September Tidy Up

I ran my fingers through the Stipa tenuissima to decongest untidy thatch, I clipped a few straggling Verbena bonariensis and deadheaded the Salvias. A few minutes of therapeutic gardening results in a tidier gravel garden.

The Calamagrostis brachytricha or Mexican feather reed grass are performing incredibly well at the moment. I love their arrow shaped seed heads, a floating pinky-purple vision above the upright green lance-like foliage. When the seed heads first flower in late August, they are such a welcome delight. 

They perform at a time when the stalwart summer performers such as the nepeta and salvias have worn themselves out with their vigorous flowering. The seed heads contrast particularly well with the Melianthus major or honey bush which is a glaucus evergreen shrub with peculiar shaped leaves and rather underwhelming, but beautifully scented, orangey maroon flowers.