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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A GOOD YEAR FOR APPLES

A GOOD YEAR FOR APPLES

This year has created a massive problem for the gardener with a few apple trees. The crops have been so heavy that we just don’t know what to do with all the fruit.

Flowering was very late due to poor weather with an extended winter. We were running three to four weeks later than normal. Then the weather turned, the sun came out, the rain stopped and the apple trees were full of blossom. As it was much later than normal there were plenty of flying insects around so good pollination was guaranteed. A very heavy crop was obvious so thinning of the small fruits was essential after the natural June drop had completed the first thinning.

During the warm sunny summer we got just enough rain to keep crops growing, though I did bring the hose out on several occasions when rain just refused to come our way. In Scotland that really is a rare occasion. The dry atmosphere kept scab away, and mildew is not a problem with me as I only grow strong healthy varieties.

My first earlies, the Oslin, lasted for two weeks at the end of August, and then Discovery ripened and gave us fresh apples till mid October. This was followed by Fiesta and Red Falstaff, both of which will store for many weeks. However my late Red Devil will store for many months keeping us supplied with fresh apples till the end of winter.

I don’t harvest my Bramley cookers till the end of October or early November. They are fantastic in store and will be fine till next spring provided you keep checking them and removing any that go brown. Otherwise they start to give off ethylene gas which causes other fruit to ripen rapidly.

I store my apples in boxes in my frost free garage and should have enough to keep us in apples till well into 2014.

Eating an apple a day will be no problem, and apple sauce, crumbles and apple tart will appear regularly. They are also excellent added to curries, pastas and I just love to slice some for adding to the pan when frying up my bacon, eggs, tomatoes and mushrooms.

The windfalls and damaged fruit is chopped and simmered before straining off the juice which is retained as natural pectin to help jams set.

I always manage to keep back 30 lbs for wine, giving me three demijohns to brew. I add some bananas for body and raisins to create some vinosity then try to leave it alone for a year once fermentation has stopped, but it is hard. It really makes a brilliant dessert wine.

Health benefits of apples

Apples are one of the healthiest fruits to eat and as they are readily available and cheap they should always be in the daily fruit bowl. This fruit is packed with soluble dietary fibre, i.e. pectin, vitamins B, C, E, A and minerals potassium, iron, magnesium, calcium and phosphorus. A lot of the goodness is in the skin, so don’t peel it off, though wash all bought apples very thoroughly as the skin has been bombarded with chemicals while growing in the orchard, then coated with wax to preserve it while in the store.

If you grow your own fruit it will be chemical free and extremely healthy.

Plant of the week

The African Blue Lily Agapanthus africanus is a bulbous plant from South Africa which makes a very impressive specimen with large heads of blue lily flowers when grown in a tub. Grow it in a sunny sheltered border in good but well drained soil, and if the winter is not too severe it may survive, otherwise keep it in a tub and bring it into a frost free greenhouse for the winter.

Painting of the month

Random Thoughts is a painting of a pure abstract subject. The need arose as several of my art class students wish to go down that road, so I needed some experience first so I can teach others.

I wanted my abstracts to have attractive artistic principles that help to make the image stand out. I am not interested in throwing paint on a canvas in a twenty minute frenzy of activity and pretending it is art. The difficulty for beginners is always just where do you start with an abstract image. However once you have some marks or colour on the canvas, your own experience kicks in and you go looking for good composition to draw in some lines or shapes, then follow with ideas on tone, colour, shadows and highlights. It also helps if you can create a focal point with strong colour within a pure abstract image. It may be a journey into the unknown for most of us, but once you make a start it can be a very interesting and enriching experience.

I will work up a body of images for an exhibition later on this year.

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PLANT SPRING FLOWERING BULBS NOW

PLANT SPRING FLOWERING BULBS NOW

The summer this year will be well remembered as one of the best for a very long time. The garden has never looked better and fruit and vegetables have been prolific. However, good results are only possible if we plan well ahead so that the garden is ready when the sun shines. Now is the time to plan for next springs flowers and look out some good bulbs while they are available in catalogues and at garden centres.

I buy in some bulbs every year, and although the garden must be packed with them, I can always find space for a few more. This autumn my priority will be buying in dwarf double early tulips to plant in my annual flower beds where they will be underplanted amongst pansies, polyanthus and forget me nots. I normally use wallflower as my main bedding plant, but this year I got duff seed which failed to germinate leaving me with very few plants. However I got great germination of polyanthus and myosotis from an early summer sowing and I now have several rows of strong plants growing on my allotment ready to lift in October.

Early flowers

My first flowers from bulbs are always the aconites. It is so welcome to see the first flowers appear towards the end of winter, often pushing their heads above the snow. You only need to buy bulbs once as they spread very readily from seed saved after flowering and scattered on the surface where ever you want them to grow. Aconites are quickly followed by the snowdrops which also spread very easily both by seed and also by splitting up thick groups just after flowering.

Then comes the crocus species, flowering a week or two ahead of the larger flowering crocus hybrids. The best species for me are Blue Pearl, Snow Bunting, Ruby Giant and Cream Beauty.

Good  larger flowered hybrids include Pickwick, Remembrance, Flower Record, Golden Mammoth and Joan of Arc. Always plant bulbs in a sunny spot as crocus need sunshine to open up the flowers.

Daffodils, tulips and hyacinths

When the daffodils start flowering you know spring has arrived, so you must find some spots for them. King Alfred and Golden Harvest are the best large flowered trumpet daffodils, but Mount Hood is an excellent white, then there are numerous narcissi all with great merit. Double flowered Cheerfulness comes in a range of varieties all with an excellent scent, but it is very hard to beat the Jonquils for an exotic perfume. Plant daffodils and narcissus about four to six inches deep and spaced randomly about six inches apart in drifts. They can all go in deciduous shrub borders, herbaceous borders or in the lawn, though you won’t be able to mow it for at least six or more weeks after flowering. This allows the leaves time to build up a good bulb for flowering the following year.

I plant new hyacinths in my flower tubs placed by doorways every autumn so we can enjoy the flowers and scent in spring as we come and go. Jan Bos, Pink Pearl, L’Innocence and Ostara are all great varieties. After flowering these get dried off and stored till autumn when I then find a sunny spot in the garden to plant them.

Tulips form my main flower display in beds, tubs and borders everywhere. I keep all bulbs from one year to the next as well as the wee bulbs as these will flower after one or two years. I like early tulips to follow on after the daffodils, but then by the end of May I am looking for early summer flowers rather than late spring blossom. Thus I have never favoured late flowering tulips like many Triumphs, Lily flowered, peony, parrot or fringed, though very many of them have lovelly flowers. My favourite tulips include the single early, (Bellona, Apricot Beauty, Princes Irene, Keizerskroon, and Couleur Cardinal), double early, (Peach Blosson, Monsella, Abba and William of Orange), Fosteriana types, (Purissima and Red Emperor) and for a massive impact of large bold flowers try the Darwin Hybrids, (Apeldoorn, Apeldoorn Elite and Golden Apeldoorn.)

Plant of the week

Hardy outdoor Grape vine Brant was really only intended as an ornamental grape vine with brilliant autumn colour. The grape bunches are small and never really considered the main attraction. However it does produce bunches very prolifically which ripen every year in my Dundee garden. The small bunches are packed tight with sweet juicy black grapes and although they do have pips, these are very small and contain most of the health benefits of grapes. Our single grape vine trained onto a south and west facing walls will give us numerous bunches every year. Last year we produced our first demijohn of wine which is now down to mature, but after this years very hot summer the bunches and individual grapes are quite large so we look forward to even more wine if we can stop eating the grapes.

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