The driveway and courtyard have been cleared this month enabling me to plant two mauve wisteria 'Amythest Falls' against the est side of the farmhouse; the cream jasmine ‘Clotted Cream’ beside the front door; and the climbing rose ‘Compassion’ on the eastern corner of the house in the courtyard. It is relatively protected here, so I hope they will be OK over the winter when temperatures can drop to -15C, so I have heard.
At the side of driveway, I have discovered that there are masses of tiny rosettes of native foxgloves on the bank. I also planted lots of cream foxgloves 'Pam's Choice' here, along with a couple of flowering Chinese Dogwood, Cornus kousa Chinensis for its stunning white bracts in June , the dark maroon Paeony Paeonia delavayi obtained from a plant sale at Hergest Croft and lots of seedlings from the established yellow Tibetan tree peonies. I discovered over forty seedlings of these in Spring which had self-seeded themselves in the loam, potted them on, and planted them here beside the drive in the semi shade of the hazel hedge. Now many of them look as if they are already beginning to establish themselves. There is also a small boggy area beside the drive, where I have planted a specimen gunnera, orientalis hellebores, cowslips and the evergreen grass, Carex testacea ‘Prairie Fire’:
Nearer to the courtyard I have also planted two Buffalo Currant, Ribes aureum for their fragrant yellow flowers in mid Spring and another Pieris japonica called 'Bonfire'.