Six on Saturday

Posted on November 25, 2023 by davidsgardendiary

Suddenly, it’s all change! After weeks of dreary, relentless rain, it has turned very cold and we had our first frost last night. In anticipation, I managed to give the lawns their final cut and edging of the year. You wouldn’t know it from this pic but it is mostly moss anyway! The trees are bare, the leaves swept and raked, the pure white trunks of the Jacquemontii Silver Birches glistening in the morning sunshine.

I don’t normally go in for sprayed heathers but I wanted some winter basket plants and I was in a hurry! A yellow heather could almost be realistic…..

The blue one however, definitely not! My local nursery makes up hundreds of baskets and tubs for pubs and shops and tell me these sprayed heathers are popular because they will take the weather, look colourful all winter and don’t need any looking after!

I am not normally a fan of these Cyclamen persicum either, but needs must! I was very disappointed with the winter flowering pansies last year which didn’t really get into their stride until March! These colourful cyclamen will take a few degrees of frost but hate rain, so a sheltered spot under the overhang of the eaves should protect them. This is a big pot of 15 Tulips which should take over in April/May if the cyclamen last that long!

The naturalised early Narcissus are already up so I have to be extra careful when clearing up the leaves in the borders. To be honest though, these Silver Birch leaves will break down very quickly and the worms will make short work of them.

Just three weeks ago, the Euphorbia palustris looked like this, lush green foliage and seedheads.

Today, it looks like this! I like taking photos of plants when they are dying down or going dormant, it is often when they look their best! It is also a good reminder of the natural life cycle of deciduous and herbaceous plants. I caught a family of Tits inspecting this plant for spiders and other creepy crawlies this week so they also play an important ecological role as they fade away.

One of the things about writing a blog like this is that you inevitably get things wrong from time to time. Last week I mentioned what I thought was Persicaria microcephala ‘Red Dragon’ and one of my subscribers politely pointed out that it was not! I am indebted to her and everyone else for keeping me right! It has now been re-labelled without the cultivar name which is a strikingly different colour! What I have is the species, not ‘Red Dragon’.

Thank you for all your comments and questions. I read them all and reply to the vast majority. It’s nice to know you are there!

Have a great weekend

David

Six on Saturday

Posted on November 18, 2023 by davidsgardendiary

It’s been a week of mixed weather but Thursday and Friday were glorious autumn days, warm sunshine, no rain and no wind. A lot of clearing up was done, plants were lifted, divided, re-potted and real gardening was finally achieved. I felt so much better, the garden looked much better and then it all went back to normal this morning! More rain……

Another year has been and gone and I still don’t know the identity of this plant! It is a toss-up between Carex morrowii ‘Silver Sceptre’ and Liriope spicata ‘Gyn-ryu’ or ‘Silver Dragon’. It is driving me mad not knowing, so I am appealing to those who know about these things to cast your opinion please. As you can see, I have just split the mother plant into 9 divisions for a plant sale next year but I don’t know what to write on the labels!

Another plant which was bursting out of it’s pot, but needing to be contained, is Persicaria microcephala ‘Red Dragon’ which is now neatly divided into 6 new plants for next year’s charity sale. It will come with a warning label not to let it loose, it is a real spreader!

A quick Sweet Pea update for those following progress. Six weeks since sowing on 7th October. Seedlings now all pinched out, separated into their own pots and producing side shoots as planned. I discovered a slug hiding under one of the pots so ferric phosphate pellets applied just in case!

I find most people think this is Artemisia ‘Powis Castle’ but, in fact, it is Senecio viravira or Dusty Miller. In summer it is topped with beautiful clusters of pale lemon daisy flowers but these are insignificant compared to the year round silver grey foliage which always looks fresh, even in winter. Easy to grow and maintain, just a haircut in spring and away it goes for another year.

Despite the time of year and significant drop in temperature, Clematis ‘Madame Julia Correvon’ is still going strong and producing more flowers. Such an attractive and well behaved climber deserves a place in every garden.

Possibly the most popular shrubby Salvia, and for very good reason, is the ubiquitous ‘Hot Lips’, which is still flowering her face off in my shrub border. Sometimes red, sometimes white and sometimes red & white, the flowers respond to temperature and change colour accordingly. Pruning them seems to be the most asked question I get and I am pretty brutal in spring, cutting them back hard to new growth lower down. Probably more than 50% of the top growth goes. I also ‘layer’ a lower stem by pegging it down to the soil and ‘hey presto’, it roots! The shrubby salvias don’t last forever, 10 years if you are lucky, so a couple of younger plants waiting in the wings to be separated and grown on is a good insurance policy.

Finally, the first Narcissus poking their heads up!

Six on Saturday

Posted on March 27, 2021 by davidsgardendiary

It has been a very good year for Narcissus and I am hoping it has something to do with the fact that I feed them with blood, fish & bone meal as they are coming through, before they flower. The botanical theory is that whilst they are pushing this year’s flower through the ground, the bulb is already forming next year’s flower so that is when they need nourishment, not after flowering as some would have you believe. It probably also has a lot to do with the weather, but that’s something we can’t control.

“Weed, feed, mulch” is my March/April mantra and the latter arrived on Wednesday ready for the weekend thanks to those nice people from Earth Cycle https://earthcycle.co.uk/

A large ‘dumpy bag’ is approx 1000 litres and is just enough to cover my important beds and borders with a 30mm layer to prevent annual weeds germinating, conserve moisture and add essential depleted minerals and nutrients to the soil. It works out at 10p a litre delivered to my door which I think is good value. And, I get a free dumpy bag for hedge cuttings and a pallet for my next compost bin!

I have a little colony of white violets which comes back every year and is a charming addition to the beech hedge where it seems to thrive in the leaf litter. It has been invaded by foxglove seedlings this year but I will relocate those tomorrow.

The ‘May flowering’ Narcissus poeticus, or ‘Pheasant Eye’ narcissus, are rather early this year! They are normally the last to flower but are way ahead of schedule. But they are not alone………….

Just a red tulip, nothing special, left in the ground to take their chances, are already flowering at least a month earlier than last year. Odd! They are obviously happy in this front border and get well fed alongside the herbaceous perennials.

Chaenomeles, or Japanese Quince, are a wonderful sight at the moment. Forgotten for the rest of the year, hacked back in August when the hedges are cut, they seem to enjoy their brutal treatment and flower all the better for it.

I love the way some plants adapt to their position. This Iberis sempervirens has decided to fall gracefully over the step, just a year after being released from its pot in the new rose garden. It will flower for weeks and takes no maintenance. Please excuse the mice, they are someone else’s idea of cute!

Have a great weekend

David

Wonderful Winning Weekend

Posted on March 25, 2013 by davidsgardendiary

Despite all the recent meteorological doom and gloom, The Cheltenham Horticultural Society held it’s Spring Flower and Craft Show as planned on Sunday. It was only my second foray into the mysterious world of horticultural shows but buoyed up by last summer’s relatively successful attempt, I entered eight classes including the above attempt at ‘Floral Art’ for novices which was titled “At Breakfast”. Even with the tray back to front I won first prize and a kind note from the judge! And yes, I did the whole thing myself including the boiled eggs!

This was followed by a further 1st prize for a vase of 3 yellow un-named Daffodils, 1st prize for a vase of 3 daffodils of any other colour combination (pictured above) and 1st prize for a vase of 1 tulip stem.

The demure little common Primula vulgaris I entered won 2nd prize for ‘1 container of Primrose or Polyanthus’ beating off stiff competition from loads of garishly coloured and unnatural looking examples of the species. It might have done even better if I hadn’t had to remove the front two leaves due to slug damage!

My wife, Cathy, swept the board with 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the Handicrafts section for ‘An article, hand knitted or crocheted’. Her baby’s jacket, baby blanket and scarf were simply the best.

Her Orange Drizzle Cake came second in a class of 12 others and is absolutely delicious!

All in all, a wonderful show in dreadful weather. With over 200 entries and 300 visitors, it was a tribute to the hard work of the organising committee and volunteers.

Roll on August and the Summer Show!