This ‘double glazing for plants’ is getting these early onions off to a good start at the beginning of March.

Each plant has its own baseless pop bottle for individual cover. Then there is the glass sheet that will keep off the snow and the sink sides to keep out some frost. Intensive care for plants that can be treated as individuals may be worth the effort when our local vegetable show comes around (no wonder I have lost to this neighbour before.)

This is another of the local money free protection schemes where the Leeks are grown in lengths of drain pipe. I guess this helps with blanching  but more importantly extends the cropping season. Talking of Leeks, yesterday I bought some seed of Swiss Giant Zermatt to pick from July as baby leeks and some Blue Green Autumn Neptune for resistance to Leek rust disease.

Fritillaria is a genius genus of over 100 species of bulbs from the lily family with an attractive and graceful habit. They generally grow about 4-12 inches in height and have pendulous bell shaped flowers of yellow, orange, purple, green or white in the spring. they often have a chequered green or brown colouring.

In Germany this handsome flower is also called Lapwing-egg, Chess Flower and Boardgame Flower (in German I suppose) Some common English names include Fritillary, Toad lily, Snake’s Head Fritillary, Guinea hen flower and Crown Imperial.

• If these Fritillaria are grown from seeds sown fresh they will yield more bulbs than one would have obtained from offsets of the old bulbs but they can be slow to produce plants of flowering size.

• Many of the species are suitable for the frame or Alpine house but are also grown in borders and grass (Fritillaria meleagris the Snake’s Head is seen like this in Magdalen College Oxford).

• Other species to look out for include the small Fritillaria tubiformis and its hybrids, Fritillaria verticillata with white bells on a taller plant and Fritillaria camschatcensis (the Black Sarana) with a very dark maroon almost black flower.

• The Crown imperial or Kaiser’s Crown Fritillaria imperialis can grow to an imposing 3 feet and is best planted at least 10″ deep.

• For information on Fratillaria gentneri see the National collection of imperiled plants

I was facing due North when I saw this tree in a local field. It shows how the prevailing wind is blowing from the West and I found it fascinating that other trees had grown in a way that supported the elongated branches.

It is not a garden sized tree, unless you have many acres, but it is a reminder that these great carbon capture devices are to be prized and cultivated.

With a shaft of winter sun through the branches of a decidous tree the Winter Aconites glow gold and bright yellow. The low level of the sun catches the flowers and opens the simple petals to flash the stamens at the early insects.
In the wild Aconites do exactly what bulbs are supposed to do they grow, flower and seed while light penetrates the bare branches of the trees above them.
Winter aconites grow only 3 inches high and have upturned yellow cup shaped flowers around 1 inch across. The flowers sit stalkless on a ruff of bright green leaves and they can flower for up to six weeks.
A member of the buttercup family the leaves are deeply cut and disappear back into the soil by May.

Growing Winter Aconite Tips

Read the rest of this entry »

Iris aucheri is almost icy blue in its typical form, but can be white to blue with a yellow ridge on the falls. There is a deep indigo form as well. The flowers have a violet-like scent.
This plant is growing in an Alpine house but it is easy, hardy, and vigorous, preferring sun and well drained soil. Water may collect in the leaves causing rot.
It is one of the ‘Junos’ which make up the largest group of bulbous irises with something around 60 species.
The overall form of most Junos is very distinct with fleshy corn like stems.
These varieties are dormant in summer.
‘Long tom pots’ are best to accommodate the deep fleshy roots.
All Juno Iris are best grown from seed.

See Flowers of Jordan

Other Juno Species

Read the rest of this entry »

The first week of March and it was time for me to chop the Cornus Dogwoods down to size. The red stems that have shown up so well during winter will never be the same again if left on the shrub so they are ‘out for the chop’.

Pruning Cornus

• Cut all the upright stems down to within 3 – 4 inches of the ground.
• Water well and mulch the stump with good compost or manure to encourage new growth. Dogwoods like water!
• New stems will grow, show leaf, flower and be ready for another winter display come Autumn.
• Some pencil thick stems, 6 inch long, can be used as cuttings for growing new plants.
• Check around the stool of the plant as you may have several new plants available from the layering of the old stems – any with roots can be severed from the main plant and relocated.

There are many other interesting Cornus trees and shrubs or new Cornus Alba Sibirica plants can be bought via Amazon

I planted some seeds of Hesperis Matronalis also called Sweet Rocket or Dame’s Rocket, and the plants came up like grass in next to no time. I should have reacted to the advice on the packet ’scatter thinly when sowing …..thin out as necessary. Plants will self seed in following years after flowering. Sow outdoors in May to June, transplant in autumn.’ Well now I have a veritable forest to prick-out and keep under cover until the frost goes.

Growing up to 3 foot high the open airy plant flowers in shades of purple and lilac to white.The fragrance is as sweet as a violet’s, and most pronounced in the evening. It looks good in a border or a cottage garden and is attractive to wildlife. Some plants may bloom until August but warm weather shortens the flowering period.

Treat the plant as a biennial although it can often be perennial. When established it can be invasive and seeds freely.

Seeds are available from Thompson Morgan Sweet Rocket

Photo by nicoretro on flickr

This delicate little Primula ‘Elizabeth Burrow’ is not the best example of a purple patch plant as it is little bigger than a £2 coin. Primula Denticula however can be a real stunner with lilac or purple flowers on lollipop stems. This is just an example of the range of purple colourings available on modern plants ranging from deep violet to lilac.
Also from the Primula family come the Japonica and Harlow Carr Hybrids that often sport a purple hue to the flower-heads.

At the red end of the purple spectrum this cyclamen make a strong colour statement and it could be paired with the 18″ high Allium hollandicum ‘Purple Sensation’. There are also many purple Rhododendrons for early flowering like the compact Ramapo.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tips for Designing Shrub Borders

• Create a tiered effect in your border by using shrubs of different heights.
• Plant low growing types at the base and later flowering ground cover.
• Select flowering shrubs who’s colour will lead the eye from one plant to the next.
• Only bother to prune to take out dead wood or if the shrubs become unruly or too high.
• Grow flowering shrubs to make a partially shaded plot for delicate flowers.
• Plant larger trees or shrubs off-center to avoid a too formal appearance.

Plant selection for an Acid Soil Border

• Camellia japonica can be planted at the back as it will grow 6-12 feet tall but only spread 3-5 feet. Red, white and pink are the most common colours to buy and the thick leathery leaves are evergreen.
• Azalea Knap Hill hybrids or Mollis are very floriferous decidious plants that flower in spring before the leaves grow. Mine are now 4 feet tall after 5 years. Depending on the size of you border I would use 3, 5 or 7 of these great plants in various colours.
• Callicarpa bodinieri produces stunning purple berries in Autumn 3-6 feet tall and wide.
• At the front you may need some shade loving plants like Epimedium with copper tinted leaves. Trillium sessile has ivy like leaves and white, red or brown springtime flowers.
• For shape it may be appropriate to add some Box (Boxus Sempervirens) near the front. 12-36″ tall.

Other Selections

• The scheme above is strongly spring flowering and Mahonia x media ‘ Charity’ or Pieris japonica could also be incorporated into the planting.
• For summer interest you may substitute or add Escallonia ‘Apple Blossom’, Hydrangea macrophylla or a hardy Fuchsia magellancia.
• Ceanothus ‘Autumn Blue’ will fit in a sunny spot and a variegated Ilex aquifolium at up to 12 feet adds berry interest late in the year.
• For general all year round cover the Elaegnus pungens Maculata has good colour in the leaves, Euonymus can grow to 10 feet and Skimmia has cream flowers in spring followed by red berries.

The cultivated banana comes from the genus Musa. Musa acuminata is the dessert banana and Musa balbisiana is the plantain that generally needs to be cooked. There are about 300 varieties, many of the edible varieties of which, do not produce seeds. Bananas are vegetatively propagated by means of ’suckers’ which develop from buds on the underground rhizome.

Cultivation Under Glass.

• Good drainage is crucial since saturated roots will kill and bananas will not tolerate water-logging.
• The banana plant is a very heavy feeder. Soil should be nutrient rich, slightly acidic, and loamy enough to retain moisture and keep nutrients from leaching below the shallow roots of the plant.
• Good organic compost and seaweed will help maintain the banana plant’s high mineral requirements.
• A fairly well-drained soil with a high organic matter content is ideal, and plenty of water should be provided throughout the growing season.
• Banana plants grown under glass in this country will bear fruit, particularly under warm humid conditions. Fruit should be left on the plant until fully developed and then removed for ripening.
• Cutting the plant back to soil level after fruiting will encourage suckering.
• Bananas can also be grown successfully as foliage pot plants if the temperature and humidity are high enough.
• Dry air in houses is one of the main causes of leaf getting brown tips and edges.

Edible bananas, such as the cultivar ‘Dwarf Cavendish’ can be grown under glass although they require a large area and plenty of height. High atmospheric humidity is essential and temperatures of at least 18°C during winter nights and 24°C during summer days are required. The plants also need full sun, possibly with some shading in the summer to maintain the requisite high levels of humidity.
Musa Williams Hybrid is a banana plant grown for the large banana heads with sweet, delicious bananas from a plant only growing 6-8 feet tall.

If growing for foliage it is   important to shelter the banana plant from heavy winds that can tatter the foliage.
Read the rest of this entry »