Drought loving plants

Embrace green. It has been my motto in this part of garden in summer.  You haven’t wandered up the terrace bank for a while. Watch where you put your feet, the moles are back and making mole hills in the most inoportune places – the middle of paths is their preferred perch.

All is growing quite well here. It is always a qualified growing well considering how dry and inhospitable I have made this environment.

But the santolinas are now looking like shrub after a few years of sulking.  And the sedums are my favourite green plants.

I know I’m supposed to love them more when they turn a russet pink and light up the area in autumn.  But strong green flowers are a pefect foil for all my other plants.

And what is that flash of yellow peeping out of the first terrace beside the phlomis?

Rudbeckia. Flowering from seed this spring and coping even though the mole has his (or her) run right under the roots.  I tried the bucket of water once a fortnight trick and as I poured the water right down the tunnel I at least hoped it made life uncomfortable for the little critters.

I have half a dozen more of these good drought tolerant plants. All still in pots and lurking indoors in the potting shed.  I can’t plant them out now as I will be away for over a month and can’t cajole anyone to do this sort of plant babysitting.  If they aren’t in flower you just wouldn’t spot them and know where to aim your bucket of water.

And the rest of the plants here just don’t need a drenching. Santolinas loathe it and will repay you by turning all fungussy and mildewy (sorry, I’m too distracted with houseguests  to delve into my proper research on Not Watering Santolinas In Summer). Trust me. They don’t need you wafting a hose at them.

And the miscanthus is not going anywhere. Despite my preference it was planted a few feet to the left. Oh well. I’m not going to argue with such a tough bruiser.

And if you stand in the terrace bank you can’t ignore the potting shed which was quite a carbuncle on this landscape when it was first built.  But if you were thinking of doing my technique of a polycarbonate roof to turn the shed into a winter and springtime green house.  Then consider this as a perfect solution to have shade in the middle of summer:

Virginia creeper. It is deciduous, so you lose the leaves in winter which gives you pefect light for starting seeds early. And overwintering plants.  And they only really go into rampant growth early summer.  So it is going to be cool when you need the shade.

I also put a green house shading paint (squirted from an atomizer bottle) on the bits where the creeper hasn’t crept.  You do need to be attentive during the first two years to make the creeper go where you want.  You can see I’ve been inattentive and the plant is lurking a bit to the right.  But I planted creepers on the other side of the shed, so in a few years time they’ll meet in the middle and you will no longer be hit by lens glare when you catch sight of the roof.

And just for you Artur fans – there is another feature of the terrace bank. It’s where he has his throne. A rock just made for him. Next to the potting shed, with his back to the hedge. Bliss