COLOURFUL CROCUS

COLOURFUL CROCUS

The very mild winter has brought spring forward by several weeks so we can now enjoy those early flowers normally blooming in late March. My established drifts of crocus started to flower in mid February. They are very hardy and a covering of snow will not harm them, but a severe frost or cold gale will do them no favours. North east Scotland seems to have missed most of the very wet weather affecting the south and west of UK, so our crocus just need a wee bit more sun to open up the flowers and let us know that spring is just about here.

Crocus species grow in many different countries all over the world and now cultivated varieties have been bred to provide us with very colourful displays in spring for our gardens.

Local authorities have also recognised the benefits of enhancing the beauty of the environment by mass planting crocus in drifts where ever space allows in verges, roundabouts and parks.

When I worked in the Darlington Parks Department, many years ago, the council had established a “Crocus Walk” in a deciduous belt of trees along the main road into the town. Residents were very proud of this attractive feature and in autumn several offered funds to extend the crocus displays further into the town. The council matched this funding and over the next few years our Ring road grassed reservations received masses of crocus bulbs to brighten up the town in spring.

After flowering it is necessary to leave the foliage alone so it can build up the corm to a good flowering size for the following year. Usually a period of six to seven weeks is ample before the leaves can be removed. However in gardens where crocus is in border soil leave the foliage till they begin to go yellow.

The show begins with the crocus species flowering about two weeks ahead of the large flowering hybrids. Cream Beauty and Blue Pearl really go well together, and enhanced with the pristine white Snow Bunting. Add some stronger colours to add character such as Ruby Giant and Whitewell Purple.

However it is the larger flowered Dutch hybrids that really add impact to spring displays. Although there are many varieties the most popular come down to a handful that are hard to beat.

Yellow Mammoth must be the biggest and brightest yellow, Joan of Arc the cleanest white, Flower Record a strong purple and Pickwick has always been my favourite striped crocus.

Autumn crocus

Some species flower in autumn such as Crocus pulchelus, Crocus zonatus and there is several varieties of Crocus speciosus in blue and violet colours. These all flower in late summer to  autumn before the leaves appear. They are all very hardy and leaves emerging in autumn will be fine over winter. Do not cut or remove the leaves until they die down in late spring.

They can be planted in drifts in borders or the lawn in good well drained soil and prefer full sun, though some dappled shade will still be fine. Planting can be done by splitting up overcrowding clumps immediately after flowering, or plant fresh new bulbs in summer.

The saffron, crocus sativus also flowers in autumn and has been in cultivation for centuries. However it was not grown for its flower displays but for the world’s most expensive spice, saffron.

Each flower produces three long red coloured stigmas which are removed and dried to make saffron. It is a very slow process as you need a lot of flowers, which usually only last about two weeks to gain any useful quantity of product. Most of the world’s saffron is produced in Iran which has the best climate and soils for its production.

Plant of the week

Cordyline australis is a half hardy palm tree from New Zealand. It is often started off as a young plant used to give height to a summer bedding flower display. It will establish and grow fairly easily, but it is best to lift up and replant in a large pot to overwinter in a frost free greenhouse. In its second or third year it can be left outdoors where it can grow and survive if in a sheltered spot. If the next few winters are mild it will survive and eventually grow to ten to twenty feet before it flowers. These are not desperately attractive so probably best removed as they can weaken the tree.

However every so often we get a hard winter which will kill the top right back to ground level, but do not dig it out as the roots usually survive to throw up new shoots within the next couple of years. My twelve years old cordyline reached ten foot tall but then died back in a severe winter. It survived to produce a cluster of five shoots which are now six foot tall. As this winter has been very mild it should live another year or more with the promise of global warming.

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A VERY WET WINTER

A VERY WET WINTER

It seems a very bizarre situation when I start to write about what is happening in my world as a gardener but I always begin with a weather report. The performance of the garden seems to be completely at the mercy of the weather, so I am sure that my thoughts will resonate with many readers who will also be finding the same peculiarities in their garden.

By now we are all very aware that winter with snow and frost has just not arrived, but that has not stopped the rain from falling. Television has given us horrendous pictures of those affected by continual rain and floods that never seem to drain away. Up in north east Scotland it has been wet, but, fortunately we have missed the worst of the bad weather. It has stopped all attempts to catch up on winter digging, but we can still harvest our vegetables, get on with pruning, repairing fences and gale damaged greenhouses.

A couple of days of dry weather for us up north allowed us to get all our prunings of the fruit bushes, shrubs and roses shredded up at City Road allotments. I was a wee bit concerned about shredding roses and gooseberries because of the thorns, but the machine totally shredded all stems including vicious thorns, so I was left with nice heaps of organic materials perfect for mulching or adding to the compost heap.

Even in the middle of our winter period a trip to the allotment is not a lonely venture as the place does not lack activity from numerous keen gardeners enjoying this mild weather getting on with repairs to fences, sheds, greenhouses, or just meeting with fellow plot holders to discuss the weather.

I can still harvest my autumn salads, numerous winter vegetables, and the beetroot left in the ground is still perfect. Garden plants are again as confused as us, but as the temperatures are very mild for a winter period they are responding as though spring arrived in January. I just hope that winter does not have a sting in its tail and land us with a late severe frost just when the garden is beginning to burst into growth.

Summer flowering half hardy fuchsias got left in the ground as I forgot to lift them.  They should be dead, but oh no, they are starting to grow again. It is far too early for them, but if we are lucky and winter gives us a miss they could be a star turn.

Snowdrops usually flower in February. In a good year they will flower in early February, but a lot later in a bad year. Mine were flowering in early January this year and looking great.

Aconites have been well budded up ready to open but still needing some warmth to expand the petals. The aconite drift is also showing a great germination of last year’s seed dispersal as well as growth of the one year old seedlings which will only produce one leaf and no flower. However most of these will flower in their third year. Patience is required then well rewarded.

Jasmine and hellebores are all flowering as there is no frost to slow them down. The very early flowering rhododendron dauricum has been brilliant in full flower from January. Normally it is quite early, but can suffer if hit by a frost but not this year. Hammamelis molis is also taking advantage of the mild spell with bushes covered in beautiful yellow scented flowers.

Indoor activities

This is an excellent time to take cuttings of grape vines from greenhouse as well as those outdoors. While I am experimenting with a range of varieties for our Scottish climate the bushes do need pruning at this time of year and these pruning are fine for use as cuttings for new stock.

All you need is a small piece of stem with one or two good buds and insert them into well drained rooting compost in a propagator with some bottom heat. They should root after a couple of months, then they can be lifted out for potting up into small pots. They should grow fairly quickly so will need further potting up later on.

Christmas cactus flowered in early December, but then I dried them off for a winter rest. However this year they decided to have another go at flowering so now I am getting the second flush, so it is back to watering, full sun and a wee bit of feeding.

Geranium cuttings taken last autumn and potted up in November, are now needing spaced out as they are growing and need to be kept sturdy. I pinched out all the tops to make them branch and give then an occasional feed to keep them happy.

Plant of the week

Ophiopogon planiscapus nigrescens is a low growing form of evergreen black grass. It can form large drifts as it expands through short rhizomes which root as they grow. It is very unusual and quite striking. I have a drift in my winter border in front of red stemmed dogwoods where it provides a great contrast in winter colour. It is even better in February when the snowdrops planted underneath the plants appear as the contrast of white snowdrops against black grass is brilliant.

Ophiopogon will grow on most soils but prefers moist rich soils and is happy in full sun or shade.

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PLANT ASSOCIATIONS

PLANT ASSOCIATIONS

February is a good time for new plant purchases as the garden centres are usually well stocked up and with spring just around the corner everyone is eager to get into the garden.

We tend to buy a new plant on impulse when we find a gem in flower, then get it home and look for a spot to plant it in. We don’t always choose its best location, though most plants can be transplanted at a later date.

Another aspect to consider is the relationship of the new plant to other plants around it. A garden display will have more impact if all the plants at their best can be brought together so that at any time of year there is always some corner that catches the eye.

We link bedding plants together for colour harmony and contrast, such as blue petunias with yellow marigolds when we plant up tubs, hanging baskets and flower beds. Rose beds are often planted in front of the taller shrub roses with climbing roses on a fence at the rear, as they will all give their best together in summer.

Heathers can also be grouped together in drifts and will flower from late winter with Erica carnea  till autumn with the bright pink Calluna H E Beale. These associate very well with dwarf azaleas and the taller deciduous azaleas. Evergreen rhododendrons and camellias belong to this group in the same flowering season, but are best kept separate as they are bigger and could overpower the smaller bushes. I like to add dwarf pines amongst heathers and dwarf azaleas and if the low growing drift needs a bit of height I use the white stemmed birch, Betula jaquemontii.

Another plant to add height to the heathers and azaleas is the large flowered lilies growing five feet tall with exotic perfume. They all grow very well together and the lilies add interest at a time when the others are out of their flowering season.

Maritime locations may have a need for salt spray tolerant plants such as red hot pokers, senecio, cistus, escallonia, fuchsia, gorse, brooms and many shrub roses.

Herbaceous borders are in flower from early spring with the Doronicums till autumn with the Michaelmas daisies, so group together those plants with a similar flowering time. Iris, oriental poppies and pyrethrum all flower in early summer and create a great impact when grown together.

Add bulbs

There is hardly any part of the garden that cannot be enhanced with bulbs. Where ever plants lose their leaves in winter there is scope to plant bulbs to flower, grow, then die down before the existing plants need the space. Both deciduous shrubs and herbaceous plants allow scope for snowdrops, crocus and aconites and if the shrub comes into leaf late then daffodils and early tulips can be used.

Yellow flowering forsythia looks great with the very early fosteriana tulip Red Emperor planted underneath it as they all flower together in most years.

Snowdrops are usually the first bulbs to flower in February. These can go anywhere in sun or shade and if you can put some under a south facing wall they will start to flower in late January in a mild winter like this year. They also look great planted in between a drift of the black grass Ophiopogon where the white flowers sit on top of the black foliage in complete contrast.

Crocus however will need full sun to open up the flowers in early spring. I grow these all over my garden, but they really add colour at ground level to my coloured stem border of cornus, kerria, willow and red stemmed maple.

My orchard of apples and plums has mass plantings of bluebells which create a woodland garden effect then die down as the fruit trees begin to grow.

Anemone blanda and chionodoxa can carpet the ground in blue flowers in late spring, then quickly die down in summer so they are the perfect match for planting underneath cyclamen hederifolium which emerges in late summer, flowers in early autumn, then retains its leaves over winter, but loses them in spring just when the other bulbs need the space.

The ultimate flower show in spring is the combination of tulips with pansies, Forget me nots and wallflower where you select for colour contrasts and height. Later on these bulbs can be planted in other parts of the garden.

Plant of the week

Camellia japonica Adolphe Audusson has blood red flowers in March and April. The bush can grow quite tall and prefers a woodland fringe location with light dappled shade, but will also be happy in full sun as long as it does not get early morning sunshine. This can destroy flower buds on a frosty morning. I grow one bush in the open and one against a west facing wall, but I make sure it never dries out. Another great Camellia is the pink variety Donation.

Painting of the month

Arthurs Plot is my fourth acrylic painting showing a City Road allotment plot. Two paintings are winter scenes and two summer views with this one getting the modern contemporary treatment, where I concentrate on a loose colour balance of attractive shapes and no attempt to show detail.

I hope to show this painting with many others at the Angus Open Studio event in late May.

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SASKATOONS GO COMMERCIAL

SASKATOONS GO COMMERCIAL

Amelanchiers have been grown in the UK for years, and are very happy on our soils, and our climate seems to suit them just fine. These bushes and trees have mainly been grown for their flowers, autumn colour and their ability to add variety to windbreaks, shelterbelts and woodland fringe plantings. The fruit from these is perfectly edible and quite tasty, but being small no-one bothers to pick and eat them. The large fruiting species of Amelanchier alnifolia, commonly known as the Saskatoon or Juneberry is very different. The fruit is similar in size to the blueberry, sweeter to taste and can be eaten fresh in season or frozen for future use or processed in yoghurts, juices, pies, compote, jams and wine.

About fifty years ago Murray Cormack, a scientist at the Scottish Crops Research Institute, now known as the James Hutton Institute, introduced them, as well as chokeberries and blueberries to see how they would perform in Scotland. I remember helping Murray to pick the first blueberries from potted plants in 1966. They certainly took off and became a major UK fruit crop.

Aronias, (the chokeberry) and saskatoons have still to make their mark, but interest is now accelerating at a fast pace. Scientific research has identified the massive health benefits of black fruits with the chokeberry at the top of the list due to the very high levels of antioxidants and vitamin C. However the slightly astringent taste does not encourage people to come back for a second helping, though they are perfect when processed for jams, juices, compote and summer puddings, and they make a fantastic wine.

Saskatoons are also very high in antioxidants and vitamin C, but the fresh fruit is absolutely delicious. The main crops are grown in Canada and North America where demand far outstrips supply, so growers are planting new orchards at a fast pace. The pick your own fruit is a major industry as people just love to come out into the country to pick and eat the fresh fruit.

I have been growing saskatoons since 2004 on my small allotment at City Road in Dundee. Word soon gets around and now interest in this new fruit crop is coming in from all over UK and Europe.

The first UK Saskatoon fruit orchard

Two years ago I was contacted by Sophie Sidaway, a student at Pershore College asking about saskatoons as she had chosen this new fruit plant for a college study project. I told her to come to Dundee and see them growing here. She came to our allotment Open Day at the end of June, bought a few plants, and I gave her a few pounds of fresh berries to eat as well as extract seeds from. She was delighted later on in the year, when I sent her down a bottle of Saskatoon wine, and a few more pounds of frozen berries for her College project presentation. The College Enterprise Board were over the moon and awarded Sophie with sufficient funding and land to plant up a half acre.

Sophie got an import licence and bought in 334 three year old Northline Saskatoon bushes. The field was ploughed and harrowed, then six rows were marked out with fabric mulch and the bushes planted into these fabric strips over three days. Rabbit guards were placed around all the plants.

Sophie will have the field for a five year study, then hand it back to the college. The project has caused a lot of interest from locals who would like to obtain the fruit, pubs, restaurants, other fruit growers, and officials from DEFRA.

Sophie attended a presentation ceremony at Pershore Abbey where she received another award from the Worshipful Company of Fruiterers for her interest and aptitude in fruit growing. The certificate came with an award of £125 and a request for an article on saskatoons in their next newsletter.

The new bushes flowered last year and gave Sophie her first small crop of berries. However these were kept for seed extraction giving her over 6000 Northline seeds for growing into bushes.

Sophie also got well over 200 plants from seeds extracted from the fresh fruit she got at our allotment open day.

It is Sophie’s plan to learn from this project then go into Saskatoon production for both fruit and young plants for sale once she leaves Pershore College.

I have found interest from Italy, Holland, Belgium, Ireland, Australia and all over the UK as well as California. It will not be long before the supermarkets start importing this fresh fruit, or encouraging local growers to get involved as it is so easy to grow here. Although very similar to the blueberry, it crops from mid to late July, so does not compete with the blueberry fruiting in August.

TheSaskatoon revolution has started.

Plant of the week

Phalaenopsis orchid is a very popular orchid as it is easy to grow, very reliable, and its blooms can last for several months. It often flowers in autumn to late winter after a spell of cool weather, though can flower all year round if it is happy with its environment. Once flowering has finished, cut off the old flower stem. It will produce two or three fresh leaves each year in late spring and summer. Water and feed regularly with a weak feed solution, but don’t let it stand in water. Since it is a tropical rain forest plant it likes good light (Scottish conditions) but not direct sunlight and a warm moist atmosphere. Bright bathrooms are favourite.

Repot every two to three years in orchid compost after knocking off some of the old compost and keep the size of pot just big enough to take all the roots. Don’t put the arial roots in the compost.

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