A BLAZE OF AUTUMN COLOUR

A BLAZE OF AUTUMN COLOUR

It is good to see an excellent year go out in a blaze of colour. Deciduous trees, shrubs and ground cover have all gone into there final flurry of colour before winter arrives. Although summer could not have been better, autumn was not as warm and sunny as we had hoped for, so foliage colour is good but has been better. However colour can still be found in the wealth of berries from rowans to cotoneaster, rose hips, pyracantha and snowberry. Pyracantha can be grown as a free standing large shrub or trained against a wall or fence where it is perfectly happy with some spur pruning to keep it in bounds. It is fine on a north facing wall where it turns bright red in autumn and early winter as it covers itself in orange and red berries. Then the many forms of cotoneaster will create a mass of red berries on evergreen bushes from the tall Cotoneaster frigidus to the ground cover dammeri.

Hopefully this display will last well into winter, only being reduced as our wild birds enjoy their winter food supply. Reports of reduced blackbird numbers have been echoed around my garden as I have not had any problem this year with loss of outdoor grapes as my local blackie devours the crop as fast as he can. He has been absent, and as yet not replaced with any of his young family. Thus this year I have three and a half demijohns of Brant grape wine brewing happily from a very vigorous yeast.

This year has been brilliant for berries on nearly all plants.

However as winter sets in, remaining berries on rowans and cotoneasters are often rapidly lost as hoards of waxwings arrive from the continent and gobble their way up north devouring every berry in sight.

My rowan Joseph Rock is absolutely covered on large bunches of bright yellow berries to be admired for a few months as local birds prefer red berries. However those waxwings are not too fussy about colour. Some shrubs such as the snowberry, Symphoricarpos albus with white tinged pink berries and Pernettya with pink, white and mauve berries are largely ignored as a food supply for birds. These bushes remain an attractive garden feature all winter, though by early March when all the other berries are gone the birds have little

choice but to go for these remaining ones.

The arrival of autumn is usually first seen on maples and horse chestnut trees, then rowans, with ash usually the last to colour up. Beech trees have both size and brilliant colour, and although birch may just be a small tree it looks great mixed into woodland fringe plantings with rowans, elderberries and field maples. There are so many different maples with excellent attributes that they will form a feature all by themselves in a later article.

Plants are selected for our gardens for their floral beauty, shape, function, ground cover or may be our particular favourite. Plants having good autumn colour is often of secondary importance, so we benefit when they are both attractive in flower or with berries and have autumn colour.

Hammamelis mollis and deciduous azaleas come to mind when you buy them for their flowers, but then get the bonus in autumn with fiery foliage on the dying leaves.

The upright cherry, Prunus Amanogawa, and most of the other cherries have all got exceptional autumn colour as well as their spring blossom.

Even many fruit bushes go dormant in a fanfare show of dazzling colour when they lose their leaves. Blueberries turn golden, saskatoons turn orange then red, chokeberries go deep scarlet and even my outdoor grape Brant turns red around the huge leaf margins before falling off.

 I recently planted several outdoor grape vines, and it is great to see that they also are colouring up just nicely as autumn takes a hold.

As the edible landscape movement gathers popularity so our school kids see, harvest and learn how to use natural fruit from the environment, other plants such as rose hips and the sea buckthorn Hippophae rhamnoides, brambles, hazlenuts and many other edible plants will find their place.

Down at ground level, some varieties of heathers such as Calluna vulgaris Goldsworth Crimson, Golden Feather and Gold Haze really brighten up with golden and orange rusty coloured foliage once they get a bit of frost.

 

Plant of the week

Prunus subhirtella autumnalis is the autumn flowering cherry. It may not have the huge impact of some of the spring flowering cherries, but it is a very welcome sight to see a flowering tree with pale soft pink flowers in November. It will continue to flower all winter if there is a few days of sunny mild weather, but a cold frosty snap will stop the flowers. This cherry tree is very hardy and will grow on most soils reaching over twenty feet on maturity. It also has excellent autumn colour.

 

Painting of the month

Bridge over Brafferton Burn is a small oil painting with a winter landscape image appropriate for this time of year as we head towards the festive season. Other snow scenes, landscapes, flowers and figures are being finished off as I get ready for my winter exhibition in my studio at the end of November.

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SCOTTISH GRAPE VINES

SCOTTISH GRAPE VINES

We all like a challenge, and finding a grape variety to grow and ripen up north in Dundee is my current challenge. Grapes have become a staple diet at home as they get added to my muesli in the mornings and mixed with sliced bananas, other fruit and yoghurt for lunch. The greenhouse grapes ripen from August to December using Flame, Perlette and Black Hamburg, and my outdoor Brant fruits from October to November. Brant has small bunches and is more ornamental than commercial, but it is very successful outdoors so proving that grapes can ripen in our northerly Dundee climate. Now if I can find another variety with larger bunches which will ripen outdoors that will make me happy. Both last year and this year there were just too many grapes to eat, so some got brewed for wine. I make a fair bit of wine with surplus fruit crops including black and red currants, chokeberry, gooseberry, elderberry and saskatoons, but it would be nice to create my own wine from home grown grapes.

In the beginning

I have always enjoyed a wee drink from early youth with my pint of heavy, then as you got older and more mature you tried out the more sophisticated wines such as Blue Nun and Mateus Rose. They were the standard posh wines at that time to accompany an evening meal. Then in the seventies wine making from kits became fashionable and we found cheap plonk could be readily produced. However, if you read the books, attended wine making classes and experimented, every so often you brewed a good one. Many others failed the test and ended up down the sink. After many years home brew went out of fashion as supermarkets began to offer half price wines, so we could sample some reasonable wines at an affordable price. However a few years ago I ran into the problem of a lot of surplus fruit crops and no freezer space left, so I went back to home brewing, and soon discovered I had not lost all my old skills. My fruit wines give me a very flavoursome wine far superior to any I can find in a supermarket, and with a few modifications my Bramley apples produce a fantastic sweet dessert wine with a Sauternes flavour. My outdoor grape Brant has grown quite large with such a heavy crop of grapes that wine making is necessary. It will be Christmas before I open the first demijohn of Brant and compare it with my fruit wines. The future could give me even more grapes to try out as my young bushes grow and start to crop.

In the greenhouse

Muscat of Alexandria and Black Hamburg got me started, but the former needed heat to ripen up and Black Hamburg had pips. So Flame, a red seedless grape and Perlette a white seedless variety were planted to extend the range. These are all dessert grapes which we manage to eat so there is nothing left to brew.

Outdoor grapes

The promise of better weather to come for Scotland, if global warming reaches us up north has tempted several folk to try growing a few outdoor grapes. One vineyard was started on the banks of Loch Tay a few years ago, and Christopher Trotter has planted a trial block on south facing land above the River Forth at Upper Largo in Fife. Christopher has planted the early ripening varieties Solaris, Rondo and Siegerrebe. The favourite variety at the moment is Solaris, a golden coloured grape with a muscat flavour. It is more a wine grape rather than dessert as it has pips, but some people prefer this as the seeds are very healthy to eat. I have Solaris and had my first bunch this year. I am also trying Rondo, Regent, Phoenix and Siegerrebe, but there are many other varieties worthy of a trial. Although you should remove most of the early bunches to allow the newly planted vines to concentrate on producing good growth, I was tempted to leave a few grapes to see if they would ripen up. As this has been a brilliant year for sun I was not disappointed. All my grapes ripened and as was on a garden scale with very fertile soil growth has been very strong. To be successful, grapes need warmth and sunshine which the Scottish climate is a bit low on, so they need a south facing slope, wall or fence with reasonable soil which is well drained.

Plant of the week

The smoke Bush, Cotinus coggygria turns a lovely crimson in autumn before leaf fall. This deciduous shrub is a deep purple maroon all summer and adds a bit of colour to borders. It can grow quite tall but it can be kept down to a few feet by pruning at the end of March down to a few feet off the ground. However this also removes the flowers which give it its smoky appearance as they are small but numerous. This shrub is easy to grow on most soils as long as drainage is good.

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THINKING OF SPRING FLOWERS

THINKING OF SPRING FLOWERS

Autumn may have replaced summer but the flower displays for next spring need planning now for tubs, hanging baskets and beds. May can be a glorious month for flowers as all the autumn planted bedding plants and bulbs come into flower.

There are plenty of pansies, primroses, polyanthus, myosotis and wallflower plants available now in nurseries and garden centres. These are all container grown which suits most of them, but for a really large strong plant you are better to grow your own from seed sown in late spring. Most plants have a few flowers on them so you can select a suitable colour of tulip to plant underneath them. Dark blue pansies or myosotis will provide a great bed of solid colour for yellow, pink, white or red dwarf tulips. Yellow pansies can have red or purple tulips. I like to use the large flowering tall Darwin hybrid tulips such as Apeldoorn for my wallflower.

Tubs and hanging baskets

Large tubs usually have good soil to plant into as over time they get planted up twice a year. This breaks down the soil and adds compost. I usually add a dressing of fertiliser to get plants started.

It is sometimes easier to plant the bulbs first, putting them quite deep so they don’t get disturbed when planting the bedding plants. The bulbs come to no harm by deep planting.

If using low growing bedding plants you can get an additional flush of flowers by adding more bulbs such as snowdrops or crocus.

Many people only plant up hanging baskets with summer flowers, but winter flowering pansies are perfect for these and will open up a few flowers all winter if you get a few mild days in a row. Then in spring they really put on a great show. However I don’t put any bulbs into baskets as they are usually too high to see them and the baskets do not have any depth of soil.

It is wise to put fresh compost into baskets every time they get planted. Once finished, either spread the old compost on the compost heap or add to any border soil in need of improvement. Always check out old compost for vine weevil larvae as they are very fond of polyanthus, primroses and pansies.

Hanging baskets need not be hung up immediately after planting as sometimes watering is easier if they are at ground level supported on a large flower pot. Then if the weather turns severe in winter you can move them to a cold greenhouse, frame or sheltered spot for protection. April is a good month to hang them in their permanent spot on a wall.

Keep checking pansies for greenfly and leaf spot and spray if necessary.

Beds and borders

I have always liked to have an impressive flower bed at the front of the house which gives me two main flushes of flowers every year. It must be my past Dundee Parks department training which has never gone away. It is not really surprising as way back in the sixties Dundee was mass planted with spring and summer flowers in the town centres, parks, highways and cemeteries. These were all grown and looked after by trained gardeners dedicated to the job. It was normal to have ten to fifteen new apprentices every year.

If Dundee could return to some of their past flower power glories it could really add a bit of strength to the bid for the City of Culture.

Borders can be built into house frontage or patio areas to create impact. I add some compost when digging the borders in the autumn, as wallflower is my normal choice for spring bedding and they like good fertile soil. Spring bedding plants can also be planted in any other border where space permits and some extra flowers would be welcome.

Primroses and polyanthus are perennials, so after flowering they can be lifted and replanted out somewhere for the summer to build up a strong plant for the following year. All the others only flower once in spring so end up in the compost heap when they finish flowering.

Plant of the week

Potentilla fruticosa is known commonly as the shrubby cinquefoil. It is a deciduous shrub growing about three feet tall and has white, yellow and red flowers from late spring till the end of autumn. It is used very widely as a ground cover plant in urban planting schemes as it is very attractive, though quite tough and is useful on sloping ground liable to soil erosion.

It is easy to propagate with semi ripe cutting in summer.

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AUTUMN SOIL CULTIVATIONS

AUTUMN SOIL CULTIVATIONS

As crops get harvested and the ground is cleared, there is no need to leave it bare. It may now be too late for some quick maturing salads, unless you have brought them on earlier in a cold greenhouse, but there is time to sow a green manure crop. Later on as autumn cabbage and late crops are finished, if it is too late for a green manure sowing then the winter digging can start. I try to complete this task before the end of the year, but the weather can hold up work if it is too wet or frosty. Then there is always a fair bit of land still holding winter vegetables such as leeks, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, Swedes, kale, chard and beetroot. Spring cabbage and cauliflower will also over winter cutting down on the need for digging.

To get the best out of allotment grown fruit and vegetables, the ground needs to be very fertile. To achieve this incorporate well rotted manure, leafmold or compost into the soil when digging.

Some heavy feeders such as peas, beans, onions, leeks, courgettes and pumpkins get the lions share, then brassicas and potatoes should also get a good feeding, but avoid the root crop area as long as that land got a good composting the previous year.

Green manures

Mustard has always been a favourite as it is very reliable, grows readily and has an excellent root system. However it can grow up to four feet tall before flowering so can be difficult to crush down and dig in. It is also in the same family as the brassicas so will get infected with club root and carry this over to the next crop. I prefer red clover which has even better roots, does not grow so tall and has nitrogen fixing nodules on its

roots which help to add nutrients to the soil on decomposition. Tares, or field vetches are similar, but are very hardy so can be left to grow over winter before digging in before spring.

Ryegrass winter field beans, phacelia, lupins, buckwheat and fenugreek are all used for this purpose. If the top growth grows too tall for digging in it can always be chopped off and added to the compost heap then the ground with the roots can be easily dug over. Soil that has had a green manure crop has a greatly improved crumb structure and following crops are always very healthy and strong.

Compost heap

A compost heap is an essential on any allotment as there is so much vegetable waste to utilise to the benefit of soil fertility. Almost all plant material can be used, except diseased plants especially those with clubroot, onion white rot or rose blackspot or rust. Paper, cardboard and wooden prunings can all be shredded and added. Most vegetable kitchen waste can be added. Grass cuttings and rhubarb leaves are all excellent material. All annual weeds should be composted and most perennial weeds can be added after digging out and leaving them on a dry surface to dry out and shrivel up. Compost created from spring to summer is usually fine to use the following winter provided the heap gets turned at least once or twice if you can find the energy.

Digging or no-digging

I spread compost on the ground before digging commences, then if the weather turns frosty the compost protects the surface and I can carry on digging. I leave the surface as rough as possible to expose a large surface area for weathering over winter.

Areas of ground about to be permanently planted with fruit bushes, as well as my sweet peas all get double dug. As I get older and my energy for digging diminishes and I don’t need so much exercise I will look into the gardening by the no-dig method. It is becoming the latest fashion and as yet I have only heard good things about it. However perennial weeds need to be eliminated before you begin, and it does need ample compost used for mulching and encouraging worm activity which opens up the soil over time. A bed system is often advised to retain the mulch and plenty of paths to prevent soil compaction.

Plant of the week

Autumn Raspberries help to extend the summer fruit season as they will continue to fruit till the frost comes in late October. However they are always at their best and sweetest during warm sunny spells. They are very easy to grow and need very little feeding otherwise you will get huge canes well over six foot tall. Prune the old fruited canes to ground level in winter and new canes will grow up again from below the old stumps. I grow Autumn Bliss which is very reliable, but breeders are always bringing out new varieties so look out for autumn rasps with even bigger fruit and now spine free canes to make picking more pleasant. Check out Autumn Treasure, Joan J and Polka all of which get great reviews, though I have not as yet tried any of them.

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