Whats Looking Good October

Love the little pine trees @Plantminded I've been pining for a pinus mugo wintergold ( I'll get my coat ) for ages they cost a bomb if you want them in any decent size .

I've not heard of mahonia Meteor before I got M.sweet winter earlier this year but Meteor looks like it maybe a better similar plant , Sweet winter is budding up well and Mahonia Lionel is about to start flowering . I were eying up Mahonia Volcano but hardiness / winter wet looks to be a problem

 

Thanks @On the Levels
I can’t tell what type they are.
They were purchased by OH in 2020 and lived an unhappy life behind the greenhouse in an unprepared clay soil. I moved them to my old bed in the shade in 2023. Since then, they enjoy being there but needed a bit of help with watering this summer.

 

Took some pictures the other day
Miscanthus has stood up very well to the wind colouring up excellently

Another nerine has decided to flower this one is in the back garden , a poppy has decided to grace me with its presence again didn't last long though

 

I hope @LunarSea hasn’t seen this post .

 

Thanks @Perki. Yes, you need a personal loan for some of those pines . Unfortunately a garden centre near me that supplies landscapers and designers has a good selection. There’s one more that I like the look of .

Mahonia Meteor is a soft leaved variety, without the sharp spines, but nicer than Soft Caress which looks a bit weedy to me . I don’t know M. Sweet Winter but like the look of M. Volcano. Anything that flowers in winter is a winner .

This is M. Meteor, flowers fading now.

 

Have you seen (and smelt!) that Mahonia from the walls in Chester @Plantminded? In the north-west corner near the canal. Wow!

 

No, I haven’t been to Chester for a while. My brother lives close so we could plan a walk along the canal and a pub lunch soon .

 

I know what you mean @Plantminded re ponds and moving house. You have to do what works for you. I filled in the one I had round the corner when I had to move, but I left a small bit for the wildlife already there etc. It was easy to cover with a mesh grill. I've never had stagnant water - or mosquitoes, but I understand your hesitation due to that too.
The blackbirds here have the front garden for grass, so they can't complain

The dahlia Neon Splendour has kindly decided to flower at last. It wasn't in a hurry! Just as well it's been very mild here this month. The usual weather would have seen it off before it had any chance of opening

 

Thanks for your thoughts about the pond @fairygirl. The blackbirds are celebrating .

 

Hi @Plantminded

Would you consider a container pond? This way it could be moved to a different property or, if you decided you didn't like it any more, you could drill drainage holes to it and use it as a large plant pot.

I haven't had issues with stagnant water or mosquitoes either. I do have to remove a bit of algae sometimes. I don't use a pump, I just made sure to include lots of oxygenating plants.

 

Thank you @CostasK, that's a good thought . I'll do some research and planning .

 

I've just done a quick search @CostasK, do you think it would be better to start this in spring or are there any pond plants that you can recommend that look good over winter and/or are valuable for wildlife? Rain is forecast tomorrow so I'll do some more research then .

 

Hi @Plantminded

I am hardly an expert on ponds, as this is my first one and I only got it this year - other members of this forum will be better placed to advise - but my gut feel would be to start in Spring. When it's a new project it's nice to be able to see some instant results, and most pond plants go dormant.

In relation to my pond, as it's in a relatively shaded position, the selection was quite restricted anyway - I just chose the toughest plants for my circumstances, while understanding that they would mostly take a break over Winter. I went for hornwort as the main oxygenating plants as they can perform under nearly any circumstances, a "fibre optic plant" (Scirpus Cernuus) as a marginal because my partner liked it (that one is actually evergreen) and also I decided to take my chances with a water lily because of the foliage. After research, I found that "James Brydon" is quite shade tolerant for a water lily (they generally like full sun), but I was prepared to only get foliage. To my surprise, it flowered well. Eventually I added some smaller floating plants, the name of which I can't recall, that I am prepared to lose over Winter.

It's going to be the first Winter for my pond. Container ponds are more prone to freezing so I will keep an eye on it. The water lily is already losing its leaves and preparing to go dormant. Over Winter, plant-wise it will just be the Scirpus. That's fine though as far as I'm concerned. Having reflections on the water is also nice.

 

Thank you @CostasK, that’s very helpful. It sounds like you’ve done well with your choices, almost an expert now . I’ll be interested to know how your pond fares over winter. I’ll have a go in spring when more pond plants are available and in the meantime do some further research. Thanks again .

 

Thank you @Plantminded

Of course I will be happy to share how the container pond does over the Winter, plus any mistakes or wins

If it does well, I plan to get a bigger one next year. The one I have now has the dimensions of a half whiskey barrel. It was quite inexpensive (it was actually sold as a pot but didn't have drainage holes and is watertight) and that made sense at the time because it was an experiment, but I would like one that is a bit deeper and wider. As with borders, you can do more interesting compositions if you have space. And the depth helps with some plants e.g. I think my water lily would be happier with 10-15 cm more. I think that finding a good container for a pond that also isn't extremely expensive is a bigger challenge than the plants. Reading about plants and figuring out combinations is a joy, even if it involves a lot of back and forth (in my case)