TULIP TIME

TULIP TIME

The garden in May is dominated by displays of tulips, and on my allotment the front border is packed with a mixed show of tulips of every colour. Every year I buy in new bulbs in the autumn for tubs and flower beds. I try to match up tulips to the spring bedding plants for colour and height so tall tulips go with my wallflower, but I use dwarf tulips with polyanthus, myosotis and pansies.

I am also always tempted by new varieties to try out somewhere, though some of the older standard types such as Apeldoorn are very hard to beat.

The Dundee Parks Department, where I did my training in the sixties, planted tulips by the thousand in parks, town centre, libraries, highways and tubs in streets. In those days, colourful flower beds were everywhere and Dundee had well trained gardeners who took great pride in keeping up very high standards. We soon learned about the different types of tulips and how best to match them up with bedding. You never forget your training and although you can now only work on a garden scale it still gives a great feeling to see successful mass planting of tulips.

However it is sad to see so few flower beds in our once beautiful city.

Types of tulips

Tulips are classified by type, species and also flowering time.

The first ones to flower are varieties of Greigii such as Cape Cod and Red Riding Hood, and varieties of kaufmanniana such as Scarlet Baby and Concerto all flowering in late March. These make perfect companion plants for early flowering Pulmonaria and Anemone blanda.

Then in April the fosteriana types such as Red Emperor and dazzling white Purissima begin to flower. Red Emperor can be very attractive planted underneath a Forsythia shrub as the red tulip contrasts brilliantly with the yellow forsythia, both flowering at the same time.

In May the bedding tulips have their day starting with the single early Bellona, a bright yellow, Princess Irene, an orange and White Marvel. These can all be planted with wallflower, but for mixing in with Myosotis and pansies try the dwarf double early tulips such as Peach Blossom, William of Orange and Vuurbaak a very old but brilliant red variety.

However for impact with size and brilliance you must plant the tall Darwin Hybrids such as the  bright red Apeldoorn, and Golden Apeldoorn as well as Orange Sun.

Triumph tulips flower in mid May then in late May the single late tulips such as Queen of the Night, the Black Tulip, flower.

To complicate the types we also have parrot tulips, lily flowered tulips, multi headed tulips, fringed tulips and many tulip species.

Propagation

In autumn always buy a decent sized tulip bulb and plant it about six inches deep into good well composted soil. Keep beds fed, watered and weeded, then after flowering leave for as long as possible before lifting the bulbs and dry off on a hard surface. If the bulbs are growing in their own space let them wither naturally and do not lift them. Over time they will multiply and form a group giving a bigger display each year. Once bulbs have dried off clean them up removing old stems and roots and store them in a dry cool place. In autumn replant all the biggest bulbs to flower next spring, but retain all the wee bulbils and plant them somewhere so they can grow on into bigger bulbs to flower a couple of years later.

Plant of the week

Wallflower is a perfect spring flowering bedding plant giving a blaze of colour in May and usually underplanted with tall tulips. I grow Cloth of Gold as its bright yellow colour is a great match for red or purple tulips, and wallflowers have a wonderful scent. One packet of seeds should give you about sixty plants. Sow them outdoors at the end of May, then when four inches tall lift and transplant them into nursery rows allowing about another four inches between plants. In autumn you should have sturdy well branched plants ready for bedding out.

Painting of the month

Tulip Carnaval de Nice is an acrylic painting on canvas showing one of my special tulips growing in my winter garden. When in full bloom it was so outstanding I just had to capture it on canvas.

This painting will be on display with many others in my exhibition in the Angus Open Studios event from 23 to 27 May when I team up with fellow artist Fiona Haddow at her studio in Liff.

Details and directions can be found on the internet at www.angusopenstudios.com

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FULL SPEED IN THE GARDEN

FULL SPEED IN THE GARDEN

Last year was the wet year. This year seems to be the cold one, unless that jet stream sorts itself out and we get our summer back. Everything is running about four weeks late. Window sills and greenhouse are overflowing with plants, but every time I start to put plants out for hardening off a frost threatens and they go back to the greenhouse.

The winter garden has now had its day, so all the cornus and salix have been chopped down to the ground. This will give uninterrupted views of the flowering bulbs planted in the bed, and the cornus and willow will soon regrow from the stool as if nothing had happened.

Spring flowers are giving a good display, though winter pansies and Iceland poppies are very slow to grow. Tulips, hyacinths, daffodils and narcissi are looking great planted all over the garden and on my allotment. Wallflower provides the bright splash of colour as well as a lovely scent.

Apples, cherries and plums are starting to blossom so potential crops show a lot of promise, but peaches and pears are not looking good with very few flowers evident at this moment. Most fruit bushes are not yet in flower except saskatoons which are covered in white flowers. On the allotment the ground is still cold but it is time to be sowing and planting a lot of vegetables.

Those that have been sown need hand watering as the ground is quite dry.

On the allotment

Sowing has continued while the soil is dry, but a wee bit more warmth would make a big difference.

Lettuce, radish, spring onions, beetroot, turnip and parsnips are now all in. My first sowing of peas Feltham First is in with another later sowing of Kelvedon Wonder planned to give me a succession of crop. Pickling onion Paris Silverskin has been sown as I have not tried that variety for years.

Most of my cabbage, cauliflower, kale and sprouts are still growing strongly in pots so I get a sturdy plant before planting out. Onion Hytech seedlings are still in a cellular tray but will be planted out soon once the ground warms up a bit better.

Fruit bush prunings as well as garden tree prunings have now all been shredded and added to the compost heap, but it could do with some rain to wet it and help it to rot down quicker.

Harvesting continues

Swede turnips, leeks, and Swiss chard are still giving us freshly picked crops to eat, though the chard only lasts till it runs to seed in a few weeks time. The winter salad leaves sown in an old used growbag is now outside and still gives us fresh leaves and now some radish which had overwintered. Rhubarb is at its best just now with brightly coloured stems on my Timperley Early.

In the greenhouse

Sweet corn has now been potted up and I will grow it on under glass for another fortnight before hardening off for planting out at the end of May. I am in no hurry as the ground where they are to go has a green manure crop of red clover growing.

Pumpkin and courgette seed has now been sown.

All geraniums, fuchsias and chrysanthemums have are now being hardened off outdoors.

Grape vine cuttings taken as short one or two bud sticks have now rooted and are being potted up.

Garden flowers including Cosmos, Livingston daisy, African marigold and Lobelia were sown in cellular trays are now bulking up.

The existing grape vine rods which were lowered down to encourage even growth have now been tied back to their supports as bud break is good and even. We now have to wait to see how many grape bunches appear, so all side shoots are allowed to grow for the time being. Once I can see a decent crop of bunches I will remove all sideshoots that are barren.

Jalapeno peppers are now planted in a growbag awaiting warmer weather to boost growth.

Tomatoes grown from cuttings from one of last years successful plants came through the winter just fine and got a really good head start. They went into growbags in the middle of April and are now flowering on their second truss, with small tomatoes forming on the first truss.

Tomatoes, Alicante and Gardeners Delight sown this year are only just big enough for planting out now into growbags. It has been a struggle to plant them in my overflowing greenhouse as I still have a lot of plants such as tuberous begonias trying to put on some growth, but held back by cold weather and lack of sun.

Plant of the week

Doronicum is a small low growing herbaceous perennial which flowers in late spring with a mass of golden daisy shaped flowers. They associate very well with blue flowering plants such as Anemone blanda and Pulmonaria as well as dwarf early red tulips. Plant them in good soil which holds moisture in sun or partial shade. They are easy to propagate by dividing up the clump in autumn.

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THE PRIMROSE FAMILY

THE PRIMROSE FAMILY

Primulas in one form or another played an important role in a gardeners apprentice training in the sixties. Primula obconica was grown indoors as a house plant or for civic decorations. Primroses, (Primula vulgaris) and cowslips, (Primula veris) grew wild in meadows, banks and roadside verges.

The Dundee Parks Director, Mr A. Dow at that time, established a Primula garden in Camperdown Park in amongst mature trees so the plants enjoyed dappled sunlight and a woodland moist soil. These beds were made up with plenty of well rotted leaf mould forked into the topsoil. There was never any shortage of leaves to compost at Camperdown as in autumn the whole park was raked for leaves which were then heaped up to compost over a few years. This suited the wide range of Primulas grown including the orchid primrose Primula vialii, the candelabra primroses Primula bulleyana, the Himalayan Primrose, Primula sikkimensis and the drumstick primula Primula denticulata which locally is also called the Kirrie Dumpling. This still remains a very popular primula in cottage gardens all over Scotland.

Older gardeners still talked up the merits of the auriculas, (Primula auricula) which had become a fashionable plant to grow in their time.

Plant collectors brought back species from all over the world from Alpine habitats subject to wind, snow, frost and degrees of dry and wet atmospheres, then China gave us those more suited to glasshouse and house conditions for flowering pot plant use. Other species preferred bog gardens and damp atmospheres. There are nearly 500 different species of primulas.

Plant breeders such as Blackmore and Langdon in Bath, have been hybridising primulas for years producing very colourful polyanthus and primroses suited to the bedding plant trade for use in tubs and beds for both private gardeners and civic decorations in parks and open spaces.

Garden Displays

Polyanthus Crescendo is one of the best bedding plants in this group with a very wide range of colours with large heads held up high on strong stems. For lower growing almost ground hugging plants the Primula Wanda has been bred to retain its dwarf appearance but now has a wide range of colours. Other Primulas for bedding now include rosebud shapes in pastel shades with scent, double flowers and bicolours.

Bedding polyanthus are so colourful they do not need any bulbs interplanted between them to brighten up spring displays, but if you wish to go for maximum effect dwarf double tulips are a perfect combination. So are hyacinths and crocus, but careful you don’t go for an overkill.

Propagation

Polyanthus are fairly easy to grow provided you give them the right conditions. I sow seed in late spring outdoors in a cool but sheltered place. Warm temperatures will inhibit germination, and they must never dry out. Seedlings are slow to germinate, so be patient and allow a few weeks for the seedlings to grow before pricking out into cellular trays. Grow them on for another couple of months then line them out in prepared soil spacing about four inches apart. Make sure the soil has plenty of compost incorporated as they like a rich moist soil. Young plants should grow strong and sturdy so that by October you have perfect plants ready to plant in your beds, borders and tubs.

Plants flower from late winter if mild conditions prevail till early summer. Once the plants have finished flowering you can discard them onto the compost heap, or save them for another year as they are perennials. Carefully lift them and line them out on humus rich soil spacing about four to six inches apart. Make sure they are always kept moist and by autumn they will be ready for bedding into your tubs and borders for the next spring displays.

Plant of the week

Hyacinths may be more expensive than other spring flowering bulbs, but they give great value and with care can come up again every year in the garden. They have large flower heads, great bright colours and a gorgeous scent. I usually buy them in each autumn for spring flowering tubs mixed with pansies, myosotis or polyanthus. However they can also go into pots for forcing to provide colourful scented flowers for the festive season or early winter. After flowering keep them watered, fed and growing till summer then dry them off and in autumn plant them in a sunny spot in the garden. If the soil is good and well drained they will flower again every year in spring. I replant mine in gaps in the herbaceous border and amongst heathers where spaces appear.

Jan Bos was always my favourite red, Pink Pearl a great pink, L’Innocence the best white and for a good blue it is hard to beat Delft Blue and Ostara.

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DAFFODILS

DAFFODILS

Although we have waited a long time for spring weather this year and plant growth is running about three weeks late it really lifts your heart when the daffodils start to bloom, as they have been so widely planted all over our city. Council cutbacks might be putting a severe strain on civic planting to keep the town colourful, but this was not always the case, and in past times towns and cities competed with each other for the Britain in Bloom awards. I had the good fortune to be an apprentice gardener at the time when flower power was at the top of civic pride and Dundee had plenty to boast about. Fortunately during those more affluent times daffodils were planted by the million, and as they are perennial they are still here today for our visual enjoyment.

On a smaller scale we can all brighten up our own gardens with daffodils and narcissi by planting a few every autumn as they are not very expensive.

As they flower when other plants are just starting to grow they fit in perfectly amongst deciduous shrubs, herbaceous borders, woodland fringes, clearances and copses. They can also be planted in lawns, but that means you won’t be able to cut the lawns for at least six weeks after flowering, then you will have a lot of cut leaves and grass for the compost heap.

They are also invaluable in allotment gardens to cheer them up and supply cut flower for the home.

 When planting in borders or lawns space them unevenly about six to nine inches apart in decent sized drifts. Allow at least four inches of soil above the bulb after planting, though they are often planted a lot shallower and still grow just fine.

Once planted leave them for evermore as they do not need lifting.

The only pest likely to trouble them is the narcissus fly which lays eggs beside the dying foliage. These hatch into maggots which bore into the bulbs eating the centre out of them. The following year you will see plenty of foliage but no flowers. There is no cure, but you can minimise the problem by clearing up the old foliage as soon as it has gone yellow and rake over the soil surface to fill in the spaces where the old leaves were.

Tubs and pots

Daffodils and narcissi are perfect for tubs around the patio and entrances to give an early display of colour. They can also be planted in pots in autumn, kept in the dark and cool for ten to twelve weeks to encourage root growth, then slowly brought into a cold greenhouse where they can green up and come into flower a few weeks early to brighten up the house. However always try to keep them cool otherwise they may get very tall and fall over unless you stake and tie them in.

After flowering dry off all these bulbs then plant them in the garden in autumn.

Types

Daffodils can have large and small trumpets, such as King Alfred, Golden Harvest and Mount Hood. Some are double flowered such as Cheerfulness which is also scented, but the jonquils are even more scented. Some come on a single stem whereas others are multiheaded. Breeders are producing newer varieties all the time, so I like to try a few new ones every year, growing them in pots so I can monitor them at close hand.

Narcissus notes

The daffodil is the national flower of Wales and also the fund raising emblem of many countries cancer research organisations.

The bulbs of all narcissi are toxic containing the alkaloid poison lycorine, so do not confuse them with onions when cooking.

However they do have medicinal values and are grown commercially in Wales for extraction of the drug galantamine used to combat mild forms of Alzheimer’s disease.

Galantamine also helps memory impairments and studies indicate it could help sufferers of insomnia.

Plant of the week

Scilla sibirica is another intense blue flowering plant for spring displays in the rock garden, cottage garden or at the front of taller plant borders. They associate very well with other blue flowers such as Chionodoxa, Puschkinias, Anemone blanda and Pulmonaria and for a colour contrast plant them in drifts alongside red and pink Erica carnea and the yellow Doronicums. This year nearly all of them are flowering together, but this could change in a warm or even a normal spring.

Scilla bulbs are usually planted in the autumn, but multiply from self sown seeds and soon form large bold drifts after a few years.

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