Hi everyone,
Welcome to week five of In My Garden.
Helenium 'Moerheim Beauty'
My Helenium’s this year have been an absolute picture. I sketched them back in July in my everyday sketchbook while they were in their full glory, along with the beautiful Geranium Roxanna - they complement each other beautifully.
I originally started with just two Helenium plants in my garden and as they’ve grown, I’ve divided them and spread them throughout different parts of the garden. They’re one of the easiest perennials to care for—slugs don’t usually bother them, and they reliably come back year after year. The only downside is that if we get a lot of rain, they can droop a bit, but otherwise, they’re incredibly low maintenance.
When I researched plants for my garden, I was relieved to find that they thrive in conditions just like ours. They like clay soil, which is exactly what we have in our garden (though they also do well in loam, chalk, or sand). On top of that, they’re perfectly suited to exposed areas, and our garden is wide open to the wind!
I wanted to add them in to the Revolve project because they are such a pivotal plant in my garden and one of my favourites. What I love about sketching is the way it lets me truly "see" things—much more than a photo ever does.
The colours of the Helenium, with their yellow-tinted edges and vibrant mix of reds and oranges, are simply stunning.
Sticking to my timed, quick sketch guidelines—as I’ve explained in more detail here—
I began working on my A6 sketch for Week Five of my 'Revolve' exhibition, which is happening next year.
I can't believe another week has passed! It's exciting imagining how all 52 sketches will look when they're finally together.
I’ve had a busy week in the garden. Here are a couple of pages from my garden journal
We still have some baby fish (yay), and a few are now around 4 cm long, so I’m hopeful they’ll be just fine! The kids and I are thrilled and spend a lot of time ‘fish spotting.’
I’ve started pruning trees and shrubs, although I’m not sure if it’s the right time of year—I've been known to tackle garden chores at less-than-ideal times! I think everything should be okay, but it occurred to me that creating a ‘Pruning Calendar’ for all my own plants, shrubs, and trees could be really useful. It would serve as a great reference, unlike my current method of standing in front of a shrub, googling “When can I prune…” and then just pruning anyway!
I’ve also moved some plants around—relocating grasses that were hidden under all the Rudbeckia and some Geranium Roxanne that were being overshadowed by the Helenium’s.
Other Stuff:
My general newsletter went out on Sunday, for anyone who missed it, there’s a flip through of my Summer Sketch Journal included and I talk about a word I have chosen for the rest of the year to guide me.
Emma and I got together for our new series ‘One Line Wonders’ and had a lovely time sketching and chatting-
Thank you as always for reading 🌱
See you next week x
Loving your garden journal x
I sure wish I could draw like that. Instead I enjoyed yours!