Archive | September, 2008

Mildew on Plants in Autumn

Mildew is a white powdery fungus that looks unsightly on these leaves. Mildew is a sign of stress in a plant and usually arises from damp air with poor circulation. It is prevalent in my garden now Autumn is here in force. Some plants are more prone than others. My Phlox, Roses, Michaelmas Daisies and [...]

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Growing Biennial Papaver nudicale & Eschscholzia

This is an easy to grow biennial. Plant seeds now, either where they are to flower, or under cover for planting out 9 inches apart later. Germination can be erratic but they also dislike being transplanted so you are caught between a rockery and hard-landscaping. The reason I say they are easy, is because they [...]

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Taking Late Autumn Cuttings

It is still not too late to take semi ripe and hard wood cuttings. Many perennials are short lived, like penstemon above, and they can be reinvigorated from new cuttings. Plants are not at there best in Autumn so results may not be perfect but I find it pays to experiment. Gardeners Autumn Cutting Tips [...]

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Photos from Oxford Gardens – Early Autumn

Sunflowers Oxford Botanic Gardens Sunflowers nearly as tall as the tower Autumn Colours Oxford Botanic Garden – early autumn Late flowering herbaceous border

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Confessions of a Gardening Gourmand

A gourmet is a connoisseur of delicacies and a judge of good food. Therefore a ‘gardening gourmet’ is a connoisseur of the garden and its impact on all your senses. A gourmand is more like a gluttonous and greedy feeder who is hard to satiate. A ‘gardening gourmand ‘ acquires more plants,  grows more seedlings, [...]

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Rhus typhina, Stag Horn Sumach

This tree in my neighbours garden is about 9 foot tall. The panticles looks spectacular in the evening sunlight but overall the plant is prone to suckers and consumes a lot of space. Growing Rhus If you get sucker problems try cut out at the root. They can become invasive. As part of a large [...]

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Gardening For Climate Change

After this wet summer what has happened to Global Warming? Are there any advantages of Global Warming and how should gardeners design for such changes. What is Global Warming ‘Climate change’ is used as a catch-all phrase to encompass the effects of global warming, the increase in temperature caused by greenhouse gases and the Northerly [...]

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Floral Clock Bradford

For many years I have seen floral clocks at Cartwright Hall, Bradford but just realised they are seldom floral. The plants used are low growing, coloured leaf plants like short Lavender, Sedums, Golden Moss, Blue Festuca grass and Sage. Each year the clock celebrates an event, charity or organisation – perhaps I will have a [...]

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Uses for Echevaria

Succulents often have neat attractive leaf forms. The range of rosettes available in the Echevaria group include red tipped points to the leaves and tight groups of offsets as they multiply. This leads to a common name of ‘Hens and Chickens’. Where to Grow Echeveria This specimen was part of a row at the front [...]

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Jerusalem Artichokes Helianthus tuberosus

Jerusalem artichokes are related to sunflowers not artichokes. So you will often see them flowering on the edges of allotments. The stems are up to 10 feet tall and the yellow flowers in September are quite bold and eye catching. The fleshy rhizomes or tubers are eaten like potato. They are knobbly in shape. They [...]

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