Anyone know what this is?

FINDING FLOWERS AND OTHER STUFF

Now that we're here fulltime, the frugaldom garden project is now well underway. Every day we seem to spot something new or uncover more space that causes an instant reaction - what would look good in that space!

Today, H has been digging out more of 'rubble mountain' and started hacking back all the overgrown hawthorn and brambles. This is the corner where I found bamboo growing, so that has been kept. However, we don't know what this is...

It looks like a shrub and is over 2 metres high and is absolutely covered in these huge, fuschia-like flowers. It is growing by the side of the stream right next to the hawthorn and brambles.

The flowers are shades of pink ranging to deep purple and they hang down in pairs, either that or the flower is double-headed, one below the other. It's very striking and I'd love to cultivate a lot more of it.

Anyone any ideas what its real name is? It looks like a giant fuschia but the flowers are about 8cm in length.

This is the wild bird corner we've created at the bottom of what will be the orchard. Beyond this is where the nameless fuschia-like shrub towers above everything else. 'Scruffy' cat sat for ages watching H digging in here this afternoon! Or perhaps she was watching the birds?

We're going to be leading the overflow pipes through here from the duck pond that's being dug halfway up the garden. This corner is so completely different to how it was when we fist came here, so we're planning a seating area nearby for relaxing in summer to enjoy the garden more. It's a very sheltered corner, despite getting full sun for much of the day.

Next year, I'll prbably have lots more flowers planted here, to give it a real 'cottage garden' feel to it. Plans aplenty and, hopefully, plenty of time on our side.

There's also space here to build a summerhouse once all the rubble has been removed, so that's another longterm plan. As you can see, it has to be longterm, just look at what still needs to be removed. It's early days, we've only been moved in for a fortnight and the entire garden looked a bit like this to begin with, so watch this space. :)

For now, I'll be happy if anyone can let me know their thoughts on what our mystery shrub actually is and if I'll can take cuttings from it to grow some more. It really does stand out from everything else around it

You can see more of how the Frugaldom microholding project is progressing in our free forums, where I have a dedicated 'Frugaldom Microholding challenge' section. You can also set up your own personal challenges for pursuing frugal living and/or your attempts to create a microholding in your own back garden.