Newbie makes a small crevice garden

[MatthewStuttard]

Mid July update.
Well I seem to have lost two Oxalis Ione Hecker to rust - all the vegetation is dried and brown - there are some tiny new leaves appearing but I am not optimistic.
Coydalis Kingfisher has put out some new lush leaves after looking unhappy since it flowered in May.
Erodium 'Spanish Eyes' is very (too?) vigorous and has had several trims - but it continues to flower prolifically, responding well to dead heading.
I cut dried seed heads from Gentiana verna and sowed the minute seeds in a tray placed in an open frame covered with fine net to stop other seeds having a go - fingers crossed!
Campanulas are looking great: Lynchmere (pic) is prolific and arvatica (pic) quite the opposite but very pretty.
Gentiana saxosa has produced its first flower (pic).
The greatest joy this month for me though is the Physoplexis comosa (pic) - this was a 'must grow' plant as I have failed over several years to see this rarity in its natural habitat on cliffs in the Dolomites. The plant seems happy in its shady, well drained, steep crevice. The single magnificent flower is rather small and its complex structure is almost best appreciated as a photo displayed on a  big screen!
Aubretia Bressingham Red is still flowering, but this must be the last few. Zauschneria pumilio has formed a good sized mat/cushion but is only flowering at the periphery so far.

[David Nicholson]

Very nice Matthew, some good tips there for those looking for Summer flowering plants for a crevice.

[astragalus]

Matthew, can you please post a picture of Zauschneria pumilio?  That's a new one to me and would love to see it.

[MatthewStuttard]

Thanks David - when I was choosing plants I found it quite hard to work out when they would be in flower, the SGRC monthly logs were useful, but it was still hard to tell.

Astragalus, very happy to do that, I will post a pic next weekend when I'm back home.

[MatthewStuttard]

Astragalus - here are pics of Zauschneria 'Pumilio' taken in mid-July.  It was planted from a 7cm pot in April and has spread quite rapidly.  You can get an idea of the spread from the 'above' pic, to give an idea of scale the timber sleeper in the pic is about 10cm wide - hopefully the plant should now be close to its maximum size, but we'll see.  The foliage has formed an attractive soft cushion and the sprays of tubular orange flowers are currently only around the perimeter. I'll do an update if the flower distribution changes.

[Mavers]

What a beautiful little crevice garden Matthew..........very inspiring.

[MatthewStuttard]

Thanks Mike! Friendly comments from leading lights such as you on this forum are most encouraging! I also appreciate the mix of deep knowledge and laugh out loud humour, both of which are good to develop!

David N, regarding mid- summer blooms: I mentioned previously that my aim is to get year-round flowering, so far only 4 months of flowering achieved and in the easy part of the year - but there has always been something! If things go bloomless soon I'll be asking for expert tips.  Fortunately Erodium and Erigeron just go on and on and Dianthus comes back again. Physoplexis c. finished very quickly after working exceeding hard to make its one small but magnificent contribution.

[MatthewStuttard]

Early September and the return of mild weather.
The general view emphasises how several plants have filled out and formed good cushions or mats.
Silvery leaved mat on the left is Antennaria dioica 'Alex Duguid', front and centre is Aubretia 'Bressingham Red' forming a lovely dense cushion, Zaushneria at the front right now spreading over the edge and still flowering freely (see detail pic). Behind it is Phlox subulata 'Nettleton Variation' with interesting red/green variegation.  These two now crowding out a Sysirinchium which I might move in Autumn - hmmm apparently it doesn't like that but it has not been very happy where it is anyway.
Behind the Aubretia is Pulsatilla vulgaris which has grown quite bushy - it only produced one flower (but a cracker) as a small plant this year - hopefully many more next spring!
This week's star plant is Gentiana farreri 'Shot Silk' the name of this variety perfectly describes its stunning flower which looks great at the top of the ridge. In the background of this pic Erodium 'Spanish Eyes' continues a long season - it has been continuously in flower since the end of April and seems to thrive on being cut back regularly - it is just a bit too big and vigorous but such a great performer it has earned its place.

[MatthewStuttard]

Sorry I haven't posted for a couple of months - too busy with winter jobs in the garden. There have been croci in flower since October but I missed them.
Just had to get the camera out today though because Crocus laevigatus 'Fontenayi' looks so lovely fully opened out straining for the weak winter sunshine. Not much else in flower but there are perhaps a dozen very small single flowers scattered on Lithodora diffusa 'Heavenly Blue'  and a couple on Corydalis 'Kingfisher'. For both these plants, the  winter flower colour is noticeably more purplish than in spring.  It will be interesting to see if they revert to a lighter blue next year.

The last picture is a general view showing a canopy I put up a few weeks ago to protect plants from winter wet - some of them are a bit susceptible to this.  As you can see I just went for the blanket approach rather than putting up individual ones.  Hopefully this is good enough - fingers crossed.
Happy Christmas everyone!

[MatthewStuttard]

Such a lovely sunny afternoon. The protection was removed last weekend. Now it will be fascinating to see what has survived the relatively mild winter (hmm could be more to come) - there are some very unpromising looking twigs in places as you can see in the overview pic - patience needed!  The low afternoon light caught Saxifraga opposotifolia looking great.  Only one flower so far on Saxifraga 'Jenkinsiae' (× irvingii) but more to come - a very compact plant.

[David Nicholson]

Coming along very nicely Matthew

[Maggi Young]

I agree with David - looking good indeed.
Did you  have any problems with the winter wet cover taking off in high winds? It looks much neater than some I've seen and it's certainly done the job. 

[MatthewStuttard]

Thanks David; good question Maggi and quite right too! The cover did blow off once but it did not take the rather spindly framework with it because the horizontal bamboos were cunningly lashed to the quite sturdy trellis behind the bed. The failure occurred because the cover was only held down with stretchy brown plastic garden tie. Next winter I must remember to fix horizontal bamboos on top as well as underneath.
Looking back at the December pic just now it is striking how the variegation of the Phlox subbulata has changed.  It was almost all green in December and now it has got the lovely reddish tints back. Looks very attractive just now at the front of the bed, just hanging over the edge.

[MatthewStuttard]

A dull wet day today, brightened considerably by Scilla siberica 'Spring Beauty' which is a deep blue - an uncommon colour at this time of year. The flower buds emerged low on the ground last weekend and then popped up on delicate stems in just one week. Starting on the ground is hazardous - something had nibbled a good few of the first buds - possibly mouse or bird.  Nodding down they modestly hide great beauty inside the bell flowers.
The second photo shows what has happened to some of my rock slabs over the winter: with the bedding plane exposed vertically water has got in, frozen and expanded causing splitting.  So the cotswold sandstone I selected is not very weatherproof when set on edge like this - could be a costly error -  at this weathering rate it is possible that in just a few years I'll have to rebuild.  On the other hand, I really like the natural appearance of the shattered stone: geomorphology in action!

[ian mcdonald]

A great piece of gardening Matthew. If you can bear not to identify the plants (i.e. remember what they are) I would remove the labels. Perhaps putting the names on a drawing instead? I found when I first planted my "scree" that I ended up with more labels than plants.