In the garden today

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In the garden Dungeness Open Studios

Hardy plants, poppies, shrubs, favoured weeds and herbs growing around our studios on the arid shingle beach in Dungeness.

A view of the progression of a beach garden over the course of the year.

Outside of the annually widespread 'faithful growers' - The mighty sea kale, iris, sedum, valerian, vipers bugloss, foxgloves, mosses, broom, gorse, hardy grasses, wild sweetpea and the tiny orchid like wonders (amongst many others). Plants that succeed in these windy desert-like conditions are in general grey-green in colour, furry leafed, salt tolerant, low growing herbs/weeds with some 'surprising and thriving' exceptions... Poppies, hellebore, mallow, cardoum, sweetpeas, courgettes, mullein, nicotiana, feverfew, hollyhocks, burley, angelica, thistles, wallflowers, cerinthe, angelica and evening primroses of all types will in our experience grow in abundance.

The Dungeness garden 2009 is now a dry seed factory for next years growth.... (more images to follow soon)

In the garden this week - June

Bugloss, wild sweet pea.	Roadside stall - £1 a pot	Delphinium and Knautia macedonica.
Feverfew bouquet.	Evening primrose.	Poppy bank, digitalis... etc.
Cerinthe.	Angelica.	Mallow pathway to the L.A.B.

In the garden - May

Oriental poppy.	Pokers and purple iris.	Three daisies in a poppy bank.
Horned poppy in the pathway.	Angelica and light iris.	Poppy in bell grass.

Studio 2, Valerian pathway.	Yellow horned poppy	Purple Iris in bloom
Allium - Iris - Tree Lupin	First poppy of the year....	Mixed poppy bank in readiness...

In the garden - April

Studio one, iris, wallflowers.	Euphorbia, angelica.	Elevated garden, pathway view.
Angelica and general view.	Daffs in the bath	Reinforcements from the cold frame.

Early growth - March

Purple flag Iris and bluebells.	Destination - Sparrow.	Mullein (beast) in the second year.
Angelica, evening primrose.	Reinforcements - Hollyhocks, verbena, mulleins, mallows, wallflowers, and self seeded mystery survivors.	Hurrah.... one snowdrop.

Hopeful mixed planting - March

Garden clobber.	Majestic oriental poppy.	Hellebore, feverfew, aqualegia, wild digitalis.
Beach rose, evening primrose.	Hollyhocks, verbena, primroses and self seeded survivors.	False cherry. rosemary, hollyhocks

Preparation - February

Lavender, rosemary bank.	Before the spring cut back.	Reinforcements in the cold frame.
In the tyre - Iris, daffs and kale.	Artichoke, succulents.	Midden pile after the cut back...

Below - some examples from last year - in and around the garden

Poppy variety.	Sea kale bouquet.	Valerian variety.
Wind, rabbit sculpted gorse.	Horned poppy, hellebore.	Exotic and field poppy mix.

More images and garden views will be added regularly in a loose 'blog style' as the seasons progress...

We like to use - Botanical.com - A modern Herbal by Mrs M. Grieve.