Plus Points for Hebe

• Evergreen shrubs keeping shape and form through winter
• Ornamental planting invaluable at the seaside and as an ornamental hedge
• Long racemes or spikes of flowers that attract bees and hoverfly
• Colour range from purple, lavender, blue and stunning white due to the volume of flower from June to late summer depending on variety.
• Easy to grow from cuttings
• Dwarf varieties and shrublets, H. ‘gibbsii’ and H. ‘subsimilis astonii’ upto six foot specimens with H. ‘cupressoides’
• Purple leaved varieties including H. Midsummer Beauty
• Useful for low maintenance areas as the larger varieties fill the space quickly
• Hebes in flower attract insects particularly bees and hoverflies

In addition to the RHS here are some web links to organisations maintaining gardens or retaining documents relating to gardens include:

Garden History Society (www.gardenhistorysociety.org

Kew Gardens http://www.kew.org/library/

English Heritage http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/nav.2

Museum of Garden History (www.cix.co.uk/~museumgh/index.htm

National Trust (www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/

UK Database of Historic Parks and Gardens (www.york.ac.uk/depts/arch/landscapes/ukpg/database/index.htm

Scottish Archive Network (SCAN) (www.scan.org.uk/

Association of Garden Trusts (www.gardenstrusts.co.uk

A national organization representing County Gardens Trusts that are actively engaged in conserving, researching, documenting and caring for the heritage of parks, gardens and designed landscapes.

Penstemon’s have been an excellent, low maintenance plant for me. They can start flowering in June and still be flowering 4 months later in October. They mostly require well drained soil and protection from heavy frosts. Dead heading is advisable as it will encourage new flowers.

Once or twice a year, I would recommend adding a general fertiliser applied at the base of the plant, taking care to follow the manufacturers instructions. They don’t need a heavy manure of strong nitrogen feed as this will just encourage excessive leaf growth and make them more susceptible to aphids.

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Red, White and Blue the patriotic colours of the Hydrangea are augmented by pinks and purples like H. Ayeshia above as a variation on those themes. Flowering from mid-summer these shrubs give a magnificent display with very little effort. Did you see Hydrangea maritima on seaside holidays in large displays of sugary pink and sometimes blue.

Hydrangea macrophylla is the mop head type that can change flower colour from pink too blue depending on the soil. If the soil is acid then you will get a blue flower. The pink is produced on alkaline and more neutral soils. To change to blue add Aluminium sulphate or special colouring chemicals from garden centres to get a pink add lime. Some old methods include burrying a bag of nails or putting rusting iron near the plant. For best results when the soil id wrong for your desired colour plant it in a large pot with the right type of soil and keep it well wartered.

Hint and comments on Hydrangeas

• Named after the Greek for water keep your Hydrangeas moist
• Hydrangea quercifolia has oak shaped leaves and flowers white in the shade.
• Lacecap varieties have a looser form to the flowers with flat open flower heads where the florets don’t all open at once. Try variety maresii
• Buy plants in bloom so you know what you are getting in colour and form or plant in Autumn
• Hydrageas like rich moist soil and a bit of shade in the early morning to avoid frost damage to young shoots
• Prune out old flower heads, dead stems and old wood from overgrown bushes in the spring
• Hydrangeas can be used as cut flowers or dried for a papery addition to a winter arrangement
• A dwarf species H. thunbergii grows to about 2 foot.

Some old varieties to look out for

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It has been difficult to finalise a list of the top 10 fragrant plants. So I have elected to chose my ten favourite flowers with a selected variety. I have cheated by including two roses but could easily has 10 or 100 roses in a list. Your choice will vary and the result will depend on the location, culture and selections you make.

1. Philadelphus lemoinei ‘innocence’ Mock Orange single creamy white flowers
2. Hyacynth ‘Bismark’ porcelain blue
3. Wisteria sinensis the white form if you can find it
4. Honeysuckle Lonicera americanum with masses of rich spicy flowers
5. Regal Lily lilium regale
6. Datura inoxia another white form needing some protection
7. Dianthus barbatus Sweet Wlliam Dobies ‘All Double’
8. Old garden Gallica rose ‘Charles de Mills’ raspberry coloured.
9. Climbing Rose ‘Guinee’
10. Freesia ‘Gold Coast’, ‘Treasure’ or ‘White Giant’

Verbena Bonariensis is one of my favourite plants. This is actually poking up from some cracks in the patio; giving an impact of meadow planting. It like its informality, height and delicacy of flower. I think it is best when grown in random clumps.

Generally verbena bonariensis grows well from seed. Scatter some on the soil in late July / August and if lucky it will continue to self sow for many years

A compost heap is an excellent way of recycling dead plant material and generating the best possible soil fertiliser. A good compost heap also gives a feeling of satisfaction because it helps the gardener to become part of the natural cycle of growth, decay and regeneration. Using a compost heap will also save many unnecessary trips to the local tip. These are some of the various aspects to good composting

The Compost Bin A compost bin should be about 1 square metre. It is important to have a good size, but, it should also be compact because otherwise the generated heat will be dissipated. It is also best to have at least two bins. This enables one heap to rot down, whilst the other is added to. A compost heap should also be aerated and enable water to enter. If you have an enclosed plastic bin, make sure you water where necessary.

Positioning. A compost heap can be really be put anywhere; most people want to choose a spot that is not too prominent. However, if it receives direct sunlight the process of decomposition will be faster.

Base Layer. At the bottom of a compost heap it is good to use some twiggy material to make sure there is good drainage; if you have a heavy clay soil, you might want to add some grit to provide good drainage. If a compost heap becomes waterlogged, the process of decomposition will slow down and it will become slimy.

Mixing Layers. The next important strategy is to provide a good mix of material when building up a compost heap. For example, grass is a high source of nitrogen and can break down quickly to generate heat. However, grass needs to be mixed with other more woody material, otherwise it will not rot down properly. Similarly on their own stems and twigs will take a long time to rot down unless they have an activator like grass or over very green material. When adding grass clippings spread them out to form a thin, equal layer; then add a layer of more twiggy material. If necessary store a potential layer for adding at the right time.

Breaking Up Twiggy Material. Thick stems will take a long time to break down. If you have a shredder, it will make the job of composting a lot more successful. It will break down the material and enable much faster composting. If you don’t have a shredder, you can just squash the stems or break them in a few places. A rather crude, but effective, tip is to get a spade and hit down on the top of the heap to break a few stems. Even this small step will help quite a lot; what you are doing is to increase the surface area, enabling faster decomposition.

Water. As mentioned before, water is important. It is important to water a compost heap a bit like watering a plant. If there is no water, the compost heap will dry out and will not decompose. If it is waterlogged it will stagnate. Most compost heaps suffer from being dry, so every now and then throw on some water to speed up the process of decomposition.

Cover. When the compost heap is finished with adequate amounts of water, it is good to cover with a plastic coating. This enable the heap to generate more heat, speeding up the process of decomposition; it also prevents excess water.

Aerate. In hot weather when a compost heap is generating a lot of heat it is a good idea to get a garden cane and poke the heap, every now and then. This allows air to enter and expedites the process of aerobic decomposition. A good heap will have steam coming from it when you aerate it.
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Make your own seed planting tape. Mix some flour and water or non-fungicidal wallpaper paste and squirt a line along a length of paper towel. Sprinkle fresh seed into the goo and place the tape in the seed bed covering to the required depth. The seeds can be seen and get a damp start. Some seeds like carrots can be germinated in the paste then squeezed out of a tubeing ina fnie line.

Make a seed shaker for fine seeds like Livingstone Daisy by firstly mix the seed with dry sharp sand. Then put the mix into a kitchen shaker, salt cellar. perforated lidded tin or similar. When sowing the seed will go further and there will be less thinning out.

To make Willow water containing growth hormones collect new tender shoots, tips and leaves from willow trees. Cut into small pieces and steep until the liquid becomes tea coloured and strain. Use the fluid for soaking the end of cuttings prior to planting or for watering new plants.

A Spade cleaner and tool shiner couldn’t be easier. Fill a bucket with sharp sand mixed with some oil. Clear off the worst of the soil and plunce the spade trowel or fork repeatedly in the mix to clean and shine. Have a can of WD40 handy for spray oiling other tools.

Make your own planting device from a PVC pipe cut to a convenient length of say three foot six sharpen one end and use to draw furrows drop seeds don the tube and turn over to back fill. Other bodging tools can be made from kitchen implements even an old ironing board can become a portable potting bench.

Floral Fragrance – 30  Flowers and Scents

There are several perfume groups which have been classified by comparison and contrasts. Similar groupings are used in the perfume industry and arise from the mix of alkaloids and chemicals in the flowers. There are many variations and combinations and these groups are a guide as to what to look out for:

Heavy group

Strong long lasting often white flowers  - Lilium candidum, Lilac syringia, Lily of valley convallaria majalis, Pheasants eye narcissus, tuber rose.

Aromatic group

Pleasant fragrance spicy like clove and cinnamon from families like Dianthus, and Peonies.  Other scents within this group include aniseed (Primroses), vanilla (witch hazel) and almond fragrance  Try Choisa ternate,Viburnum carlesii  & Hyacinth especially Bluebells

Violet group

Violets are reputed to tire the senses. The white violet is the strongest Viola, also try Iris reticulate, Acacia and Mignonette

Rose group

Light truly sweet fruity fragrance that is refreshing even when concentrated. Also present in rose leaved geranium Pelargonium capitatum

Lemon group

Refreshing and tangy more often found in leaves than flowers.  Rose bracteata and Water lily nymphaea odorata.

Fruit scented group

All fruit except lemon including Philadelphus mock orange cytisus battandieri (pineapple) and Freesia

Animal scented group

Musk or animal scent which get more pungent after pollination. Hypericum, Fritillaria imperialis and Moss roses

Honey scented group

Related to animal scented group with delicate musky sweet fragrance like Honeysuckle, Buddleja, Jasmine officinale and Sedum spectabile.