National Council for the Conservation of Plants and Gardens or NCCPG is a charity that manages the system of National Plant Collections. Amongst other activities its member receive  a biannual magazine Plant Heritage and information on conservation.

http://www.nccpg.com/page.aspx?Page=1

The web site is informative and can help you locate where and when you can visit a particular national collection and lists open days and events. You can also purchase the Plant Collections Directory for £5.

Win a bursary to design a garden at the Butterfly World site in St Albans. The design can be free format and has few boundaries so designers from all disciplines  can be considered. The gardens when built and opened in 2009 will be the successor to the International Festival of the Garden previously on show at Westonbirt. For more information

http://www.futuregardens.org/pages/about_future.html

If you are interested in conceptual designs then the book ‘Avant Gardeners’ by Tim Richardson will be a useful resource available from Amazon for £17

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Avant-Gardeners-50-Visionaries-Contemporary-Landscape/dp/0500513937/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1214142897&sr=8-1

In a well known water feature a Gnome was placed on a rock in the center of a pond - The feature was called ‘Gnomeman is an Island’

Two Garden Gnomes walk into a bar. The third one ducks.

Gnomes grow a vegetable that helps brush your teeth - ‘Bristle Sprouts’

What is F 1 Seed

F1 hybrid is the result of crossing two pure lines to create the desired result. If one plant has good habit and poor flower and another has good flower and poor habit they can be cross fertilised so that resulting seed can produce plants with good habit and good flowers. A pure strain of each parent is first selected by pollinating the best examples with themselves. When a good pure strain is achieved the resulting plants will be cross fertilized by hand to produce F1 seed.

Benefits of F1

• Breeding programs have made it possible to bring out the outstanding qualities of the parent plants
• Qualities have been enhanced and new desirable characteristics added to the resultant hybrid plants
• Vigor, trueness to type, heavy yields, selected fragrance and colour are all potential benefits of F1
• Uniformity are other characteristics of hybrid plants
• Good disease resistance can be built in by appropriate selection

Other F1 Issues

• Seed is expensive and a packet probably contains a lower number of seeds as they are expensive and time consuming to create and grow
• Saving seed from F1 will not produce the same plants the following year. Only seed from the cross of pure lines will be F1.
• Vegetables are a good use of F1 as crops are larger and the extra cost is probably worth the effort
• I have just sown F1 Wallflower Treasure Mix to test it against other wallflowers

F1 Vegetables to try

http://www.unwins.co.uk/cabbage-spring-hero-seeds-spring-pid1149.html

http://www.dobies.co.uk/pd_431969_Beetroot_Kestrel_F1_Seeds.htm

Seeds of fast leafy salad crops can be sown until the end of July and they will be ready to start picking in about 50 days. Loose leaf Lollo Biondi and Lollo Rossa will be ready from about this time and you can pick individual leaves as you need them. Give them some cloche protection in September and you may be picking through October.

Salad seedlings are nutritious and at the peak of flavour so try Red Mustard or Red Chard for early picking but with added colour for your salads. The spring onion North Holland Blood Red is also worth eating as you thin our the crop.

For something with a bit more kick Rocket, Radiches or Nasturtium leaves may suit or try Mizuna or the leaves of Beetroot.

http://www.dobies.co.uk/ProductDetail.aspx?product=439522

There are many families, species and varieties of grass suitable for ornamental purposes. Weather you want a prairie grass-scape, a potted plant or a focal point in a formal garden then there is a grass to suit. Grasses are well suited to a range of landscaping projects.

The Fescue, Pennisetum, Panticum, Carex, Miscathus, Stipa and many other species are covered below. A recommended variety is given where ever possible along with shore notes. Grasses are perennial unless stated to be annuals.

Blue Fescue (Festuca ovinia var. glauca) are mound-forming, semi-evergreen perennials used as specimen plants in borders and rock gardens.

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1. Wallflower seeds should be sown in June or July for next spring - It pays to think ahead for the garden
2. Deadhead plants that have flowered
3. Occasionally water your plants with a solution of seaweed extract as a plant tonic and water newly sown seeds with a dilute solution as it helps germination
4. After a prolonged rainy spell mulch your plants leaving a saucer effect to collect more water
5. Water African violets and cape primroses from the bottom by placing pots in a shallow bowl to take up the water they need.
6. With the increase in cost of all fuel plan what heat you need in the greenhouse this winter. hardier plants may survive in a cold greenhouse whilst tender plants may be over wintered in the house.
7. If you have an unsightly boundary fence turn it into a ‘Fedge’. Weave Forsythia, Winter Jasmin and or Variagated Ivy (hedera canariensis) between the fence posts and palisades and get your cross between a hedge and a fence.
8. For an aromatic low hedge try Rosemary the scent from which also confuses the carrot root fly
9. Grow horseradish in drainpipes inserted vertically into the ground to get straight roots
10. Your salads can be perked up with the thinning from salad crops and onions or leaves of other plants like the peppery taste of Nasturtium leaves

The curly herb Parsley crispum is naturally slow to germinate. If the soil dries out it may never germinate.

• Try watering the drill then sow the seed in the drill covering with dry soil. This covering will dramatically reduce evaporation so the seed will be in contact with moisture for longer.
• Pre soak the seed overnight and sow in soil modules too transplant when roots are still small
• Try flat leaved parsley neapolitanum (as shown) as it is easier to germinate and has a good flavour and vigorous growth
• Plant out supermarket grown potted herbs
• Hamburg Parsley is grown for the roots which are a cross between the flavour of celery and parsley

Old wives tales (that aren’t true)

• Parsley doesn’t only germinate when the woman wears the trousers
• You don’t need to pour boiling water on the seeds
• Parsley seeds do not need to go to the devil and back nine times before germinating

Grow your own Rhubarb as it is easy to cultivate and gives a large crop of tender pink stalks. Victoria, Timperley Early, Stocksbridge Arrow, and Champagne are some of the best varieties but there are lots to choose from at your garden centre or cadge a crown from neighbours.

The crown of the plant is the top of the root system where the stalks shoot from. Under the crown will be a thick root or rhisome with finer hairs to take up the nutrients from the soil. Because it produces a large crop it needs feeding with good compost or farmyard manure when planted and then as a mulch everyspring and autumn.

Grow Rhubarb without fuss

• One or two plants will produce ‘fruit’ for many pies and crumbles about 5 lbs per plant- water the plants in dry conditions and pick after the first full season has been allowed to put enegry into the root system.
• Every 5 years or when the plant becomes unproductive lift and split the root with a budded crown on each piece and replant
• Rhubarb likes slightly acid soil but tolerates most soil with good drainage and a high humous content
• Do not let the plants flower or energy will not go into stalk production. Cut flowers off as soon as possible.
• Rhubarb is tough and likes a frost to encourage growth
• Thin tender pink stalks can be forced early by placing a pot or barrel over the plant
• Do not eat the leaves they contain Oxalic acid.

Organic Rhubarb

• However the leaves can be composted as the acid breaks down
• Grow rhubarb organically as chemicals may react to the leaves.
• There aren’t many predators until the slugs come as the leaves decompose

Lawns are cut regularly to encourage side shoots, prevent flowers and seeds and to keep the grass tidy. Some attention should also be given to other grasses to encourage production of fresher growth at the beginning of the growing season and to control flowering.

Pruning Bamboo

• All bamboos look better when scruffy, broken or damaged shoots are removed. Weak side shoots and branches often look unattractive.
• Thin dense thickets to create space for the flexing stems of new shoots. Cut out old canes with loppers or a pruning saw close to the ground.
• Thin out other shoots to create a balanced, airy clump.
• Prune above a node to prevent die back
• For more growth from dwarf bamboos cut down to soil level in early spring and treat like a hardy perennial to get fresh clean foliage.
• Some bamboos are invasive and the tough, springy roots need to be removed or root pruned annually. Plant a barrier at least 18 inches deep around invasive types.
• Bamboo can be turned into Topiary as the leaves grow more abundantly after pruning and the culm won’t grow
• Bamboos need to be replaced every 10-15 years

Cutting Ornamental Grass

• Evergreen grasses should have leaves and seed heads tidied up whenever the start to look unkempt
• Damaged stems should be cut off regularly
• If you want to avoid too many self sown seedlings cut off flower heads before they mature or you will be hoeing out all unwanted plants
• Cut young foliage and flowers for drying well before they are in full bloom
• Cortaderia or Pampas grass has sharp edges so take care when pulling out old leaves. Cut out flowerheads as low as possible. If still cluttered cut out some new grass to create space.
• Grasses that aren’t evergreen should be cutback hard in early spring before new shhots start
• On tussock forming grass remove the lower leaves that are close to the soil and may harbour diseases