AUTUMN PROPAGATION

AUTUMN PROPAGATION

We all love the challenge of growing our own plants, either from seed or cuttings. In this modern day of busy lifestyles most folk will buy plants ready to plant or flower direct from the garden centre, but it just doesn’t give you the same pleasure as those propagated by yourself. You then have spare plants to fill up empty corners, increase the drift size of those plants that like to make an impact, or just have a few spare plants to give to gardening friends. Some plants are very easy, some more challenging and there is always failures, but still we keep trying.

Cuttings in pots and boxes

Houttuynias potted up

In spring many plants are grown from seed and soft wood cuttings but in late summer growth on most plants have matured so cuttings are less likely to rot. Summer bedding plants like geraniums, fuchsias and Impatiens (Busy Lizzie) are easy to grow and young plants can be overwintered on a windowsill in a frost free room. Both geraniums and Impatiens can then be allowed to flower as a houseplant. Keep an eye open for red spider and small greenfly which are attracted to Busy Lizzie’s soft shoots. Geranium cuttings only need one decent leaf at the end of each shoot and a couple of inches of shoot which can be snapped off cleanly at a leaf joint. Fuchsias

Splitting up flag iris

are best as a four inch terminal shoot with lower leaves removed and cut underneath a node. Both can be inserted into a sandy compost in shallow pots where they will root after several weeks. Impatiens are even easier as shoots (remove lower leaves) about four inches long are just popped into a jar of water, placed on a shaded window sill and left to root. Once rooting is strong enough they can be removed and potted up into individual small pots.

Impatiens cuttings in water

Outdoors many shrubs can be propagated by taking cuttings six to eight inches long, removing lower leaves and lining out a few inches apart in well drained compost in the shelter of a cold frame or other form of protection. They are normally left there till growth starts in spring when they can be lifted and potted up. Rosemary, Lavender, Ceanothus, Pyracantha, Euonymus and Cistus can all be propagated this way, though the last two are best when cuttings are taken with a heel.

Heathers, both Erica and Calluna can be propagated from cuttings three to four inches long inserted in a sandy medium in shallow seed trays placed quite close together and kept in a cool greenhouse with some shade. Give them some mist spray to keep them moist and leave them till spring.

Peonies getting divided up

Japanese azaleas can be propagated from both cuttings and layering. Take cuttings the same as heathers but with shoots that may be branched. As these shrubs lie close to the ground they are easy to layer by placing a side branch down to ground level, putting some soil on the top and keep it there with a metal peg or flat stone.

Garden Pinks can be propagated from young shoots broken off as long as possible and dibbled around the sides of a pot filled with sandy compost. Place these pots in a cold frame or greenhouse.

Mint is very easy to propagate as it layers itself and roots into the soil as it grows so just pull up a few shoots with roots on and pot up to grow on.

Over on the herbaceous border most of the plants have finished their flowering and growing so now is a good time to lift clumps of peonies, iris, oriental poppies, Shasta daisies and many other types, split them up and replant in fresh soil to which some compost has been added.

Wee jobs to do this week

Sorting out potatoes for storing

Maincrop and late potatoes are best lifted now if the foliage has been wiped out by blight as they will not grow any bigger and the longer they are in the soil the chance for slugs to damage them.

Leave them on the surface for an hour or so to dry up before bringing them home for storage, but sort out any damaged tubers before storing in an airy but cool dark place. I separate out small but usable spuds from the main batch and these are great boiled and kept in their skins with salads or other dishes.

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LATE SUMMER ON THE PLOT

LATE SUMMER ON THE PLOT

Gardening this summer has become a task to plan ahead to avoid the thunder showers and if the sun is forecast to shine for a few hours we need to be outdoors to bring in the harvest. Growth on everything (except my onions) has been phenomenal; fruit, vegetables, flowers and not forgetting weeds. We try to plan crops to be available over as long a period as possible, but there is always a glut of something that we just cannot munch

Anna lifting beetroot and leeks

our way through or pack into the freezer. Who needs seven large courgettes for two people, and it is hard to give them away as everyone else is in the same boat, and there will be a lot more next week. Mornings and afternoons are spent picking fruit and vegetables, and then evenings spent shelling peas, cutting up cauliflowers, cleaning beetroot, leeks and turnip. Then the last of my early potato Casa Blanca got lifted, but had to be washed and dried before storing.

Good crop of leeks

 Autumn raspberries and strawberries as well as brambles and blueberries all need picking then sorting for immediate use and cool storage. Perpetual strawberry Albion, may well provide large red fruit for a few more weeks but they are so hard that they are no great pleasure. They will get discarded soon. Another of my new strawberries I thought I would try was Colossus, as the catalogue description was wonderful. However these strawberries were not as big as any others and berries were not very prolific so again another one for the compost heap.

There is still plenty of rhubarb available as it has never stopped growing.

Turning compost

Aronia Viking, the chokeberry got picked then weighed for freezing after I got my 7 pounds for wine making, but then I had to crush every berry in a fermentation bucket, a job taking me all evening, but I am looking forward to sampling this healthy red wine (packed full of antioxidants) in a couple of year’s time. I can recall many days in youthful employment when I worked a twelve hour day as well as weekend shifts, but now I am beyond retirement the work continues, but there is no payment of time and a half with double time at weekends, and you can forget time off in lieu or flexitime.

Fig Brown Turkey ready to eat

My fig Brown Turkey yet again has been providing heavy crops of figs, sometimes ten or more at a time, but Anna is sorting out ways to preserve these for future use.

Anna was thinning out a row of beetroot to use as baby beet, but growth was so good they all looked like mature roots. Our leeks have also grown well so some of these are being used, though we normally keep these as a winter vegetable. Another winter vegetable now in use is our kale. I grow the normal dwarf green, but thought I would try the red leaved Curly Scarlet. It grows just fine but is quite tough with poor flavour. Harvesting Dwarf French beans has not been a difficult task this year, as they have yet to produce beans. This is not their best summer.

In the greenhouse tomatoes are cropping heavily, and my hot pepper De Cayenne turned red so we tried some out to see just how hot it was. The Scots are no wimps so I chomped away at the red pointed end. Nae bother, whats all the fuss about, but Anna nibbled at a wee bit of pith and ran quickly to the sink for a glass of water. So that’s where the heat comes from!!!

However to get a break from all the harvesting and processing I decided I would get back to the land and give my compost heap its first turn over. The heap has been building up fast with spent kitchen waste, weeds, grass clippings, spent peas and beans, rhubarb leaves, and is now three feet high. If you want a bit of really good exercise get a compost heap. I think this is where our success with crops comes from as the plot gets compost dug in or mulched every year.

Wee jobs to do this week

Feeding flower tubs

Tubs and hanging baskets have suffered in the wet summer as some bedding plants need warm dry weather to grow and flower so all my petunias have rotted away and the slugs have had a feast on my French marigolds, though I keep scattering some pellets around. Geraniums have been outstanding and my tuberous begonias just love this global warming, but to keep their strength up and continue to flower give a liquid feed every fortnight, and keep dead heading old flowers.

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CUT FLOWERS

CUT FLOWERS

As a keen gardener we do our best to make the garden look great all year round. That involves growing plants with colour, attractive shape, scented where ever possible, creating good plant associations to combine height, form and similar flowering times to increase effect. We also control weeds, rake up leaves, prune as required, dead head old flowers, spread and fork in compost, and hope the weather works in our favour so at some stage we can relax and enjoy our creative garden.

Sophie with the red scented roses

However, although we have taken care of the outdoors we must not forget the indoors, so at some point our precious flowers will be getting chopped down and dropped into a few vases. A balance has to be struck so that these cut flowers do not diminish our efforts in creating our outdoor paradise. Either we grow sufficient numbers to allow for this or we grow extra plants just for cut flower. This is where an allotment is invaluable as it can help with the rotation by including a section for flower production, and if there is plenty of colour it will brighten up the plot.

Dahlia Thomas Edison

In spring the show starts off with the daffodils, followed by tulips, as these make a fantastic display and very quickly multiply up, so a few cut here and there for the house are never missed. We also buy in more bulbs every autumn as there is always some border to brighten up with a few extra spring flowers.

Scented daffodils (Jonquils and the Cheerfulness group) have all got great scent and if you can sort out a few of those scented tulips that is a bonus. I tried a good dozen so called scented tulips, but only the Fosteriana Purissima gave me any scent.

Lily Golden Splendour

As the summer starts I look to the flag Iris for something special that is bold, colourful and scented, before the roses take over as first choice. E H Morse is an excellent scented red, as is Fragrant Cloud and Margaret Merril a great scented white rose, but there are so many to choose from with new varieties coming out every year. If you grow climbers and shrub roses they produce so much flowers that there is plenty to spare for a vase for the table.

Rose Dawn Chorus

Dahlias start to flower from mid summer and continue till the frosts, are easy to grow and very reliable with a wide range of colours and shapes of blooms. Everyone will have their favourites, but I find it hard to go beyond the cactus style blooms as they just appeal to me.

Chrysanthemums can be grown as sprays or with a bit more work you can grow the decoratives, incurves and reflexes with just one very large but impressive flower on each stem, as long as you disbud all competitive sideshoots and secondary flower buds.

Border carnations are not as popular as in the past, and they have their own needs with good drainage, plenty of sunshine and you must keep them staked, but they are nearly all scented with a wide range of colours so are first class cut flowers. The plants may only last several years, but propagate very easy from cuttings.

Gladioli

Gladioli put on a great show and make perfect cut flowers. I buy in a few new varieties every year, but save all my old corms so my stock slowly increases every year. If you have good soil that is well drained plant them deep and they should not need any support to keep them upright.

Sweet peas can grow well over six feet tall so make sure they have a good framework support, and keep removing all seed pods. They thrive in deep rich soil and like extra feeding for best results.

Scented sweet peas

Lilies, like sweet peas have fantastic scent so enhance any room they are in. Growing was covered two weeks ago, and different varieties will extend their season of bloom.

Japanese Anemone Honorine Jobert is easy to grow and produces pristine white flowers perfect for cutting. It grows about three feet tall and this herbaceous plant will increase in size every year.

Wee jobs to do this week

Pumpkin ready to harvest

Cut tips off pumpkins to curtail growth once each plant has formed two or three fruits so it can put all its energy into swelling them up. Do not rush this job as the pumpkins produce many small fruits but only a few survive. Keep them well watered and continue to feed if you want really big pumpkins. Place some straw underneath the fruit to keep them clean and free from soil.

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HARVESTING CONTINUES

HARVESTING CONTINUES

A couple of weeks ago any surplus fruit and vegetables from the allotment plot found a good home at our City Road  Allotments open day. We had a fantastic day, people turned up in droves and most of us had a complete sell out with visitors having a great time exploring our plots, and there was plenty of activities to amuse the kids. Weather, as forecast, was warm and sunny up till just after 3pm. Just perfect, but then as we started to break down canopies and clear away the tables the heavens opened up and a thunderstorm arrived to add a bit of drama and excitement.

Gooseberry Invicta

However a lot of crops held back by the wet weather which had continued from the beginning of June are now maturing and harvesting is in full swing. These are very healthy times since we grow a wide variety of crops and having a target of five a day is not even a normal day. Try ten plus a day and if salads are followed by a fruit dessert on the menu the number increases dramatically.

Picking Hurst Green Shaft peas

Early potatoes Casa Blanca are now all lifted and we are starting on second early Lady Christl. Another row of Sarpo Mira is showing signs of blight, though it has some resistance, but after nearly three months of very wet weather it has been put to the test. A row of Amour is still looking very healthy so no need to lift these just yet.

Turnip Falco

Onions have been totally cleared and dumped as white rot wiped them all out. I have always had great success with onions, but this year I thought I would try a different kind so bought in a packet of Sweet Spanish. Big mistake!!! It does not like our wet weather. Looking around other City Road plots most other onion crops are just fine, so I am putting this down to bad choice of variety, so it looks like it is back to the supermarket for our onions till next year.

Pea Kelvedon Wonder which I have been growing for about 40 years grew five feet tall and had very small pods. I question my seed supplier. That did not look like any Kelvedon Wonder I have grown before. However Hurst Green Shaft is now giving us huge crops and filling up the freezer.

Broad beans have not cropped as heavy as last year so maybe they are another one to prefer drier conditions, but there was still plenty for the freezer.

Beetroot thinnings, taken as baby beet have been plentiful, and salads have just loved this weather.

Fig Brown Turkey ready to pick

A new turnip, Falco has been brilliant with good size and texture and quite sweet. Definitely grow it again next year.

A great year for courgettes and my pumpkins have gone wild with growth invading my rose and flower border, but at what point do you stop it as this is a growth year.

Cauliflower Clapton has been very successful and curds are maturing over a few weeks, though it has been a battle with slugs, snails and caterpillars.

Over in the fruit garden the strawberries are all done, but raspberry Glen Fyne is still cropping and my autumn varieties, Autumn Bliss and Polka have just started with crop potential very high.

Picking Seigerrebe grapes in August

Bramble Helen arrived at the beginning of August with large very sweet fruit, but my new Reuben continues to disappoint. It is fruiting this year but the brambles are small and sour, so after cropping it will get dug out. Do not believe everything you read in catalogues.

Fig Brown turkey started to ripen early August and looks like this outdoor exotic will continue to excel as the small tree is just laden with fruit ready to ripen for the next couple of months

Tomatoes were ready at the end of July with all three varieties packed with crop. Alicante is still a winner as my main crop and Sweet Aperitif my best red cherry type and Sungold a very sweet yellow cherry tomato. Spare cherry tomatoes planted outdoors came into crop at the same time.

Grape Seigerrebe in the greenhouse ripened up early August so picking has begun and so far there are no signs of wasps attacking the sweet ripe fruit.

Summer pruning peach tree

Wee jobs to do this week

Prune blackcurrants and gooseberries after cropping and give peaches apples, plums and pears some summer pruning to encourage fruit bud production for the next years crops.

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LUXURIOUS LILIES

LUXURIOUS LILIES

I have had a fascination and love for lilies most of my gardening life. My earliest memory was in Kirkton in Dundee where my granny lived. She had a gravel path on the south side of the house and every summer up came a mass of tall white scented lilies straight through the gravel. At that time I was being trained as a gardener and since I was in my early teens I knew all about gardening!!!

I mean, I cut grannies grass, planted a rose border for her plus a flower border and some grew some vegetables for her. I knew that plants grow better if they get good soil, so I thought I would

Lily Chelsea

rejuvenate the lilies that grew underneath the gravel path. In the dormant season I dug up the lilies and was horrified to find there was no soil, just a heap of broken bricks left behind by the builders. Being young, keen and full of energy I soon excavated a deep trench of rubble and replaced it with good top soil before replanting grannies special lilies. I waited patiently for the massive display the following summer. The lilies never recovered, but grannies are very forgiving. Lessons learned at great expense. Good drainage is essential.

Lily Brasilia

Today my garden is just full of lilies, but with knowledge that to keep them happy good drainage is very important, and a warm sunny border is much preferred. They still get good soil, as well as a mulch as many varieties are stem rooting. Most are grown with other plants at their feet to shade the ground and retain moisture as well as giving them support. Azaleas are a good plant as they do not have deep roots so less competition and they will accommodate those that only grow a few feet tall. For taller varieties of lily I plant them in between peonies. Tall varieties may need canes to support them otherwise the large heavy flowers will arch down to the ground.

Lily Stargazer

In the early days I started off with the cheaper Lilium regale. It has large white flowers with a strong exotic scent and is easy to grow but needs staking. Then I had to try the very special Golden Ray of Japan, Lilium auratum. A real cracker, but quite tall so they needed good support. In the autumn I collected the seed pods and tried to germinate these after some winter chilling. The following spring I got about thirty young plants which are now all over my garden.

When the scent is important you must go for the oriental types, so bulbs were purchased in autumn of Casa Blanca, Muscadet, Brasilia and Stargazer.

Hemmerocallis Patricia

Another brilliant white lily is Lilium candidum the Madonna lily, but take care with this one as the stems are not surface rooting so do not plant it deep, otherwise it can be prone to botrytis.

Asiatic lilies come in a wide range of colours and only grow a couple of feet tall but unfortunately have no scent.

Many plants are termed lilies, but are not really in the lily family though they can still be very attractive. Water lilies are a must if you have a pond, and the day lily, Hemmerocallis is very popular. I am trying out the yellow Patricia with double flowers. These only last for one or two days, but they are quite prolific so put on a good show.

Calla Lily

Calla lily, also known as the Arum lily, is also very popular both in white form as well as many other colours. The Arum lily, Zantedeschia aethiopica is quite hardy but likes moisture and fertile soil as well as a warm aspect. The Callas come from South Africa so warm conditions improve growth and flowering. Some species of Calla are not hardy and may need winter protection with a mulch or may need lifting up and overwintering in a frost proof shed.

Wee jobs to do this week

Tidying up borders

Mid summer has the garden looking at its best for our enjoyment as well as visitors, so we must keep it tidy. Wet weather following on from warm days has encouraged weeds to grow rapidly so hoe or pull these out before they get established. Many shrubs and roses have completed their first flush of flowers and these plus older leaves fall down to the ground encouraging slugs and snails and looking very untidy. This debris plus the summer flush of weeds can all go on the compost heap, which will be building up with rhubarb leaves and grass cuttings.

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PLANT A TREE FOR FOOD

PLANT A TREE FOR FOOD

Growing fruit trees like apples, pears and plums today is quite normal in gardens, as there is a huge range of varieties available as well as different forms to suit restricted spaces. Wide open spaces take our standard trees, and walls take the cordons and fans but then for those with very limited space we can grow either stepover trees growing a few feet tall or the narrow columnar styles like the Starline Firedance apple. As our Scottish weather could be taking a turn for the better temperature wise now could be the time to extend our range with other fruiting trees once considered too exotic for the north.

Ripening figs

Figs may only form a very small tree or large bush, but with some shelter and a south facing wall or fence fruiting can be very successful outdoors.

Sweet cherries, like Cherokee is also a winner outdoors now it can be grown on the dwarfing rootstock Gisela 5. This rootstock plus some summer pruning keeps the height down to six feet and allows netting the tree otherwise the birds would very quickly get the lot.

Hazelnuts

Hazelnuts are now quite popular as part of the woodland fringe mix for shelterbelts and windbreaks. Hazelnuts have been grown all over UK for centuries as a source of food as well as for the wood for fencing. The nuts are harvested in autumn and can store for many months. The nuts are very high in protein, numerous vitamins and minerals and much of the production which is a main crop in Turkey goes into Nutella and Ferrero Rocher

Mulberry trees make great specimen trees for the small garden and look brilliant in late summer when covered in black to red fruits looking

Mulberry fruit

like a raspberries. However they take up to ten years to fruit from planting so patience is required. Mulberry fruit can be white red or black, but the best flavoured is the black variety of Morus nigra. They are often planted in a lawn to aid fruit collection when plastic sheeting is laid down and the fruit collected daily as it ripens and falls to the floor. It is very soft and juicy which can be quite staining so wear gloves when collecting the fruit. The fruit is sweet but tart and is eaten fresh with cream and honey or yoghurt, or it can be used in pies, tarts or brewed into a delicious wine. The fruit is high in vitamins and minerals and antioxidants.

In its natural habitat growing in southern Europe, Asia, India and North Africa the dark anthocyanin pigment can be extracted quite easily leaving behind the juice to be used in cordials, wine and sauces. Scientists are now evaluating the anthocyanins for use in biotechnology and pharmacology.

Walnut in autumn

Walnut trees are coming up in scale so need plenty of room to grow, but make a very majestic tree on maturity. They prefer warmer climates coming from China and Southern Europe but grow very well all over UK having been brought here as a food source by the Romans. In UK we grow the English walnut, Juglans regia but needs a good summer and autumn to ripen up the seeds. However most of the walnuts we buy in the supermarkets come from China, USA and other warmer countries. Research on the health benefits of eating walnuts just about puts them into the superfood category. They are packed with proteins, minerals and numerous vitamins and also high in the omega 3 oils. I use them almost daily in my morning muesli and always added to salads, but they are used in very many other dishes including cake, soups and the oil is used in salad dressings.

Sweet chestnut

Sweet chestnut, Castanea sativa, is native to Europe and Asia Minor but now grown widely. Introduced by the Romans, who made porridge from the ground down nuts. It makes a huge tree that can live up to 2000 years, and if you want the chestnut harvest soon, plant a grafted tree otherwise those raised from seed take about 20 years to mature. They have been widely used in parkland landscaping and found in monasteries as a source of food. The chestnuts are usually roasted to remove the outer skin. They have similar health benefits to walnuts.

Botrytis on tomatoes

Wee jobs to do this week

Tomatoes are now cropping quite well and growth will have reached the top of the glasshouse, so remove the growing point and keep an eye out for any signs of botrytis on leaves. Remove any of these immediately before it spreads and keep removing the lower leaves once they start to go yellow.
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JUNE BERRIES

JUNE BERRIES

June berries are another name for the Saskatoon berry which is slowly becoming popular with gardeners all over UK. At present there is only one commercial grower down in Worcestershire called Pershore Juneberries and this is a relatively new undertaking producing fresh berries in season and frozen fruit as well as numerous Saskatoon products.

Saskatoon berries

June berries grow naturally along the north west of Canada right up to Alaska so in their natural habitat they enjoy warm summers and very cold winters. My best ever crop was in 2011 after the severe winter of 2010 when my bushes just loved the cold weather. Although they seem to need a good winter chill I got a massive crop last year when the previous winter was relatively mild. This year following a very mild winter my crop is lighter than usual but picking date still the same from mid to the end of July.

Saskatoon pie

Native Americans have been using the fruit for hundreds of years, eating it fresh, using it in soups and cakes, and mixing it with dried grated buffalo meat and fat to make pemmican. This is dried and stored for use throughout winter.

June berries were growing prolifically along the banks of the Saskatchewan River and when the town grew up at this location it was named Saskatoon after the anglicized version of the Cree name.

Harvesting over on the Canadian prairies is done by machine, hand pickers and nearly half the crop by pick your own, as people love a day in the country picking native fruit.

The fruit is high in iron, magnesium, potassium, calcium, vitamin C and very high in antioxidants.

Saskatoom bloom

The berries can be eaten fresh during the picking season of nearly one month and used in jams, compote, pie fillings, yoghurt, and makes a brilliant wine and liqueur. The berries freeze well for future use. Combine them with rhubarb which adds some acidity to balance the sweetness of the fruit for jams and compote.

The bushes are quite dense with a strong root system, making them perfect for landscape planting in shelterbelts, hedges, urban and edible landscapes and on slopes viable to soil erosion. The bushes sucker quite freely so chop these out annually otherwise the rows would get too wide to manage.

Growers started selecting the best varieties and propagated these to produce the superior varieties Smoky and Pembina many years ago. Smoky was the main variety used in the first orchards established about forty years ago. Later as demand for this new fruit exploded micropropagation techniques were used to bulk up other varieties including Thiessen (this one has the largest fruit size), Northline, Martin and Honeywood.

Saskatoons or Juneberries tolerate a wide range of soils from acidic to those with a high pH, clay, sandy, loams and are very easy to grow.

Saskatoon wine

For garden cultivations plant single bushes about 6 to 8 feet apart, or 3 feet apart for hedgerows.

Left without pruning they would grow into small trees but in gardens they need pruning to keep the height down for picking and netting as birds just love these fruits. Cut out a one or two tall shoots every year right down to ground level in winter. These will regenerate with fresh new shoots which keeps the bush young and wont need pruning for another five years.

They will produce 6 to 10 lbs fruit per bush and crop for over twenty years

Wee jobs to do this week

City Road Allotments Open Day Sunday 30^th July 2017

Visit the City Road Allotment Gardens Open Day (entrance at junction with Pitfour Street) and see  allotment life, enjoy a coffee or tea with fresh baking and select from our fresh fruit, vegetables, jams, chutneys and garden plants, including saskatoon bushes, grape vines, geraniums and fuchsias. There is plenty entertainment for the kids, so bring them along and cultivate their interest in plants and the land.

Free parking along City Road, free entry to our Open Day starting at 11am and open till 3pm.

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BERRY PICKING TIME

BERRY PICKING TIME

The berry picking season is now well underway. Early strawberries ripened up at the end of May with the help of some polythene tunnel protection, and then mid season Elsanta kept us in strawberries till July when the later Symphony showed a very heavy crop. However the wet weather in June and July caused a fair bit of botrytis rots, though there was always more berries than we could use so there was plenty for the freezer. The perpetual Albion (an autumn variety) started fruiting in June and hopefully will continue till autumn, but it lacks a true strawberry softness.

Strawberry Symphony

My new Colossus strawberry variety put on a poor show as the expected huge berries described in the catalogue just did not live up to expectations. Not nearly as big as Symphony.

Raspberry Glen Fyne and Glen Dee have been outstanding but we could do with more sunshine to sweeten up the berries. Autumn fruiting varieties are all growing very strongly but cropping is still a few weeks away.

Currants red, black and white are all having a great year. Again Ben Conan is the star performer, but Big Ben in its third year gave us 6 pounds from one bush with very large and sweet berries. They

Redcurrants

were perfect mixed into a yoghurt dessert, as well as eaten fresh off the bush.

Gooseberries have all got branches almost broken with the weight of crop, so straw had to be placed under the bushes to keep them off the soil, and last winter I had pruned off all the lower branches.

Cherry Cherokee is now a few years old but still not too tall, so it was not difficult to cover the tree with netting to keep the blackbirds off them. The dwarfing rootstock Gisela 5 keeps the size down but so does some summer spur pruning. This has been a good year for my cherry and so far no sign of blackfly which often infest the young growing shoots.

Saskatoons, aronias and blueberries ripen up towards the end of July but are best picked in August once they have fully ripened as this increases the sugar content. Birds will eat the saskatoons and blueberries so it is necessary to cover them with netting, but usually the aronias are safe as the fruit is somewhat astringent and less attractive to eat.

Nikki Jennings with new raspberry selections

The James Hutton Institute is currently working on improving the qualities of blueberries, blackcurrants and raspberries through plant breeding. Varieties of blueberries are being assessed to find those suited to Scottish soils and climate as well as size of fruit, flavour, colour and texture.

Blackcurrant breeding looks at varieties that can flower and fruit following mild winters as they normally require a period of winter chilling to initiate fruit buds. Berry size, sweetness, evenness of ripening is also important as commercially they will be picked in one operation by machine. As much of the commercial crop goes into Ribena production flavour is very important as well as a high level of anthocyanins to keep us all very healthy.

Raspberries have different needs as today raspberry root rot is widespread so tolerance to this disease is important. Commercially raspberries are grown under the protection of polythene tunnels and a lot is hand picked so berry size is important making picking easier and breeders also include  flavour and colour. Having the fruit available over a long season is assisted by using autumn fruiting (primocane) varieties, but leaving the old canes on to get two crops. Many primocane selections had fruit ready to pick in June almost a fortnight ahead of the normal summer fruiting (floricane) varieties. Although Glen Ample is well established as the industry favourite, Glen Dee with large sweet fruit is becoming very popular, but soon others will be released.

Lettuce Lollo Rosso

Wee jobs to do this week

There is still time to sow some lettuce such as Lollo Rosso for autumn use as with general crop harvesting from mid summer onwards there is always some spare land needing utilised before the end of the growing season. A sowing of winter lettuce such as Hilde can be made at the end of July to grow outdoors in a sheltered spot and will provide the first lettuce next spring.

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NO TIME TO RELAX

NO TIME TO RELAX

Gardening activities are very much determined by our weather and after a long dry and warm spring, the heat wave which predominantly affected areas south of the border, did assist our Scottish climate to reach seasonal highs for about a fortnight. It was very enjoyable and just as we were getting ready to complain of the drought, the heavens opened up and the honeymoon was over. June and early July were somewhat damp to put it mildly. Down at ground level crops and weeds had a field day with anything green reaching rapidly up to heaven. While this is brilliant for cabbages, kale, lettuce, courgettes and turnips, other crops took a different view as continual damp weather took its toll.

Onion white rot

Gardening jobs may be numerous but small at this time of year as we are supposed to be on top of tasks which gives us more time to relax in the sun on the patio, occasionally getting up to dead head a geranium or spent rose. However gardening opportunities have been few and far between as we dodged rainy days to catch up with lots of very wee but essential tasks.

Slugs just thrive in the moist undergrowth and strawberries, impatiens and French marigolds are under severe attack so pellets were essential. Then mice invaded the strawberry patch. They are getting very clever. They manage to spring the mouse traps, gobble up my best cheese, then tuck into a few more strawberries before heading home. Strawberry Colossus is proving to be a hit, but I wish they would leave one for me to sample. The strawberry patch is well netted so no bird problem, but now I need to put nets on my saskatoons and redcurrants to keep the blackbirds away.

Cherry Cherokee

Nets were also necessary on a recent planting of cabbages and cauliflower for autumn harvesting. I had just got them planted when the rains came so thought I would net them next day hoping the sun would be shining. Pigeons had an early morning start on my fresh young green leaves, but I think they will survive and grow now the nets are in place.

I am keeping an eye open on my gooseberries absolutely laden down with a heavy crop of berries, as in previous years it attracted the attention of our allotment site resident fox.

Cherry Cherokee also had to be netted otherwise our resident blackbird family would take the lot.

Potato Casa Blanca

Weeds just love the wet weather and have to be picked off as there is not enough sun to shrivel them up after hoeing. They germinate and grow very fast just now.

White rot on onions and root rot on raspberries is becoming a menace with the wet weather. Onions like it warm and dry and this wet spell has taken its toll. Root rot on raspberries is also spread by soil moisture and infected soil can easily be transported on boots, in compost and tools. Remove any infection as soon as it is found. Clubroot on a row of rocket salad leaves virtually wiped them out as it spread easily in the moist soil.

Summer harvesting is well under way for many crops. Pick peas, lettuce, rocket, spring onions, turnip and the first early potatoes. They may still be small but only lift enough for a few days needs.

Spray chrysanthemums

Sowings of turnips, parsnips, beetroot and salads for late summer use will now be germinated so thin out to give seedlings plenty of room to grow. I usually thin twice, initially to a couple of inches apart and then later select the strongest and thin out the rest to allow full growth.

Chrysanthemums grown for cut flower always need support as they will grow about four feet tall depending on variety. Those grown as sprays are just left to grow and flower, but the decorative, incurve and reflex types grown for single large heads will need disbudding. Once the top flower bud is obvious, start to remove all other buds and sideshoots from each main stem so the plant can put all its energy into developing a large head. Extra feeding helps to increase flower size and maintain a healthy vigorous plant. Always disbud from the top down just in case of any accidents.

Wee jobs to do this week

Poppy Ladybird

Dead head annual flowers, perennials, roses and keep some of the seed heads from favourites like Poppy Ladybird as these will come up again next year from the fresh seed.

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