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Jelly Bean Garden

I'm sure that early in its life the Jelly Bean Border was shaped like a Jelly Bean. This was one of the earliest borders, and has had many modifications - a bit of digging here, a small expansion there. The first digging was undertaken in the first and second summers here, to create a shrubby windbreak in the Pond Paddock.

Jelly Bean Border

I shifted in some sad young elms which were suffering out by the roadside. I planted them to be the backbone of the eventual border, and staked them carefully.

Tough shrubs from other places soon followed - Viburnum Tinus, Senecio, Hypericum, Cordylines, Flaxes and a Berberis. For spring 1998, I decided to mass plant hostas on the shady side under the cabbage tree. This has proved very stylish and highly successful, with the help of sneaky watering.

The Jelly Bean Border joins with the side house garden, and the fence between them supports a long row of roses. These gardens look beautiful when seen from the upstairs balcony, as the lawn sweeps elegantly (when newly mown) around their edge plantings. The BIG GUM, one of the original trees, is a lawn feature. It's noisy in the wind and is always dropping leaves and bark, but I love this tree.

Roadside of the Jelly Bean Border is a small sheep paddock which would look so good as part of the garden. Then the backside of the border could be re-dug - just a little, to give better definition. The warratah sheep fence could easily be moved, and you can imagine this whole area of grass smooth and mown and turned into lawn...

Jelly Bean Garden lawn... Wed 16th Feb 2005: Standing on the pond decking looking back at the house, you can see how full of growth the Jelly Bean Border has become. This garden was my second digging project, and many of the shrubs were shifted in from other places on the property.
Cerise Dahlia... Sat 12th Feb 2005: My dahlias have rather randomly appeared in different parts of the garden. This cerise beauty lives underneath the Graham Thomas roses in the Jelly Bean Garden. I can see its flowers from the house decking.
Variegated Apple Mint... Thu 10th Feb 2005: In the house border of the Jelly Bean Garden I grow the variegated Apple Mint, underneath a neighbouring red Berberis shrub. This mint is not too invasive, and although it spreads out via runners it is easily cut back.
Rose Canary Bird... Sat 29th May 2004: The rose Canary Bird lives just over the fence in the Jelly Bean Garden. It is the first rose to flower in spring, and spreads out its arching branches covered in single smallish yellow blooms.
Hosta Garden... Fri 21st May 2004: Here is another view of the small hosta garden underneath the Cabbage tree. It's the perfect place for these beautiful foliage plants.
Ligularia Flowering... Mon 15th Dec 2003: In the shady hosta garden under the Cabbage Tree I grow some Ligularias. These are the common type, whose flowers are often not as welcome as the foliage.
Cordyline / Cabbage Tree... Tue 28th Mar 2000: This was the first Cabbage tree that I planted when the Jelly Bean Border was first being dug. It has grown into a forked shape.
Two Silly Cats... Sun 12th Mar 2000: These two silly cats are acting out their duty as guardians of the Pond Paddock beyond the archway. They are desperately trying to ignore each other. This is an essential cat skill, practised often.
House in the Trees... Sat 11th Mar 2000: Moving around the back of the Jelly Bean Border, you'll get this view of the house from the sheep paddock. The shrubs at have bulked out nicely, and I am trying to get Stephen to move the fence so I can redefine the Jelly Bean's top edge. So far he's ignoring me.
Rose Bush Thorn Cat... Wed 8th Mar 2000: Stumpy is sitting on her fence post, showing that perfect cat balance and poise which humans rarely achieve.
A Rose Garden Balcony View... Wed 8th Mar 2000: The Jelly Bean Border continues through into the Pond Paddock, to the left of the archway. Trees and shrubs in the border were initially planted to provide shelter for the gardens in this paddock.
Hosta Plants in the Shade... Wed 8th Mar 2000: My hosta garden is in the shady Jelly Bean Garden between the Lemonwood and the forked Cabbage Tree. Things started slowly with a few tiny mail order hosta purchases, plus some dwarf white agapanthus (which have naturally never flowered).
A Red Flax Cat... Mon 6th Mar 2000: Here is a charming study of the tabby cat Sifter sitting underneath the corner red flax. He lazily surveys the lawn, hoping for a bird visit.
Purple Pansy Cat... Sat 4th Mar 2000: Mugsy the Cat is so small she almost gets lost in the grass. She looks puzzled by the purple self-sown pansies.
Lemonwood - Pittosporum Euginoides... Fri 25th Feb 2000: As you go through the archway you'll first pass a Lemonwood tree, or Pittosporum Euginoides.This tree has wavy green leaves which shine in the sun and smell like lemons. It's one of my most favourite evergreens and natives.
Jelly Bean Garden Borders... Wed 23rd Feb 2000: The large Eucalyptus Tree, affectionately called the BIG GUM, imposes its bulk and stature over the house lawn and the shrubs in the top of the Jelly Bean Garden. It is surrounded by a ring of plants in pots - particularly daffodils in Spring.
Bronze Corner Flax... Mon 21st Feb 2000: The top corner of the Jelly Bean Border is filled by a dark red-brown and bronze New Zealand flax. Chamomile daisies have self-seeded in front. The effect of these contrasting textures is very appealing.
Dublin Bay Roses... Sat 19th Feb 2000: These red roses (Dublin Bay) have always lived by the fence-line. The yellow flowering Hypericum provides a colourful backdrop.
Flax & Berberis Plantings... Sat 19th Feb 2000: This photo of Jelly Bean Garden plantings was taken in late spring of the year 1999, before I ripped out all the forget-me-nots. The red flax sits proudly at the corner of this part of the border, with a seedling berberis behind.
Dandelion Weed... Fri 18th Feb 2000: Here is a giant picture of a dandelion. I wonder how this WEED survived Stephen's Lawnmower? Dandelions are very common weeds in the paddocks in this area of Canterbury, so you could argue that this picture represents the natural vegetation of the place.
Chamomile Daisies... Thu 17th Feb 2000: These self-sown perennial Chamomile daisies have fresh clear lime green leaves, and will keep regrow after cutting back. I have always called them Chamomile daisies.
Corner Cordyline... Wed 16th Feb 2000: The Cabbage Tree (Cordyline) is eight years old in this photograph, and towers above the hostas and grasses in the Jelly Bean Border corner.
Blooming Garden Roses... Sun 9th Jan 2000: In early summer the roses along the house side of the Jelly Bean Border cover their fence-line with colour. The roses are Graham Thomas, Phyllis Bide, then the trusty Iceberg.