A dramatic splash of colour

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As reported in recent blogs, the garden is in a bit of a limbo at the moment, with a few things providing some end of summer colour while some of the deciduous plants are starting to change. In fact, since my last blog, the hamamelis has quite quickly moved into full autumnal mode, as you can see from the pix.

Originally, when we were looking for a not too tall shrub-tree to put into one of the borders to replace the leggy forsythia, we selected a hamamelis for two things: its very early spring flowers and its autumn foliage. In fact, for various reasons, it didn’t get planted in the border as intended, but was put into a large pot where it has thrived. And it has fulfilled its intended role: in the very early spring, it puts forth some burnt orange flowers, the buds of which can be seen in this pic, which have a lovely scent. And, as can be seen, it really does perform in the autumn.

One of the advantages of having pots is that they can be moved around (well, the heavy ones call for serious effort). So, yesterday, I moved the hamamelis so as to be in our sight line from the dining room, and the salvia merleau, which has been so good, has now exhausted its flowers, with very few remaining, so the mother plant was trimmed back and moved to give space for relocating the hamamelis.

I suspect that with the installation of the new fencing when I return from my forthcoming trip to Australia and Viet Nam, there may be some significant rethinking of some of the planting in the garden. Whether that will involve actually positioning the hamemelis in a sunny spot in the border remains to be seen, because of course we’ve also acquired a pink hibiscus which has a candidate spot there. Oh, heck, decisions, decisions….. But decisions that can be put off for now while we enjoy this brief, dramatic display of colour.