Mail Order Plants Feed Back

By on June 19, 2013 in Tips Hints and Ideas

I buy various seeds and plants direct or via the internet and am a sucker for mail order, promotions and mind numbing mail shots – yes they do work on me at least!
Begonia Rex
Experiences 2013
Van Meuwen
I start with a bad experience with Van Meuwen. The first purchase of plug plants was OK and although the plugs were very, very small with almost no soil, they did grow away.
I was then emailed to buy a special limited offer of plants for £4.99 but I was charged on my credit card £13.99 the full price. A good job I looked and checked. Umpteen emails and technical problems at their end eventually elicited a promise of a refund.
Many weeks later and the next credit card statement had no refund so back to the email.
A cheque arrived today with no apology but that is as much as I expected.

Vita Sementi is a sister brand of Van Meuwen as is Vernons Geraniums which I have had several good plants from in the past. All these businesses are owned as divisions of Branded Garden Products Ltd by Thompson & Morgan one of our key sponsors. I hope they sort out the Ipswich business for next year.

Wallis Seeds
I buy from Wallis because you can get bigger quantities and the plain seed packets are saving the cost of photography and colour printing.
Last year I included one packet that was out of stock and they held back the whole order until I spoke to the team. The owner called me back to apologise and ask what I would prefer him to do. Great service.
This years supply arrived promptly and in good time for my new sowing. A company with good service that I am pleased to use again.

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Heuchera Uses, Facts and Varieties

By on June 17, 2013 in Flowers and Plants

I am hoping for some coloured Heucheras for Fathers day later this month – well hope is free!

Uses of Heuchera

  • Heuchera are commonly used as specimen plants or in small groups of the same variety.
  • They are at home in woodland gardens, rock gardens or as groundcover.
  • Heuchera are useful in patio pots or as components in mixed containers. They are often used at this time of year for winter containers
  • Flower panicles make fine additions to cut flower arrangements.
  • Heuchera attracts butterflies.
  • Heuchera consists of over 50 species and there are many new varieties so you could make a study and collection of these interesting plants.

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Aquilegia Growing

By on June 16, 2013 in Flowers and Plants

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Aquilegia are growing and flowering in all parts of my garden at the moment. This Aquilegia canadensis or red columbine hybridises very easily and will self sow if left to its own devices. This Aquilegia Kansas looks very striking in tight groups.

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When I saw this photograph of Aquilegia colombine growing with  Honeysuckle the significance of the names escaped me. The Honeysuckle will flower a bit later than the Aquilegia which I will cut down after it flowers in the hope of a second flush of flowers later in the year.

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The horns of a dilema are shown on this close up of an Aquilegia flower. It pays to take the time to inspect individual flowers as well as the whole plant.
You can acquire or just admire plants as part of a collection

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Aquilegia combine well with other plants and the colours of the Rhododendron work well with the shade of this Aquilegia.

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Whilst it may not be obvious Aquilegias grow as small alpines 4 inches tall like A. Flabellata and as 3 feet high plants and various sizes in between. A good selection of seeds from many Aquilegia varieties are in the  Chiltern Seed catalogue.

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The leaves have a pleasing shape and vary in colour from the yellow green above to grey green and dark green.

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Give Aquilegia a try in your garden. They grow very easily from seed so poor specimens and colours can be weeded out.

Aquilegia

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Geranium Maderense

By on June 15, 2013 in Flowers and Plants, House & Greenhouse plants

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I saw this Geranium in pots in the walled vegetable garden at Harewood House and the gardener was happy to talk enthusiastically about this and other plants from Madeira. The plant was growing taller than the normal 4-6 foot and made a spectacular display.

How are Geraniums confused with Pelargoniums?

By way of contrast the Pelargonium ‘Attar of Roses’ was growing only feet away in the greenhouse but the flower colouring was similar. The Pelargonium had the edge for me because of the scent when you touched the leaves. They would make a good conservatory plant but need to be kept in check so they do not become too gangly.

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Red Poppies

By on June 14, 2013 in Flowers and Plants

Poppies are a great flower and the greatest colour must be red.
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I was surprised to see these red poppies still flowering into Octobers. Simple to grow, these red poppies offer a dazzling display of late season colour.

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Red Poppies from Seed

Red poppies are easy to grow from seed. Annuals grow quickly and tolerate a range of soils, preferring a sunny position. Perennial red poppies are also quite easy to grow, though the flowers are more blousy and may need staking.

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Red Poppies against backdrop of Magadalen College, Oxford
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New Guinea Impatiens Failure

By on June 13, 2013 in House & Greenhouse plants, Pests, Problems and Health

Back in 2009 I reported on my failure with impatiens. now I am tempted to try again. So far so good no of them have died but nor are they a run away success.
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I had a disaster with New Guinea Impatiens 4 years ago. Rather than grow from seed I bought a pack of half a dozen plants to grow on. The only trouble is they haven’t grown on but got sickly and hardly survived.

Errors and correct treatment

  • I used a peat based compost to pot them into. I should have used a faster draining soil based John Innes No 2.
  • The leaves have gone brown and limp because they were on a windowsill getting too much hot sun before they were strong enough. I should have given them less direct sun whilst young.
  • Once or twice I must have let the soil dry out. New Guinea Impatiens must have moist soil at all times and I regret not standing them on some gravel to help humidity.
  • I have not fertilized the plants but as they have barely grown in 6 weeks it is due to other health problems. Feed when growing.
  • I have not got red spider mite – at least I have saved them from that problem.

I gave some of the lilac flowered plants away so  am interested to see if they have done any better. I also put some of my sickly plants in a plastic zip up greenhouse outside so I am now off to see how they have done.

New Treatments
I corrected the above issues but watering still gives me nightmares.
I potted the plug plants on into 3″ pots and they are more robust.
I like the plants when well grown as a summer houseplant.

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Indoor Daffodil and Narcissus Tips

By on June 12, 2013 in House & Greenhouse plants

In some ways the Narcissus is easier to grow indoors than the Hyacinth.

There is nothing fresher than the scent of spring flowers that you have grown yourself and Narcissus and Daffodils can be ordered now then planted in September/October. Daffodils are available as Multifloras, Doubles (as above) and recommended miniatures: Jonquilla are a particular scented favourite of mine flowering 4″ to one foot high with names such as Pipit, Suzy, Sugar Bush, Baby Moon and Martinette, then there are Tete-a-tete which are dead easy if you leave them in the cool to develop good roots.

Growing Tips

  • Grow in pots of bulb fibre with a deep root run and the nose level with the surface or the roots may push up the bulbs. Buy new bulbs each year and plant old stock in the garden.
  • You need to mimic a three month winter’s nap in the cold for hardy daffodils to ripen their flower buds. Keep cool to allow roots to form and avoid excessive warmth as that inhibits flowering.
  • Look for prepared bulbs specially supplied for forcing but keep in the cold until ready too flower.
  • Water the pot when planting and keep moist when in flower.


Experiment with varieties available.
Daffodils requiring a shorter cold period are Monal, and Rijnveld’s Early Sensation.
Cyclamineus varieties are good for forcing.
Most of the early to mid-season miniatures are also good forcers.
Traditional favourites include Paperwhites and Cheerfulness.

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Ornamental Horse Chestnuts Shrubs

By on June 11, 2013 in Shrubs and Trees

Grow your own conkers but small may not win too many conker contests.

Most people recognise the large ornamental Horse Chestnut trees with the palm-shaped leaves and spring racemes of flowers that lead to conkers in Autumn. Unless you have a large paddock or personal woodland it is unlikely that you grow Horse Chestnuts (Aesculus Hippocastanaceae) but the family contains some smaller varieties.

Aesculus x mississippiensis and Aesculus mutabilis are large shrubs or small trees with flowers that are dark red and yellow.
The Aesculus pavia in USA is called the Dwarf Red Buckeye tree. It is early to leaf and starts blooming when it is just 3 feet tall. This 3-10′ deciduous tree is a wonderful little red flowering tree to plant at the edge of a woodland garden or as the focal point on the curve of a path.
Aesculus Parviflora or Bottlebrush Buckeye is an attractive shrub, up to 10 feet high. The white flowers are borne in erect spikes or racemes.
Aesculus sylvatica is a rounded shrub or small tree, up to 25 feet high and wide that has yellow to reddish coloured flowers on the spikes.

Buckeye is the State flower of Ohio and has its own web site

Book Cover
Not particularly a gardening book Horse Chestnut ‘is a study of the commonest species in Britain. Do you know why it is called the ‘horse’ chestnut and that it is used in shampoos and how you take it on holiday with you? British forces would not have kept Germany out of England during the First World War without this tree. There would not be a State of Israel without it either. Remember learning Under a Spreading Chestnut Tree? Well who wrote it and how many versions are there? Bet some of you have played ‘Conkers’ but how old is the game? Which artist has painted the tree more than any other and do you know about ‘Chestnut Sunday’ in Bushy Park?’

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Mind Your Own Business Plants

By on June 10, 2013 in House & Greenhouse plants

Do not get nettled if you are given a mind your own business plant even though it is in the same family.

Mind Your Own Business is not an instruction but a mat-forming plant also know as Baby’s Tears. It is a creeping perennial that bears minute flowers and forms a mat or small hummock of green foliage that creeps along the soil on thin stems and hangs down over the side of a plant pot. Indoors ‘Mind Your Own Business’ grows best in a cool room and will grow well with high humidity although that is not essential. Never let it dry out and the brighter the position the more water it will need.

There are 3 cultivars of Mind Your Own Business, Soleirolia soleoirolii the species which has green foliage, Variegata Silver Queen with grey-green foliage and Aurea Golden Queen.
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Bud Blast Rot and Botrytis on Roses

By on June 9, 2013 in Pests, Problems and Health

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Roses are very susceptible to fungal diseases. Whilst you can cope with a bit of  mildew a bud that fails to open is somehow more annoying. These buds had been hit by a lot of rain and a long period of humidity and nothing was going to help them.

  • Try to water roses in the early morning so that any excess water on the leaves and blooms will evaporate quickly.
  • Water the roots not the buds and leaves, it takes less water to do more good that way.
  • Your roses will be happiest if you remember to mulch! mulch, mulch, mulch!

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