Last of the shrubs

It’s funny how the word shrub is so worthy and dull. I’m certainly hoping the ones I’ve spent the past four days planting won’t be dull or worthy.   Over seventy of them.   And who has called a lavender dull? Well, they can be if not pruned properly.   But I have high hopes for these ones.   They are lavendula Nizza, not the Grosso’s I had ordered, but the nursery rang and apologetically announced their Grosso’s weren’t worth sending, so I have some vigorous Nizzas instead.   Eight of them planted under the big olive tree in the new bank just to the right of the main house.   Full sun, plenty of soil, plenty of drainage, and plenty of water.   I popped a few geranium sanguiums above them with the intention of making them a good ground cover foil for the tall lavenders. Only time will tell.

And I found the few dozen delospermas in the shed and added them to all the planters in the courtyard garden.   They are fleshy and have daily like purple flowers in summer.   If the deer don’t find them and crunch them up.

I decided to give the potting shed benches a good tidy.   And check that I hadn’t missed any of the plants that have to go out.   And it was frankly a relief to be dealing with green and brown things rather than shovelling the tedious buckets of gravel all over the garden.

It feels exciting to think I have ended the year on such a good note. A tidy potting shed, lots of plants in the ground, and plenty of new year’s resolutions ahead.   Happy New Year.