SPRING BULBS

                                                          SPRING BULBS

As dry but cool weather brings in our spring the early bulbs are putting on a brilliant display. As most folk are in deep isolation to avoid the coronavirus the bright splash of colour really keeps us in high spirits.

Tulips with Doronicums and Phlox

Every year in autumn I have always splashed out on spring flowering bulbs, as I find it hard to resist and there is always some spot in the garden in need of a bit of extra colour. Over the years these bulbs have formed large drifts, but still I find space for a few more. We can then look forward to spring to see how the latest bulbs perform. Some start off in tubs amongst wallflowers, pansies and polyanthus, but then once their flowering season ends and the summer bedding takes over, the bulbs while still growing can get replanted in some border. When the spring flowers are at their best in April and May this is a good time to see how the bulb planting has performed, and make plans for any adjustments next autumn. I have a few drifts of white and yellow tulips really needing a few reds and mauve to balance the drift. I had a nice mixture of dwarf early tulips amongst my roses, but several have died out and only the yellow survives so need a few other

Tulip Monsella

colours in autumn. Two years ago I bought some narcissus Dick Wilden but the gorgeous double flower is so heavy the stems cannot support then and they break so they will get replaced.

Another area of mixed crocus planted last autumn had white, purple and striped flowers but no

yellow crocus. I expected a mixed batch to have yellow as well as all the others so I will buy some yellow crocus to balance out the drift. A similar purchase of 100 mixed Darwin Hybrid tulips was a bit one sided with 80 of them all white. In future I will buy in separate colours and mix my own.

The show stopper this spring has been tulip Red Emperor flowering in early April, but then in late April the Darwin Hybrids Apeldoorn and Golden Apeldoorn kept the display in top form. The first tulip is always Scarlet Baby flowering in March followed by Stressa in early to mid April. Then

Scarlet admiring the tulips

numerous other spring bulbs pop up including the scented hyacinths, grape hyacinths, Chionodoxa and the other blue flowered Anemone blanda. All the while daffodils and narcissi are flowering. They start off with February Gold which was very late this year coming in early April, then the Golden Harvest, Mount Hood, my favourite white scented white trumpet daffodil. The highly

scented Jonquills and Cheerfulness group didn’t flower till near the end of April.

Dundee City Council always puts on a great display of daffodils and crocus along highway grass verges all over the town planted many years ago in times when it was fashionable to spend money on flowers to brighten up the town for residents and visitors. Dundonians were very proud of their floral achievements in Parks, housing

Narcissus February Gold at Lansdown Gardens

estates and highway verges with ample well trained gardeners to look after them. Unfortunately gardening is no longer looked upon as worthwhile career, so there is no more flowers, the grass grows long but looks natural and weeds are left alone in the back to nature move. Horticulture has become a victim of Council cut backs.

Tulip Stressa and pansies

However for some of us, the old traditions are maintained but in our gardens and allotments. The beauty of our displays of spring colour can be seen by those few hardy souls out for a days exercise jogging or dog walking past our gardens and allotments. Fortunately there was no cut backs at City Road Allotments and our spring display along the entrance border and a few other plots backing onto City Road is looking fantastic. It was not long before other plot holders appreciated the

benefits of floral displays and now many plots are adding flowers in borders, troughs and tubs.

Hardening off onions and salads

Wee jobs to do this week

Take advantage of warmer days to get a few greenhouse plants hardened off. A few weeks back it was the broad beans, sweet peas and chrysanthemums that were first to get hardened off and now these are all in the ground. Geraniums can now go outdoors as well as early sown salads of lettuce, radish, spring onions and beetroot, but keep checking the weather forecasts in case there is a late frost and crops have to go back indoors over night. Onions grown from seed are also getting hardened off for planting towards the end of April.

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A SUNNY SPRING DAY

                                                        A SUNNY SPRING DAY

Spring eventually arrived once we got into April, so it was warm enough to bring out the picnic table from store so we could enjoy tea on the patio. Isolation at home is fine for those of us with

gardens as there is always some wee job to sort out.

Anna plants the broad beans

As many folks will be confined to barracks for many weeks, I reckon by mid summer there will be some brilliant looking gardens around, but maybe not many folks to see them. Now that temperatures are rising garden plants are just loving it and spring flowers are popping up everywhere. The self

Mixed crocus

isolation can affect your mental well-being if boredom sets in, but the lucky ones with a garden are kept busy working amongst fresh fruit, vegetables and flowers to keep us entertained. Then we have beautiful flowers to enjoy both in the garden and some cut flowers for the home. However the story is a bit different up on the allotment plots. For many plot holders who live in flats the allotment plot is their garden for exercise in the fresh air, a place for relaxation amongst nature and the production of fresh healthy vegetables and fruit, and most also grow flowers to make their plot attractive. These outdoor activities in the sun also builds up strong levels of vitamin D and home grown fruit and vegetables provide a wide range of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants to keep us strong and more able to fight off any attack of the coronavirus. The allotment movement all over UK provide a massive amount of fresh produce as

Magnolia stellata

many amateur gardeners are nearly self sufficient for half the year. I still have a few onions,

potatoes and pumpkins in store and outdoors there is swedes, sprouts, leeks, kale and my over wintered lettuce can now be picked. Anna’s freezer is still bulging with fruit and vegetables

harvested last year. Advice coming from government has considered the above and Michael Gove concluded that using allotments for exercise was perfectly sensible provided plot holders maintain the recommended distance from each other and also implement other precautions of washing hands and not forming any social groups. If any plot holder shows any signs of

The last stored vegetables

infection they must leave the site until they recover. Up on City Road Allotments, we now all wear gloves when opening gates on arrival and as our communal hut and toilets are shut down we bring along a flask of tea and our social chat is confined to shouting, Good Morning over the plot fence. Allotments are relatively quiet and even with over sixty plots there is usually only about three to six people on site at any one occasion. No-one can escape the new rules as notices are everywhere from the entrance gates, the new flower border, a blaze of daffodils and tulips at this moment, and on the communal hut outdoor noticeboard. The communal hut and toilets are shut down for the time being.

Time to bring out the picnic tables

The normal April showers have not yet arrived so the ground is perfect for seed sowing and

planting, provided everything gets watered afterwards. The hardy range of broad beans, sweet peas and chrysanthemums have all got planted then watered in. Turnip Purple Top Milan, Leek

Musselburgh and Pea Kelvedon Wonder have all been sown outdoors on the plot and African marigold, Livingston daisies and Nemesia got sown in seed trays indoors. These will be pricked out into cellular trays after a couple of weeks.

Amaryllis that had flowered in December is now growing strongly in the greenhouse, and will get fed regularly to build up the bulb for flowering next December. Spring flowers of pansies,

polyanthus and wallflower with tulips

City Road Allotments flower border

and crocus amongst them growing in tubs and baskets will also benefit from a feed. Spring flowers are now in full display mode with daffodils, tulips, crocus, hyacinths at ground level as well as many shrubs including Camellias, Rhododendrons, Azaleas, Magnolias and Forsythia. Flower power is helping to keep spirits high at this critical time.

Wee jobs to do this week

Remove flower shoots from rhubarb

Rhubarb is now growing strongly and pulling a few stems for the kitchen is very welcome.

To keep it growing add some fertiliser and a mulch of well rotted compost. Rhubarb can be a gross feeder and also needs plenty of moisture so water the clumps in dry spells. Flowering shoots appear early in April. Remove these as soon as possible otherwise they will affect growth.

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OUTDOOR SUN LOVERS

                                                   OUTDOOR SUN LOVERS

It looks like we are getting a few days of spring weather to brighten up the gloom. Winter has passed, but not a single snowflake landed on my garden. Temperatures have hovered around

Anna waters the spring flowers

freezing for weeks so we were due some warm sunshine for both plants and gardeners. Folk with gardens are now the lucky ones as self isolation to avoid coronavirus infection has at least given us a place to go with plenty of jobs needing attention, and now spring flowers are in abundance it raises up our spirits. I had a day weeding the garden, but it has been too cold for most weeds to

Sweet corn seedlings

germinate, so it was not a difficult task, apart from a few speedwells, pennycress, willow herb, and annual meadow grass. Anna has been busy in isolation in the kitchen making our own loaves of bread. Small of fresh home made bread is fantastic, then there was a large pot of home made leek and parsnip soup. This isolation is not all bad it has a lot of merits. March has been a busy month for seed sowing. Sweet corn, lettuce, radish, beetroot, cauliflower, kale, Nemesia, French and African marigolds all got sown in the warmth of my south facing lounge. Windowsills are all used up, but others in pans, pots and cellular trays were placed on plastic tray and just left on a spare table. However as soon as I got a decent germination they got transferred to the greenhouse before they got leggy. That meant hardy greenhouse plants like sweet peas, broad beans and geraniums all went outdoors to harden off. I have always loved pushing the limits of what we can grow up in Scotland as climate change is increasing the range we can grow, so sweet corn, pumpkins,

Sweet corn

courgettes and Cape gooseberries which all like it hot and sunny are on this year’s list.

Unfortunately, although we are getting warmer temperatures we are also getting a lot more rain. That is a big problem with no answer. Last year my autumn strawberries Flamenco produced a very heavy crop of berries that all rotted as botrytis took hold. I hardly got any berries.

Over the years I have tried several varieties of sweet corn, but the variety Incredible was my real winner so I am growing it again this year. Germination has been nearly 100% so after a fortnight the plants in small cells will get potted up and kept in the greenhouse for two or three weeks before hardening of and planting out about the end of May. The land allocated for them as well as

Cape gooseberry

pumpkins and courgettes has all been sown down with a clover green manure. This is quick

growing so I will have a decent amount of growth to trample down and dig in about three weeks ahead of planting. Pumpkins and courgettes will get sown at the end of April. Two courgettes and five pumpkin plants will keep us supplied for several months. My last Cape gooseberries also love a warm sheltered spot with fertile soil. In previous wet years they have failed to ripen up, but we keep trying, and this could be their year.

pumpkin grown in 2019 was cooked at the beginning of this month. Both courgettes and pumpkins need plenty of space so are planted about three to four feet apart. I tend to let my pumpkins wander around hoping to get extra fruits.

Young cauliflowers

Other permanent plantings that enjoy the heat are figs, peaches and grapes. Figs have been very successful every year but outdoor grapes have varied. The variety Brant is brilliant though bunches are small, but last year the wet weather shrivelled up all the bunches of Regent and Rondo, though Phoenix gave me a small crop of ripe grapes for wine. Growing peaches outdoors in Scotland has its problems. They will grow, flower and fruit, but our wet climate encourages peach leaf curl disease even on those varieties such as Avalon Pride claimed to have some resistance. If you remove all the infected leaves the plant cannot grow and fruit. They all fall off before they ripen.

Pruning cornus and willow stems

Wee jobs to do this week

Cut back the colourful shoots from the cornus and willow in the winter garden as these are now

beginning to grow. After the winter show of bright red and orange stems, it is now time for the underplanted bulbs of crocus then tulips to put on a show. I cut back all shoots as far back as possible as they regrow again very easily. The longest shoots are retained for supports for rows of peas on my allotment.

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CORONAVIRUS GARDENING SPECIAL

                                             CORONAVIRUS GARDENING SPECIAL

Coronavirus is now firmly established with matters getting worse until it reaches a peak.. We are all affected in one way or another, but hopefully keeping isolated will prevent contact with anyone who may be a carrier. The gardening life style is hopefully keeping us fit and healthy. Lock-down still allows us to carry on with the garden around our house.

Start hoeing the weeds

The allotment is a few miles away but as we are allowed some exercise the plot is the place to be. Plot holders are usually fairly thin on the ground so isolation is just fine and we can still be sociable from a distance as all plots are separated by wide paths. The communal hut up at City Road Allotments where we used to gather for a tea and coffee breaks is now shut for the foreseeable future and even our toilets have now been closed and put out of use. Our shop has been closed, but plot holders can order compost, seeds and other sundries online for delivery to their plots and with

Daffodils amongst the roses

payment delayed till the virus problem

disappears. As we remain in isolation, I will be taking a flask of coffee and keeping social

conversations always over the allotment plot fence. My own plant and seed order is bought in by mail order so this can be done from home. This should work so long as staff are still around in

nurseries to grow and pack seeds and plants, then we need some hauliers to transport produce to our door. We are now seeing warm spring days with flowers popping up all over the place. This really lifts your spirit and brings on the feel good factor. It is important to keep fit, happy and healthy. We are really lucky to have both a large garden as well as an allotment plot. This gives us ample fresh fruit and vegetables just about all year round, with plenty surplus in the cool garage and stored in the freezer. I grow

Social distancing at allotment shop

plenty flowers to make the garden and allotment plot attractive as this raises the

spirits and now we will be confined to barracks for a few months we can brighten up the home with cut flowers from sweet peas, chrysanthemums, gladioli and dahlias and plenty roses.

In the garden tubs, pots and hanging baskets will be full of geraniums, begonias, petunias, marigolds, lobelia and busy lizzies, so the patio is always a bright spot and several flowers, such as the blue petunia has a beautiful perfume. This year I will also be planting some Brugmansias, Angel Trumpets in the largest tubs so the perfume will be at its best in the evenings. As we are in isolation we will enjoy sitting out on the patio relaxing on the sun loungers getting a wee bit of sun to build up our vitamin D levels.

Saxifrage with tulip Scarlet Baby

This vitamin together with vitamin C which is in plentiful supply with our fresh fruit and berries grown on the plot. Both saskatoons and the Aronias, chokeberry and of course the blueberry are just packed with vitamin C and antioxidants. However we will make an early start with lettuce, rocket, radish, spring onions and a few baby beet sown in the greenhouse border under the grape vine. They should be fine for a couple of months before the grape vine foliage takes over.

To keep our health in top form we need plenty exercise, especially now that the gyms and Anna’s

Pilates classes are shut for the time being. That is no problem in the garden as we can spend time weeding, mowing the lawn, cleaning up paths, fixing fences, repairing sheds, turning the compost heap, netting the strawberries and saskatoons, digging in green manure crops as well as seed sowing and planting. Then there is plants to stake, greenfly on roses, sawfly on gooseberries, caterpillars on cabbages all needing a spray. As summer gets under way there is always a few shrubs growing

beyond their allocated space so the loppers and secateurs are needed if isolation extends into the summer. When the isolation finishes the garden and allotment should be in a perfect condition.

Wee jobs to do this week

Drift of aconites

Aconites are past the flowering stage and are now getting ready to spread their seeds. These grow very successfully so collect the ripe seed pods before they split open and either find a spare bit of garden in need of brightening up in late winter and scatter them, or give them to a friend. Next spring the seeds will germinate and produce two seed leaves, (cotyledons) and the following year these will produce one or two true leaves, but it will be the following year before the first flowers will emerge. Patience will be well rewarded.

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