A Blaze of Colour

 SUMMER HANGING BASKETS AND TUBS

The garden is now at its peak for spring flower impact. Wallflowers, pansies, polyanthus and all types of tulips are in full bloom and the dry warm sunny weather has brought them to perfection.

However this is the spring display and the summer flowering plants are all growing nicely, ready to take over in a few weeks time.

This is when we start to prepare the hanging baskets, tubs, troughs, window boxes and other containers used to show off the summer bedding plants. I like to have mine established with the first flowers showing before I put them in place. I keep a double set of baskets and pots as the spring and summer bedding plants overlap each other.

Spring flowering pansies can continue flowering to the middle of summer, but although they get replaced by the summer bedding plants, the pansies can either be left somewhere to continue their display, or gently removed from their containers and planted at the front of a garden border.

Tulip, daffodil, crocus and hyacinth bulbs used in the spring display tubs can be reused to brighten up other parts of the garden the following year. All my shrub borders, winter garden and fruit trees get underplanted with extra bulbs every year from the tubs. Even my outdoor grape vine which doesn’t get a canopy of leaves till mid May is in a flower border full of spring bulbs.

My mini orchard of culinary and dessert apples and plums has a show of daffodils, then tulips before it becomes the bluebell woodland glade, then in summer the lilies take over. The fruit trees are very happy with this underplanting of flowering bulbs.

Suitable containers

Hanging baskets come in a range of sizes. I find that a 14 to 16 inch diameter, (35 to 40 cms. for younger gardeners) is about right for the normal urban garden. A larger one will have more impact, but will need really solid and sturdy wall brackets to hold the weight. Good wire baskets are available in all garden centres. Some come with a liner, but I find the best and cheapest liner is an old polythene compost bag turned inside out. I just push it into the basket, put in some compost then trim the top. Remember to keep the black side showing on the outside as you do not really want pictorial compost information competing with the flowers.

A good basket will eventually be smothered in foliage and flowers, so to get a quick all round effect plant some bedding plants into the sides of the basket as you fill it up. Cut slots in the polythene liner and push the plants through gently.

A hanging basket is quite heavy after watering so make sure your wall bracket support is strong enough to take the weight and is well screwed into the wall.

Tubs also come in all sizes from six inches to a couple of feet across. Avoid any that have a small diameter base related to a wide top, as it is likely to blow over as soon as we get a strong wind. It is also a good practise to place a brick or large rock in the bottom to add weight to stop it toppling over. The larger tubs are excellent for specimen begonias, Brugmansia, (Angel Trumpets), Agapanthus (blue African Lily), Canna or an exotic palm tree while still small. Plastic containers may be cheap and will hold water better, but they are very light and easy to topple over if the plants get too big.

Window boxes are less common today, but a strong plastic one is more preferable being lighter and it will need to be very securely attached to the wall at window sill level. Select plants that are trailing or don’t grow too tall if windows need to open outwards.

Unusual containers

Plants can be attractively displayed in all sorts of containers from old garden boots, buckets, rusty wheelbarrows and even colourfully painted old tyres. A few years back we were upgrading our bathroom and had ordered new units. The supplier sent a new toilet with the wrong pipe fittings so had to be replaced. It was too much trouble to collect the wrong one so he told us to dispose of it. I dumped it outside by the bins awaiting disposal. It was spotted by one of my art class students who was a very keen gardener, and liked to try things unusual. She was delighted to find a home for our unwanted brand new loo as a decorative floral feature in her garden.

Good bedding plants

Garden centres stock a wide range of suitable bedding plants from early March onwards. Many have come directly from greenhouses and may not be hardy so be wary and only buy in March if you have a greenhouse to grow on. At this time of year most plants are now hardy.

You can buy plants as small plugs and grow them on into bigger plants.

Growing your own plants from seed or cuttings is a cheaper way to produce good plants, but you need space and time.

I have been growing my own geraniums from cuttings every year for over ten years and my own tuberous begonias for over fifteen years. They are both very easy. Impatiens (Busy Lizzie) is also very easy but when overwintered in the house in a window sill it is prone to attacks of greenfly and red spider. These are not easy to control for the amateur as chemicals available in garden centres are now very limited and not very strong. After spraying, greenfly and red spider just sulk for a few days with a mild headache then a week later they are ready to feed and party again.

My other favourites include Nemesia Carnival, Petunias, especially the blue scented one, trailing Lobelia, Fuchsias especially Swingtime and African Marigolds for larger tubs.

However it is always worth trying a few different plants, so include some Salvias, Livingston Daisies, Verbena, dwarf Phlox, Ageratum, Antirrhinum, and bedding annual carnations.

Something different

Edible landscapes are becoming very popular and useful to introduce children to gardening as they have more interest to them than flowers. They just love popping things into their mouths.

Cherry tomatoes grown as a trailing bush are perfect and newer varieties are quite sweet when allowed to ripen before picking. Make sure they get plenty of sun as this enhances the sugar content.

Strawberries can also be used in baskets, boxes or specially created tall pots with numerous pockets to pop in a plant. Keeping them off the ground means there is no slug problem, but watch out for birds and small children who can devour the crop long before the adults get a berry.

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A Year to Remember

 A DIFFICULT YEAR ENDS

 Looking back over 2010 I have to admit it has been an uphill struggle for many garden plants.

The year started with a winter to remember as we had not really had a decent winter for many years previous. As a painter of Scottish landscapes specializing in winter scenes I was always looking out for a good snow scene. Often I would rush out with my camera to capture as much as possible before it all melted by mid afternoon. Last winter there was so much snow that access to outdoor landscapes was severely limited due to blocked roads.

Back in the garden the early snowdrops were getting used to flowering in early February, but not this year. They were loath to appear by March, then there was a rush as crocus, aconites and Hellebores all came out together.

The low temperatures really gave many plants a fright. Outdoor fuchsias all died except Mrs Popple, Hebe’s died, Lithospermum Red Damask did not survive and my mature thirty foot tall Eucalyptus lost half of its leaves. I had a strong date palm in a flower bed near a warm south facing wall, but it died back to ground level.

On the plus side my outdoor Peach was very late in flowering, much so it missed any late frosts. It produced plenty of pink flowers which kept me busy each day pollinating them with my best watercolour sable brush. I got twelve very large fruits of a very high quality in mid summer.

A Wet Summer

Many Scots might feel a wee bit of global warming could improve our climate. The garden would be bursting with colour and fresh succulent fruit and vegetables.

If the temperatures are a little bit warmer, I can’t say it has been very noticeable this year as the continual rain has dampened down any beneficial effects. I am now looking back as we are well and truly locked into another severe winter weather period. If this is global warming, why is the cold weather breaking all previous records?  Will Fuchsia Mrs Popple survive into 2011 ?

Plants are very adaptable. My flower bed of geraniums took every opportunity each time we had a few days of sunshine in between the deluges to give a fantastic display of bright colour. Begonias were late but very dependable, especially those put into tubs. Gladioli, chrysanthemums and roses all put on great displays, but roses suffered from black spot, rust and mildew late in the season.

Soft Fruit Crops

Following the very hot summer of 2006 we have suffered four very wet years. My normally very dependable raspberry Glen Ample got infected by a root rot which I suspect was a strain of Phytophthora. Over three years the canes slowly died out and no fresh canes emerged. My allotment garden is on a slope and immediately south of my rasps other fruit bushes began to go yellow and die. These included a white currant, a gooseberry, two  Saskatoons and some cultivated blueberries I had been experimenting with. My autumn fruited raspberry, Autumn Bliss was unaffected and still produced a normal crop. However with so much rain and lack of sunshine the fruits were not as sweet as normal.

The Glen Ample was replaced with another raspberry called Cascade Delight. This is a summer fruiting variety bred at Washington State University and showing some tolerance to phytophthora root rot. It has large fruit with an excellent flavour, which I hope to sample next year.

The cool wet summer also delayed ripening of my Saskatoon fruit which cropped for over three weeks, whereas in the previous year they only lasted one week.

Strawberries were badly affected by botrytis rotting the fruits. Modern varieties have resistance built into the plant, but this was an exceptionally wet year. I had replaced my perpetual strawberry variety Flamenco with a new one called Malling Opal. It has not been happy with our wet season and I will see if it fairs better next year. Perpetuals fruit all summer long so it is nice to have fruit into late autumn, but it is difficult to propagate this variety as they do not produce many runners. Flamenco did produce ample runners and these produced fruit immediately.

Both blackcurrants and red currants cropped very heavily this year so no change for them next year.

Saskatoon fruit ripened over a far longer period but the quality was still very good I may do a wee bit pruning, taking one or two main shoots down to ground level to encourage fresh new shoots which will fruit for the next five years.

Goji berry plant is still growing but no sign of any flowers or fruits. Maybe next year.

Outdoor trials of grape varieties have not been successful. They did produce bunches of grapes, but they just would not ripen in our wet year. I will try another variety called Solaris for next year.

However my outdoor variety Brant was exceptional. The bunches are small, but quality is great with over one hundred bunches of sweet black juicy grapes.

I have persisted with our local Bramble Loch Ness, but it is hopeless in our wet years, so it got grubbed out. The fruit was small, tasteless and very prone to botrytis. My other bramble Helen which fruits in August is still hard to beat.

Top Fruits

Pears were a disaster this year. Comice may be a fantastic pear when conditions are right, but it is so prone to scab in a wet year that I cannot recommend it unless our climate takes a turn towards a drier regime. I was very impressed with the variety Beurre Hardy which I got at Glendoick Garden Centre Apple Weekend last October. I kept the fruit for two weeks when it ripened beautifully. This variety is quite strong and resists scab infections. Conference is also very good and scab tolerant, but it is very hard to get anything to compete with Comice.  Some Comice will get grafted with another variety next year.

I worried about my plum tree as although it flowered very late the cold weather had reduced the insect population drastically and I only ever saw two bees on the tree throughout its flowering period. However they done a great job and the tree developed a full crop. Normally I would have been ecstatic as a fully ripe Victoria plum is an absolute delight, but lack of sun and too much rain resulted in a soggy fruit lacking flavour and sweetness. A lot of the fruit got left on the tree.

Now the apple crop was very different as I no longer grow weak varieties prone to scab. The early variety Oslin gave too much crop as it does not store so has to be eaten when ripe.  Some shoots will get grafted next spring with another variety. Discovery and Red Devil were brilliant, but Red Falstaff has not stored well this year, so half of them are going out as winter food for our blackbirds.

I have always fancied growing sweet cherries and now that growers are using the new very dwarfing Gisela 5 rootstock it will be easy to net the tree from birds as it only grows to six feet or so. This one is on my lists for planting next year.

 Allotment vegetables

A mixed year depending on how tolerant plants were in a high rainfall year. Courgettes and pumpkins were excellent. No lanterns for us at Halloween, we need them for soup to last till next summer. I also save the seed every year as I have an excellent strain.

Onions were very poor with ripening up very difficult. Most other vegetable crops grew very well in our wet summer and now we still have excellent savoy cabbage Traviata, Sweet flavoured Brussels sprouts Wellington and plenty of Musselburgh Leeks. My beetroot still in the ground under a foot of snow is still perfect

The Greenhouse

There was just enough sun to ripen my grapes and my Black Hamburg has been very sweet. I look forward to 2011 and getting some grapes from my new white seedless vine Perlette.

Tomatoes ripened very late and quality was not up to usual standard, but maybe next year will be drier with more sun.

Plans are being considered to take a stand at both Gardening Scotland at Ingliston and the Dundee Flower and Food Festival next year as demand for my saskatoon plants and grape vines is still very strong.

Now let us get out that bottle of Glenfarclas and raise a toast in the hope that next year the laws of average will prevail and 2011 will be exceptionally warm and dry and my next packet of parsnip seeds will produce more than three plants.

Cheers !!!

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Border Plants

BORDER PLANTS

Modern gardens can be an extension of a home's living space. The indoor living space is subject to fashion as replacement furniture is modernised and moved around to maintain interest and keep up to date with new technologies and the latest fashions.

This suits comfort, taste, appearance and socialising.

The garden, (the outdoor living space) is just the same as ideas change with healthy living through fresh foods and exercise, relaxing on the patio after a stressful days work and socialising around a barbecue being just as important as choice of that special must have plant.

The garden has developed over the years from the narrow cottage garden border where a few choice plants would grow, often from cuttings or suckers obtained from a friend's garden. These often had scented flowers such as border pinks, iris and herbs such as thyme, sage, lavender, rosemary and mint to be used in the kitchen. Borders often had honeysuckle growing up border fences.

Cyclamen hederifolium

Garden space got bigger after the last war when there was a steady demand for fresh vegetables and some fruit was necessary as there was no supermarkets, and people wanted to grow colourful flowers to raise spirits. There was a continuous flow of new vegetable varieties, fruit, flowers and other garden plants.

The garden enthusiast could indulge in a massive extension in the range of plants available to fill their borders. Slowly garden centres and specialist nurseries have grown to meet this need to try something new, different or just the latest fashion.

The Modern Garden

The pace of change has been huge as gardens are now smaller to meet housing needs where space for building gets priority over garden space. However, the pace of life is faster, more demanding and stressful and the need for a place to relax in all the more relevant. The garden may be smaller but can still be designed as a place to chill out, and be visually attractive and easy to look after.

Today's popular plants are those that are easy to grow, pest and disease free, have long lasting colour from flowers or foliage, give good ground cover and are not invasive or grow too tall. People want colour but without too much effort.

The herbaceous border would be fine if the plants did not need staking and climbers are great if they are self clinging. If only it were that easy.

It is possible to create that attractive garden border with colour all year round and easy to maintain, but most often there is a fair bit of graft to perform before we reach for the sun lounger on our sunny patio.

Choosing Border Plants

Anemone Honorine Jobert

Choice of plants is always a personal matter, but garden centres have such a wide choice that plants can be tried for a few years then dug up to be replaced by the next garden fashion accessory if they have any failings. My own garden goes through major transformations as many of my previous plant favourites especially roses, succumb to diseases in clean air devoid of sulphur. Global warming will also affect the choice of plant as warmer summers and winters are not to every plants liking and we also take the opportunity to try those more exotic plants that we might manage in a better climate. I'm assuming that our Scottish climate will get warmer and hoping that we wont just get warmer summer rain and a lot more of it. What's the point of a warm wet summer and a dry winter and spring!

Spray chrysanthemums

A larger garden has scope to have colour all year round with a wide choice of plants, but many smaller gardens can be an absolute treasure with just one well grown plant giving a burst of colour for a couple of weeks that will be remembered for a long time. I have noted several Dundee gardens with one brilliant azalea, one Rhododendron praecox, one philadelphus, or oriental poppies.

Wherever there is only room for a very limited number of plants it is better to select good plant combinations where they will all be at their best at the same time. If you have a garden where there is a wee bit of colour over many months but scattered around here and there, the impact is lost. Try a red quince under-planted with daffodils, or a Forsythia under-planted with Fosteriana tulip Red Emperor. A later early summer combination is flag iris, oriental poppies and pyrethrum. Another good spring combination is the lemon yellow broom Cytisus praecox amongst a drift of dwarf early red tulips and blue grape hyacinths all flowering together.

It is important to make the most from the space available, so plants can be very accommodating growing happily together, but at different depths. My winter border of coloured stemmed shrubs are attractive from October to the end of February. Then they get pruned to ground level as the snowdrops take pride of place to be replaced by the crocus two weeks later. Another couple of weeks later then the tulips take over and in July my lilies get the border to themselves being supported by the young shoots of my cornus and other coloured stemmed shrubs. Lilies are also useful companions to dwarf Japanese azaleas where they both grow happily together.

All Year Round Colour

Fuchsia Mrs Popple

Where there is scope for a range of border plantings consider trying to get year round colour. I have borders around all sides of my house so those that need a warm south border will be different from those in the northern shady border. No point putting crocus here as they need sun to open up the flowers, but snowdrops are perfect as they are happy in the shade.

My borders start the flowering season in winter with Jasmine climbing over a fence under-planted with snowdrops. Aconites are nearby in a drift surrounding a pure white Christmas Rose, the Hellebore.

My first herbaceous plants are the yellow Doronicum next to the blue Pulmonaria, then a drift of hyacinths pushes through the bed of flag iris, extending the flowering season.

The garden bursts with colour in spring and early summer but by August other garden areas have their moment. Fuchsia Mrs Popple, having just survived last winter is now in full flower and combines well with the white Anemone Honorine Jubert.

A spring drift of another Anemone called blanda dies down for a summer rest to be replaced with Cyclamen hederifolium.

As autumn approaches the michaelmas daisies have their display and this year I am also trying a drift of spray chrysanthemums, usually grown for cut flower but with tops removed to encourage them to branch into a wide plant which will be self supporting. I've no wish to stake them.

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