It’s the valerian season again – or, rather, that of Centranthus ruber, otherwise known as jupiter’s beard and kiss me quick, and a great coloniser of beaches and dry ground. In the golden evening sunlight the colours – all shades of pink through to deep crimson, rich red and the occasional patch of pure white – are even more intense.
It grows not only along the beach down here, but also self-seeds happily into all the gardens, merging happily with cultivated flowers in borders, or taking hold in cracks in walls or paths. It looks particularly good alongside the bright electric blue of vipers bugloss, or even just poking between the weathered silver grey of paling fence posts.
I’m sure it won’t be long before it pays a visit to our garden, and I hope it sticks around….
Talking of which, if I don’t do an update on the raised beds etc, we’ll have eaten all the vegetables and they’ll be empty again. So here goes….
The pergola is finished, the grapevines trained up and around it, with tiny embryonic grapes on them already, and the raised beds filling fast. (In fact, they have filled out considerably even since these pictures were taken, but most infuriatingly I cannot locate the lead to download today’s most recent pictures, so that will have to wait). Taking a cue from the pretty central support, up which sweet peas and runner beans are alternately trained, I decided to plant and sow on the diagonal – not only does this look pretty; it’s also handy as you can have long or short lines of different things, depending on how much you like them or how many seedlings you have. I’m particularly pleased with the mixed red and green cut-and-come-again salad leaves – a mix (from Crocus) of oakleaf, frisee, cos-type, ice-berg-type and butterleaf – which have been providing us with delicious crisp and silky-soft leaves for weeks now and show no sign of abetting.
Since these pictures were taken, I’ve sown flowers such as cosmos and calendula in lines in amongst the other crops, plus dwarf french beans (yet to come up but they will do soon), rocket and spinach. There’s also another sowing of sweet peas as I’m disappointed with the puniness of these, and several courgette plants, already fruiting, interspersed with nasturtiums. And there are also tomatoes (some from a kind neighbour, some grown from seed sent from the lovely Plant World Nursery in Devon) in a sunny spot outside the back door.
I’ve also been playing about with pots around the front door – rescuing and reinstaing my old fluted metal washing ‘dolly’ tubs, neglected succulent plants and old grape-treading vats full of herbs.
The splendid ammonite casts were made by a friend and neighbour who is getting them stocked in nurseries and garden centres around here – inquiries to justin.beard1@btinternet.com.
Mary greatly enjoys putting shells around the pots – the ‘Mary Mary Quite Contrary’ cake I made for her fifth party game gave us the idea for a garden of her own (featuring plants from our Easter garden, some of the more garish selections she pops into the trolley on visits to our local garden centre, and a beautiful pink which one of her little school friends gave her, with a packet of Californian poppy seeds, for her birthday – what a lovely present!) in one of the old grape-treading vats. We’ve got the cockle shells, just got to find some silver bells…. The Californian poppy seeds have been sown to spell out ‘MARY’ – see? (This, too, has come on apace since – update soon).
And Mary is not the only one to appreciate the changes in the garden. That’s right, smell but NOT chew, Tinker, dear….
Back with more pics of the very latest progress, soon. I have hit on a good plan to surround the deck with a low narrow band of planting, shored up by lengths of salvaged timber, featuring diaphanous or see-through plants such as swishing grasses, long-stemmed lavender, gaura, Verbena bonariensis and so on, interspersed with different lavenders and spring bulbs. At the front of the house, the carriages and porch will look as if they are rising up from a fringe of grasses and flowers. That’s the theory - now I’ve just got to make it all work, but I’ve been propagating grasses in pots here and there throughout the garden for years for such a project… and some of that gorgeous valerian would look lovely in amongst it all…..
For more on the background of our project to turn two Victorian railway carriages into an ec0-home, plus more photographs, garden writing, other journalism and information on my past and current books, please visit my website.
The paperback edition of 
.
That is all coming along beautifully. I like your diagonal planting idea very much. My sweet peas are always puny, whether I plant them in the autumn or the spring, I just can’t get the armfuls that Sarah Raven manages with all her flowers. The Valerian is stunning, does it cut and last well in vases? Do take a look at The Walled Garden at Scampston for grasses. It’s a Piet Oudolf garden – perhaps you know it. I had some pictures up recently from our visit last year.
Beautiful pictures. Valerian is up there with roses for me. They are the first two things I planted in our garden. But I love anything that looks after itself and gets on with putting itself about. Less work for me is always a good thing in the garden – I have enough to do with nettles and bramble bashing without having to fuss flowers too! (you’ll guess most of our roses are rampant ramblers!) t.xx
piccy of tinker and the dustbin is wonderful. . . how can such a daffy hound look so sagacious? hope all well by the sea, garden looks to be coming on strong (natch), pleased to report mine is finally bedding in and ive launched my plan to start planting symapthetically in neighbours (just blagged some MORE bamboo to plunk next door). . .
t x
I would love one of the ammonite casts. How do I go about getting one?
Yes, if anyone is interested, just leave a message, and I think from that I can find your email and put you in touch with the maker of the lovely ammonite casts. The large ones are rather heavy, so depending on where you live, postage or delivery will have to be organized accordingly…. They are really worth having. Beautiful – and also useful in that laid down flat they can be used as bird-baths or as stepping stones.
x E
Catching up on some previous posts to find that your raised beds look like they’re coming along nicely. I have just started a couple of raised beds in my cottage garden (I share the work (and produce) in a friend’s vast vegetable garden but its nice to have something just outside the kitchen door instead of a ten minute drive away!) hoping to put some photos on my blog tomorrow.
By the way my bedside reading at the moment is The Urban Gardener – interesting to read of your hopes and aspirations for a seaside garden even back then! Your adventures in the Allotment do make me chuckle.
Jeanne
I have plenty of self seeded red valarian in the garden, just along the coast from you.
Perhaps sprinkling some of the wild valarian seeds over the garden will encourage it to start growing within your fence.
It’s good to see how your vegetable garden is already providing for you all.
Beautiful the plants on the beach, and I love the look of your vegetable garden, look forward to see the calendula flowers with their bright colour, I use many Weleda products, some made from calendula flowers! Just went to my daughter’s flat, she borrowed your book and made the triangle flags accross her sitting room, looks great, amitié Martine
Hello Elspeth – I read your blog but have never commented till now – I have just received your book – inspirational and I have lots of plans for summer – also I too would like to own one of the ammonites – am always looking for ways to encourage the individual craftsperson/maker rather than buying mass produced ware from overseas – if you can put me in touch with the maker I would be very grateful – many thanks – Penny
Thank you! I do hope you enjoy the book. Talking of which, I have just been alerted to a gremlin, which must be corrected in next edition… In spite of FOUR eagle-eyed people checking the copy twice, an error has occurred in the scones recipe: if anyone is attempting it it is 30ml NOT 300ml milk – quite a difference! (And I’d hope most people would realise that before sloshing it all in…) So embarrassing and I do apologise…
And I now have a direct emaul for the garden ammonites: please get in touch with Justin Beard at justin.beard1@btinternet.com. They are fantastic things, so beautiful and with so many uses too….
x E
Valerian is beautiful isn’t it? It grows on the chalk cliffs along this part of the Kent coast. When we were down at the beach a couple of weeks ago it was smothered in butterflies – just stunning.
Nina x
I have just received one of the cast ammonites and am delighted with it – wonderful detail and don’t think it will be the last – I feel a collection coming on…..