Thank you for the suggestions for what I should replace my diseased box balls with (that sounds nasty) and I have decided on hebe, for now at least.
My second nearest choice was for yew, but I shelved it for now, simply because it was quite pricey. I think I will get one anyway when I can find a small, cheap plant or cutting, but this will be a long term project, for now, I wanted those bare empty pots filled with a nice replacement.
I went for hebe because it is very prunable (is that a word?) it has nice a long season of flowers, this one does anyway, and at the moment it is very cheap in my garden centre - always a good incentive. I know it can become a bit leggy and woody and I am going to learn about very careful pruning techniques to try and avoid that happening.
The variety I plumped for is Hebe Raspberry Ripple and here are the two plants
looking very smart in their pots (anything would look smart after the brown, dry dying box to be honest. They have interesting foliage too and mark the edge of the path near the less than interesting covered cat litter tray that is my raised bed (so far the covering has done the trick nicely, but the time is coming soon when it will need uncovering - how long before the word gets around in the cat community?)
Here is a picture of this variety of hebe in flower:
I think it is rather lovely.
The wonderful early Spring weather has been a delight, long may it continue. It's tempting to start getting things in the ground, but don't worry, of course I won't, it could snow yet! The seedlings are all coming on really well on my window sills and I am about to put out washing onto the line for the first time this year, this sounds very dull, but believe me it still remains a treat after years of living in flats.
I built a rustic frame for the area I have marked out as a dahlia patch, after seeing something similar in the Sarah Raven flower catalogue. I liked the way it blended in and looked natural when surrounded with flowers, much more so than canes which can spoil the look if you ask me.
I hope it doesn't collapse like a deck of cards at the first tiny breeze, that WOULD be embarrassing. I will add more twigs as and when they become necessary but it is a good start. Lucky there were loads of nice rustic looking branches lying about after the gales of a few weeks ago.
Final photo of the day is of my rhubarb which has come on a treat thanks to all the rain. Won't be long before I am enjoying my first rhubarb crumble.
