The weather has been very unsettled but rainfall has been sparse. Daytime temperatures remain at 17-20°C. Yet again the worst of the weather has bypassed us in High Peak. I think the valley I live in has its own macroclimate. It can be very annoying to keep getting messages on my phone informing me rain is expected to stop whilst the garden remains bone dry. This Saturday, unusually, there are some pictures of my back garden, warts and all. The garden is very small, the wall you can see is the gable end of the bungalow to the rear of me. This was an old railway yard and considering the initial planting was done with a pick and trenching tool it isn’t turning out too badly. My previous garden was large so this one has proved to be quite a challenge. I did however, have a vision of what I wanted, which was basically cram it full of plants. I am slowly getting there. Currently there is hardly room to move!
The plants in the foreground, other than the buddleia, are in containers sitting on a six foot wide flagged patio which drops down a couple of feet to the garden below. The oriental lilies are starting to make their display now that the hardy geraniums are mostly leaf. Geranium x oxonianum ‘Wargrave Pink’ is still flowering in the “garden” area along with a few yellow verbascums and some Begonia Illumination Apricot Shades in a basket, hanging under the foliage of Rosa ‘Rambling Rector‘, a rampant honeysuckle, and a purple clematis. The Joe Pye Weed, which I think is now Eutrochium purpureum, is just coming into flower at the top of the picture. This will then become the main attraction for the bees and butterflies as the buddleias finish.
Oriental lily ‘Curly Sue’ is just outside my back door. The scent on a warm day is quite something. I am unhappy to report that I have found my first beetle today!
This is the patio area, I use the term loosely! The sage in the foreground is growing from between the flags which along with the self-seeded plants of Geranium pyrenaicum make every trip an adventure. The staging to the right is a new acquisition, purely to increase the space that I have to grow plants, and has proved a nightmare to keep watered. The older staging is where I initially raised all my plants, but it is now so shaded, that only the top tier is of use. There are even a couple of tomato plants in there somewhere which were foisted on me. If I get one tomato off these it will be a miracle. Phyllostachys nigra is poking its head in top left.
This picture gives a better idea of just how tight room is. The Phyllostachys aureas help to break up the wall behind them, and there is a Viburnum making its way up there in the middle. The Joe Pye weed also makes an efficient screen for the summer, as well as attracting plenty of butterflies and bees. There is a Fatsia japonica in there somewhere also. I think I am going to have a problem keeping the acer in check in the future as it is now beginning to put on quite a bit of growth.
Another Oriental, Lilium ‘Hachi’.
At the other end of the “patio” we have Control Central for the garden, the potting bench! Almost everything is done here. I no longer have the luxury of a covered area, although I have done some potting up on the kitchen draining board. Incidentally, I have to thread my way onto the chair. There are meconopsis plants on the floor on one side and a campanula growing out of the flags on the other!
Reading this post I’m sure that you have surmised that I very much miss my old garden. Unfortunately it was unavoidable that I downsized. At the end of the day, I am lucky not to be fussy about garden design and I am only interested in the plants. I initially filled the space with plants that I knew would survive the far from good conditions. As the ground is improved, I am beginning to replace them with plants I really like to grow such as my meconopsis. I do seem however, to have become keen on hardy geraniums on the way. I might manage a post for the front garden soon, although it’s past its best. It is even smaller!
This meme is hosted by Jim Stevens who is to be found with all the details and links to plenty of other blogs to enjoy at Garden Ruminations.
A Plantsman's World 
What a beautiful colour combination of plants in the first image. The colour, shape and placing of all the plants has created a lovely garden. Oriental lily ‘Curly Sue’ is fabulous – I hope you caught that one beetle – and fingers crossed that it was the only one!
It might be a small space Rick, but you’ve made something special with it. I hope you’ve managed to fit in somewhere to sit out and enjoy it too.
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Thank you, Catherine. I did manage to hasten the demise of the dreaded red beetle, but I am now more vigilant than ever. I am able to sit and look out through my lounge doors and see most of the garden even on a wet day like today or turn my “potting” chair round and relax when it’s fine.
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Life is hard for a plantaholic downsized to a small garden even if it is a self imposed discipline. I know the feeling. But you have made a wonderful use of your space, it looks lovely. Your lilies are superb. So Eupatorium is now Eutrochium? I didn’t know that. For years I had a nice clump of Phyllostachys nigra in a previous garden and it was always perfectly behaved. On a recent visit to that garden I noticed it has gone walk-about and covers a whole bank.So keep your eye on it. Clump forming bamboos can make nice clumps for years and then they suddenly take off and having tasted freedom there is no stopping them.
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I hate living in the past but somehow I can’t stop comparing things with my previous garden. I thought about going back to growing alpines, which were my first obsession, but I couldn’t see the fit and had already moved on to larger plants years ago. I have two Phyllostachys nigras which are currently in containers and will probably remain so. One was severely damaged by persistent cold north east winds a couple of winters ago and I had to chop away the dead part of the root mass and repot it. The new growth is doing better than that which remained.
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Lovely to see the lilies, mine were over weeks ago. So much packed into your garden, I hope you grow to love it just as much as the old one. I am very tempted to add Joe Pye weed here. Thanks for the reminder.
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I never was a great fan of lilies but they have become one of my favourites over the years and I wouldn’t be without them now. Joe Pye weed is one of my top plants, it will be covered with butterflies and bees once it is fully open.
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Further encouragement to add JPW!
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Like your lily Hachi very much, they all make a lovely splash of colour. I know I will have to downsize eventually, my 2/3 acre is really too much now I am in my 80s but love my garden so much, I really don’t want to leave it, where else will I find a small woodland and bog for all my favourite plants!?
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My sentiments exactly Pauline. I have managed to create some decent open ground conditions for such as my meconopsis but ten feet away it is so dry they wouldn’t last five minutes. At the moment I am battling with the slugs and snails that love meconopsis leaves for some reason. I have resorted to surrounding the plants with sharp potting grit in an effort to keep them away!
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I think it all looks lovely packed in the way it is (no room for weeds?) Very pretty and you have done a grand job.
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Thank you. You would think there was no room for weeds but in the front garden, which is similarly packed, I am inundated with petty spurge which has only appeared in the last couple of years. I find it worse than bittercress plus, like many euphorbias it exudes a nasty sap when the stems are broken.
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It’s always nice to have an overview of a garden to see how the plants fit in. I only have a small garden, but after 10 years of no garden – just a balcony (which wasn’t private) and a tiny patio with containers – any garden is a joy. I too cram plants in, maybe too many too close at times, but it’s all a good learning experience. Your space looks delightful.
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Thank you. I do empathise I think I have problems but, for a plant lover like yourself, 10 years without a garden must have been purgatory.
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Fortunately for some of that time I was too busy working and it did force me out to visit some of the wonderful gardens open to the public. And you’d be surprised (or maybe not) at how many things you can grow in pots!
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It’s good to see a view of the garden. I like the mixture of textures and colours. I hope the acer can be kept in check and stay – it’s a great colour.
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Thanks. I have two acers, both good colours, one in a pot and the one in the open ground. Lucky Aldi special purchases several years ago.
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I love a wild chaotic design. My garden is difficult to get into as well, as even vegetable plants are jammed here and there. with lettuce going to seed, radishes too, part of a broccoli has been allowed to bolt, more flowers in my view! I have to be careful as some things I want begin to object when their real estate is encroached upon too much.
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I think I may have mentioned it before, but I have never seen anyone grow vegetables grown the way you do. I am too used to seeing regimental commercial and allotment planting. My garden may be small, but I have some primulas behind the acer that I haven’t seen for a while!
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Your garden is very beautiful! Oh those lilies are quite sumptuous! 🌸
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Thank you.
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It may be a small space but you certainly make the most of what you have. If I had to go from the space I have to the space you have I’d be totally bereft.
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I think when I realise what I had done, totally bereft would be an understatement. We work with what we have. I always grew far too much for my last garden and that doesn’t change.
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I’m sorry you miss your old garden, but this one looks great! I love to grow plentiful plants in pots…I mean, I like putting some in the ground, too, but the potted ones give you so much flexibility when you want to move things around. Your Lilies are absolutely gorgeous! ‘Hachi’ is similar in color to my ‘Stargazer’ Lilies. They have different markings, but the combination of colors is about the same. Very beautiful plants and photos!
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Thank you. I do grow quite a bit in containers now so I do have some flexibility. I am sure ‘Hachi’ is related to the Stargazers as the blooms are upward facing.
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There is a gardener down the block from me. Her front yard looks like something straight off of a Better Homes & Garden magazine cover. Beautiful plants and a color scheme that matches the house and the decor on the front porch. A place for every plant, and every plant in its place. Meanwhile, across the street and two doors down, there’s my garden. A cottage-y, colorful, happy mess. It’ll never make the cover of a magazine, but I love the riot of colors.
I love your lilies, Rick. I guess that goes without saying and comes as no surprise since I go by the blogger name of Barefoot Lily Lady. Ha! I am especially enamored with ‘Curly Sue’ in your garden. What an amazing color. I still have a few lilies doing their thing, but the lily beauty pageant is definitely winding down.
Loved today’s visit in your garden. Thanks for sharing. ~ Cindie
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Thank you. I was never a great fan of lilies because I considered them to be too artificial. Tastes change, and I wouldn’t be without them now. My first full-time time job was with a parks department, but I have always appreciated the informal garden more.
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