From reading gardening books and magazines, I understand that there is a broad distinction between planstmen and designers. A plantsman is someone for whom the plants are the central aspect and they want as many as possible, in great shape and probably of those tricky types that show great skill to raise (meckonopsis anyone?). A designer is someone for whom the plants are secondary only in as far as they must fit within a robust design. Garden designers seem to largely look down on plantsman, and so far I haven't found the reverse because plantsman don't seem to be as vocal in their case - maybe because they are in the majority?
I am fascinated by garden design and even with some brief reading it is clear to see that a good design is key for any garden. However let's use my own case as an example. When I arrived my back garden was paved and decked out completely. There is no point in imagining any other basic hard structures because the cost of changing what is there is beyond me. So I built long raised beds (with Outlaw support) and have made the best of the situation can I can create my vision. Because plantsmen can have visions too, but ours is likely to be more about the feel and the plants. My vision is for an urban oasis - looking from my back door and seeing plants grow upward and outward so you must part them as you go. I was inspired by a picture in the wonderful Dan Pearson book Home Ground: Sanctuary in the City. I also knew I wanted a limited colour palate mostly around white and what plants I like. Later I realised I also loved the idea of a monastic courtyard and this works with the strong linear shapes and many herbs I have already and may support further a water feature in the future. Sometimes pure design is not possible for those with a limited budget, but we can still be motivated by our own vision even if that is plant-centric.
Anyway, the thoughts above were triggered by my visit to the stalls of Gardening Scotland. As we went Jamie exclaimed a few times about lovely tall White flowers (because he knew I was looking for more height and ideally more white. Often I was pleased to tell him that the objects of his attention were plants we already had - utterly smug is perhaps closer to the truth! The first plants I bought was a deep red thistle - selling out on several stalls I finally tracked it down. This is also a nice link between front and back so we have thistles in both. And I forgot how spiky they actually are. The front bed caused me the most problem because I needed to move some plants around to get sun for my thistle and fill up some spaces.
I also bought a Poppy - Papaver Orientale Patty's Plum. I know poppies are short-lived but I have loved them since I was a child. Last year the one Ladybird Poppy yielded many seeds and I ended up with 8 small plants this year. Patty has been in every magazine I read at the moment and it was nice to have it although is comparison with the broad swathes you see in larger gardens, my 1 plant looks lonely.
We also bought a plant that is supposed to deter cats (and others) which I've planted in the corner next to the rose - not holding out much hope but needs to be tried! So here is my troublesome front bed with the thistle and patty to the right. As the iris has not done much yet and there is still no sign of the Crocosmia, I planted the boring tall variegated shrub in the back corner and moved the black celery to just in front.
Here is my Agapanthus White Heaven. As a lover of Agapanthus I have never taken the plunge until now because they are so tender and I don't think Scotland works for them. So I have taken advice and planted this one into a pot so I can coddle it a bit more. Very excited!! I also bought 1 Allium Niger that is still to come and plants so you can see it from the kitchen door - maybe I will plant more Alliums next year (they are on the plants for 2013 list). I also bought 3 sensible medium height white flowers (different Asters). I was quite restrained and avoided getting carried away or buying things that won't come this year. I am still missing some larger plants but on my next trip to Dobbies I will find something for those gaps. GS provided a little inspiration and a few plants, maybe less than last year but that's probably due to the fact that I have grown as a gardeners since then.
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