by Janis on 1st December 2023 / 0 comments

We’ve planted more bulbs

Our garden is now beginning to go to sleep for the colder months of the year, and our beautiful dahlias are in their final flourish.

However, even though we are still in the throes of autumn, and winter is just on the horizon, our Salvia ‘Hot Lips’ continues to flower. This plant is amazing; it just keeps on giving.

We purchased a Salvia ‘Cherry Lips’ in the summer, so I’m hoping in years to come this will flourish too. Salvias are also extremely easy to propagate from soft cuttings; believe me, if I can manage it, then anyone can.

Who doesn’t love free plants?

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What we’ve been up to in November

In the garden and on the website

As I just touched on softwood cuttings, I’ve potted on the last of my cuttings, and they’re looking good. I’ll keep them in the cold frame over winter and decide where to plant them in spring.

Now, the important task we completed in the garden in early November was planting our spring flowering bulbs that we purchased online from J. Parker’s.

A cardboard box of bulbs from J. Parkers on our patio table before planting in autumn
A box of bulbs from J. Parker’s

Last autumn, I planted around 400 bulbs in containers and in selected spots around the garden. These bulbs included a selection of daffodils, snowdrops, crocus, dwarf iris, tulips, hyacinth and a few alliums.

Fast forward to spring, and the garden looked much more colourful; however, we would have liked more alliums. Alliums are beautiful flowers; not only do they add structure and elegance, but they last for many weeks, which is always a winner. So, needless to say, we bought some more alliums.

A close-up overhead view of three pruple iris growing in a container on our patio in springtime
Purple crocus
We bought a selection of alliums and daffodils for our cottage garden bed; in total, we found a home for around 175 spring bulbs. My leg muscles were certainly aching the following day.
A collection of dried poppy seed heads, some sprouting new green shots in a container on our courtyard patio in our garden
Poppy pods seeding

We haven’t completely cleared our patio pots yet as they are quite protected on our courtyard patio, and they are still adding colour on otherwise dull autumnal days.

We also moved our Peony ‘Coral Sunset’ as we planted in early summer, and the position wasn’t quite right. I’d done a little investigation, and autumn was an ideal time to move it.

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Achievements for November

Let’s keep ticking those boxes
November has been a bit of an overcast month in the southeast of the UK. We’ve had plenty of rain and only a few bright days, so we haven’t been in the garden much. Although our fortnightly garden waste bin is always full.
A pile of leaves raked up on our lawn
Gathering the autumn leaves
So, let’s see what we’ve managed to tick off for November.
Planted around 175 spring bulbs.

Potted on the last of my softwood cuttings, ready for over-wintering.

Pruned and tidied our bay tree.

Still collecting leaves from our many trees.

Continue to clear the patio when plants have died back.

Rehomed our Peony ‘Coral Sunset’.

A close-up of the flower of our coral peony in its red phase in our english country garden
Our coral peony

Lessons learnt & mistakes made

You live and learn

By early November, I would have liked to have given the lawn another trim before winter sets in. However, the rain has arrived nearly every other day in the UK over the last month or so. There are so many muddy patches on the lawn that it would look messy and clog up the lawnmower.

I think it may be too late for another trim.

The foliage in our garden turning the russet colours of autumn
The russet colours of autumn

Our plans for the coming month

What’s on your to-do list?
Continue to trim and clear the dead plants in the Cottage Garden bed.

Continue to monitor our garden tasks on the RHS Planner; this online tool is so handy.

Clear patio pots where required.

Keep collecting those leaves

Please let us know what you have planned in your garden this month; we’d love to know.

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