The Barn Garden comes back….

Colquhounia coccinea, Oloron Sainte Marie, August 2023

The Barn Garden has had a hard time this summer- largely drowned out in the late Spring, then doing mortal combat with very ambitious bindweed fed by all that rain, and, only now, is it slowly coming back to itself. Truthfully, it is largely a Spring garden, with some roses bringing up the rear, and then, after the blistering heat last year, I have done some replanting to increase the interesting, but tough, shrub population and reduce the more vulnerable herbaceous perennials. Not much you can do about the bindweed in my view. It is native to the rocky, recovered ground that forms the Barn Garden, and will appear in any summer, though not usually as strongly as this year. I yank out armfuls just so that I can’t see it, but beyond that, I am not up for any other response.

The Colquhounia coccinea is a bit of a straggler and got very bashed by all the spring and early summer storm activity- but whilst it may bow down, it usually picks itself up after a few days of recovery. But the orange vermillion flowerspikes with just a flash of yellow are so pretty that I don’t care that the rest of it isn’t an oil painting. It has flowered a bit earlier than usual this year, tempted by the rain I think.

Rudbeckia subtomentosa ‘Henrik Eilers’, Oloron Sainte Marie, August 2023

‘Henrik Eilers’ is one of my alltime favourites, and a really good Rudbeckia. It doesn’t look like much at the start, but it shoots up in height to a good 2m, and then flowers like a firework with these elegant quilled flowers in neat groups. If it likes the conditions, not too hot, not too dry, but nothing special in terms of soil, it clumps up quickly. In 3 years, it will be looking very fit from a tiny plant. Be careful though when the shoots start coming, as they do look very much like weed activity that you may not want in the garden. I use a stick marker to remind myself not to go to war with it.

Part of the Barn Garden, Pawlonia tomentosa at the back, Anemone x hybrida ‘Honorine Jobert’, Eupatorium rugosum ‘Chocolate’ and Mahonia ‘Soft Caress’, Eupatorium capilifolium ‘Elegant Feather’ and plenty of weed friends, Barn Garden, Oloron Sainte Marie, August 2023

So, against this, now pink painted, wall, I had planted 2 baby Pawlonia tomentosa. I was hoping for about 3m growth off them, but the one you can see in the backgound of the photograph, has easily made 5m and has found open sky. The other one got chopped in half by the storms, and then has tried to catch up but has run into the tree overhang from next door. I think therefore the other one has to go sadly. My fault, I never imagined that despite being coppiced to the ground in the late Autumn, they would grow so big. I should have worked it out- the Pawlonia is the fastest growing tree on the planet. It might be a 2 person job with 2 pickaxes to get the no 2 out- later in the year.

But a happier story with Anemone ‘Honorine Jobert’. I bought 3 tiny plants 3 years ago, and they really strugged with the heat and the dry, and didn’t grow much at all. But I knew they could do it, in spite of all the sites that tell you this Anemone needs shade and damp, if you can get the plants to hang on, they will take anything in the heat and dry department. There were several old clumps around the hottest bits of the garden in Tostat that never flinched whatever the heat. This is their best year yet in the Barn Garden, thanks to the restorative effects of all the rain we have had. They will be lovely very soon.

I grew the chocolate Eupatorium as an experiment. Grew them on to a decent size and then planted them out this Spring. They are a bit collapsed from the storms, and I should have, but haven’t, propped them up a bit. But I am hopeful for the beautiful vanilla umbel-type flowers soon. And then you would not believe the following is another Eupatorium…

Eupatorium capillifolium ‘Elegant Feather’ is absolutely lovely, I adore it. Fresh feathery foliage, no flowers to speak of, and a distinctive upright form. Again, I grew them on from tiny, and then planted them out. I would have more and I will.

Eucomis ‘Sparkling Burgundy’ plaiting itself, the Courtyard Garden, Oloron Sainte Marie, August 2023

I dug up and replanted my growing Eucomis family this Spring, and they have done much better in the courtyard out in the open. The flowerheads are so heavy with the rain-inspired growth that they have begun plaiting themselves!

Kalimeris incisa ‘Madiva’, Barn Garden, Oloron Sainte Marie, August 2023

Kalimeris incisa ‘Madiva’ is such an obliging later-in-the-summer plant, happy anywhere except very dry, and a delicate mauve colour with a jolly golden centre. No trouble and they gently spread. I infinitely prefer them to any Michaelmas daisy.

A month or so ago, I was mourning the demise of my second Acanthus sennii plant, which had got a bit lost in the jungle of the Barn Garden. Mourning was premature. Look what has turned up all on it’s own.

Acanthus sennii no 2, Barn Garden, Oloron Sainte Marie, August 2023

Small miracles….

Acanthus sennii, Oloron Sainte Marie, April 2023

Spring can sometimes be very forgiving. Over the years, I have killed off so many plants or lost them accidentally or been robbed by the weather. Being robbed by the weather has become more frequent, though it’s probably, truthfully, head to head with my own planticidal tendencies. And linked to these two reasons for death is often my refusal to play it safe. Sometimes, the idea of a plant is overwhelming and caution is thrown to the winds. And now and then rejecting caution is rewarded.

This spiky small clump, just emerging from the ground, is Acanthus sennii. An acanthus from high ground in Ethiopia. We had an amazing few weeks in Ethiopia in 2017, such a beautiful country and such warm hearted people. So that’s why I bought two of these last year. It is fairly new to France as a plant, which can mean that descriptions are way too optimistic- but I know that. I always check round the world for plant commentaries just to be sure. It also has an incredible red flowering spike, another terrible weakness of mine, anything red. Here is the photo from Beth Chatto’s nursery.

Acanthus sennii photo credit: www.bethchatto.co.uk

To complete the story, both plants were super straggly last year, but with my poor, light soil, I thought that this would not pose a problem. One of them may yet still emerge as temperatures begin to warm up steadily, but one has made it back. I am so thrilled, it’s ridiculous.

Syringa laciniata, Oloron Sainte Marie, April 2023

Syringa laciniata is a planticidal survivor. It has come back from the dead twice. In Tostat, although it is dry tolerant, I pushed it too far, and then again, here in Oloron, misled by a damper summer by far in the first year than last year, I was forced to dig it up and it went back into the recovery room. A year later, I planted it out at the very top of the front garden, with wall protection and, for me, pretty reasonable soil. And it has flowered- properly! It flowers on old wood so it will be another year before the it is out of the clutches of the past. It is a really charming lilac, as much for the ferny, feathery, bright green foliage as for the clusters of mauve flowers. Phew.

Amelanchier alnifolia ‘Obelisk’, Oloron Sainte Marie, April 2023

This lovely Amelanchier has also had a torrid time. I bought two very small plants, probably 10 years ago, in Tostat. They do prefer a moistish soil, so I did the best I could, but over the years, they disappeared into the emerging undergrowth and I completely forgot about them. Maybe 4 years later, I found them again. They hadn’t done much having been overwhelmed by their surroundings. I dug them up and put them into large pots at the back door where, over the next 4 years, they recovered pretty well and even began growing- some. But, the move to Oloron has been really good for them. They love the Barn Garden, the protection of the wall, and also the overhang of trees from the next garden. Strangely, they have adjusted to the dryness and were still in good shape after the roasting of last summer. This one is even pretty much in shade and it is looking fabulous. It is such a good variety. Slim, goblet-shaped growth, short lived but very pretty blossom, and then small fruits. Height-wise, mine are a bit stunted but are now growing well, each about 1.80m tall.

Rosa ‘New Dawn’, Barn Garden, Oloron Sainte Marie, April 2023

Rosa ‘New Dawn’ is an outstanding rose, drought tolerant, forgiving of most conditions and flowers later than others, and sporadically again after the first flush. These two plants were one year old cuttings from my Tostat plant when they went into the ground here in Oloron. They have done a fantastic job of almost covering the old wall behind the vegetable beds, and we have done a good job with them too, with wires and tying them in. It is quite a strong rose, only bendy when young, so tying them in is essential or they career downwards. Even I can smell the fragrance, tick, and the flowers, though not single, are a very pretty shell pink, which even works for me.

Rosa ‘New Dawn’, Tostat, May 2019

And now for more caution being thrown to the winds. I have bought another rose. I am going to plant it it in the hot, dry soil of the sunnier bit of the Barn Garden. Am I mad? Actually not. There is a very interesting, and growing category of roses being identified in Texas, which might mean that we can carry on growing roses in hotter climates. This category is called Earth Kind Roses, and the link takes you to their home page. I have bought ‘Perle d’Or’, a French bred rose from the late nineteenth century, regarded as excellent in terms of performance, and cited as an Earth Kind example. So I am going to test it out. Less caution thrown than you might have thought!

Rosa ‘Perle d’Or’ photo credit: www.trevorwhiteroses.co.uk