Six on Saturday

Posted on August 13, 2020 by davidsgardendiary

During the last very, very hot two weeks it has been a struggle to keep everything alive, particularly plants in pots and those planted out just a few months ago in the new rose garden. The (five) water butts ran out in quick succession and I had to resort to the hosepipe which I try not to do but needs must! Of course, as soon as I got the hosepipe out, it rained; big rain, lots of rain. My (five) water butts are now full again!

I am a great fan of Soapwort with its pretty white and pink flowers; so dainty yet tough as old boots. As perennials go, this one should be in every garden but it seems to have lost favour like a lot of ‘common’ plants. The nursery trade has a huge influence on how gardens are planted unless, like me and many others, you hunt down the seeds and grow them yourself.

The saponin properties found in soapwort plant are responsible for creating the bubbles that produce soap. You can easily make your own liquid soap simply by taking about twelve leafy stems and adding them to a pint of water. This is usually boiled for about 30 minutes and then cooled and strained. Alternatively, you can start out with this small, easy recipe using only a cup of crushed, loosely packed soapwort leaves and 3 cups of boiling water. Simmer for about 15 to 20 minutes on low heat. Allow to cool and then strain. Note: The soap only keeps for a short period (about a week) so use it right away. Use caution as this can cause skin irritation in some people.

These two tough little pots of Liliope muscari were given to me by my friend Nan a few years ago and only found their way into the ground in May, since when they have been much happier and flowered better than they ever did in pots. They like the shade of the Physocarpus and the moist clay beneath.

This is quite simply a stunning rose despite its rather lax habit, with gorgeous apricot flowers on almost thornless stems and a fruity tea scent. Destined to be one of my favourites I think

My little potted Eucomis bicolour has excelled herself this year with eleven flower spikes which I think is down to the ‘Carol Klein method’ of repotting with fresh gritty compost every February before growth gets underway. It has surprisingly few roots for such a leafy plant, but stores it’s food in its huge bulb.

Finally, I don’t often recommend gardening websites, particularly the large nurseries with big marketing budgets or here-today-gone-tomorrow gadgets, but this one seems to be different and a good idea for hard pressed gardeners. The Secret Gardening Club https://www.secretgardeningclub.co.uk/ is a venture by Yorkshire Lavender who take over excess stock from nurseries all over the country and sell it to club members at a fraction of the price, often starting at just £1.99.
Every week they let all their club members know what great plants offers they have available by email. I have joined the club, bought some plants, received them and have been impressed with the quality, the packaging and the customer service. I speak as I find and so far this seems to be a genuinely good idea.

So, there are my six for this Saturday.

Have a great weekend!

David

Six on Saturday

Posted on August 8, 2020 by davidsgardendiary

A quick glimpse of the booze factory! Blackberry Gin, Redcurrant Vodka, Blackberry Brandy, Japanese Wineberry & Maple Syrup Vodka, Blackberry & Vanilla Vodka Liqueur all steeping for 12 weeks before being strained, filtered and bottled for Christmas. Obviously, might have to sample each one before then!

Incredible sunset last night. Looked like the sky was on fire. Another hot couple of days still to come. Out with the watering cans!

Gaura lindheimeri ‘Whirling Butterflies’ is reputedly a short lived perennial but this one has been going for 8 years. Never quite sure what ‘short lived’ means, is it 3,5,7 years or longer? I have found it easy to take heal cuttings and propagate them in the Hydropod so all will be well.

I am always impressed with the simple and abundant flowers of perennial sunflowers. This Helianthus has been with me since we moved here 12 years ago and has been split, walked on and moved several times since then. It is one of those plants that come with a warning that they may spread vigorously which this one certainly does. However, in the right place the 2m tall flowers make a wonderful backdrop to a mixed border as long as you’re not sniffy about yellow. Pollinators love them and as I wrote previously, it takes a Chelsea Chop in May which doubles the flowers and prolongs the season.

Everybody likes a good Phlox! This one is short and sweet, and free of mildew for now!

Hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’ is finding it tough going in my clay soil. She dries out quickly and needs constant watering which seems to result in shorter growth and smaller flowers. I enriched the soil with compost and have pampered her with organic fertiliser but nothing seems to perk her up. I think I may have to give up and just accept her runty growth.

And that is my Six on Saturday, on time for once!

Six on Saturday – missed again!

Posted on August 7, 2020 by davidsgardendiary

I have discovered that my hitherto punctuality is a thing of the past and I am now pretty hopeless at remembering to update my blog as promised. Could be an age thing, could be the distractions of family and friends last weekend (a two year old granddaughter demanding attention from the moment she wakes up doesn’t help!) or it could be the red wine, who knows! Anyway, I promise to do better from now on, to which end I have taken the photos today and uploaded them so I just have to write the words. No excuses then!

In the meantime, here are the ones I meant to post last week.

Named after the house in Shropshire where King Charles II allegedly hid after his defeat in the Battle of Worcester in 1651, this David Austin bred repeat flowering rose, (apparently with the scent of Myrrh but I couldn’t possibly comment having never smelt the real thing) is on its second flowering and doing better than the first. It has the great attribute of holding its head up rather than drooping like so many David Austin modern roses do. A gorgeous coral pink with glossy green leaves, it is a stunner.

At just £2 for a bag of 5 bulbs from Morrison’s, I rate this summer flowering bulb for its height and form, bee friendliness and sheer exuberance. It is rated as perennial but if it isn’t, I haven’t lost much and had a wonderful first and last summer.

This unusual Kniphofia ‘Green Jade’ is about as reliable as any red/orange and is not as difficult to place in the garden. It combines well with most colours and fades into the background. Bombproof, thrives on neglect flowers for weeks on end and easy to tidy up in the spring. I just wish it had tidier flower heads, it always looks a bit scruffy!

This is one of those Dahlias that started off life as a ‘Bishop’s Children’ derivative and has morphed into it’s own semi variety. It stays in the ground, comes up every year without fail, battles the slugs and snails in April and May and comes good in July and August. It’s tough, pretty and never lets me down; a metaphor for the best thing in my life.

This Salvia was grown from a demonstration cutting discarded at a Plant Heritage meeting seven years ago. It is one of those plants that you love to hate. It smells awful, it has an enormous appetite for water, it is not particularly attractive and yet it just won’t die! It is supposed to be H3 meaning it won’t take a frost, but I leave it out all year and despite the initial leaves often getting frosted, it soon sends out more as if to say “you can’t kill me!”

And another plant which hasn’t read the book. Cannas are also H3 so should be ‘lifted, dried and stored carefully in a frost free place over winter’. Frankly, can’t be bothered. If you plant them deep enough they easily survive an average Cotswold winter and come up unscathed to flower from August to October with these head turning colours.

So that’s it for this/last week. Sorry I was late…again. I will improve…promise!

Six on Saturday

Posted on July 26, 2020 by davidsgardendiary

It’s fruit picking time and there have been bumper crops of Japanese Wineberries, Blackberry ‘Oregon Thornless’ and Redcurrant ‘Rovada’ to freeze, make flavoured gin, brandy & vodka, and for pies, ice cream and sorbet.

I am slowly building up a collection of daylilies. I have always had a few ‘fulva’ which I have split and replanted over the years but have recently acquired ‘Dad’s Best White’, Stella d’Oro’, ‘Kwanso’ and an unnamed creamy white. I also managed to grow H. lilioasphodelus from seed several years ago and it flowered for the first time this year. I felt triumphant!

I Have had some blue water pipe in the shed for many years, probably going back to Geoff Hamilton’s day when I was keen on growing my own veg and had visions of Geoff’s cloches on my raised beds. So, this year, during ‘lockdown’, I decided it was time to make them.

Calabrese ‘Ironman’ in one and Purple Sprouting ‘Rudolph’ in the other. Probably not tall enough!

I have never been quite sure whether I like this Clematis ‘Alba Luxurians’ or not. It looks decidedly odd, a freak, a hybrid gone wrong. It certainly does well for me and reaches up into an old apple tree every year without fail.Odd though!

Don’t leave your expensive galvanised Haws watering can outside full of water over the winter! It froze, expanded and reshaped the base into a dome! Now it won’t stand up!

An Orange Tip butterfly on Hesperis matronalis, a rare sight in my Cotswold garden but fortunately not on the endangered list…yet!

Six/Ten on Saturday

Posted on July 18, 2020 by davidsgardendiary

I missed last week’s posting due to grandparent duties so I have a bumper crop this week starting with the scrumptious Rosa ‘Camille Pissaro’ newly acquired from Style Roses. Always difficult choosing roses from a catalogue but this one didn’t disappoint. Camille himself was an 18th century French painter and this probably looked like his painting apron!

Good old Geranium ‘Rozanne’ mingling with Nepeta faassenii ‘Kit Kat’, and just about anyone else she can find on her sprawl across the border. Good at hiding the less attractive underparts of roses and carpeting the ground to prevent weed seed germination.

Another new addition for the rose garden is Clematis x triternata ‘Rubromarginata’ AGM currently smothered in hundreds of small but delicious almond scented flowers. I may have underestimated this clematis as I had assumed small flowers – small height. Wrong! She is going to be huge next year, easily outgrowing her allotted space and may have to be moved while still young enough to cope. If you like marzipan, you’ll love the fragrance.

I found a tiny self sown seedling of Verbena ‘Bampton’ when I was clearing the ground for the new rose garden, potted it up and replanted it in May. It has rewarded me with a wonderful display of its rigid wiry stems, dark green foliage and tiny purple/pink flowers for weeks and shows no sign of slowing down. A good strong perennial self seeder.

The last of my Thalictrums to flower is the wonderful ‘Rochebrunianum’. Fully 2m tall and literally smothered in delicate purple flowers with bright yellow stamens, it is a sight to behold. Adored by bees and other pollinators she makes me happy every time I see her.

Apologies for the tall picture but I wanted to get the flowers and foliage for this one. It is Penstemon sub serratus (we think!) grown by local nurseryman Kelvin Freer from donated Cottage Garden Society seed last year. I say ‘we think’ because opinions seem divided over the species but whatever it is, I am happy to give it garden room. It is proving to be robust and long flowered and like every Penstemon, adored by bees.

Just acquired this Tulbhagia violacea from a National Trust garden after failing miserably to germinate any from seed earlier in the year. I love their elegance and delicacy but, sadly, not their smell. They are not called Society Garlic for nothing! A South African native, they are not quite hardy in the UK unless you live in balmy Cornwall so they will be kept in a pot and transferred to the greenhouse for the winter. I am led to believe they ‘clump up’ like agapanthus and can be split every few years.

Sweet Pea ‘Betty Maiden’ from last year’s Which? Gardening trial are doing very well again and deserve a place in any pastel colour scheme, The delicate mauve and white flowers opening from lemon buds are just gorgeous and one of the best scents I think too.

Not particularly liked or fashionable these days, the ubiquitous Centranthus ruber or confusingly called Red Valerian, is all over my garden in cracks and crevices. Growing out of gravel and dry stone walls, it seems to be able to survive on a starvation diet of pretty well nothing. I certainly never water it or feed it and in fact, ignore it completely. If it pops somewhere I don’t mind then I leave it and if I don’t, it is easily pulled out. A lovely addition to a garden despite its almost ‘weed’ status. It comes in pink, red and white and seems to blend in with most things in my garden.

Last, but definitely not least, my current ‘Plant of the Year’, is Diascia personata, a tall version of the popular rollin’ & tumblin basket or edging plant, which went to the top of my lust list after coming across it at an open garden last year. You know that ‘I’ve got to have it’ feeling? It was one of those! It has performed so well and flowers so profusely I am going to spread the word among my fellow cottage gardeners by taking loads of cuttings for dispersal.

That’s it for this week. Hope to keep this up, I’m quite enjoying it again!

Six on Saturday

Posted on July 8, 2020 by davidsgardendiary

We are currently enjoying the first reunion with our family for four months so I thought I would begin with a pic of our eldest son Matt and his niece (our granddaughter) Chloe whose second birthday we missed two weeks ago. A bit tenuous but this qualifies as a garden pic as they are in my new rose garden.

Not my pic, but one of our Cottage Garden Society members sent this as her entry into our ‘virtual’ Sweet Pea competition. Just a gorgeous colour combo.

A Facebook friend recently requested some seeds of this short lived perennial which, she says, is a good plant of night flying moths. Not sure about that but the scent is wonderful and the early flowers go really well with dark tulip ‘Queen of Night’

I have tried in vain to grow Dieramas, one on my ‘lust list’, but failed miserably due to my poor draining clay soil. No matter how much I improved the drainage, they died. Then, one of my friends high up in the hills above Bourton-on-the-Water sent me this pic of hers growing on stoney Cotswold brash. I almost wept!

I am very taken with this little Group 3 clematis which has the most beautiful lavender blue flowers, streaked with white and with bright yellow stamens. It is still very young but will hopefully survive and prosper.

Never much cared for this plant but, having just moved it into a more favourable position, I am warming to it. Oddly, it never self seeds for me. I have had the same clump for ten years.

Six on Saturday

Posted on June 27, 2020 by davidsgardendiary

How often do you see wild cherries these days? Way up in the Cotswolds above Naunton, about as high as it gets around here. Wonderful to see and delicious to eat!

What I now believe to be Rosa ‘Super Dorothy’ although I can’t be sure. Inherited with the garden, in an awkward spot by a gate, very thorny and very pretty.

I am always impressed with plants that come back from the Chelsea Chop like this Leucanthemum. More flowers, later flowers on shorter stems that don’t need staking. Win, win.

Fruit picking time! Wonderful crops of blackcurrants and strawberries this year so far, redcurrants and gooseberries still to come. Yum, yum!

Another of my ‘no-name’ plants inherited with the garden ten years ago. Looks like Phlox paniculata ‘Coral Flame’ but I actually think it is the long lost ‘Windsor’ which makes it a little special. Doesn’t get mildew either!

Finally, these pesky Hesperantha seedlings keep popping up all over the garden and always in places I don’t want them! Can’t bear to throw them away so more pots to give away!

Hydropod – new toy!

Posted on June 25, 2020 by davidsgardendiary

There comes a time in every garden when there is either no room for any more plants, or you have to chip away at the ever decreasing lawn area to create space for new arrivals. I am now at that point!

My annual seed sowing ritual is now just a few annuals and veg plants but I have always enjoyed taking cuttings both to increase stock and as insurance against losses over winter and just old age. The plants I mean, not me!

My interest in this new piece of kit was sparked by an internet search about taking Penstemon cuttings and as usual, one click led to another, and I found myself watching a YouTube video of a guy taking hosta cuttings and propagating them in a Hydropod.

Then I stumbled across https://thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com/ and decided it was the answer to my problem. Problem? What problem? Well, despite having propagated hundreds of plants from cuttings over the years, I have never liked the ‘plastic-bag-over-the-top’ method to prevent transpiration. I have often lost cuttings to rot and damping off due to the close confinement of the plastic bag and have tried all sorts of means to prevent it. The Hydropod from https://www.greenhousesensation.co.uk/ seemed to provide the perfect solution.

It is essentially a plastic tub to hold about 10 litres of water, a small electric submersible pump secured to the base with suckers, a filter to keep particles out and 8 jets which provide a constant circular spray of water to promote root growth. The cuttings are held firmly but gently in a foam collar and the perspex cover maintains essential humidity. Crucially, this is tall enough to cope with quite large cuttings or new growth.

After an initial outlay of £60 and running costs of 2p a day to run it 24/7 it can potentially produce 350 new plants a year for £7.30 and very few, if any, losses due to damping off or other fungal diseases. I would say that is a bargain!

Flattered!

Posted on June 21, 2020 by davidsgardendiary

Rosa ‘Amber Queen’ with Alchemilla mollis and Geranium ‘Rozanne’

It is almost three years since I last posted anything on my blog so I was very surprised to receive comments from faithful followers welcoming me back yesterday! The horticultural blogging world is indeed a friendly place to learn, admire, share ideas and experiences. As I grow older and feel myself slowing down, I am more grateful than ever for my virtual friends on social media platforms like this.

In my defence, I have acquired two beautiful granddaughters and a new golf mad son-in-law since my last blog post which have kept me busy. The garden has evolved in response to changes in our family and to make things a little lower maintenance in the future and I will post the results just as soon as I can.

Thanks again!

David

Six on Saturday

Posted on June 20, 2020 by davidsgardendiary

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I am indebted to https://thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com/ for motivating me to get back to my own WordPress blog after several years absence. Like a lot of things in life, I was very enthusiastic to begin with but I ran out of steam and also re-discovered my love of golf!

This Prunella grandiflora, (large Self Heal), grown from seed two years ago, has now found a home in an awkward corner of my new rose garden and is happily flowering away. Its natural spreading habit will hopefully be contained by the surrounding paths.

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I have a love affair with Penstemons and add a few new ones each year. This one has the impossible name of ‘Schoenholzeri’ which neatly translates to ‘Firebird’ and is a very true red.

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Penstemon ‘Hidcote Pink’ is one of the most reliably hardy and long lived in my Cotswold garden. This particular plant has been in situ for nearly ten years. I keep taking insurance cuttings but end up giving them all away as the mother plant always comes through winter. Obviously, now I have said that, it will die this winter!

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This is Penstemon digitalis ‘Huskers Red’ a new addition this year. I love plants with misleading names; the red in the name refers to the stems and not the flowers which are pure white!

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