DAFFODILS

DAFFODILS

The cool spring weather has been a bonus for spring flowers coming out a lot later than normal, but lasting a long time. We have had the snowdrops and aconites, then the crocus took over but now it is the turn of the narcissi and daffodils, though all the flowering bulbs are overlapping each other with some colder areas having their snowdrops still in flower in April.

Daffodil Westward

My daffodil season usually starts with February Gold, but a bit later this year in early April. This is followed on with the large yellow trumpets of King Alfred and Golden Harvest and the white Mount Hood. These are all scented like most narcissi though some have very pronounced scent such as the Cheerfulness group as well as the smaller flowered Jonquils. Daffodils have been around for a very long time and have been very popular with plant breeders so there are hundreds of varieties to choose from with new ones appearing every year.

Daffodils play a very important role in brightening up towns and villages as it was the custom to mass plant them in parks and verges in more prosperous times in the past before cut backs were created. Dundee has a wealth of spring colour from drifts of daffodils all over the town, and as new developments take place I hope the impact of this flower will continue to hold its place.

Narcissus Cheerfulness

They also brighten up our gardens letting us know that spring is here, and if you can spare some from the garden they make a great scented cut flower for the house. They are also very showy when grown in pots and tubs. They respond best when kept in a cool spot (against a north facing wall) after planting in autumn for a few months. This will help the roots to grow well ahead of the rest of the bulb so the plant flowers earlier in spring. When flowers are finished slowly dry off the bulbs and replant them somewhere else in the garden as they will come up again the following year.

This is a good time to note what is flowering, which colours you prefer and what empty spaces can do with planting next autumn. Plan ahead now so you can make sure you get your preferred bulbs while stocks last. There will also be some new varieties to try out.

New shrub borders always have a plenty of bare soil for several years as the shrubs slowly take up the space and this provides an ideal opportunity for bulb planting. If the shrubs are deciduous then the daffodils and narcissus can be a permanent feature and the leaves can die down and dry off as the shrub foliage grows in summer.

Field of daffodils

Daffodils make a greater impact if planted in large drifts where they can naturalise and increase as time goes by. Allow about six inches apart when planting in drifts. After flowering, the plant foliage remains green for a couple of months depending on weather. They will go yellow and dry off quicker in periods of dry warm weather. Do not be in a hurry to remove the foliage as this is what builds up the bulb for flowering the next year, but once the leaves have been removed disturb the soil surface to fill in any holes left by the dying leaves as this helps to deter the narcissus fly maggots from burrowing down into the soil to infect the dormant bulbs.

Wee jobs around the garden

Warmer days have started to arrive and young tomato plants are filling up their pots so they can now be planted out in the greenhouse. You can grow them in large pots, growbags or directly into a well prepared border. Traditionally I always used growbags, but always up for something different, two years ago I planted them out into my greenhouse soil border which I had dug over incorporating good garden compost. I got a great crop so I repeated the idea last year and got an even bigger crop, so I am again going to run with this idea. I will remove a few inches of topsoil and dig in plenty compost before planting out. Time will tell how they perform. I am growing Alicante as my maincrop, Sweet Million as my cherry, Sungold as my yellow tomato and Costoluto Fiorentino as my beafstake tomato.

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BUSY TIMES IN THE GARDEN

BUSY TIMES IN THE GARDEN

Spring seems to be a wee bit late this year. It has not been very cold, but the lack of a few really warm days is holding plant growth back. The ground outside is taking a long time to warm up so there is little point in making an early start to seed sowing and planting. However in some ways we still use the calendar to determine sowing times hoping the weather will behave and not drift too far off normal. Some plants are just fine but others can be very sensitive to low temperatures and lack of sunshine. Tomatoes are all now in the cold greenhouse, but seem quite happy and although most need potting up I will wait until we get better growing conditions.

Picking early rhubarb

Cabbage, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts have all been pricked out into cellular trays and are well established but not really growing well at present. Early sowings of lettuce are fine, but beetroot in cellular trays is looking decidedly cold and not really wanting to grow.

Onion Globo gave a brilliant germination on the windowsill, but then after transferring to the cold greenhouse look very unhappy. The tips are turning yellow suggesting poor compost or just not enough sunny days. I gave them a general liquid feed, and put on the greenhouse heater for a few days to cheer them up.

Sweet peas have all had the tops pinched out after three leaves and once new shoots put on a bit of growth they will go outside for hardening off.

Broad beans ready for planting

Broad beans have been hardened off for several weeks, and normally I would have planted them out, but the soil is still too cold to get them well established.

Geraniums retained from last year and potted up have been outdoors for two weeks hardening off, but the strong winds blowing them over and thunderstorms with hailstones is not doing them any favours. Smaller geraniums grown on from cuttings are now ready to pot up and should make strong sturdy plants for tubs, beds and baskets by mid May.

Last month a couple of nice days encouraged me to plant my row of first early potatoes Casablanca, but cold weather followed so no sign of any growth as yet. My other potatoes will all get planted whenever we get a few dry days as it is time for planting by the calendar, if not the temperature.
However all is not gloomy, as the rhubarb is quick to push out new fresh bright red sticks, perfect for pulling for the kitchen, and a row of rocket and over wintered lettuce are both ready for cutting. With the mild winter I have been able to pick rocket continuously since last summer.

Leeks and parsnips are still plentiful, though they will need to get used up before they run to seed.

Sowings of turnip, peas, outdoor salads, leeks, kale, chard and parsley are due for sowing once the rain stops, and the sun reappears.

Sweet corn gave a good germination of thirty plants from forty seeds, but will need to grow for another couple of weeks before potting up into bigger pots.

Once the ground warms up I will be sowing green manure crops on the land allocated to pumpkins, courgettes and sweet corn which do not get planted till early June. My favourite has always been clover which has very fibrous root systems that help to break up the soil and the nitrogen fixing bacteria on the roots adds nutrients once the clover rots down after digging in.

The fruit garden is also suffering from lack of warm days. Flower buds are swelling on the apples and pears, but my new peach, Avalon Pride and plum Victoria are only just beginning to grow.

Outdoor grape vines remain dormant, but under glass all the vines are in leaf.

The cool weather does have some advantages with spring flowers that seem to last a lot longer with dazzling daffodils and early tulips.

Wee jobs around the garden

Pot up chrysanthemum cuttings that have now rooted and continue to take more as the old stools keep growing. Dahlia tubers boxed up a few weeks ago are now growing and surplus shoots can be used to increase the stock.

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SPRING FLOWERS AT THEIR BEST

SPRING FLOWERS AT THEIR BEST

Last year we got blessed with a good week of brilliant weather at Easter, but as no two years are the same, we have not been so lucky this year. The garden is just full of potential flowers waiting to open up once the temperatures rise. We get plenty sunshine but always accompanied by cold winds.

Plans for bulb planting last autumn included an attempt to combine tulips with different spring flowering herbaceous and rock garden plants that would compliment each other. The idea was to create several areas of great impact over the season rather than having garden colour scattered all over the place. I first saw this idea a long time ago with a large drift of Tulip fosteriana Red Emperor planted underneath a group of yellow forsythia shrubs.

Anna beside a tub of polyanthus

The show was terrific and although short lived the memory stayed with me. Taking the idea a step forward I have large drifts of yellow saxifrage, blue pulmonaria and golden doronicums in different parts of the garden. They always give a good display but I thought the effect could be enhanced with some complimentary bulb planting. The idea can work in most years, but as all plant growth and flowering is determined by day length and temperature the varying weather can affect the show if one flowers ahead of the other. Tulip kaufmaniana Scarlet Baby was planted next to my lemon yellow saxifrage drift and this year they are all flowering together, but low temperatures prevent the tulips opening up fully.

Blue pulmonaria has tulip Monte Orange and Red Revival planted within the drifts. They are not yet out but flowering and timing are looking good.

Chionodoxa

Golden doronicums were under planted with purple triumph tulip Negrita which is also said to be scented, but flowering is still a week away.

Another area where I grow peonies  has been underplanted with a mixture of Darwin hybrid tulips as well as the early fosteriana tulip Red Emperor and Purissima. The latter is also scented, but can vary depending on temperature. These tulips will be finished and drying off by the time the peonies need the space. In addition to the tulips this area also has tall oriental lilies planted here and there to show the exotic scented flowers in summer when the peonies are finished.

Narcissi February Gold, daffodils, Chionodoxa, grape hyacinths and Crocus are now all looking great and most tulips and hyacinths are not far behind.

At the edge of my winter garden the pink heather, Erica carnea is in full flower and has some blue Anemone blanda mixed into the drifts. These look like one of my successful groupings as they are all flowering together and at the same height, but in reality seeds were scattered by birds and in compost mulches.

Crocus and primroses

The first rhododendron praecox is in flower though the show has been somewhat thinned out due to an attack of scale on the leaves over the last two years. Not an easy pest to control.

Coming up in height Forsythia is now providing a great golden display and the Viburnum carlcephalum has white highly scented flowers at their best on every decent day.

Plant tubs with wallflower and polyanthus add colour to the patio but hanging baskets planted up for a spring display with winter pansies are still slow to grow, desperately needing some warmer weather. Good job I added some mixed crocus to brighten them up as the pansies are not at their best so far.

Wee jobs to do this week

Dahlia tubers stored dry over winter, or recently bought in can now get potted or boxed up in fresh compost. You can wait a bit longer until risk of frost has passed and plant the tubers into the ground allowing two to three feet spacing depending on variety. Tubers started earlier with a bit of heat, should produce several young shoots from the base of last years flower stems. These can be used as cuttings once they are about three to four inches long. I root these in small pots in a seed compost and keep them in a warm place to encourage rooting. A polythene bag over them retains moisture and prevents them drying out.

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TIME TO PLANT POTATOES

TIME TO PLANT POTATOES

Lifting early International Kidney

Potatoes have always played a major role in feeding the nation, and we gardeners always allocated a big portion of our allotment space to the humble spud. It was our staple diet and used daily as boiled, baked, roasted, mashed or as chips or even fritters. Life moves on as we try to live a healthier life style and we now have access to a much wider variety of foods including rice, pizza and pasta and numerous healthy green vegetables, so our humble spud takes on a lesser role.
In my youth we grew a lot of the variety Majestic as it was a huge tuber that was perfect for chips. Today we (well, some of us) don’t eat so much chips so a variety that produces small potatoes is just as important as we can use them in salads. I practice a four year rotation on my plot so potatoes take up one of these sections each year. I grow a range to suit my own needs which is one really early variety, Casablanca, a second early salad type, Charlotte, with Sarpo Mira, a heavy cropper with good blight resistance, as my maincrop. I am also trying Genson and Amour as they get good reviews and it is always good to try something different.

Planting a row of potatoes

Other good potatoes to try include Lady Christl a very early variety, Desiree a maincrop and Maris Peer an excellent small salad type and its bigger brother Maris Piper a great spud for chips.

Purchase seed tubers only from Scottish or Irish sources where very strict hygiene conditions ensure the crop is clean and gets the highest certification. This information will be shown on labels on all bags purchased.

If you are tempted to retain seed potatoes from your own healthy crop, only do so for one year and only if the crop was very clean and free from blight and any other pest or disease. Never accept seed potatoes from a friend as the risks of potential infections are too great.

Potatoes are heavy feeders so grow best on land that has been well manured in autumn and left rough over winter.

It is a good practice to chit early varieties as it gives them a head start. Place the seed potatoes upright, (rose end upwards) in trays or egg boxes and leave in a light frost free position for a few weeks to get them to sprout.

Planting time is very much depending on weather, so in a mild period it could be early to mid March for the first early varieties, otherwise as soon as you feel there is some warmth in the ground.

Earlies are spaced about 12 inches apart along the rows which are 18 inches apart. For maincrops increase the spacing to 15 inches apart with rows 2 to 2.5 feet apart.

Take out a furrow six inches deep and run some well rotted compost along the bottom. Cover this with some soil and plant into this. Cover the rows but leave a slight ridge to mark the line, and then give a dusting of potato fertiliser high in phosphates and potassium.

Potato flowers

Once the foliage emerges keep an eye on the weather and if frost threatens earth over to protect them. Continue to earth over as this kills weeds and creates a friable structure.

Lifting can begin at the start of June with first earlies and continue till October for lates. Lift on a sunny day and leave the spuds to dry on the surface for an hour or so. Discard any tubers that show any greening as this contains poisons. Potatoes are best stored in the dark in hessian or paper bags in a frost free shed protected from mice.

Wee jobs to do this week

Continue with outdoor sowing of leeks and indoor sowing of sweet corn. I sow leeks thinly outdoors in a fertile well prepared seedbed, where they can grow strongly for a few weeks prior to lifting and transplanting.

Sweet corn is sown at the end of March indoors in cellular trays (40 cells/tray) and kept warm to germinate then transferred to my cold greenhouse to grow on. Once they are a decent size I pot them up into individual 7cms pots and grow on for a few more weeks before hardening off for transplanting at the beginning of June.

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