Daily details from the garden to bring you inspiration throughout the year
It upsets me when people take the bigger stonecrops, like Hylotelephium (formerly Sedum) ‘Autumn Joy’ for granted. They’re bomb proof, reliable plants in the border, and, even if they do tend to flop a bit towards the end of the year on our rich clay (prime candidates for the Chelsea chop in the last weeks of May to encourage slightly shorter, sturdier growth), anything that can fill a space with something interesting across three seasons should be lauded. There’s the emerging growth, like clusters of Brussels sprouts in spring, the fulsome, glaucous blue-grey succulent stems and foliage and then the generous heads of small, deep pink flowers from late summer into autumn, but what always takes me by surprise is the moment when the vegetative parts turn a rich, buttery yellow that glows in the autumn sun. This lasts for perhaps a fortnight in November until it all starts to get a little slimy, at which point I must confess I snip the stems off at the ground and cart them off to the compost area.
Garden coaching with Andrew O’Brien
Just to let you know, I’ll shortly be opening up a few spaces for one-to-one online garden coaching. The final details are still being tweaked, but if this sounds like something you’d be interested in, let me know on this page so I can tell you as soon as booking opens.
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Hello! I’m Andrew, gardener, blogger, podcaster, and owner of a too-loud laugh, and I’m so pleased you’ve found your way to Gardens, weeds & words. You can read a more in-depth profile of me on the About page, or by clicking the image above.
