This first area has a lot of old railway sleepers laid in a step like fashion at the start of the garden. he reason this section of the garden is called the Hot Garden is that it is a little hot pocket in summer, along with the colour choices of flowers I tend to put in here - bar the lavender. Its colour scheme consists of orange, peach, hot pinks, the occasional reds, deep dark purples to almost black. I saw this term used in RHS Rosemoor garden when I went back in summer 2021. They had similar planting and thought it was a good idea to section of my garden by various names as it is build as different sections & levels! They also had a Cool Garden which I'm also hinting at further up the garden - more on that in those sections.

This area has seen the most changes of the whole garden as it's the closest to the house (easy access) and is the bit all neighbours can see from their own homes. So it's been something I've wanted to have look nice. It starts with a row of massive lavenders (ones I sadly have to replace this year), followed by a row that is a mix of perennials and annuals, most of which can be eaten (nasturtiums, , calendula, oxalis and california poppy) as well as the more tropical canna & dahlias. Having a mix of perennials and annuals means there's  structure (perennial) and flexibility (annuals). This means it won't look the same each year and gives me a chance to experiment with new varieties too.

The Hot Garden is basically only 2 levels of sleeper step before it merges into the Kitchen Garden. I do think that it is an interesting area. In late spring all the way through end of summer it is a-buzz with insects, pollinators and slugs chomping on anything they can set their multi rowed teeth in.

There will come a point that I'm going to have to replace the current sleepers due to the wood slowly deteriorating thanks to the elements, me not maintaining it, etc etc. Wood left out in the elements, untreated, will rot eventually. And that has started to happen.