Few things beat the excitement of buying new plants! Some have been sitting on a wish-list for a while; others just catch your eye when you're at a nursery or event. They're all guilty purchases, but what the hell?! They look too beautiful to resist. Here's a selection of some of the newest, most scintillating specimens in my collection...
I love Jacob's Ladders. This beautiful, purple-leafed form Polemonium 'Bressingham Purple' was in the 'close-to-death' section at Sprowston Garden Centre. Its glorious foliage and contrasting lilac flowers was just the thing for my middle bed...here you can see it against the backdrop of the Berberis.
A couple of gorgeous new grasses have also been added to our ever-growing collection. This Festuca paniculata is very unassuming, but thoroughly charming. While the grass below is a very exciting new addition. We saw it running through the boggy section of the pond at Hoecroft Nursery, asked what it was and if they had any for sale. They didn't...cue momentary dejection and disappointment...only to be told they'd happily dig one up and bring it on for us!! So kind!! Four weeks later we went back to pick it up, and browsed other plants at the nursery first, as we always do. Then we went to pay and browsed the plants nearest the buildings, as we always do - the special plants set aside for peoples orders, the plants we're not allowed to buy, but always want to! There, amidst various little delights was this eye-catching grass. 'What's that?!' we asked. 'Your grass!' they said!! It had changed so much over the past month it was almost unrecognisable! To think our new grass goes through such a fascinating morphing process! Bonus! The grass in question is Carex riparia. It's quite a runner, so we're going to keep an eye on it, but it's a real stunner, don't you think?!
We're just waiting for the Carex to settle into its pot a little more before we plant it in - amazing how long it can feel waiting for plants sometimes!! But it's all part of the appeal!
I've been waiting for the Foxglove below for years...always on my wishlist, but always convincing myself I shouldn't splash out on it. Well, this year I decided to just go for it and how happy I am that I did! It was another one which I bought just after it had been potted on and it felt like an age waiting to pop it in the ground...or 'set it free' in the ground as I heard somebody describe it the other day! But now, all of a sudden it seems, it's in flower! And it's just as delicate, subtle and beautiful as I always dreamed it'd be!
Also down 'the woods' is the latest addition to my Euphorbia 'collection'. I've said before on this blog that I just can't resist buying Euphorbias and this one was particularly seductive! I mean check out that variegation!! And those little red eyes!! It's called Euphorbia 'Ascot Rainbow' and I can't stop looking at it!!
Perhaps my biggest splurge this year has been on primulas. I absolutely love them, and last winter I lost all three of mine. Their feet just weren't wet enough, especially in such a dry winter and they all just gave up the ghost. So, I'm replenishing my collection and putting them all happily merrily in my new bog! This little Primula Beesiana was a 'buy-it-and-see-which-shade-it-turns-out-to-be' purchase. And it really paid off! The blooms are such a gorgeous salmony pink, with that distinctive icing sugar effect on the buds. This is another one where I've been watching and waiting that bud form and grow and then all of a sudden it's snuck up on me and the flower's out!
Just across from this Primula Beesiana in the bog is my newest Primula bulleyana. When I first saw this shade of Primula I coveted it from afar and resisted buying one for a year at least. Then I bought one and, as I mentioned above, managed to succeed in killing it! So, this one's getting all my love, care and attention! They're just too beautiful to let anything happen to them! And they go so well with all the green in the bog...
The primula I bought above was at the Creake Abbey Plant Lovers Day. So many great nurseries there! I was doing so well all day until I finally splurged at the end! The spending spree started with the Aquilegia below. I'd been keeping an eye on it all day and promising myself that, if no-one else bought it, I'd snap it up. Sure enough it was meant to be and now it's down in 'the woods'. Shame it doesn't have a name as beautiful as its flowers...Aquilegia 'Nora Barlow'!
And, aside from all the little purchases, our biggest, most impactive buy of late is the Beech. We've been in the need of a bit more 'red' in the garden and we had the perfect space for something a little bigger (in a pot). Some prolonged tree browsing, trolley-maneuvering and boot-navigating later, we got this Fagus sylvatica atropurpurea home and it looks absolutely stunning! Especially when the sun shines through its leaves at the end of the day! And the best thing is it's not really that guilty seeing as we paid for half of it with a voucher! No guilt...all pleasure! Perfect!
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