Box Moth Caterpillar | Davids Garden Diary

We are currently enjoying a spell of good weather here in Gloucestershire and the plants have appreciated it. As per usual, the sturdy little Aster ageratoides ‘Stardust’ is already in flower and pushing its way to the front to be admired.

The ever-increasing clump of Helianthus ‘Miss Mellish’ is reaching new heights, no doubt thanks to the spring rain and mild temperatures. However, even a ‘Chelsea Chop’ in May doesn’t seem to hold it back for long, the side shoots sending up even more cheery bright yellow ‘suns’. Fascinating to glance over every hour or so during the day to see the flowers turning to face the sun!

A friend asked me for advice last week, and you can probably see why! She has, or rather had, a beautiful collection of neatly clipped Box balls, Buxus sempervirens, which have all been ravaged by the Box Moth Caterpillar. I gave her the name of the recommended treatment with XenTari, but I think the damage is done. So sad when years of work and dedication are ruined, but that is just nature at work.

Of the many echinacea I have tried over the years, these Echinacea pallida have been the best and most long lived. Perhaps because they are a species rather than one of the many cultivars now available, I’m not sure. I do also have a small clump of Echinacea purpurea which comes back every year, but I fear that is dwindling.

Looking down the front border the other way, A newcomer this year is Leucanthemum superbum ‘Edgebrook Giant’. a big, showy, Shasta daisy which I acquired from the Plant Heritage Plant Exchange last year as a tiny rooted cutting. Now in its second year, it is dominating this part of the border with it’s huge white daisy flowers with bright yellow centres.

The star of the roses this year has been ‘Let’s Celebrate’ which has flowered non-stop since early June and is showing no signs of letting up. Not a strongly scented rose but the clusters of fluffy pink and white flowers are much admired by visitors which is usually the sign of a good rose!

Finally, it’s going to be a very good year for the rowan, Sorbus hupehensis ‘Pink Pagoda’, which seems to produce fruit every other year. I love watching the antics of the wood pigeons as they edge out gingerly to the tips of flimsy branches to pick the berries. Amazingly, they never fall off!

Have a great weekend

David

We are still enjoying the last remnants of summer and I have been trying to get ahead of the curve by starting to cut back the herbaceous detritus while still leaving interesting seedheads and deadheading where possible to keep things going. This Scabious atropurpurea has self seeded all over the front garden and I leave it where I can without spoiling the overall look. This little patch has rewarded me with pink, dark red and white.

The combination of Helianthus ‘Lemon Queen’ and Verbena bonariensis is very pleasing and gets a lot of comments from passers-by.

Geranium Rozanne continues to flower and extend herself through the new rose garden beds. This is my first tentative experience with her, a Rozanne virgin you could call me, but she has lived up to her well deserved reputation of being a star performer for months on end without any hint of pest or disease, oblivious to wind and rain and coordinating beautifully with just about everything.

New mail order plants arrived this week from Larch Cottage Nurseries in Penrith, Cumbria, who provide plants to National Collections, Parks, Botanical Gardens, National Trust properties as well as the general public. My interest was more and different Tradescantia Andersoniana Group specimens of which they seem to be sole suppliers in many cases. Beautifully packed and protected in strong crushproof cardboard with sticks in each pot to prevent damage if something heavy was put on top (despite multi warnings of live plants – this way up-do not stack!)

The dreaded Box Moth Caterpillar has arrived in Cheltenham and friends from our gardening group are sharing sprayers and sachets of XenTari biological insecticide to try to stem the tide of damage. Nothing is guaranteed but this seems to be less deadly than Box blight if you catch and destroy the little blighters early enough.

The fantastic weather this year has been wonderful for my Canna Tropicanas which have reached 2m tall and are still flowering as the centrepiece of the hot bed.

Thought I would end on another pic of Clematis ‘Yukikomachi’ which is flowering again and looks so delicate and fragile when in fact it is as tough as old boots!