August saw the completion of the terrace: the supporting curved wall was built with blocks, then fronted with natural stone from across the valley at Painscastle, on the other side of the river Wye. The bank above the pond was smoothed out and then the Indian black slate was laid all around the south and west side of the house, leaving beds for planting. My plan is to virtually cover the west side of the house with fast-growing climbers: the evergreen orange-flowered honeysuckle Lonicera sempervirens, the vigorous creeper Campsis grandiflora with its big cerise trumpets and Fromontodendron ‘California Glory’. I will see how this lovely evergreen shrub survives this prolonged wet weather since it has the reputation for being unable to withstand the damp, let alone conditions of constant rain. I decided to go for a warm theme of reds, oranges and yellows in this spot outside the French doors of the kitchen. It is south-west facing and quite sheltered so I thought it would be worth the risk of planting this slightly tender species here. I have under-planted them with the alpine, early pasque flowers, also in tones of deep burgundy and yellow.
In the borders of the terrace on the other side, I plan to plant two Judas trees (Circis siliquastrum) hoping they will not get too tall having restricted roots, a mature acer with a burgundy leaf, and the fragrant winter-flowering Virburnum bodnantense ‘Dawn’. I have also bought a stunning Mimosa longifolia (which apparently will tolerate -8C) which I hope to put in a sheltered corner during the spring. I will then intersperse them with dark flowering diarama or ‘Angel’s fishing rod’ and the gorgeous purple nepeta, ‘Six Hills Giant’ to overhang the supporting wall of the terrace all around.
On the south side against the wall of the house, I have planted two ‘Gertrude Jekyll’ roses, one on either side of the glass doors, two of the very reliable white climbing roses ‘Iceberg’ and two of the evergreen Clematis armandii, for their stunning pure white flowers in early spring. I have also put in a small pink magnolia 'Diana' and lots of cottage garden peonies in shades of pink and white. Tucked right against the south wall I have planted some the striking winter flowering iris unguicularis ‘Walter Butt’ (that likes to bake in the sun) and at the front of the border, to overspill the terrace, lots of little lavender ‘Munstead’ bushes. To add interest to these beds in early spring, I have thrown in some of the early flowering creamy-white iris, I. bucharica, with its fresh green leaves.
Just now though, everything looks very bleak with the trellis yet to be attached to the wall and the plants only just dug in. It will be interesting to see how long it takes before these newly planted shrubs and climbers make any impact.