We have decided to plant up a rather steep bank which runs for about 200meters along side the drive up to the house. Up until now it has been left semi-wild which has meant that it has not been easy to keep under control. Too steep to mow, it has been even difficult, not to say dangerous, to strim. Some areas we have covered with a 'bâche', not the prettiest material in the world, though very effective if left long enough in suppressing grass and weeds. This we are now removing - and the fun begins.
The bank faces more or less west though with a slight incline to the South. This means that in Summer at least it has to endure the full force of the sun from about 2pm onwards, and thus can become very dry. In winter it is put up with North-westerly winds, so can be quite cold. The soil for the most part is bog standard Gersois 'clay', which is to say heavy, and moreover contains its fair share of bricks and tiles. Thus in one way or another it is not an easy project, and certainly not one for what might be called 'exotic' or even 'experimental' planting. Thus there is going to be quite a lot of Abelias, Chaenomeles, Cornus alba and sanguinea with different coloured leaves and stems, Ceanothus repens, Cotoneaster lacteus, Forsythia, and Philadelphus.
There are going to be one or two smallish trees to give a bit of variety of height - Amelanchier lamarckii, Malus x cochinella and M. x Evereste, and a corkscrew hazel but in a red leaved form, Corylus aveliana Red Majestic. Not yet acquired but on the list are one or two Hawthorns but of the pink/red variety (Crimson Crataegus laevigata Cloud/Paul's Scarlet) and no doubt there will be others.
I am not sure whether the Smoke Tree is a bush or a tree but they will certainly be included. We have already got Cotinus coggygria Grace which if not pruned, and it takes to early Spring pruning happily, can apparently grow to as high as 10 m.It is highly attractive plant, and like all of this family particularly so in the Autumn. We have also also the more commonly found C.cogg. Royal Purple. In the buy-up I have also gone for C.cogg.Aurea with the yellow leaves which I am assured will not burn in sunshine, though I remain a little doubtful. C.cogg. Golden Spirit looks very simlar. I was also tempted by C. Red Spirit but sadly it was not available.
Meanwhile I have rather fallen in love with the Nandina family, or as it is more commonly called the Sacred Bamboo. I am not thinking of the frequently planted N. domestica Fire Power. This makes a quite low lying shrub, which certainly colours well in the autumn but lacks the elegance of many of its siblings.The larger varieties - between one or two meters high - have many attractions including purplish red leaves in both Spring and Autumn, in the case N.dom.Plum Passion, the colour very pronounced. They have upright sprays of white flowers during the summer which are followed by red berries which last into the following year, and in fact it is these berries that really win my heart. We had already got N.dom. Obsessed and Richmond, but for the the new site we have gone for N.domestica Umpqua Chief because apparently it is very generous with its berries. These incidentally are to be found at Pep. Côté Sud des Landes from where many of the above plants have been ordered, and it is a nursery I can strongly recommend.
Lastly I would like to recommend yet again the Jardins de Coursiana at Le Romieu. I guess that I have now been visiting it for over twenty years, which is to say since not long after it was acquired by the current owners, Véronique and Arnaud Delannoy, in 1992. They in turn had bought it from well-known botanist, M. Cours Darne who is largely responsible for the very fine collection of different families of trees but what one might call the garden proper is down to them and what a brilliant job they have made of it. I guess the style is rather English, which is to say it is a mixture of flowers, shrubs and trees put together in a rather informal and eclectic way - the mix of ancient and modern roses is particularly noticeable - but what for me is its hallmark is the use of large blocks of under planting, often provided by annuals such as Forget-me-nots or Sunpatiens, or in late summer dahlias, these in an exciting mixture of colours. It really is a garden to visit, with very good refreshments including home made jam and honey from their own bees, not to mention the plums, for along with the garden they have serious plum orchards. The one thing missing for me is good English cakes, such a feature of garden visits in England but one cannot have everything. And the good news is that it appears that one of their sons has become seriously involved so that all things being equal the garden will continue to flourish.
