The client wanted a small area of patio to sit with a friend and a coffee, and the remainder to be a luxuriant flower garden, bursting with cottage garden plants. Luckily the garden was not overlooked from the rear, and to the S.E. and S.W. sides were steep banks planted with shrubs. We could thus afford to replace the closeboard fencing on these two sides with trellis panels, so allowing the sun to filter into areas that would previously have been shaded, as well as adding to the illusion that the raised beds beyond were part of the garden. This "Borrowed Scenery" needs further improvement before it can do justice to the inner garden that it surrounds, but a start has been made with additional shrubs and a determined blitz on the rampant bindweed!

In the foreground you can see the foliage of Iris 'Jane Phillips' and Heuchera villosa, and the pink pincushion flowers of Phuopsis stylosa. In the corner in front of the shed is a small Prunus 'Pink Perfection'.

Looking along the path to the new trellised gate, you can see the advantages of replacing the solid fence with trellis: the sun filters through the foliage of Akebia quinata and Rosa 'Constance Spry'. To the bottom right are "Lamb's Ears": Stachys byzantina 'Silver Carpet', and further down the path, beyond the Iris, you can see the fresh new foliage of Campanula takesimana.

Other planting:

Allium christophii
Acaena microphylla
Anemone x hybrida 'Queen Charlotte'
Aquilegia vulgaris 'Nora Barlow'
Astrantia major 'Alba'
Camassia quamash
Campanula 'Burghaltii'
Caryopteris clandonensis 'Heavenly Blue'
Catananche caerulea 'Alba'
Chaenomeles 'Moerloosii'
Clematis alpina 'Francis Rivis'
Clematis 'Perle d'Azur'
Clematis viticella 'Margot Koster'
Echinacea purpurea 'White Lustre'
Epimedium x rubrum
Eryngium tripartitum
Gaura lindheimeri
Geranium macrorrhizum 'Album'
Gypsophila 'Rosenschleier'
Lavandula stoechas
Liatris spicata 'Alba'
Passiflora caerulae
Penstemmon 'Sour Grapes'
Perovskia atriplicifolia 'Blue Spire'
Persicaria vaccinifolia
Phlox maculata 'Alba'
Pittosporum 'Tom Thumb'
Rosa 'Blairi No. 2'
Rosa 'Eglantyne'
Rosa 'Kathleen Harrop'
Rosa 'Paul's Himalayan Musk'
Rosa 'Scepter'd Isle'
Rosa 'Veilchenblau'
Rosmarinus officinalis 'Severn Seas'
Salvia nemorosa 'Ostfriesland'
Sarcococca hookeriana 'Dignya'
Sedum 'Autumn Joy'
Sedum oreganum
Solanum jasminoides 'Glasnevin'
Syringa microphylla 'Superba'
Thymus pseudolanuginosus
Trachelospermum jasminoides
Viola labradorica
Weigela florida 'Foliis Purpureis'