EARLY FLOWERING BULBS

EARLY FLOWERING BULBS

You know spring has arrived when the daffodils and tulips are in their full glory and dazzling displays of bold colour raise the spirits. However it is the smaller bulbs like snowdrops and aconites that come out in late winter telling us spring is just around the corner that really gets us excited. We are usually still in the grips of winter and not really expecting to see flowers in the garden, but if these bulbs have been planted close by a window overlooking the garden it is a sight to behold.

Snowdrops

 In recent times the mild winters have distorted the normal flowering pattern of many of these bulbs, so now I am seeing snowdrops in full flower in December and although we will still get some snow, these early flowers seem unharmed. Though a very late cold snap with snow can come in May so tall tulips suffer as the weight of accumulated snow bends them over.

Aconites

This is a good time to purchase bulbs for autumn planting, but give a lot of thought where to put them. Some bulbs like snowdrops and aconites are quite happy with dappled shade underneath deciduous trees and shrubs, but crocus need a sunny position to open up the flowers.

Snowdrops and aconites that have formed large established clumps are best divided while still in full growth immediately after flowering in early March. Both of these will form ever increasing drifts as they grow readily from self sown seeds. They can also be purchased as dormant bulbs in the autumn.

Anemone blanda

Grape hyacinths (Muscari) and bluebells can be very attractive as the drifts steadily expand naturally, but take care as they can both reach nuisance levels as they try to take over the garden. Enjoy the sea of blue while in flower but once they have filled their allocated space remove all seed heads after flowering.

Anemone blanda and Chionodoxa (Glory of the Snows) will also create a sea of blue as they grow into a drift, but they are not invasive and grow happily together with other plants and bulbs.

Iris reticulata flowers a bit later and needs a sunny position with well drained soil and if it dries out in summer so much better. They only grow just over a foot tall so are perfect for the rock garden and the flowers are also blue to violet purple with a yellow strip in the centre. They have narrow upright leaves which have a short life so they are easy to fit in with other low growing plants.

Iris reticulata

Crocus is one of the last to flower of the dwarf bulbs, but when mass planted makes a massive impact. The named hybrid varieties have huge flowers of white (Joan of Arc), yellow (Yellow Mammoth), purple violet (Flower Record), and my favourite is the white and violet striped (Pickwick) They make such an impact to welcome in spring that numerous local authorities have been mass planting them in prominent places for years. They are perfect in borders, lawns, roadside verges, tubs and hanging baskets planted with low growing pansies and polyanthus. However they need the sun to fully open up the flowers. They can naturalise to some degree from self sown seedlings, but I can never wait on this to expand my drifts so every year in autumn I buy in a few more bulbs. Those bulbs used in tubs and baskets can be replanted in the garden after flowering.

Crocus Yellow Mammoth

Crocus species are slightly smaller but flower a week or so earlier than the large flowered hybrids. They all have a delicate beauty that is hard to match when the drifts expand to give an impact.

Some species such as Blue Pearl, Cream Beauty and Snow Bunting are on my essential list, but many others are well worth a place. Ladykiller, Lilac Beauty, Ruby Giant and Whitewell Purple are all worth finding a place for.

Wee jobs to do this week

As autumn weather turns cooler watch out for pigeons on

Net protection on sprouts

cabbage, cauliflower, kale and Brussels sprouts so keep them protected with nets. Also inspect them for snails and caterpillars and remove as found. Scatter some slug pellets around as slugs and snails are still very active. Also check for mealy aphids on the growing points and under young leaves. Rub them off on a small scale but if the infestation is serious there are plenty chemicals available to use as a spray.

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LATE SUMMER FRUIT RIPENS

LATE SUMMER FRUIT RIPENS

Summer has just about gone, or maybe we are still waiting for it to arrive, once that rain goes off. However it has been warm enough, so all plant growth has been luxuriant, but we need sunshine to build up sweetness in our autumn fruits

Apple Discovery

before we pick them. Pollination of most fruits was really good as we came through a mild winter to be followed by a brilliant spring so there were plenty of bees around to assist pollen transfer and no late frosts so fruit potential was good. Only my new peach tree, Avalon Pride let me down. Flowers were very late for a peach, but that should have been beneficial as there were plenty pollinators flying around, but maybe with so much flowers to choose from my peach blossom did not impress them. Even though I did my daily hand pollination I still only got one peach, but as it was a cracker this tree may yet prove to be a winner.

Apple Oslin

Apples of every kind were a mass of flowers in spring then branches got laden down with young fruitlets. This got a wee bit of thinning in July at the natural June drop, but after settling down all trees were still packed with fruit so I did a massive hand thinning at the end of July. Trees are still heavy with apples but now with a decent size. The Oslin (also known as the Arbroath Pippin) was ready in August, but suffered badly in the wet summer so brown rot took out a lot of apples. Discovery, my next early variety to ripen up by early September gave a great crop of bright red apples with excellent flavour but lack of sunshine held back sweetness.

Pears ripening up

Red Devil, Fiesta and Red Falstaff will hang on the tree a fair bit longer hoping that at some point a period of prolonged sunshine will fall upon us and provide us with a sweet crop of apples.

Pears fared somewhat sporadically as my tree (Comice and Conference) had also been grafted with the Christie and Beurre Hardy. It seems either they take a fair time to settle down or there could be a compatibility issue as some branches have good pears and others are totally barren. Unfortunately over time the labels have been weathered beyond recognition so I do not know which is the culprit.

Plum Victoria

However to help matters out I grafted some of these barren branches with Concorde which are now growing happily but may be a couple of years before they flower.

Plums seem to be having a good year, with both plenty growth and now heavy crops. My plum Victoria planted in the dormant season failed to grow. Put down to bad choice of supplier, so a new one will be purchased this winter but from a reliable source.

Figs are again cropping very happily and should continue for a few more weeks, despite the wet weather. My first fig was ready at the beginning of August and so far I have had over 130 ripe fruits from one bush of Brown Turkey grown outdoors against a south facing wall. Ripeness is easy to determine as the fruit colours up and then droops so it gets picked before it falls off. It is a great help to have them ripen over a long season, but you still get a glut when Anna needs to cut them in half before a slow roast for an hour, then once they cool down they get bagged up and frozen for future use.

Peach Avalon Pride

Autumn Raspberry Autumn Bliss and Polka still continue to fruit giving us large berries to eat fresh and freeze surplus.

Outdoor grape Brant, Regent and Rondo have all got plenty of bunches of big grapes but really need sunshine to sweeten them up. In the greenhouse Black Hamburg also has a great crop desperately looking for more sunshine. However we still have a few more weeks so fingers crossed.

Spraying weedkiller

Wee jobs to do this week

Weed control has been a big problem this summer due to the wet weather combined with warmth so with good germination and growth of most weeds, it has been hard to keep them under control. They are now slowing down so remove them and dump on the compost heap unless they are perennial weeds. Paths and patios can still get a glyphosate spray if you can get two dry days together, so the chemical has time to get absorbed by the leaves before the rain washes it off. The chemical is not absorbed by the roots.

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AUTUMN PROPAGATION

AUTUMN PROPAGATION

We all love the challenge of growing our own plants, either from seed or cuttings. In this modern day of busy lifestyles most folk will buy plants ready to plant or flower direct from the garden centre, but it just doesn’t give you the same pleasure as those propagated by yourself. You then have spare plants to fill up empty corners, increase the drift size of those plants that like to make an impact, or just have a few spare plants to give to gardening friends. Some plants are very easy, some more challenging and there is always failures, but still we keep trying.

Cuttings in pots and boxes

Houttuynias potted up

In spring many plants are grown from seed and soft wood cuttings but in late summer growth on most plants have matured so cuttings are less likely to rot. Summer bedding plants like geraniums, fuchsias and Impatiens (Busy Lizzie) are easy to grow and young plants can be overwintered on a windowsill in a frost free room. Both geraniums and Impatiens can then be allowed to flower as a houseplant. Keep an eye open for red spider and small greenfly which are attracted to Busy Lizzie’s soft shoots. Geranium cuttings only need one decent leaf at the end of each shoot and a couple of inches of shoot which can be snapped off cleanly at a leaf joint. Fuchsias

Splitting up flag iris

are best as a four inch terminal shoot with lower leaves removed and cut underneath a node. Both can be inserted into a sandy compost in shallow pots where they will root after several weeks. Impatiens are even easier as shoots (remove lower leaves) about four inches long are just popped into a jar of water, placed on a shaded window sill and left to root. Once rooting is strong enough they can be removed and potted up into individual small pots.

Impatiens cuttings in water

Outdoors many shrubs can be propagated by taking cuttings six to eight inches long, removing lower leaves and lining out a few inches apart in well drained compost in the shelter of a cold frame or other form of protection. They are normally left there till growth starts in spring when they can be lifted and potted up. Rosemary, Lavender, Ceanothus, Pyracantha, Euonymus and Cistus can all be propagated this way, though the last two are best when cuttings are taken with a heel.

Heathers, both Erica and Calluna can be propagated from cuttings three to four inches long inserted in a sandy medium in shallow seed trays placed quite close together and kept in a cool greenhouse with some shade. Give them some mist spray to keep them moist and leave them till spring.

Peonies getting divided up

Japanese azaleas can be propagated from both cuttings and layering. Take cuttings the same as heathers but with shoots that may be branched. As these shrubs lie close to the ground they are easy to layer by placing a side branch down to ground level, putting some soil on the top and keep it there with a metal peg or flat stone.

Garden Pinks can be propagated from young shoots broken off as long as possible and dibbled around the sides of a pot filled with sandy compost. Place these pots in a cold frame or greenhouse.

Mint is very easy to propagate as it layers itself and roots into the soil as it grows so just pull up a few shoots with roots on and pot up to grow on.

Over on the herbaceous border most of the plants have finished their flowering and growing so now is a good time to lift clumps of peonies, iris, oriental poppies, Shasta daisies and many other types, split them up and replant in fresh soil to which some compost has been added.

Wee jobs to do this week

Sorting out potatoes for storing

Maincrop and late potatoes are best lifted now if the foliage has been wiped out by blight as they will not grow any bigger and the longer they are in the soil the chance for slugs to damage them.

Leave them on the surface for an hour or so to dry up before bringing them home for storage, but sort out any damaged tubers before storing in an airy but cool dark place. I separate out small but usable spuds from the main batch and these are great boiled and kept in their skins with salads or other dishes.

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LATE SUMMER ON THE PLOT

LATE SUMMER ON THE PLOT

Gardening this summer has become a task to plan ahead to avoid the thunder showers and if the sun is forecast to shine for a few hours we need to be outdoors to bring in the harvest. Growth on everything (except my onions) has been phenomenal; fruit, vegetables, flowers and not forgetting weeds. We try to plan crops to be available over as long a period as possible, but there is always a glut of something that we just cannot munch

Anna lifting beetroot and leeks

our way through or pack into the freezer. Who needs seven large courgettes for two people, and it is hard to give them away as everyone else is in the same boat, and there will be a lot more next week. Mornings and afternoons are spent picking fruit and vegetables, and then evenings spent shelling peas, cutting up cauliflowers, cleaning beetroot, leeks and turnip. Then the last of my early potato Casa Blanca got lifted, but had to be washed and dried before storing.

Good crop of leeks

 Autumn raspberries and strawberries as well as brambles and blueberries all need picking then sorting for immediate use and cool storage. Perpetual strawberry Albion, may well provide large red fruit for a few more weeks but they are so hard that they are no great pleasure. They will get discarded soon. Another of my new strawberries I thought I would try was Colossus, as the catalogue description was wonderful. However these strawberries were not as big as any others and berries were not very prolific so again another one for the compost heap.

There is still plenty of rhubarb available as it has never stopped growing.

Turning compost

Aronia Viking, the chokeberry got picked then weighed for freezing after I got my 7 pounds for wine making, but then I had to crush every berry in a fermentation bucket, a job taking me all evening, but I am looking forward to sampling this healthy red wine (packed full of antioxidants) in a couple of year’s time. I can recall many days in youthful employment when I worked a twelve hour day as well as weekend shifts, but now I am beyond retirement the work continues, but there is no payment of time and a half with double time at weekends, and you can forget time off in lieu or flexitime.

Fig Brown Turkey ready to eat

My fig Brown Turkey yet again has been providing heavy crops of figs, sometimes ten or more at a time, but Anna is sorting out ways to preserve these for future use.

Anna was thinning out a row of beetroot to use as baby beet, but growth was so good they all looked like mature roots. Our leeks have also grown well so some of these are being used, though we normally keep these as a winter vegetable. Another winter vegetable now in use is our kale. I grow the normal dwarf green, but thought I would try the red leaved Curly Scarlet. It grows just fine but is quite tough with poor flavour. Harvesting Dwarf French beans has not been a difficult task this year, as they have yet to produce beans. This is not their best summer.

In the greenhouse tomatoes are cropping heavily, and my hot pepper De Cayenne turned red so we tried some out to see just how hot it was. The Scots are no wimps so I chomped away at the red pointed end. Nae bother, whats all the fuss about, but Anna nibbled at a wee bit of pith and ran quickly to the sink for a glass of water. So that’s where the heat comes from!!!

However to get a break from all the harvesting and processing I decided I would get back to the land and give my compost heap its first turn over. The heap has been building up fast with spent kitchen waste, weeds, grass clippings, spent peas and beans, rhubarb leaves, and is now three feet high. If you want a bit of really good exercise get a compost heap. I think this is where our success with crops comes from as the plot gets compost dug in or mulched every year.

Wee jobs to do this week

Feeding flower tubs

Tubs and hanging baskets have suffered in the wet summer as some bedding plants need warm dry weather to grow and flower so all my petunias have rotted away and the slugs have had a feast on my French marigolds, though I keep scattering some pellets around. Geraniums have been outstanding and my tuberous begonias just love this global warming, but to keep their strength up and continue to flower give a liquid feed every fortnight, and keep dead heading old flowers.

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CUT FLOWERS

CUT FLOWERS

As a keen gardener we do our best to make the garden look great all year round. That involves growing plants with colour, attractive shape, scented where ever possible, creating good plant associations to combine height, form and similar flowering times to increase effect. We also control weeds, rake up leaves, prune as required, dead head old flowers, spread and fork in compost, and hope the weather works in our favour so at some stage we can relax and enjoy our creative garden.

Sophie with the red scented roses

However, although we have taken care of the outdoors we must not forget the indoors, so at some point our precious flowers will be getting chopped down and dropped into a few vases. A balance has to be struck so that these cut flowers do not diminish our efforts in creating our outdoor paradise. Either we grow sufficient numbers to allow for this or we grow extra plants just for cut flower. This is where an allotment is invaluable as it can help with the rotation by including a section for flower production, and if there is plenty of colour it will brighten up the plot.

Dahlia Thomas Edison

In spring the show starts off with the daffodils, followed by tulips, as these make a fantastic display and very quickly multiply up, so a few cut here and there for the house are never missed. We also buy in more bulbs every autumn as there is always some border to brighten up with a few extra spring flowers.

Scented daffodils (Jonquils and the Cheerfulness group) have all got great scent and if you can sort out a few of those scented tulips that is a bonus. I tried a good dozen so called scented tulips, but only the Fosteriana Purissima gave me any scent.

Lily Golden Splendour

As the summer starts I look to the flag Iris for something special that is bold, colourful and scented, before the roses take over as first choice. E H Morse is an excellent scented red, as is Fragrant Cloud and Margaret Merril a great scented white rose, but there are so many to choose from with new varieties coming out every year. If you grow climbers and shrub roses they produce so much flowers that there is plenty to spare for a vase for the table.

Rose Dawn Chorus

Dahlias start to flower from mid summer and continue till the frosts, are easy to grow and very reliable with a wide range of colours and shapes of blooms. Everyone will have their favourites, but I find it hard to go beyond the cactus style blooms as they just appeal to me.

Chrysanthemums can be grown as sprays or with a bit more work you can grow the decoratives, incurves and reflexes with just one very large but impressive flower on each stem, as long as you disbud all competitive sideshoots and secondary flower buds.

Border carnations are not as popular as in the past, and they have their own needs with good drainage, plenty of sunshine and you must keep them staked, but they are nearly all scented with a wide range of colours so are first class cut flowers. The plants may only last several years, but propagate very easy from cuttings.

Gladioli

Gladioli put on a great show and make perfect cut flowers. I buy in a few new varieties every year, but save all my old corms so my stock slowly increases every year. If you have good soil that is well drained plant them deep and they should not need any support to keep them upright.

Sweet peas can grow well over six feet tall so make sure they have a good framework support, and keep removing all seed pods. They thrive in deep rich soil and like extra feeding for best results.

Scented sweet peas

Lilies, like sweet peas have fantastic scent so enhance any room they are in. Growing was covered two weeks ago, and different varieties will extend their season of bloom.

Japanese Anemone Honorine Jobert is easy to grow and produces pristine white flowers perfect for cutting. It grows about three feet tall and this herbaceous plant will increase in size every year.

Wee jobs to do this week

Pumpkin ready to harvest

Cut tips off pumpkins to curtail growth once each plant has formed two or three fruits so it can put all its energy into swelling them up. Do not rush this job as the pumpkins produce many small fruits but only a few survive. Keep them well watered and continue to feed if you want really big pumpkins. Place some straw underneath the fruit to keep them clean and free from soil.

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