START SEED SOWING NOW

START SEED SOWING NOW

Winter is not yet finished as we are only in mid February, but every time we get a sunny day there is enough warmth to get some outdoor plants active. Snowdrops and aconites are well out and a very welcome sign that spring is not too far away. Buds on roses always seem to be ready to burst especially my climber on the south facing house wall. It has been underplanted with crocus and the warm wall has brought these out to show the first bit of colour. Later on, after these finish flowering, a naturalised group of Californian poppies take over for the summer months. None of these interfere with the growth of the climbing rose. It was necessary to remove a two foot square paving slab next to the house wall and remove a foot depth of builders rubbish and hardcore, and replace it with some decent topsoil mixed with compost before the climbing rose bush, Dublin Bay could be planted. The roots may only have hardcore, rubble and clay beyond my wee hole, but this climber has thrived. The catalogue says it will grow to seven feet tall, but I have had to keep it pruned to reduce height after it reached twelve feet. In summer it gets covered in a mass of bright red flowers.

Indoor work has begun with the first sowings of tomatoes, sweet peas and broad beans. I start the tomatoes in shallow seed trays, and the sweet peas go in large cellular trays at three per cell, but the broad beans get one cell per seed. Initially they are all kept warm under a table at home, but as soon as germination begins they will be transferred to a sunny windowsill. Both sweet peas and broad beans however are quite tough so they will get hardened off quickly and go into my cold greenhouse.

Tomatoes

Last year the cold wet sunless weather really devastated the tomato crop. Alicante, Sweet Million and Gardeners Delight all suffered badly and many got replaced after rotting off in the growbags. Fellow allotmenteers rallied round with a batch of fresh young plants to replace them, but unfortunately labels had been lost so the varieties were unknown. This was indeed very unfortunate as one plant defied all the odds, put on fantastic growth and cropped brilliantly. The cold wet summer did not bother it. Now as I don’t know which variety it was, and I definitely want to try it again, I allowed the sideshoots to grow in the autumn and took them off as cuttings. I now have four excellent plants in pots which have had the tops removed so they will branch and I will get another batch of cuttings for this summer. It will be interesting to compare how they will perform against the new plants from seed.

Sweet Peas

You can sow the seed in autumn and overwinter them in a cold frame or cold greenhouse. This will give plants for planting out in early March which will then flower very early. Or sow them now for planting out at the end of March.

Sweet peas grow best in well manured soil which has been dug deeply. They can be grown up six foot canes as a cordon with sideshoots and tendrils removed to give large blooms on long stems. The stems are supported with sweet pea rings. Feed regularly for the biggest flowers, and once they reach the top of the canes you will need to remove the sweet pea rings which support them, lower the stems onto the ground and let them grow up the nearest cane again. If you are happy to grow for a colourful wall of colour just allow them to grow up a supported net six foot or more tall.

Broad Beans

Another plant that likes to be well fed so make sure the ground has been composted when digging, and give a generous dose of fertiliser before planting. After germination grow on quite cool as they are quite hardy. I also keep back some seed for a later sowing to give me plants to fill up empty space after spring cabbage or late leeks are finished, or even after my early summer salads grown under low polythene tunnels have been harvested. These give a smaller crop, but still very welcome and the broad bean roots have nitrogen fixing nodules on them which rot down to benefit the next crop.

Plant of the week

Scarlet willow, Salix alba britzensis is at its best in winter after leaf fall to show off its bright orange red stems. I grow two bushes at the back of my coloured stem border in the winter garden. Last year they put on ten feet of growth even though I cut them down to ground level every year. They obviously enjoyed the wet summer. They will be pruned again at the end of March before growth commences and I will reuse the straight stems as garden canes, but remember they are still alive and will want to grow again. They can also be grown as a medium sized tree and are still very attractive in winter. Willows are very useful trees as they contain salicin which is used to make aspirin. Stems are also used to make baskets, living fences, cricket bats and the excellent vigorous growth makes it perfect for harvesting as a biomass fuel. They propagate very easy from hardwood cuttings in winter.

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GROW SOME ONIONS

GROW SOME ONIONS

Everyone who grows vegetables for the home will include some members of the onion family. The range includes bulb onions, exhibition onions, pickling onions, spring onions, chives, shallots, garlic and leeks.

They can be available all year round as fresh during the growing season, with leeks all winter, or stored up till early summer. Small pickling onions can be pickled to keep in jars from one year to the next. Spring onions can be used in salads or lightly cooked in numerous recipes. They have been cultivated for culinary and medicinal uses for centuries originating in Central Asia in India, Egypt, China and surrounding countries.

Studies on the health benefits of the allium family are only just starting but already results indicate they could reach superfood status. They are rich in soluble dietary fibre, the minerals calcium, iron, potassium, chromium, and vitamins A, B6, C and K. Scientists have found about 150 phytonutrients in the onion family many of which are beneficial in treating inflammatory diseases such as asthma, bronchitis, arthritis and fibromyalgia. Garlic is also high in selenium and manganese and contains beneficial thiosulfinates which assists cardiovascular health.

Eating onions regularly helps reduce high blood pressure and high cholesterol. To obtain the most benefit do not overcook, as they only need a few minutes to soften on a low heat, especially with garlic. Spring onion, chives and sweet types of bulb onion can be eaten raw.

Soil and growing conditions

They all like free draining rich soil, so prepare the ground in autumn by digging in plenty of organic matter and leaving the surface rough over winter so the frost can break it down to a fine tilth. To get large bulb onions I sow seed in mid to late February indoors in cellular trays and grow on in a glasshouse. Plants are ready to plant out at the end of April. If two or three plants grow in each cell I do not thin them out as root disturbance would harm them, but adjust spacing to allow for singles, doubles and more. Bulbs end up touching each other as they swell, but this is ok. My favourite variety is Hytech as it grows quite large, keeps for ages and the onion is very sweet. If you are growing for exhibition, you are more likely to use the variety Kelsae, or other giant growing type, sow a lot earlier and feed regularly. If you get the exhibiting bug in a serious way your onions will most likely be kept in the greenhouse with artificial heat, artificial illumination, individual pots and staked to keep the foliage upright. Growing from sets is a bit simpler, but the varieties available do not compete with Hytech. Onions from sets are also more prone to bolting and white rot in these wet years. Remove any diseased bulbs as soon as you see them to prevent it spreading.

The best variety for pickling is Paris Silverskins. These can be grown in a two to three inch wide row in very good soil where they will grow thickly and bulb up in a fast but short growing season.

Shallots are grown very similarly as onions from sets, but each bulb will spilt into several smaller bulbs then swell up. They don’t store for as long as bulb onions as their smaller size tends to dry up easier.

Garlic is best grown from bulbs purchased from garden centres or seed merchants specialising in varieties for our soils and climate. Don’t use supermarket bulbs. They need a long growing season so plant the bulbs in late autumn on good soil in an open sunny aspect. Some varieties can be planted in modules and overwintered in a cold frame for spring planting and others planted in early spring outdoors. Plant with the pointed end upwards, spacing at 6 inches apart.

All onions need to ripen up at the end of summer, then get dried off thoroughly before roping or cleaning and netting for storage in a cool airy but frost free shed.

Chives are grown as a perennial herb and cut as required throughout the growing season. They are very easy to grow and quickly multiply.

Spring onions are mostly grown for adding to salads, but can be chopped up for stir frying and used in a similar way to chives. I start my first ones as seed sown in early March indoors in cells then harden off for planting in a prepared bed under a low polythene tunnel. Further sowings are made about every six weeks to give me successional crops from late spring to mid winter.

Leeks are my autumn and winter vegetable sown in a bed in spring then lifted and transplanted into rows when about six inches tall. The transplants get topped and tailed and dropped onto dibble holes six inches deep then watered in to firm up the roots. The first ones are ready in late autumn, but harvesting continues till spring. I find it hard to beat the old, but reliable variety Musselburgh.

Plant of the week

Choisya Sundance is an evergreen shrub growing to about 4 to 6 feet tall. The variety Sundance is the golden leaved form of the Mexican Orange blossom whose bright colour is very welcome in winter. It is winter hardy and will grow on any well drained soil but prefers a sheltered position in full sun. It looks good in courtyards, cottage gardens and I have a specimen in a large tub. The white spring flowers as well as the foliage are slightly scented. Sometimes the tips can suffer a bit of frost damage, but these can be pruned back to healthy wood and will grow again.

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EXTEND THE GROWING SEASON FOR FRUIT AND VEGETABLES

EXTEND THE GROWING SEASON FOR FRUIT AND VEGETABLES

Allotment gardeners traditionally always get a glut of some crop that we share with fellow plot holders, family and friends. Some crops such as courgettes, Swedes, cabbages and potatoes, plums and apples can all have a prolific year if the weather is kind. We also tend to grow too much of each crop just in case we get losses. However I am now tending to grow smaller rows and a wider range of fruit and vegetables so I get less surplus and have fresh produce available over a longer period. This idea can be extended further by using the protection of greenhouses, frames and polythene tunnels for bringing on crops earlier and extending the season into the autumn.

It is just about possible to be self sufficient in fruit and vegetables harvested from your own garden provided you accept each crop has its own season. The most difficult period is March and April when the previous years stored crops are just about done and the current year’s crops are still growing. This is when the freezer helps us out as most crops can be frozen and kept in good order for months. The summer and autumn months are the easy ones when there is plenty available and surplus can be stored. Winter is also not too difficult as there is a wide range of winter hardy crops such as Swedes, Sprouts, cabbage, leeks, parsnips, kale, Swiss chard and if you are lucky late sown, (August) summer salads such as spring onion, rocket, sorrel, corn salad and mustard mix can see you in fresh leaves till the end of January as they can tolerate a wee bit of frost. My outdoor beetroot has now finished but onions and pumpkins will stay fresh for a few more months.

Salads and vegetables

Ground prepared well in advance can be covered with low polythene tunnels in mid March to warm up for a few weeks before planting out an early batch of lettuce, spring onions, radish, beetroot and carrots. These are sown in cellular plug trays also in mid march for planting out about four weeks later. The radish are always ready first then lettuce can be picked when quite small as there is usually plenty to grow on a bit bigger. If poly tunnels are not available a cold frame is just as good as long as the soil is well prepared.

Cabbage and cauliflower can also be harvested just about all year round by selecting varieties suited to each season. My spring cabbage can be cut in April and May as spring greens then other plants left to heart up. However these are often overtaken by my early summer cabbage sown in the greenhouse for early planting. Later on we pick the autumn cabbage, then the winter cabbage takes us just about to March, provided clubroot and other pests don’t spoil your plans. Cauliflower can be grown all year round in a similar way, though there is usually a gap in mid winter.

Fruit crops

To grow raspberries and strawberries outside their normal summer season you need to look to the methods of the commercial growers. If you have the room in a glasshouse a couple of pots of an early raspberry variety are a luxury to sample fresh ripe rasps two to three weeks ahead of the early outdoor crops. However extending the season into autumn is normal now with Autumn Bliss and other autumn fruiting rasps. These will fruit till the end of November, but may not be very sweet as they need the warmth of sunshine for best results.

Strawberries can be grown under low polythene tunnels erected at the end of February over a young row planted up the previous autumn. I use the early variety Mae which never lets me down. I also extend the season into autumn with the perpetual variety Flamenco which will continue to fruit till November, but also needs sunshine. Flamenco will fruit from new runners throughout the season.

The summer blueberry season comes in August but saskatoons which are very similar fruit in July so giving almost two months of very healthy fresh black fruits.

The apple season gets extended by grafting early and late varieties onto my one large tree, so the Oslin fruits in August, followed by Discovery in September. Red Falstaff and Red Devil are ready in October but can be stored for a couple of months, then Fiesta, my late variety will store to the end of the year.

Outdoor grapes fruit in September to October in a normal year, but in the greenhouse my Flame starts in August followed by Perlette then Black Hamburg will last till December.

Plant of the week

Wintersweet, Chimonanthus praecox can be a beautiful winter flowering shrub with yellow spicy scented flowers, but it needs a sunny sheltered spot with good soil and drainage. Planted at the base of a south facing wall with plenty of organic matter added to the soil at planting, then given a mulch so it doesn’t dry out just in case we get a dry year. It is deciduous so the flowers emerging in November and lasting in some years till March can be easily seen. This hardy shrub from the mountains of China can grow up to ten foot tall but careful pruning can keep it about six feet if preferred. The main disadvantage for the impatient gardener is that it takes about four or more years to settle down before it starts to flower. This is another reason why propagation is best by layering rather than from seed as the latter could take a very long time to reach maturity for flowering. Leave layered shoots at least two years to grow decent roots before digging up.

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A SUNNY JANUARY DAY

A SUNNY JANUARY DAY

We have put 2012 behind us and hope to move into a new and better year. The rain has stopped, the sun is shining, there is a wee bit frost, but nothing too severe and the snow has not yet arrived, as I write this in early January. However we know that things could change with very little warning so let’s just enjoy the winter sunshine. Early flowering bulbs are either completely fooled by this mild winter or know what is happening and take full advantage of the sunshine.

Both aconites and snowdrops have started to flower and the winter jasmine is at its best. My tubs and hanging baskets are planted up with winter flowering pansies which are really spring flowering though can last well into summer. These were grown from seed sown last summer and kept cool. They are often prone to greenfly and leafspot fungus, but maybe the 2012 cool wet summer discouraged these so they have grown very sturdy and clean. They just can’t wait to get flowering so almost every tub has some plants with the first large brightly coloured blooms in flower.

A wander around the garden

Take the opportunity every sunny day to enjoy early flowers and other plants that are grown for winter beauty.

 A batch of polyanthus which flowered last spring in my tubs and then got planted out in a border have continued to flower ever since, and even in winter when we get a few sunny days together the flowers open up. The winter flowering heather Erica carnea has now started to flower to add to my winter garden of cornus, kerria, red stemmed maples and orange coloured willows.

This is their moment for the next two months.

A drift of black grass, Ophiopogon planiscapus Nigrescens, planted in the front of the border adds to the drama as it is low growing and forms a thick black clump. They form a great background for snowdrops.

The white stemmed silver birch Betula jacquemontii absolutely dazzles in the winter sunshine and as there are no leaves on the tree the branch framework is really eye catching against the deep blue sky. This small garden tree is growing in the middle of my heather harden where several golden and bronze leaved callunas put on their best show after a few frosts have sharpened up the leaf colour.

Now for some garden tasks

There is always plenty of leaves around to sweep up and add to the compost heap, and digging continues on the allotment provided the soil surface is not wet.

Pruning bush and climbing roses can be tackled any time now, and if we continue to get a mild winter it is better to be well ahead just in case there is an early start to spring growth.

Pruning grape vines under glass should now be completed, though there is time yet for the outdoor vines.

Plant of the week

Hamamelis mollis the Witch Hazel comes into flower in January and continues for several weeks. The numerous spidery shaped flowers are yellow and slightly scented, brightening up the winter garden with a bold splash of colour. Their autumn colour is also dazzling. The plant needs space as it can grow quite large preferring a slightly acid free draining rich soil, placed in full sunshine. Do not plant deeply as most Hamamelis are grafted and the rootstocks are prone to suckering.

They do not need any pruning other than to remove suckers, broken or overcrowded shoots and removal of an occasion shoot if they get too large for their space.

Painting of the month

Cold Day in Glenshee is a winter landscape painting. Artists gather ideas for painting in series or projects. Spring and summer are great for flowers and landscapes, autumn for figurative studies and winter for snow scenes. Whilst it is nice to paint local scenes around your town, the rest of Scotland offers so much variety that trips into the country are always very worthwhile provided the roads are passable. Glenshee was one of my winter landscape projects, and a one day trip with my camera up as far as the closed snow gates at the Spittal of Glenshee got me nearly twenty perfect snow scene images. However if the weather proves to be a bit gray with not much sunshine the artist is allowed a wee bit of artistic licence as paintings can last for hundreds of years and it is nice to look back onto the sunny side of Scottish landscapes.

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