Curly Cristo

Posted on August 2, 2014 by davidsgardendiary

I am currently trialling climbing French bean ‘Monte Cristo’ for Which? Gardening and have joined their community online forum to discuss any interesting aspects which come to light during the growing phase and subsequent taste trial. Like all French beans, they were easy and quick to germinate pushed into some peat free compost in toilet roll inners, so nothing to report on that score. They romped away when I planted them out in late May and quickly got to the top of their 8′ canes despite some slug and snail damage to the lower leaves. The foliage and flowers quickly followed and by mid-July the beans started to form. That’s when I noticed something odd. A lot of the beans were curly!

Not all of them of course, most of them were just fine but I thought I had better report the curliness as it was a trial and all comments are appreciated, no matter how daft. Suddenly the forum was full of ‘mine too’ comments so not so daft after all!

Some knowledgeable friends with allotments suggest the problem is possibly erratic watering, a bit like the problem you get when tomatoes split. It could also be due to the beans touching or leaning on other stems, beans or foliage rather than hanging down which could send growth in the wrong direction. However, they also make the point that virtually all climbing bean varieties produce some curly beans but people are conditioned to expect straight ones because that’s what they buy in the supermarkets which reject the curly ones!

They all taste wonderful, curly or straight! That lovely squeaky, nutty but strangely sweet taste that is so much nicer than runner beans (in my humble opinion) and the best bit of all is they are totally stringless, even when they are a bit old. A quick top and tail and into a pan of boiling water for a few minutes and Bob’s your uncle, delicious with a knob of butter. All observations, comments and suggestions gratefully received from any visiting readers which I will pass on to Which? for their information.

Echinacea Heaven

Posted on August 1, 2014 by davidsgardendiary

Last week I invited myself to Meadow Farm in Feckenham, nr Droitwich in Worcestershire, to see Rob and Diane Cole’s trial beds of Echinaceas. What a pleasure and a privilege! Rob was formerly a Landscape Architect and his attention to detail is evident in everything he does. Their nursery beds and display gardens are immaculate and I am always impressed when I visit. I just wish I had taken my DSLR camera, I only had my phone camera with me so apologies for the grainy low res images.

If you have never seen Echinaceas en masse, they are an uplifting sight. Rob Cole specialises in selecting open pollinated varieties which could produce the next “Pom Pom Wow Berry” or “Tomato Soup”. The bees do all the breeding work for him and with his well trained eye and years of experience he selects possibles from the thousands produced every year. These are then grown on for a second year and re-assessed to see if they have the right characteristics to make them a distinct variety good enough for the trade. Rob confided that despite assessing literally thousands of plants over several years, he has produced very few that look really outstanding. Rob is a perfectionist and if and when his progeny reach the trade, you can be sure they will be superb.

The gardens at Meadow Farm are a wonderful way of seeing plants in context and learning how and where to plant certain species to great effect. Diane’s talent for combining colour and form have made this a garden as good as any you will see. Having also seen the garden in early spring when it was full of bulbs and spring flowers, I was struck by the dramatic difference just a few months can make using herbaceous perennials and sheer exuberance of the planting. Rob and Diane have used the contours and slopes of the land to great effect and have produced interesting ‘rooms’ and beds of all kinds which would appeal to gardeners of all persuasions.

Considering they have created everything themselves with little or no outside help,carry out all the maintenance themselves, run a highly successful nursery, sow millions of seeds and divide thousands of plants every year, organise group visits several times a year, conduct talks and demonstrations to gardening clubs almost every week of the year, contribute time and expertise to the Hardy Plant Society at national and local level and still have time to see me..I think they are very special people.

I have learned a lot from my chats with Rob. He is very knowledgeable and a highly accomplished and respected speaker on the gardening club circuit. He has that wonderful ability to make a subject interesting, funny and memorable. I look forward to my next visit with eager anticipation.

Social Climber

Posted on July 23, 2014 by davidsgardendiary

This delightful little twining climber is properly called Maurandella antirrhiniflora but fortunately its common names are the much easier Climbing Antirrhinum, Twining Snapdragon or, in the States, Roving Sailor. It is very easy from seed and produces hundreds of plants from an early sowing in a 3″ pot. I give lots away to people who probably don’t want them but are just being nice. However, they tend to come back for more the following year if they haven’t saved their own seed.

The flowers are a delicious almost luminous dark violet with a white throat and shaped, as you would expect, just like an antirrhinum. It needs to climb and twist around something but the vines are so small and delicate that it works well planted with something tall like Agastache foeniculum which is strong and upright and a complementary colour. It can reach 2m high if you wish but I find 1.2m about right. When it reaches the top of the plant or the support it just falls backwards and continues to flower on the way down.

It produces a lot of seed at the end of the season which keeps well in the fridge for the following year. I would heartily recommend it as an extra which ‘peps up’ a container display or an otherwise boring tallish plant which might be past its best by July when Maurandella comes into its own for a couple of months.

I have a feeling it might be related to the climbing foxglove, Lophospermum erubescens which I also grow and which I wrote about last year. They both seem to have the alternative genus of Asarina and both originate from the southern United States and Mexico. However, the Lophospermum overwintered as a dormant tuber in the cold greenhouse which I don’t think the Maurandella would. There are also red, white, pink and orange varieties to brighten up your patio or conservatory. Really worthwhile trying…if you like that sort of thing!

Lab Labs

Posted on July 22, 2014 by davidsgardendiary

Whenever I think of Labs I think of our dogs Yana & Yula and, although this post is not about them, I thought you might appreciate a photo anyway. Any excuse to show off our adorable girls! Now back to the other Lab Labs or, more precisely, Dolichos lablab ‘Ruby Moon’ or Lablab purpureus ‘Ruby Moon’ which is another ‘first’ for me this year. Not quite sure which genus and species is correct as both are listed as a synonym of each other. It was offered in the Plant Heritage seed exchange and when I investigated further it was described variously as an attractive ornamental climber and a climbing ‘edible’ bean, both of which turned out to be partly true. It was a cinch to germinate in exactly the same way as climbing French beans, it twines its way rapidly up any support to about 3 metres high. The pods are a deep purple to maroon color on the outside and a bright, vivid green on the inside. They are malleable and lie flatter against the seed, like Sugar Snap peas. Immature beans are edible, though they may not taste as good as most other beans. The pods contain toxic cyanogenic glucosides, antimicrobial agents the plant produces that create a bitter taste in defence against hungry herbivores. Lablab beans have to be very carefully prepared, otherwise they can be poisonous. They are not recommended for consumption. The mature beans must be boiled and drained several times in order to rid the bean of its toxin. Ruby Moon beans will lose their colour when cooked, and turn a more modest green.
Native to Africa, lablab beans are grown in both south-east Asia and eastern Africa as a pulse crop for both animal and human consumption, but if you don’t mind I won’t be trying it myself, or the dogs!

Night Scented Flocks

Posted on July 20, 2014 by davidsgardendiary

Zaluzianskya capensis ‘Midnight Candy’ (Zal-oo-zee-AN-skee-uh) Night Phlox

I read about this remarkable little annual from South Africa earlier this year and bought some seeds to try. It was said to be one of the most intensely fragrant flowers which could fill a room or patio with its strong scent in the evening. During the day it sits quietly with its flower buds tightly closed in little purple capsules waiting for nightfall. When the sun goes down the flowers begin to open and the scent begins. The fragrance intensifies as the evening wears on and when it is totally dark the pure white flowers fully open to reveal their true purpose, to attract moths and other night flying insects to pollinate it in the course of drinking its rich nectar.

The scent is rather sickly sweet, it reminds me of pink bubble gum. I read another description which was ‘candied talcum powder’ so you get the idea! For a small plant it packs a powerful punch and just a small pot is enough. If you like sweet scent give it a try next year. It’s easy to grow and maintain, likes lots of water and a sunny spot. Like many flowers that open and close with the sun, it seems to last for weeks and doesn’t need constant dead-heading. Eventually it produces lots of seed to keep for the following year.

Success!

Posted on July 20, 2014 by davidsgardendiary

At the Awards for this year’s Charlton Kings in Bloom competition I was awarded first prize for the best front garden and runner-up certificate for the best rear garden! I am absolutely delighted and would like to thank everyone for their good wishes. I have had lots of kind comments from people who have walked past, driven past or seen photos on my blog and it suddenly dawned on me that gardens can bring so much pleasure to so many people.

Currant Affairs

Posted on July 16, 2014 by davidsgardendiary

I didn’t think we would ever beat last year’s soft fruit harvest but we have. The Redcurrants in particular have been truly prolific and we decided to take the covers off today and strip the bush of it’s delicious fruit before the inevitable blackbird and pigeon invasion. We only have one large bush but with careful pruning to maximise fruit production we get enough fruit for several pots of jam, jelly, sauce, pies and crumbles and still have loads left over for freezing.

This year we got 14 lbs (6.35 kgs) off this single bush which we find simply amazing! When they are picked over and rinsed they will be frozen on flat trays which helps to separate the currants from the sprigs.

Truly scrumptious!

Hampton Hobnobs

Posted on July 9, 2014 by davidsgardendiary

Went to Hampton Court Palace Flower Show on Tuesday and bumped into Sally Green and Michelle Stacey from BBC 2’s The Big Allotment Challenge. They were lovely and chatted to us for ages in the Floral Marquee. Despite their glamorous looks and Michelle’s unusual taste for vintage clothes, they assured us they are real gardeners and did all the work themselves.

Then I met the lovely Carol Klein again. She was just getting ready to do ‘a piece to camera’ as they say but was more than happy to speak to her loyal fans (like me!)

In the Rose Garden we met these two characters which was a bit of a surprise!

And then, as we walked towards the Palace…….the ghost of Anne Boleyn perhaps?

The Under-Gardener and friend Linney take shelter. Amazing what a glass of Pimms can do to brighten one’s spirits in the rain!

Big’uns & Little’uns!

Posted on July 8, 2014 by davidsgardendiary

Just taken this photo for my next piece in Garden News and thought I would post it to show the difference between bush grown sweet peas on the left and cordon grown ones on the right. The bush grown ones are grandifloras which have more flowers and a stronger scent and I just let them scramble up pea netting and obelisks in various parts of the garden. They get no attention other than watering, feeding and cutting. The cordons are all frilly Spencer varieties used mainly for competitions and have less scent and less flowers but they are much, much bigger! Some stems are 18″ long and the flowers are at least twice as big as the grandifloras. However, they involve a lot more work and I have been tying them in every day for weeks, nipping out the side shoots, cutting off the tendrils and pinching out the flower buds to force them to put all their energy into making tall strong plants. Fingers crossed for a first time success at the local show next week!

They Came, They Saw, They Liked It!

Posted on July 6, 2014 by davidsgardendiary

Dwarf Sweet Pea ‘Cupid

My judging ‘slot’ was 3pm – 5pm. I was beginning to think they had forgotten, got lost, got fed up and gone home. But no! At 4.57pm an SUV parked up outside and in they came with clipboards, cameras and rather tired faces which, thankfully, lit up when they began to inspect the garden. I rushed out to meet them and offered them tea but this was politely but firmly refused. I was clearly not going to be able to accompany them and ‘explain’ the garden. They spoke in hushed tones, busily photographing everything and writing copious notes.

Agastache ‘Liqorice Blue’ with Bidens ‘Golden Goddess’

Suddenly, half way around the front garden, the mood changed and I was invited to join them to offer the names of cultivars of agapanthus, dwarf sweet peas, penstemons and lilies. Ah! I thought, this is the Botanical Latin memory test! Thankfully, I could remember them all so this must have scored a few points. I then realised that two judges had disappeared into the back garden without me noticing. By the time I got there they had their heads stuck in my compost heaps which they found ‘very impressive’ as one of them put it! Mind you, I do have six of them which is a bit extreme even by Monty Don standards.

I was trying to impress them with my impending prolific blackberry harvest when they decided it was time to go. It had been a long day…for all of us. They had inspected 40 front and rear gardens at 29 addresses and were obviously tired and ‘gardened out’. I was up at 6 am, had breakfast, walked the dogs, cut the grass and checked every inch of the garden for weeds, dead heads and seed heads. I had swept, watered, pruned, preened and plumped. My darling wife Cathy (the under-gardener!) had filled yet another two trugs with detritus. Between us we were satisfied that no-one could have tried harder or done more to present their garden any better.

Inula magnifica with Verbena bonariensis

Before they left I gathered that the decision would be communicated at an award ceremony on 17 July which we duly agreed to attend! They sat outside in the car for ages, gesticulating and presumably trying to agree where my garden fitted with the 28 others they had seen. Eventually, they drove off. I was exhausted. How stupid! It was only a local ‘Best Kept’ garden competition and yet it meant so much. I had a beer and reflected on what had transpired when suddenly the sky turned black, thunder roared and the Heavens opened.

If you look closely you can see the hailstones on the lawn. In July! Was this retribution for my pride, my selfish desire to win, my coveting the trophy? I like to think it was just good timing!