27 Canning Street

About 27 Canning Street

In addition to the perennial stock, additional colour derives from occasional annuals. A downstairs area outside the basement houses ferns and a mature climbing hydrangea (petiolaris). The limited exposure to full sunlight determines much of the garden’s success. The bog garden is filled with candelabra primulas in late spring and, in a good year, the arum lilies are abundant. A large variety of herbs happy to grow in the given conditions are welcome accompaniments for culinary creations. Controlling fast growing plants is important and I have not always managed this well. A big patch of rudbeckias should have been showing up in early autumn this year. Unfortunately, the grapevine and the exceedingly thorny Mermaid rose, originally planted to deter intruders from climbing over the shed roof, robbed all of the available space before I could peacefully intervene and curtail this aggressive takeover. I will have rhubarb next year, and I hope to continue experimenting with the planting in the parterres. A well established irregular double camellia japonica, positioned nearest to the kitchen window, flowers first in the year, like a white beacon. A white tree paeonia suffruticosa ‘Ezra Pound’ follows on, together with other tree three peonies in the raised bed at the back. Before the fig and the grapevine reappear in that raised bed at the end of the garden, the rambler Frances E.Lester shows up. The other rambler, an Albertine, on the right wall, is less showy yet. It will need some assistance, I think. New Dawn, the climber on the left wall, also requires a good feed. Compassion on the right wall has good and bad years. It’s lasted over three decades. The dog’s tooth violet (erythronium) is a loyal perennial in the minute rockery. – The two espalier apple trees are Lord Lambourne (desert) and Blenheim Orange (dual purpose). And the quince beyond the arch, by the back gate, gives me enough imperfect fruit to make plenty of membrillo every other year. The French beans look pretty when they flower and taste delicious when harvested and cooked. Although I love the flowering morello, I rarely manage to catch the sour cherries before the birds due to my reluctance to net the tree. – As I really like to see the contours of the walled garden, keeping up with pulling out the ‘mindyourownbisness’ from in between the flags is truly backbreaking.