Wednesday 13 May 2015

Filling The Gaps

On a visit to a local-ish garden centre, I picked up a few perennials. I thought they'd be ideal to fill some gaps I've got in my borders. They were selling these plants for just £1.50 each which I thought was really good value.


There were lots of different perennials for sale but the ones I chose are as follows:-

Geum - Mrs Bradshaw
Helenium - Autumnale
Rudbeckia Fulgida - Sullivantii Goldsturm


It wasn't long before we were back at the garden centre and on that visit I couldn't resist buying another three plants:-

Euphorbia - Ascot Rainbow
Gaillardia Aristata - Arizona Red Shades
Papaver Orientale - Brilliant

They were small but healthy looking plants when I bought them so instead of planting them straight out, I decided that I'd grow them on a little. I repotted them in to larger pots and they've really grown away making substantial plants to go in the ground.


Two have now been planted in the small border in the back garden, two have gone in to the border in the front garden and I have two waiting to be planted in to containers. I do like to have some plants in pots so that I can move them around where a splash of colour is needed.

Thank you for all your good wishes for my dad. I'm pleased to be able to say that it wasn't as serious as we'd at first feared. It turned out that he'd got appendicitis. He underwent an emergency appendectomy at midnight on Sunday and was allowed home last night.


38 comments:

  1. Your plants were a good price, we've started buying perennials from a local garden centre where they are selling them at £10 for five plants. I'm hoping they will bulk up nicely over the coming years. Good news about your dad x

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    1. The thing about perennials is that whatever outlay you make they should, in theory, last. Very good news about my dad, I couldn't believe it was appendicitis.

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  2. Nice lot of perenials there and hope to see photos of them flourishing in your borders. What sort of pots will the other two go into? I don't always look at your garden blog which is really silly of me as I do so love gardening. I just noticed your last post with brussel sprouts which we love. I grew some once and they just went to seed, so haven't tried them since. Of course we can't get fresh ones for Xmas, but we eat a lot in winter. In fact we had them last night and hubby had a grub in one of his. We did laugh. Take care.

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    1. I haven't decided on the pots I'll use yet, I have so many but lots of them are already in use. I hope I can find something decorative which is the right size otherwise I may have to resort to nasty plastic. They do the job though. Urgh, I don't think I'd be laughing if I found a grub in my sprout. I wasn't fond of any veg when I was a child but I was made to eat it, now there's very little I dislike but sprouts are one of my favourites. They're my mum and dad's favourites too so I hope they do well.

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  3. I'm so glad that your dad is on the mend - I'm sure your entire family breathed a big sigh of relief!

    You have made some wonderful choices for your garden - and what a deal! That is a really good idea - potting them up & getting them to a more substantial size before placing them in the ground. I've never thought to do that but I'm thinking that this would give you a higher degree of success once they are planted.

    I'm looking forward to seeing how you get on with the Geum - I think I tried to grow that one many years ago with little success (although I probably tried to grow it from seed, which was the likely cause).

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    1. We did breathe a sigh of relief, it's always worrying when elderly parents are unwell, I know I always fear the worst. I'd much rather buy smaller plants at an affordable price and grow them on a bit than buy a larger plant which is sometimes four or five times the price. Smaller plants make gardening affordable for everyone. I bought a geum last year, Koi, and it's flowering away at the moment, a bright orange flower. I'm hoping that Mrs Bradshaw does as well.

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  4. what lovely healthy looking bargains you have there, and hopefully in a couple of years you will be able to divide them and make more plants :-)

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    1. That's the great thing about plants, providing they do well they can go on to fill the borders with cuttings or by being divided. I'm very pleased with these plants so far.

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  5. AnonymousMay 13, 2015

    More bargains, and lots of colour to come. It's good to see that your dad is okay and home. Flighty xx

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    1. Some of the plants I've gone for should give lots of colour to the borders, I'm looking forward to them all flowering. I've done some shopping for my mum and dad today and was surprised by how well he's doing. Keyhole surgery seems to be great for recovery timescales.

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  6. I do enjoy a bargain. In my mind I think that if they don't thrive, I've not lost much money - but they always do! I bought some healthy perennials from Morrisons supermarket reduced from £2 to £1. I should have bought more but they were sold out when I returned.
    Sorry about your Dad's op, you must have all been worried but glad it was nothing more sinister.

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    1. That's a good way to look at it. That's always the case, you see a bargain, wish you'd bought more and then they're gone when you go back. It was the same with me but I was lucky, there was plenty left when I went back this time and such a great selection of perennials to choose from. We were all worried about my dad, I'm so pleased that it didn't turn out to be anything more serious.

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  7. Lovely plants, in the past I have brought small and grown them on, your get to know your plant before you find it's space in your garden.

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    1. That's very true. It always helps to place a plant when you've got to know it a little. I begrudge paying huge amounts of money for plants when many of them don't thrive, I'd much rather buy small and grow them on myself, it doesn't take long for them to bulk up and it can save you a fortune.

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  8. You always have a good eye for a bargain, Jo! The Geum I bought in similar fashion a while ago is just coming into flower. It's the "Mrs Bradshaw" one like yours.

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    1. I do try. I struck lucky this time. As you can see in the last photo, my Mrs Bradshaw is also flowering, such a lovely flower. I bought geum Koi last year, that has bright orange flowers and is also flowering at the moment, it's a welcome splash of colour in the border.

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  9. I like to buy smaller plants and grow them on myself, often the bigger plants are pot bound. I thought that I had lost my bright yellow mums but today spotted the new growth.

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    1. One of the advantages of larger plants is that they're often big enough to divide straight away, though of course you pay more than you would for a smaller specimen. Glad your mums are ok, it's often worth waiting a while when you think a plant's dead as sometimes they'll spring back to life like yours has done.

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  10. Great news on your Dad Jo. Excellent choice of plants, and a bargain price. Give the rudbeckia lots of room, they can take over n the right place very quickly.

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    1. It was such a relief to find out what was wrong with my dad, he's well on the way to recovery now. The rudbeckia is one of the plants I'm putting in a container, it has a long flowering season so I thought it would be a good candidate to be able to move around where a splash of colour is needed.

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  11. Great news Jo, so pleased all is well with Dad.
    I hope he makes a swift recovery.

    I love Geums, sadly they do not do well here, so have given up on them. I often see Geums in gardens, and have a bit of geum envy :)
    The perennials you have chosen should look beautiful in the border, complimenting each other. Look forward to seeing their progression.

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    1. Thank you, he's doing remarkably well. I think geums are such pretty plants, it's a shame they don't do so well in your garden. I've got a gorgeous bright orange one called Koi, I bought that last year and it's doing really well this year.

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  12. That seems a really good price. I've become a fan of Geum more recently, and Rudbeckia is always a great one to have in the garden. Hope they do well.

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    1. I think I definitely got a bargain with these plants. I've been looking out for this variety of rudbeckia at a reasonable price so I'm hoping it does well for me.

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  13. Lovely plants, it's so satisfying to grow them on from small plants isn't it. I'm so glad your dad is at home and that it was "only" appendicitis, although that was no doubt a big shock to the system. I do hope he makes a swift recovery. CJ xx

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    1. It's a bit of a sense of achievement when you grow the plant on yourself rather than buying a larger plant to begin with, I hope they do well now they're planted out. Thank you, my dad's pleased to be home, I think you recover quicker in your own home, he's doing very well.

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  14. So glad to hear that your Dad is back home and recuperating Jo. You must all breathed a huge sigh of relief. I think that your plant hunting radar has been serving you well. Those little plants look sturdy enough specimens and will soon bulk up. A bargain!

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    1. We all breathed a sigh of relief. He's home now, sore but recovering well. I was pleased to stumble up on these plants, such a bargain.

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  15. We are on the lookout for a few more perennials for the new border and have an order placed at a nursery for some that I want specifically. My last batch have two fatalities a sedun and a red helenium Ruby Tuesday.

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    1. Ruby Tuesday is a lovely helenium, what a pity you had fatalities. I got these perennials from Lumby Garden Centre. Have you been? It's just off the A1. They've got a good selection of things and we've been buying our compost from there as it's quite reasonable. They've just opened a coffee shop too.

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  16. I pleased to hear your dad is on the mend, that must be such a relief! I love your choices, and what a good idea to keep some plants back in reserve, I always mean to do that then forget....I shall keep some back this year!xxx

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    1. It is a relief, we're all glad to have him home. I like to have some plants in containers, they brighten up the patio as well as giving me the chance to move them to a place where a splash of colour is required.

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  17. Such good news on your Dad Jo ......

    It's fun choosing perennials !

    All the best Jan

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    1. We're all so relived about my dad, it could have been so much worse. There's so many perennials I'd like, if only I had a bigger garden.

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  18. Glad your Dad is on the mend and what great value plants.

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    1. Thank you, he's so much better now. I was very pleased when I came across these plants, such good value as you say.

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  19. Ah, good news all round then, Jo. Well done on your plant bargains - I have lots of perennials here, it means the garden bursts into life on its own while I'm busy sowing seeds and weeding! Really good news about your Dad, I'm so pleased to hear that he's on the mend. Caro x

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    1. Perennials are a good choice for a garden, as you say they're much less work when there's other things to be getting on with. My dad is recovering very well I'm pleased to say.

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