view over the fence, I wouldn't care what was in my garden, ha ha.

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    1. You are right, whatever i do with the garden doesn't really matter because the view is so good.

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