Show Me Your Garden #4

In this week's SMYG I am excited to show the one belonging to my parents-in-law M and S (this combination made me giggle). I think I would say visiting their garden so often and talking about plants whetted my appetite for this hobby. The first couple of times you are in it, you can appreciate it is a beautiful garden, but the more you go, the more you discover. There is something for every month that keeps the garden interesting. I would say the highlight at the moment is this passion flower. It stems from one sole plant and has been trained to grow up creating this curtain. It is so exotic looking with all its layers.

The couple cannot remember the name of this plant, but I found it fascinating. It has thorns, and looks like sea holly from the top. It not only produces these lovely purple flowers, but if you look inside, there is a more delicate white flower. (EDIT: It's called Acanthus Spinosus)

The garden is also a place of remembrance. My mother-in-law is a district nurse, she told me that a few years ago she was caring for a patient suffering of terminal cancer with whom she spoke about the garden. When he died, his daughter called M and told her that 2 days before he died he was in the garden potting up plants that were to be given to her as a thank you. She went to the house and was met with 20 different plants, it took her 2 car journeys to fit everything in. One of those plants is the pink hollyhock, "W's hollyhock".

There are also charms to remember the passing of S's parents. Boyfriend's paternal grandmother passed away in 2009 (I think! Correct me!); his paternal grandfather passed in 2012. They bough a bird ornament in honour of his affection for them.

Now, on to the questions!

1. How long have you had your garden/space? 

31 years. There was an existing garden when I moved in, but it was basic. It had some shrubs and some trees. I think it only had 3 beds. It was mostly lawn, and it didn't have a patio area.  

2. Are you interested in your garden? What is its function? 

It's mainly used as an extra room of the house. We use it to socialise and we it like to be decorative. I also have a herb patch and I grow rhubarb and strawberries. 

3. Favourite plant in your garden. 

The acer. Although the leaves are green in summer, it turns a beautiful red in the colder months. You can start to see the colour in a couple of leaves. 

4. Something you have tried and failed at growing / doing. 

Lavender. I have tried 3 different varieties in the back garden, in different positions, in pots, but they all failed to thrive. As a last resort I tried planting it at the front and it seems to be happy. It just goes to show that you can't force a plant to grow where it's conditions are not good. In this case, whereas the lavender is growing well in dry conditions, the camellia is not. It hasn't flowered in the last couple of years, so I might look into moving it to another spot in the garden.  

Another tip is that you should have a walk around your neighborhood, it's a great way to see what other people are growing and works in your area. For example, we are very happy with the yucca out at the front; and this morning, as we walked around the village, we saw it in many gardens!

5. Anything you’d like to change?  

I would love to replace the shed with a greenhouse. In an ideal world I would also love a walled garden.

6. What inspires you? 

Hard landscaping and lighting. I like a nice lawn, but it requires a lot of maintenance if you want it perfect. I like water features, not necessarily a pond, but moving water, for example water flowing over stones. I also like having different textures; I do enjoy having flowers but I think having shrubs is important to add colour in winter. If you only have herbaceous borders, they would all die down in the cold months. 

7. Finish the sentence: You couldn’t tell from my garden, but I...

but I hate weeding!