Mexican daisies come my way

One of the few downers since moving house has been the inevitable loss of a few small but useful things in the post-move chaos. The cable for my digital camera and the tiny person's changing bag being the most annoying. After several days of fruitless searching I am giving up and buying new replacements, which will of course be the cue for both items to turn up.

This is my longwinded explanation for the fact that I haven't posted any pictures of the new garden yet. There are only certain things I can work on at the moment, as I have already explained, and one of these is the front garden. Well I can't really call it a garden - it's a gravel driveway really. While that's all useful parking space, it needs what you might call softening - all that gravel and brick is a bit harsh, only eased by a pyrancantha by the front door.

I'm starting out simple. I bought a couple of small box balls and put them in tapering pots either side of the porch. But I needed some plants that wouldn't mind a gravelly, sunny outlook - I've been reading Margery Fish who was something of an obsessive on this front, and I had my eye on some Mexican daisies, or Erigeron Karvinskianus.

I've also seen it used to great effect against stone steps, as per Point and Shoot Kinda Gal's picture above - for example on some steps at the lovely Kingston Maurward gardens in Dorset. In one of those rare instances of synchronicity, someone at the local cafe was replanting some containers when the tiny P and I stopped for tea and a scone today, and I noticed she was turfing out some Mexican daisies. RESULT!

For a small donation (it's run by volunteers from local churches so I felt obliged) a Tesco bagful of E. karvinskianus were mine. We'll see how they get on - there really is very little in the way of soil so they'll have to be tough. (Cunningly I've put some in a pot in case the rest fail). Any other tips for what'll go with the daisies and cope with south-facing gravel? I am thinking the white forms of Campanula carpatica and C. pyramidalis and lots of thymes.

Comments

[Molly]

If your winters are mild enough, some heat-loving hebes might be happy in the front garden.

[Philip Voice]

I know what you mean about mislaying things.

In a rush (because I left packing to the last minute) to get ready for the Saltex show I mislaid my Olympus digital and was forced to take my Canon Cybershot (which I prefer but it has had lots of use).

Since being back, I cannot find the cable to download all of the photos so they remain on the camera.

Phil

[The Constant Gardener]

Oh dear I couldn't have lived without my changing bag when my little ones were even littler. It went with me everywhere. I'd have been bereft if I'd lost it.

I love Erigeron - I have a client with it cascading down an old stone wall behind her house. She calls it Bouncing Bet - don't you think that's lovely?

I like Portulaca for dry gravelly situations - it's more like a succulent, grows with virtually no water at all, and has really in-your-face flowers. They're a bit day-glo so might not be to your taste, but they'd love your situation.

[Madeleine]

Some herbs like thyme, lavender or rosemary which like a sunny dry position might be happy there? My dad has a rosemary planted in gravel and it is very happy there; it gets to over 4 feet tall if it isn't regularly pruned. I have a couple of lavenders that are happy in containers in our sunny front garden.

I love the dainty Erigeron too!

[Sarah]

How about Dianthus deltoides or Sempervivum? Also, I thought you and your readers might be interested to hear that two eBooks by our Editor, Tom Turner, will be available to download free from GardenVisit.com during October to celebrate our 10th birthday. They are The Principles of Garden Design and 24 Historic Styles of Garden Design - see www.gardenvisit.com/ebooks.