Red-flowering Currant

One of the few shrubs in our garden that is left from the previous owners' time, and one I really like.

For the last two years or so, I have enjoyed gardening a lot. That wasn't always the case.

After we moved into this house and redecorated it, almost six years ago, we didn't have the energy left to tackle the chaotic and overgrown garden these people left us. You could see that they had just gone into a garden center, bought one of every kind of shrub, and plonked them into the ground all around the lawn and terrace - without any consideration of the plants' needs and sizes, or even of the colour and foliage combinations they made.

It took years to change most of this garden to how we like it - and we're still not finished, even though it's really small. It might have been easier to rip everything out at once and start from scratch, instead of doing it one corner at a time over the years.

But then, some of the shrubs and little trees are really pretty and it would have been a pity to lose them - like this ornamental currant with its tiny, intensely pink flowers.