Above: A riot of colour all season long fills the yard with joy.


to seed and has scattered some of their harvest in the ditches along the road. Doris populated other long beds with


gifted and traded plants from friends and neighbours. Her beds describe an English country garden perfectly. They are filled with all the plants you would find in such a garden: hollyhocks, poppies, peonies, foxgloves, crocosmia (she adores the stunning red brilliance of these bulbs); shasta daisies, phlox, Canterbury bells, sweet-smelling valerian – the list goes on and on. The beds are a mix of continuous


colour, changing with the seasons, always filled with surprises. One of these surprises is an unwanted one: the dread- ed red lily leaf beetle showed up in her lily patch about four years ago. So far, she stays one step ahead of the invasion by squishing them; but it is heartbreaking to see the lovely plants stripped of their leaves, which weakens the bulbs even if the beetles don’t eat the flower heads – although they do. Around and amongst the flowers there


are shrubs such as lilac and a prized dappled willow, the lovely Hakuro-nishi- ki with its tri-coloured leaves of pink, cream and green. She also cherishes a double mock orange, which she grew from a cutting obtained from a friend. Adding dignity to the yard, a row of ancient maples lines the farmyard drive- way. She has fruit trees: apples and a pear


10 • Home and Gardener Living www.localgardener.net


A lovely spring peony. Phlox and baby’s breath (Gypsophila).


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