Making space, filling space
We’ve had a busy few days in the Genus garden. For some time a large Choisya has threatened to block a path and crowd out a lovely variegated holly. We reduced it by about a half and although it looks rather bare, at least it gives the poor holly space to breathe.
Other plants threatening to outgrow their space were the numerous cosmos in the greenhouse that we potted on several weeks ago. We planted them out in the borders and with this mild weather they should soon fill out to give us non-stop flowering until the first frosts.
What is really catching the eye at the moment are the clematis on the rose arch. Clematis ‘Niobe’ and ‘Polish Spirit’ both flower at the same time and require such little attention but repay us with beautiful flowers that never swamp the host plant.
As a contrast Clematis cirrhosa on the back of the cottage is so vigorous that we have to constantly cut it back from the gutters. Vigorous, but easily managed, is the Clematis tangutica that grows on the front of the cottage. Its enthusiasm is easily dealt with; twelve feet of growth is cut to the floor every spring and it comes back happily to show off its yellow bell-shaped flowers in early September.
