Taking the plunge

these look very good ~ i love that curved shaped one.

Lots of hard work there ... is the bed near the shed in shade most of the day?

The back is - the front part gets the sun from late morning. I'm looking forward to things spreading out a bit. Does anyone know how big a clump epimediums make?

Smashing blog Steragram.....you've done a grand job. I'm still painting everything before I start on the new bed or refurbishing the old one I should say. Was out painting in the gale winds this afternoon - I was a yukky brown colour when I finished.
Which epimedium Steragram. I planted a 9cm pot Youngium something or other in March - hasn't spread much - no more that 20cm so far. Hope this helps a bit :) Try the RHS plant selector page - that will give you a better idea.

p.s. You will not be disappointed with your Physocarpus :)

Nice to have so much "blank canvas" to make into flower beds... Lovely garden ... You're doing a grand job ... :o)))

You have worked hard,Steragram..it is looking great..Hope you didn't ache after all that digging !How lovely to have something new to plan,plantwise..that will be well worth all your effort :o)

Its looking good Stera. Its amazing how many plants are needed to fill just the small spaces isnt it? They will look great in a while, not sure if I can wait 5 years to see it though, Lol. :~)

I'm hoping I can Grandmage! You never know how long it will still be possible to keep a biggish garden under control when every year sees you with a bit less energy.
Scottish, I have three different epimediums (epimedia??), inspired by my visit to Kew earlier in the year. (Although I timed it wrong and they had finished flowering there was a lovely blog about them so I know what I missed) I hope you are not still yukky brown now. I don't think they do spread much which makes it expensive if you want lots!
Bloomer, yes I did rather, in fact slightly pulled a shoulder muscle but its better now.
Thanks TT, you'll have to bring your little helpers along to help me get it looking good.

Ooooh new beds steragram, thats exciting, you have worked hard there, those plants will fill out lovely :) will you be planting bulbs?

Looking good.
Love new beds - sounds like you do too Dee :-)
Hard work digging up turfs, isnt it, but well worth it :-)

I do Dawn, The possabilities, is that spelt right haha..I love to try new plants.

Certainly is hard work, but worth it. Just
hoping those turfs were buried deep enough - tempting to skimp a bit when you're getting tired!Yes I'm hoping to plant bulbs but haven't been shopping yet - am still recovering from my last trip to the nursery. I looking forward to the physocarpus being big enough to contrast with the crocosmia, which looks fabulous against the red leaves.I think its called Severn Sunset.

Dee: I know you love to try new plants and they always look so good.

Steve: Did you bury the turfs under the bed? That sounds a good idea. I've never done that, I usually stack them and let them rot under a shaded shrub until they compost down.

Thanks Dawn:) Im smiling at your comment about trip to the nursery Steragram :) Go to the pound shop or Lidl's, less hassle and cheaper.. What colour is the Crocosmia, im guessing orangy/yellow!

Bulbs have been or are currently on offer at Lidl and Aldi. I've had them in the past and they are good big bulbs and cheap. Dee, do you have Home Bargains too - I got some hyacinths from there for about a pound, like you say, Poundland are good tool

Yes Dawn we have Home Bargains, ill check it out, i need loads for the back garden, i think i dug most of them out last year! I have Hyacinths in the front garden and i bougt some more last week, The Scent is Amazing, They should be in by now, Shouldnt they? The winds have put me off :( I need to get all my bulbs in, now ill start to panic lol..

Hi Dee, yep, got my hyacinths a couple of weeks ago from Home Bargains and set them. Remember going in Wilko's straight after and in there they were double the price and you know Wilko's are good value for money. Hope the winds didnt do too much damage.

Sorry to read about your shoulder... But you have done a lot of hard work... looks nice already:)

Shoulder is better now, thank you. I'm looking forward to getting a few bulbs in, and wondering which fuchsias to move there. Hope your problem resolved itself to your satisfaction.
Scottish, just noticed I never answered your question about which epimedium. One is Acuminatum (lilac colour) and I can't remember the others - one a yellow common one and the other a white one, probably x youngianum Niveum. Not very helpful, but I don't know what I did with the labels. Hope they will turn up!

Steragram....the youngianum niveum should spread about 50cm - 20 inches in old money and around 60cm high (2ft). I planted one earlier in March, it was tiny and hasn't reached 30cm either way yet.
Can't help you with the others tho' sorry x
I'm sure the labels will turn up. I keep all my labels in a folder - now!!

Steragram....the youngianum niveum should spread about 50cm - 20 inches in old money and around 60cm high (2ft). I planted one earlier in March, it was tiny and hasn't reached 30cm either way yet.
Can't help you with the others tho' sorry x
I'm sure the labels will turn up. I keep all my labels in a folder - now!!

Thank you Scottish - I suppose the 20" high is just the flowers? I hope you get some flowers on your new one.

Dawnsaunt - Did you mean me when you said Steve? I am Sue. Yes I did bury the turfs under the bed. When I tried stacking them once before I finished up with a small grass grown stack which is still there - it has a hole in it that some creature is obviously living in and I haven't got the heart to move it! Its hard work though because you have to make the hole deep enough for the grass to not grow back up again.

I got a couple of flowers nothing worth writing home about tho' - delicate little ones.
I envy you your dedication at burying those turfs Steragram....I don't think I could find the enthusiasm to do this :)

It seemed easier than finding somewhere to stack them and then facing digging the stack out again when it had rotted. The flowers of Niveum shown in my book look lovely, so hopefully yours will be better next year.
Sue

Oh Sue, so sorry, I should go to SpecSavers! Why should I read Stera as Steve, tut. Sorry. Good idea burying the turfs deep, I'll remember that tip.

Not to worry, Dawnsaunt you are forgiven - Steve is a more common name, lets face it! Not very good for a female though. I shouldn't have chosen an obscure one and I wish I'd used a shorter one now.

The bit about the epimedium flowers was for Scottish - sorry about that.

Wish I'd put more thought into my name now too, nevermind, can't change it without re-joining (I dont think).

No you can't. Pity! I keep wanting to call you Dawn, but guess that must be your niece. I used my middle name backwards and put S for Sue on the front. A bit over compicated really.

Lol x

Oh so that's it,Sue..or Margaret.! Very clever..To be honest,
I often wonder why people choose their Avatar names..and I was going to post a blog at one point,asking just that..but thought it may be too personal.
I could have been Ardnas.!! .NOT..:o)))

Sandra, I posted a blog last year asking why members chose their names .... but as I was Megan75 then it has been deleted! ... I wonder if anyone saved it at all? ... Labdancer made us laugh at her choice ... one letter different seemed to be what most folk read it as! ...

Come to think of it I'm sure this was asked after my blog ... perhaps that member will read this? ... :o)))

I got the idea for mine from a lad who worked in the labs at my first job, who called himself piliph washnikrub (a couple of letters had to be moved round to turn it into Philip Burkinshaw) Its a nice way to remember him - sadly he died very young.
Nasus Teragram.

Mine is simple I am a Grandma--and GE are my initials!! Thus Grandmage. :~)

Quite disappointing really as a mage is a magician and a Grand mage must be a really powerful one!

You could still imagine me as that Stera!!! Lol. Nothing grand about me I'm afraid, just a simple old lady.

I always wonder how poeple choose their avatar names as well... Mine is simple - at some stage my friend tried to call me Kasy. But I always insist on Kasia, lol. My first account on GoY was Okasia, 'O' from the first letter of my surname. Re my job review - have written my disagreement letter, just waiting for my HR to come back from holidays, so I could hand it in.

Kasia is much prettier and i don't blame you for insisting on it. Good luck with the letter.

A simple old lady Grandmage? I somehow don't think so. For one thing a lot of my contemporaries refuse to use a computer and they are too stiff for gardening. Up the oldies! From now on you will be a grand magician as far as I'm concerned!!

I love that shed....all secluded and ideal for just shuffling about in.

Yes I'm very pleased with it. It had its first coat of preservative a few weeks ago to celebrate two years with us! Shuffling is the word at the moment as there are three bags of different compost on the go and they take u quite a bit of room. And i learned from bamboo last week that they need using up not keeping until next year which 've always done before.

Unused Compost does not have a best before date, it is rotting decomposing material. If you open a bag use it or add the excess to your compost for the next season

looks lovely Steragram bet the plants are enjoying this weather. Kasy nice to find you again i have missed your pics..:-)