A cloudy, almost-rainy Friday evening is the best time to visit a garden centre – absolutely no crowds and no queues.

I finished planting the new area this weekend. Bergenia at the far back; Hazelwort around the very base of the elder bush; Heuchera under the rest of it.

Many garden design sources suggest putting contrasting plants next to each other, but I chose to go with the complete opposite here. The dark leaves of the Heuchera match the elder, and I intentionally put them right under it. To me it feels like bits of the elder have fallen to the ground and taken root, or like a big red bush sheltering tiny red cousins under its wings.

Not that you can really see any detail here, with the glare of the evening sun.