SUMMER COLOUR

SUMMER COLOUR

Dublin Bay in June

The recent heat wave enjoyed (or endured) in the south of the UK, may not have quite reached us up north, but this year our Scottish climate has still been outstanding for warmth, sunshine and dry weather. This followed a mild winter and a very pleasant spring so it is no surprise that our gardens have been a riot of colour month after month. I thought colour had peaked with a massive show from the tulips, but that was followed by the show of dazzling azaleas, then the bearded iris, and now the summer roses climbing up my walls continue the show. Every time we walk around the garden there is another plant having its moment in the spotlight. Two weeks ago I wrote about all this colour in the garden, only to find that a fortnight later the colour has not diminished but there is a whole new group of plants seeking attention.

Just where do you begin and just hope it continues through summer and into the autumn.

At the moment it is the climbing roses that catch the eye as well as my two shrub roses Ispahan and Rosa mundi.

Rosa Mundi

 Over the years I have grown numerous bush and shrub roses only to dig them out after a few years due to the ravishes of mildew, rust and blackspot. I am now down to about twenty which all have reasonably strong foliage able to withstand rose diseases. My red climbing rose Dublin Bay grown on a south wall is spectacular and every year never fails to impress, though I am fussy with the winter pruning even tackling those shoots beyond the top of my twelve foot ladder.

Another very tall shrub having its moment is my Philadelphus virginal. Catching those long arching sprays of pure white flowers against a deep blue sky make a brilliant picture and the scent is unforgettable.

Delosperma and Senecio

Coming down in scale to my dry border I have a few shrubs well adapted to a south facing bank with good soil but with a four foot retaining wall to hold it back it has always suffered from lack of moisture. A selection of those plants adapted to maritime conditions seems to work well. At this moment my large Senecio greyii is a mass of yellow flowers and growing alongside it clambering over the wall is a Delosperma cooperi with purple flowers. A perfect match and adding to the display is my pink Erigeron ground cover and taller evergreen shrub Cistus purpureus with

deep pink flowers. This group was never planned, but over the years I found a plant to fill a gap to suit the dry conditions and just so happen they all decide to flower at the same time. Sometimes you just get lucky. Another piece of luck was the visit to RHS gardens at Wisley last year when Anna picked up a packet of Sweet William seed which we had never grown before but Anna recalled them from childhood days and wanted to try them out. We didn’t have a special place for them so they went into every spare piece of soil in rose borders, herbaceous borders and our allotment flower border. They have been fantastic and added colour to other plants all around them.

Peonia Doreen

Over on the herbaceous border the latest star performer has been Peonia Doreen, one of Anna’s prize purchases from Gardening Scotland a few years ago. Every year it gets bigger with more flowers and now really catches the eye. Then again our massive group of deep blue delphiniums continue to perform every year, but need serious staking due to their size and strength.

Tubs and hanging baskets are growing well and are quite colourful, but this is not their time yet as they still have to come into full flower probably from end of July onwards. However the pink and red geraniums have been outstanding. I kept pinching off all the flowers from winter till the end of spring to build up strong growth. This has paid off as now they just can’t wait to get their flowers up into the sunshine. Petunias alongside them are also enjoying the warmth putting on plenty colour.

Wee jobs to do this week

Salad catch crops

Harvest vegetable crops as they ripen such as turnip, lettuce, rocket, spring onions, peas and early salad potatoes. This releases land for another quick growing crop of salads, beetroot, autumn and winter cabbages and cauliflower. There might also be time for another pea crop using a dwarf early variety such as Feltham First, Meteor, Kelvedon Wonder, or sugar snap peas.

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SUMMER FRUITS

SUMMER FRUITS

We are now beginning to reap the benefits from this warm summer, as the first strawberries ripened up at the end of May. My main crop Elsanta has come to the end of its useful life so will be replaced in the autumn. Colossus my new strawberry with huge fruit is living up to its name, but then the first berries from Symphony and Florence were also huge. Large fruit seems to be in fashion as my perpetual strawberry Albion which I rely on to fruit well into autumn also has massive berries. Just a pity they are so hard and lack sweetness. If they don’t improve they are destined for the compost heap to be replaced with some other autumn fruiting variety. Now that fruit picking has started it is a good time to review the crops and make notes for future action.

Picking fresh rhubarb

Raspberries are now starting to colour up so if you are troubled with the raspberry maggot now is the time for the first insecticide spray, then give another spray a week later. Both summer fruiting Glen Fyne and Glen Dee are heavy with berries ready to turn red. Looks like a good year for raspberries. Autumn fruiting Polka, Autumn Bliss as well as Autumn Treasure are all growing strongly so an autumn crop of berries looks assured.

Blackcurrant Ben Conan and Big Ben both have many branches weighed down with berries and should start to colour up soon. Most of the tops of vigorous branches were plagued by greenfly as growth has been soft with the warm wet weather, but rather than spray I just cut back the shoots to healthy leaves. This got rid of the pests and let more sunshine in to sweeten up the fruit.

Gooseberries also suffered a severe attack of sawfly maggots when I wasn’t looking, so they needed a spray which quickly wiped out the pests and allowed the bushes to grow fresh leaves. This is another crop that is just loaded with berries waiting to ripen up.

Fig Brown Turkey

Rhubarb may officially not be a fruit, but it is used as a dessert in stews, compote and is brilliant mixed with saskatoons for jam, as they add some acidity. The Saskatoon crop may be a bit lighter than last year as the winter was so mild that shoot ripening to initiate fruit buds was a bit lacking.

However I should get bigger berries and harvesting at the end of July is on target. It was interesting to see that the Saskatoon crop grown down south at Pershore Juneberries commenced in mid June.  They needed a mechanical harvester to pick the berries.

Great to see success with the first commercial Saskatoon plantation in the UK.

Bramble Helen has finished flowering and now we just wait for this early variety to ripen up for picking in August. However the new bramble Reuben is flowering on the shoots grown last year. This primocane type flowers and fruits on canes grown in the same year, so last years canes should have been removed after fruiting, but with flowers appearing in November they had no chance. New shoots growing this year are three feet tall and looks like they will flower this month. Can’t wait to see if Reuben will fruit this year and live up to its terrific catalogue description.

Thinning apples

Apples are ready for thinning but I will wait till after the June drop before the final thinning.

Cherries are turning colour but the tree needs netting otherwise the blackbird will take the lot.

My Peach Avalon Pride lost a third of its leaves to peach leaf curl, so the diseased foliage had to be removed. The tree was none too happy so it dropped my twelve potential peaches and has left me with just one. I give it one more year to acclimatise to Scotland or it gets the chop.

Grapes and figs are having a great year with much needed warmth and sunshine so good to see the fruit swelling up and we should soon get our first fig.

Peas and beans

Wee jobs to do this week

Peas can grow very fast in this warm damp summer climate so make sure they are all well supported. Even the dwarf varieties can grow two feet tall and are better for something to cling on to. I use both shrub prunings if tall enough and weldmesh wire held on posts driven into the ground.

Plastic pea and bean netting is quite cheap and very easy to use but make sure it is held up with a strong framework of posts and wires.

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EARLY SUMMER FLOWERS IN THE GARDEN

EARLY SUMMER FLOWERS IN THE GARDEN

Flowers in the garden all have their own season, so provided you grow a wide variety of plants the garden can be full of colour all year round. The spring bulbs are now a distant memory followed on by the oriental poppies and bearded iris. Some azaleas and rhododendrons are still in flower but it is the roses that steal the show in June. The long dry spell brought on some mildew then the rain gave the greenfly a boost, so a combined insecticide and fungicide was sprayed to clean them up. To keep the plants flowering remove all spent flowers to prevent them wasting energy producing rose hips. Oriental poppies also need seed pods removed and even old foliage as in a good year they can regrow with fresh leaves and produce a second burst of flowers.

Delosperma nubigenum

Peonies have given a good display but now the show is over cut back old flower heads.

Garden pinks are becoming very popular and are hard to beat for a wonderful clove scent. They do not need rich soil but it must be well drained and they flower best in a sunny position. Mine all

Delosperma cooperii

suffered a plague of minute black aphids which just about destroyed all foliage so a quick spray of insecticide sorted them out and are now well on the road to recovery.

Greenfly on my oriental lilies also got a spray well ahead of flowering so now we just await the first huge scented blooms to come into flower.

Dahlias, chrysanthemums and gladioli grown both for display and cut flower are all growing strongly but it will be a few weeks before they make an impact. Chrysanthemums are all supported with stakes and wires and the plants have had the tops pinched out to encourage branching, except with the spray types which branch naturally. Some of the dahlias have started to flower, but need more sunshine after this wet spell of several weeks.

Erigeron

Hardy fuchsia Mrs Popple survived well over winter as it was quite mild, but for some unknown reason most of the top woody growth all died back. However the old stems soon produced masses of new shoots, though the old dead wood needed removing for appearance sake. Once they burst into growth they can move fast so now there are plenty of flowers and these hardy fuchsias will continue to bloom till late autumn.

Senecio greyii has started to produce its yellow flowers which can be quite striking against the silvery gray foliage, and enhanced by a drift of pink Erigerons also in flower around the bush. This planting arrangement was a happy accident which just worked when

Fuchsia Mrs Popple

I needed a bush, the senecio for a spare patch of land on a dry sunny bank.

Coming back to ground level my succulent Delosperma nubigenum may only grow an inch tall but is a great ground cover plant which smothers all weeds and in May is a mass of yellow scented daisy flowers. The other Delosperma cooperi has purple flowers and grows two inches high. They are both perfect for growing in the cracks of walls. Push a few shoots in a crevice and just leave them. They will soon root and grow quite happily without any soil.

Rose Mme Alfred Carriere

Bare soil patches remaining after removal of spent tulip leaves have been sown with calendula, candyfuft, larkspur and other fast growing annuals to give a bit of colour later in the season.

Tubs and hanging baskets have done well with the warm but wet May/June period covering the pots and baskets with foliage and beginning to flower, but as they have a limited amount of soil feeding will be carried out at least once a month.

Wee jobs to do this week

Five month old compost

My allotment compost heap was all used up last year so a new one was started in January. There always seems to be plenty of material to use so it soon bulked up. I turned the heap twice to help rotting down so now I have compost ready to use after just six months. This will be used for mulching fruit bushes and trees, and courgettes and pumpkins. Any left over will be used to get the next heap started as there is plenty of spent rhubarb leaves, old tulip and other bulb leaves and now I have potatoes to start lifting so the shaws (no sign of blight) can be added to the heap.

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AN EARLY HARVEST BEGINS

AN EARLY HARVEST BEGINS

The 2017 weather has been unbelievable for gardeners so far. The long dry spring with plenty sun warmed up the soil, then just when we needed some moisture for planting, down came the rain. This was followed by a few dry sunny days. Perfect for planting and sowing, but moisture had just gone down a few inches with dry soil underneath, but worry not, along came another couple of days of torrential rain to make up the deficit. You could not wish for better weather.

Thinning beetroot

So every dry sunny day let us catch up with numerous gardening tasks.

This has been perfect growing weather, so salads such as lettuce, radish, rocket and spring onions matured early and harvesting started at the end of May. Fresh salads picked twenty minutes before they are on the plate could not be more tasty and healthy.

However salads do not last long as they all mature together and after about three weeks they are gone, so successional sowings are made to cover the summer and autumn periods. Fast maturing salads can be intercropped between slower growing crops with wide spacings such as sweet corn and brussels sprouts. Other space becomes available when existing salads are cleared and early potatoes start to get lifted.

Casablanca first early potatoes had the first sample shaws dug up at the end of May. Although this is a salad potato, size was still on the small side but hopefully will improve after another week. The small spuds were delicious and although the crops harvested early lacked in size, the freshness and flavour made it well worth while.

Lettuce Lollo Rosso

Other young seedlings such as carrots, turnip, Swedes, beetroot, mizuna and all the salad successional sowings are in need of thinning, but the warm sunny days made this quite a pleasant task. I usually perform thinning over two operations to allow for any pest damage taking out a few more plants.

Pea Kelvedon Wonder is now three feet tall and full of flowers and a later sowing of Hurst Green Shaft is well through the ground and looking strong. These will soon need stakes, netting or other means to support them.

Currant leaf blister aphid

There is always a feeling of summer has arrived once the first strawberries are ripe for picking. Last year I started towards the end of May, but this year with different varieties my first berries had to wait till the first week in June. Albion my autumn fruiting variety was the first to fruit. Weird !!!

Redcurrants have put on a lot of summer growth so some spur pruning will be done to let the light into the ripening bunches. The tops of most shoots have been infected by the leaf blister aphid, but as these will all get cut back with the summer pruning it will not be a problem.

Tall bearded flag iris are stealing the show for early summer, but some varieties that fail to impress or have weak stems causing them to fall over when it rains, will be discarded and new varieties purchased in autumn.

Iris Dusky Challenger

Iris Jean Price

As well as the iris both bush, shrub and climbing roses are at their best, and it is difficult to decide where our favourite spot is. The large shrub Ispahan, and the climbers Mme Alfred Carriere, Dublin Bay and Gertrude Jekyll are all performing to script. They are very reliable and never let us down.

A small infestation of greenfly and some rose mildew and rust made an appearance so the sprayer came out to keep the bushes healthy.

A new compost heap was started in January and after turning it over twice it is now ready for use for mulching fruit trees and bushes and our courgettes and pumpkins.

Wee jobs to do this week

Planting leeks

If young leeks have put on enough growth and are now about nine inches tall and a fair thickness they can be lifted for transplanting to their permanent positions. I take out a shallow furrow then put deep dibble holes about four to six inches apart along the row. Lift the young leeks and give them a top and tail and drop them into the dibbled holes. Water them in and let them get on with it.

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A LADY GARDENER

A LADY GARDENER

A mature garden that has been well designed with a lot of interest all year round gives a great deal of pleasure and has plenty of plant stories to write about. Although these gardening articles go under my name, the reality is that I am only one half of the team that creates and maintains the garden and allotment. Anna Anderson, the other team member has a huge garden and together we create an ever changing horticultural world that we like to share.

Anna relaxing on the patio

It was through art that we met many years ago when Anna visited my art exhibition in Roseangle Gallery looking for a painting of her home town Alyth. As I had no paintings of her home town I was commissioned to paint the Old Packbridge over the Alyth Burn. I was very impressed by this small town so another twenty paintings covering all seasons were completed for my next exhibition. We soon found that we both had an interest not only in art but also gardening. At that time I needed a

Anna in the summer garden

studio and Anna needed a hand with her large garden so a team was formed. The garden is built on a steep facing south slope. In the early days the garden had been planted with a lot of evergreen ground cover surrounded with tall conifers to help smother weeds. There was a lot of plants we would love to grow if only we had room, so it was sleeves rolled up as we started to dig out all the ground cover plants, but we had to call in professional foresters to remove a dozen huge conifer trees complete with roots. Most of the wood went through their shredder so it ended up on our allotment paths as well as the compost heap.

Garden construction continued with new fences, paths, two patios and terracing, and then areas identified for shady borders, dry borders, sun traps, herbaceous borders and a rose garden. We also

Anna harvesting the pumpkins

allocated space for fruit trees and some vegetables.

Then the interesting phase began as we both sorted out our favourite plants. We both had thoughts on those must have plants, so numerous trips took place to garden centres, nurseries, flower shows at Camperdown and Ingliston as well as further afield to RHS Wisley and Hampton Court Palace. We always took home some new plants or seeds. I started my rose collection of bushes, climbers and shrubs and Anna took a shine to Heucheras. Every time we visited the Dundee Flower Show at Camperdown Park she came away with ever more Heucheras. I was sure she was aiming for status as a national collection.

Luck was on our side when we won the lottery. We got £90 between us, so were able to indulge in a few special plants. I got Rhododendron Horizon Monarch and Anna got the coral barked maple Acer Sango Kaku, but it needed a partner so we also got the white stemmed birch and a golden Robinia frisia. Soon the autumn catalogues came in and Anna went for a flag iris collection and I started our affair with spring bulbs from aconites and snowdrops through daffodils and tulips and now into the summer with oriental lilies. We both fell in love with azaleas after a trip around Glendoick Gardens, so now they are our latest passion.

Anna with rose Gertrude Jekyll

It was our holidays abroad that introduced us to the exotics of figs, grapes, cherries and saskatoons. The latter discovery was a day trip to a pick your own Saskatoon farm in Canada while visiting Anna’s sister. When I realised they were a species of Amelanchier I knew they had every chance of success in Scotland. I later discovered that James Hutton had them growing in a field for forty years. As the garden and allotment provide us with ample produce we have just about become self sufficient in fruit and vegetables and now excellent wine from home grown grapes and other fruit.

Wee jobs to do this week

Spraying the roses

The moist warm weather has been perfect for pests and diseases on numerous plants. Roses have been troubled by mildew, blackspot, rust and greenfly and evergreen rhododendrons and camellias are plagued by scale insects. Up on the allotment the cabbage white butterflies are seeking out the cabbages and cauliflowers and the gooseberry sawfly has been chomping its way through the gooseberry bushes. Slugs and snails attack anything green at ground level so keep vigilant and take preventive action as soon as possible with practical as well as sprays with insecticide and pesticides.

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A WEEK ON THE PLOT

A WEEK ON THE PLOT

Gardeners could not ask for better weather this year. After the mild winter we got a dry spring then summer arrived in April and May, and then just as we were getting a bit worried about dry soil the rains came and watered the plants. My first rose opened up in mid May and it looks like I will be getting a few first early potatoes at the end of May.

Earthing up potatoes

Weeds are now trying to spoil the show, but we had so much dry weather that weed control by hoeing took care of most weeds early on. Pests and diseases are a bit rampant as there was no severe winter weather to hold them back. Slugs and snails are everywhere now the rains have arrived, and greenfly are chomping away at anything green.

Potatoes are growing so fast it is difficult to get time to earth them up and my first early Casa Blanca looks strong enough to allow a picking at the end of May.

Bramble Helen

All my root crops (carrots, turnips, Swedes) have all germinated and been thinned but my parsnips have yet to appear. I know they are always the last to germinate, but patience is being put to the test.

Early pea Kelvedon Wonder is now three feet tall well staked with my willow prunings and protected from pigeons with the old fashioned idea of a couple of lines of black thread.

A later sowing of Hurst Green Shaft is now through the ground and ready for staking.

Dwarf French Beans sown direct into the soil gave me a good

Outdoor grape Regent showing great crop potential

germination so will need thinning out when they are a few inches tall.

Sweet corn has been a bit disappointing this year as the plants have always been very pale, despite extra feeding so now they are in the soil I am hoping for a good recovery as they start to grow.

Courgettes and pumpkins just love this weather, but needed to kept well watered as they have been very thirsty in the hot sun. They both got planted on land that had extra helpings of well rotted compost as they are gross feeders and the compost retains moisture. In past years they have suffered from wind damage in early summer gales but this year has been fine so far.

Cabbage, cauliflower, sprouts and kale planted in early May have all established well, but they all got net protection for pigeons, slug pellets for slugs and snails and collars for rootfly.

Brassicas were always a battlefield for pests and I see plenty cabbage white butterflies trying to seek them out.

Young salads in May

Onions grown from seed sown in early March have also established well as this warm weather really suits them. Leeks are thickening up and will soon be ready to lift and transplant into their final rows.

Lettuce, spring onions and radish have grown very fast and picking started in mid May, but I keep sowing new batches for succession of salads together with some mizuna and rocket.

Strawberries are all swelling up so the rows have all got straw laid to prevent soil splashing and crop potential looks great, though it may be early June before I get my first picking.

Raspberries, red and blackcurrants, saskatoons, brambles and gooseberries are all growing strong and look like crops will be heavy. Gooseberries got attacked by hundreds of sawfly larvae, but an insecticide spray was needed to sort them out.

Outdoor grapes are having a good start with plenty of bunches showing.

Anna clearing up old tulip leaves

Wee jobs to do this week

Clear up withered leaves from spring bulbs as most have now died down assisted by the dry spring. These can all go on the compost heap, but remove any seed pods from bluebells and grape hyacinths as these can be very invasive.

Another timely job is to check over the stems and leaves of rhododendrons and camellias as scale insects have become a new problem with these evergreens. They are climbing up stems just now to reach the new leaves so can easily be seen and crushed or if your bushes are too big there are some insecticides available to control scale insects which cause the sooty mould.

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SUMMER FLOWERS

SUMMER FLOWERS

We have enjoyed a brilliant spring display of flowering bulbs, wallflower, polyanthus and pansies, but as most have now given us their best it is time to make the change over to the summer bedding plants for beds, borders, tubs, pots and hanging baskets. As usual my winter flowering pansies refuse to die down and always seem at their best just when I need to remove them, but with some care they can be replanted into a border where they will continue to flower for a few more weeks.

Summer hanging basket

Any tulips, narcissus, crocus or hyacinths removed from tubs and baskets can be replanted into a spare patch of ground to allow them to die back slowly. Once they are fully dormant they can be lifted for storing somewhere dry and free from mice. The bulbs can be planted in borders in the autumn and left undisturbed to naturalise.

Before planting up pots, tubs and baskets freshen them up with some new compost and some fertiliser. It is ok to retain a fair bit of the old compost but it will be deficient in humus and nutrients, so will benefit by the addition of fresh compost.

Tuberous begonias

We can now plan for the summer displays using whatever we have grown ourselves plus other bedding plants from garden centres which offer us a great variety. We all have our favourites that we continue to grow every year. I have my own range of geraniums that give me a dazzling red, a lovely pink, a pure white and a salmon with a strong zonal leaf effect. I retain these varieties by taking cuttings at the end of summer and growing them over winter on a windowsill. My tuberous begonias were purchased about twenty years ago and although the tubers can get to a fair size I just chop them up as long as each bit has two to three shoots. They never let me down.

It is good to have a range of bright dazzling colours, but I also like some white petunias and  as well as Nemesia and trailing Lobelia.

Impatiens to cool down the display. For a splash of yellow there are many good varieties of dwarf French marigolds, but keep the African Marigolds for larger tubs and borders as they can grow a fair size. Tubs and hanging baskets also need edge plants to hang down the sides so I use Impatiens

Summer bedding plants

Where ever I have a hanging basket beside entrance door ways I add in some dark blue Petunias as they have a wonderful perfume, and I usually place a bright red geranium in the middle for impact.

Fuchsias are also perfect in baskets as we can appreciate the flowers best when they are at eye level. Two varieties that really stand out are Swingtime a red and white double and Southern Belle a white with deep purple petals. Another perfect hanging basket plant is the trailing tuberous begonias available in a wide range of colours. It is a good idea to plant up the hanging baskets well ahead of time and give them some greenhouse protection (if you can find space) to get them established, and make sure the wall support brackets are strong enough to take the weight as a large hanging basket that has just been watered can be quite heavy.

When planting up beds, borders and other spare places in need of brightening up we can extend the range with Antirrhinums, Salvias and African Marigolds and for a soothing drift of deep blue Lobelia Crystal Palace is just perfect.

Dot plants were once essential to add height and character, but times change so we don’t see so many Caster Oil plants, Brugmansias (Angels trumpets) or Kochias or even Zea maize, though you could substitute it with a few sweet corn plants.

Wee jobs to do this week

 

Sweet corn freshly planted

Sweet corn sown at the end of March was potted up and grown in the greenhouse to make a strong plants which were ready to plant out towards the end of May. I choose land that has been well manured or composted and as the ground has been lying vacant there has been just enough time to grow a fast acting green manure to improve soil structure before it gets dug in a fortnight before the sweet corn needs the space. Space the plants just over a foot apart in a square block. This assists pollination in summer as these plants are wind pollinated.

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HERBACEOUS PLANTS

HERBACEOUS PLANTS

Himalayan Blue Poppy

The garden is in a constant state of change and every plant or group of plants have their moment in the spotlight. I try to group different plants together when I see them at their best, providing the soil and location suits them. In winter we had the snowdrops, aconites and the yellow flowered Jasmine put on a terrific display letting us know that the season had started. This was followed by the crocus, anemone blanda and chionodoxa.

Iris Jeanne Price

Then the other larger bulbs started to flower with daffodils and the early tulips. Planting early flowering tulip Scarlet Baby next to my yellow saxifrage was a great combination brightening up a few square metres in early April. Spring this year was very dry and cool, though there was plenty of sun as we went into May. This was perfect weather for tulips, and as I have flooded huge areas of garden with tulips there was mass displays everywhere. May is one of the best months for rhododendrons and azaleas so these came alive as the tulips needed a rest to build up their strength for next year. Rhododendrons and azaleas are similar in display to the bulbs as they can provide a brilliant splash of colour over many weeks as one variety has its moment then another takes over as the centre of attraction
.

Iris Spellbreaker

All the while the herbaceous border is biding its time as it knows that come June it will hold centre stage. Already the oriental poppies and flag iris have started to open and delphiniums are stretching upwards to the sky. They will need support as do many other herbaceous plants. You can buy purpose made supports or use canes and green twine, or even tree and shrub prunings if they are big enough and can easily be pushed into the soil.

Red peony roses may be the common peony and there are other brilliant varieties but the common red puts on a great display and is very reliable. If the soil and location suits them they can spread almost to nuisance levels, and even after digging them out there is alway

Red Peony

s a wee root that just refuses to die off. Mine have spread all over my mini apple orchard of four trees (but with ten varieties through grafting) however they provide a dazzling display to follow the apple blossom so we just leave them alone and let them have their moment. None of them get tied up so the taller ones fall over onto the ground but the main shoots then head upwards or one falls onto the next peony for support.

Day Lily

Oriental poppies fall into the same category and never get any support as they grow in huge groups and tend to support each other. They also like to take over garden space if allowed.

Pyrethrum, however is one of those plants that only needs support if you grow taller varieties.

Then there is a wide range of herbaceous plants that are not so tall so need no support and are perfect in drifts towards the front of the herbaceous border.

Iris, Geum, Hosta, Shasta daisies and Himalayan Blue Poppies are all in this category as is the

Oriental lily Chelsea

Euphorbia Fireglow and the sulphur yellow Euphorbia polychroma.

There are many border plants that may not be herbaceous in growth but plants like pinks and border carnations can add to the display especially if flowering times can be co-ordinated together. Then again more colour can be added with bulbous plants such as gladioli and lilies. The oriental lilies are perfect as they can be bold, add height, and the scent is heavenly, especially the pink Chelsea.

The show goes out in mid summer as the tall deep blue delphiniums steal the show with the white Shasta daisies at their feet. To add to the show I have a large drift of lavender adjacent.

Wee jobs to do this week

 

Thinning radish

Many fast growing root vegetables such as turnip and radish and salad vegetables such as lettuce and rocket will have germinated with the warm weather in early May, especially if you have been able to give them a watering so now they will need thinning out if the germination has been good and rows liable to suffer from overcrowding. Thin radish to an inch apart, as they do not need a lot of space but all others are best at a couple of inches initially then about six inches later on once they have put on some growth.

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RHODODENDRONS AND AZALEAS

RHODODENDRONS AND AZALEAS

Growing rhododendrons and azaleas got into my blood in the early years of training around Dundee’s parks and nurseries. A large drift of Rhododendron praecox which is one of the earliest to flower was planted in a bed of pure leafmold in Dawson Park and seemed to thrive.  We also had a sunken garden planted with a range of the dwarf Japanese Kurume azaleas. As a young kid on low wages this was brilliant as these grew very easy from cutting. Other plants had to be grafted or sown from seed which then took ages before they flowered.

Azaleas in May

Then a few years later in Camperdown Park I saw the range widen to cover flowering from spring till summer. We were blessed with plenty of experienced gardeners so soon I was taught how to layer some of the large flowering hybrids, but got moved to another park before my layers had a chance to root. It was a hard life being an apprentice gardener but very rewarding.

Mixed azaleas

I have never been without rhododendrons and azaleas ever since, and a trip to see the massive range growing naturally in the woodlands around Glendoick nursery is a must at this time of year. They also stock a huge range of all types for sale and this being one of their specialism’s the quality is very high.

Rhododendrons and azaleas thrive in a well drained but moisture retaining woodland acidic soil. They do not tolerate lime in the soil. They need to be moist at all times so really thrive in the west of Scotland in areas of high rainfall but provided drainage is good.

They also enjoy dappled sunlight as well as shade and sunny positions provided it retains moisture.

Rhododendron dauricum

To encourage good growth and flowering, it is a good idea to add a light mulch of well rotted leafmold or ericaceous compost in late autumn or early winter. However they are not heavy feeders so do not give them any fertiliser as it may scorch the leaves. They do not require any pruning, but it does help to remove old flower trusses before they start to produce seeds.

Most rhododendrons are evergreen, but azaleas come as both evergreen and deciduous. Height depends on species and varieties as some may grow into small trees whereas other are ground hugging dwarfs. Plant hunters over the last two hundred years have gathered thousands of different species from all over the world especially China, Tibet, Burma and Japan. Then nurseries and plant breeders got to work and now we have any amount of different plants to choose from to suit every situation

Japanese Azalea Hinomayo

. Many deciduous azaleas have a wonderful scent.

Today many large flowered hybrids are grown as grafted plants, but can be propagated by layering once the bush is big enough with branches at ground level, but it is a slow process so patience is needed. The easiest forms to propagate are the dwarf evergreen azaleas, which can be layered or rooted from cuttings. Short pieces can be inserted around a shallow pot with a mixture of ericaceous compost and grit for good drainage. Place a large polythene bag over the pot to retain a moist atmosphere and rooting will occur after a few months.

When it comes to selection of the best to grow consider whether you prefer large bold plants, or ground cover, scent, autumn colour especially good with deciduous azaleas and how much space is available. Everyone has their own favourites and as new varieties are coming out all the time the choice is endless. Rhododendron praecox is a must for me as it is very early, but then Elizabeth a low growing bright red was favourite for a long time, but suffers from mildew.

Potting up sweet corn

Wee jobs to do this week

Pot up sweet corn seedlings into their final pots. Grow on for a few more weeks to produce a strong plant for planting in early June. Plant in square blocks as this helps with the wind pollination with spacing about 18 inches apart. As planting occurs later than other crops I take the opportunity to sow the space with a clover green manure to improve fertility, but it needs digging in at least two weeks ahead of planting.

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