Bracknell prairie - April to June

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Back in March, I wrote a blog on how I had replanted my front garden as a prairie. This new blog records its progress during the past three months.

We start on 1st April. The plants went in a week earlier and the whole area has been mulched with wood chips

By the middle of April, some of the plants are already starting into growth. The tulips were already in the bed and I intend to supplement them with more of the same varieties this autumn

By the end of the month, the tulips have finished and there is not much going on. I think I need to get some more bulbs to add interest for early May

By mid May, a few spots of colour are now appearing. Hardy geraniums are carrying a few blooms, while allium ‘Purple Sensation’ is putting in a show near the gate. I plant to add more of this allium all the way alongside the drive. A few splashes of red are provided by dianthus cruentus, although they would show up better against a background of green leaves

As a gardening acquaintance recently said, “I went away at the end of May and my garden exploded.” Everything has put on growth, the geraniums are in full flower, and salvia nemorosa ‘Caradonna’ has started its long display

And here we are in the middle of June. Plants are still growing upwards, more are coming into flower – euphorbia schillingii, agastache ‘Kudos Gold’ and campanula persicifolia (all on the far side of the bed so not showing up in the photo). The only maintenance required so far is the removal of verbasum seedlings from the previous planting in this bed that are coming up too close to new plants, and the odd weed

Now we reach the end of June and things are in full swing. Deep red knautia, veronicastrum, and geranium ‘Rozanne’ have joined the display, plus the first verbascum chaixii. There are one or two gaps that can be filled for next year (by bulking up the existing plants), but it’s coming together as the plants enjoy the sunshine after the rain earlier in the month

I’ll post further blogs (with photos) on this bed towards the end of August, and again in late autumn

• 28 Jun, 2019
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