EARLY SUMMER FLOWERS

EARLY SUMMER FLOWERS

Early summer is that in between stage, when the bulbs and other spring flowers are all finished and the summer flowers and roses have not yet got started.  It is often said to be the green phase in the garden, as it rests after the spring floral feast to build up its reserves for the summer bonanza.

Yet when we look around there seems to be no lack of plants in flower from ground cover, border plants, herbaceous and shrubs.

The old foliage from snowdrops, aconites, daffs and tulips has all been removed and added to the compost heap, and hoeing for weeds is on its second run. Once this old foliage is gone, we see quite a few bare patches which is ideal to use up all our spare bedding plants of geraniums, begonias, impatiens, petunias. We now have a clean garden completely planted up, so there is nothing to spoil our summer flowers. We can wander around and enjoy the odd flowers during this in between stage.

It is surprising to find that a lot of these flowers belong to the poppy family. The boldest displays come from the herbaceous oriental poppies with their massive bright red flowers. Another herbaceous perennial is the deep blue flowered Himalayan blue poppies which are not bold but a very relaxing deep sky blue colour. Then the biennial Iceland poppies which are semi naturalised in our garden give us the orange, white and lemon yellow flowers. We have two annual poppies that have become established as an annual event without any sowing or planting. They just reseed themselves every year, and they put on such a fantastic display that we just let them get on with it. These are the orange Californian poppy and poppy Ladybird which is bright red with a black blotch.

Another herbaceous plant at its best in June is the flag iris. There are numerous bold and very colourful varieties to choose from so go for the best. They have colour and scent and are very easy to grow in a sunny spot with very well drained soil.

Back at ground level the succulent Delosperma nubigenum growing only an inch high, but smothers the ground so no weeds can compete, and is a mass of yellow daisy type flowers providing you give it a sunny well drained spot. I have several plants growing in crevices in our tall retaining walls. They don’t have any soil, and get dried out very quickly, but they just seem to love it.

Slightly taller are several Campanulas at three inches tall but covered in deep blue purple flowers.

Then the garden pinks growing up to a foot tall give us a whole range of red, pink, mauve and white highly scented flowers.

Garden shrubs are often used to give us shelter and privacy and provide the intermediate stage between garden plants and trees, but many can also be highly attractive when in flower. For dry sunny gardens the Cistus types such as Silver Pink and Cistus purpureus are at their best in June as is the taller blue flowered Ceanothus thyrsiflorus.

Again another medium sized shrub for the seaside and drier gardens is the dwarf brooms, Cytisus praecox and Genista hispanica, both of which are a mass of bright yellow flowers.

Wee jobs to do this week

Greenfly are having a great time so check over vulnerable plants and rub off where practicable. Blackcurrants and gooseberries are a bit prone so remove the growing tips if badly infected.

Now that the weather has improved and weed have started to grow this is an ideal time to spray with roundup weedkiller, especially if perennial weeds are a problem. Some weeds such as Japanese knotweed, mares tail and even couch grass may need two sprays a month apart. On cultivated soils keep the hoe going to keep on top of annual weeds.

In the greenhouse ventilate every day to keep a buoyant atmosphere so condensation does not build up over night. Good ventilation also helps to prevent fungus diseases on tomatoes, cucumbers and grape vines.

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AN EARLY HARVEST

AN EARLY HARVEST

The feel good factor runs high when the first crops of the year are advanced enough to pick. After a rhubarb picking in April, this usually starts off at the beginning of May with lettuce Hilde overwintered outdoors in a sheltered spot. The outside leaves may be a bit storm battered but the centres are soft and tender and the fresh flavour is hard to match. This is followed by the radish, lettuce and spring onion grown under my low polythene tunnels on the allotment. First crops are ready in early May in a normal year, but mid May in this cold year with strong cool winds. Radish grow very fast under a tunnel, so this crop was soon used up and the space used for a second batch of spring onions grown from seed germinated in plug trays.

The tunnel also has a small batch of beetroot but it will be mid June before we can enjoy some fresh baby beet.

Strawberry Mae grown under tunnels started to crop in mid May and will provide the first batch of fruit for the next three weeks before Elsanta ripens up.

Overwintered crops, (leeks, kale, Swedes, sprouts, cauliflower Aalsmeer and parsnips) are all finished apart from a batch of rocket salad leaves which started to go to seed, but was then cut back to give some more young leaves. Red stemmed chard also ran to seed and was promptly cut back to give more young shoots in a few weeks time.

Spring cabbage suffered a lot of clubroot disease, so remaining plants were quickly used up.

Now we are in June and warmer weather is quite possible, some of my early sown Golden Ball turnips can start to be lifted as small roots to allow the rest more space.

Rocket sown at the end of March is now just about ready for the first harvest of leaves, and once it grows a wee bit bigger I can remove last years row of rocket.

We must not forget our old and well established clumps of rhubarb which have been giving us fresh sticks since the end of April. Timperley Early is always the first to pick. It will be used for compote mixed with some frozen strawberries from last year as well as a jam blended with Saskatoon berries also from the freezer. Saskatoons have a sweetness that is enhanced by the acidity of the rhubarb.

Early potato International Kidney was planted at the end of March. Although weather has been cool with strong winds we have not had any frosts so growth has got away quite strongly. Earthing up was completed in mid May and I hope to sample my first salad spuds at the end of this month, though a lot depends on the weather. The first pickings will give smaller potatoes if a wee bit too early, but that is no loss if the taste of those first salad potatoes is to die for. A useful guide to harvesting is when the first flowers appear as the plant is then mature, though bulking up is only just starting.

Wee jobs to do this week

Finish off planting up any bare areas in the flower borders using spare summer bedding plants such as impatiens, marigolds, geraniums or petunias.

Spring flowering hanging baskets with polyanthus and pansies have been replaced with summer flowers, but the pansies still had plenty of flowers to come so they have found a spot between some young newly planted shrubs. The polyanthus have been lined out to grow on, and will be used for bedding in the autumn to flower the following spring.

Sow wallflower seed thinly in rows outdoors, and then after a couple of months they will be ready to transplant into nursery rows to grow into strong bushy plants for autumn planting. They are perfect for flower beds with tall Darwin hybrid tulips planted in between each plant for a glorious spring display.

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POTTERING AROUND

POTTERING AROUND

Early summer is the time of year when we have caught up with most of the major gardening tasks, but there is a never ending list of wee jobs needing our attention, so we potter around. Then as we complete one wee job we sit down in the sun and have a coffee.

Most of the allotment is now planted up and the long cool spell of relatively dry weather has meant that weeds have not been much of a problem so far. However my tatties have emerged and earthing up should keep them happy for a fair bit.

Other vegetables

Beetroot, turnip and parsnip all germinated quite well so thinning was needed to let individual plants have room to grow. Germination of peas has been very poor, but I put that down to bad seed, as my supplier, who also supplies many of us at City Road, won’t be getting any repeat orders next year. Other seed supplied from same source has been very poor. There are plenty other places to try for our seed orders. Leeks germinated a month ago but growth has been very slow so transplanting is still a fortnight away. Onion Hytech grown from seed and planted out several weeks ago is also growing very slowly, but lack of any warm weather does them no favours.

Cabbage, cauliflower and brussel sprouts have all been transplanted and are establishing well. Both cabbage and cauliflower are being sown in three stages several weeks apart so I can harvest small quantities over a longer period, cutting out previous year’s gluts. Keep an eye out for the cabbage white butterfly caterpillers and remove as soon as seen.

Courgettes, squashes and pumpkins have now all been planted out as it is the right time by the calendar, but I would be happier if we got a bit warmer weather to cheer them up.

Remove poly tunnels from early salads as the weather is warmer and this will reduce the need for constant watering. Radish, lettuce and spring onions have all been ready for use since mid May.

Fruit crops

Put nets on strawberries unless they are under polythene tunnels, and bed them along the rows with straw to prevent soil splashing onto the developing fruit. Although I feel our seasons are running a fortnight later than normal, I was happy with my first picking of strawberries under tunnels the third week in May.

Remove diseased leaves from peaches infected by peach leaf curl.

Fruit crop potential from bushes and trees looks excellent at this stage except for my peaches and pears. They flowered quite late, and there were plenty of bees around, but at that time there was any amount of other plants in full flower so bees could be choosy. So although there was plenty of flowers on the trees the crops looks to be very scarce.

Flowers

Thin out annual flowers such as poppies, calendulas and godetia sown from seeds if germination is good, or use some as transplants.

Prune kerria, spirea arguta and forsythia and other spring flowering shrubs, removing old flowering shoots so new growth can fill the space and ripen up in the autumn for flowering next spring.

Dead head rhododendrons and azaleas once flowering has finished so they can keep their strength for producing strong young shoots which will flower next year.

Plant up hanging baskets, beds and tubs with geraniums, begonias, petunias, impatiens and trailing lobelia to give us the summer colours.

Wee jobs to do this week

Turn compost heap once it is a couple of feet deep

Keep pruning grape vine sideshoots to one leaf only now that the bunches have been secured.

Remove sideshoots from tomatoes grown as cordons and continue weekly high potash feeds.

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