source

The spring light is shining through this crystal clear white rose that may well be the emblematic White Rose of Yorkshire. To get attractive blooms and glossy foliage try the following tips.

Tips to Get Great Roses.

• The first flush of Rose blooms are normally expected in June but with warmer springs and careful choice of plants to may get flowers earlier. Chelsea flower show in May seems to have great blooms in full flower.
• Old fashioned roses and ramblers that only flower once do not need pruning in spring if they were tidied up in Autumn.
• Plant patio and miniature roses for a summer display. Always soak container grown plants prior to planting.
• I was taught to prune roses by Easter but as that is a moveable feast so do your pruning when the Forsythia is in bloom.
• In Spring complete the tidy up and give a dressing of a balance rose fertilizer or well composted horse manure.
• For roses prone to fungal attack spray with a fungicide or tar wash. A good mulching helps protect against mildew.
• Watch out for early greenfly as they like the soft young shoots and buds. You can treat them with  a soapy wash or insecticide.
• Loosen compacted soil around roses so water and nutrients can soak in but don’t damage roots on grafted trees as you may get a crop of suckers.
• Remove any suckers at root level by pulling them away rather than cutting.
• Try layering to get a new plant. Take a young stem and peg it to the ground about 6 inches from its end. Nick the pegged point so roots can form and put a stone over the peg to conserve moisture.
• Water if it is a dry spring.

Happy New Year 2009

Enjoy Health, Happiness and all your Plants

From both of us at Gardenerstips

Prickly shrubs of the Berberis family are ornamental and useful for deterring unwanted visitors. The leaves themselves can be very spiky like Berberis Darwinii with glossy dark green leaves and orange flowers. Alternatively this purple Berberis Thunderbergii has stems that are spiney with sharp needles to deter the most ardent burglars.

How to Grow Berberis

• Also called the Barberry the shrubs are hardy, easy to grow and often quite rampant.
• Prune them into shape in spring and keep cutting to encourage branching and a close network of branches. Berberis can be very useful as part of an informal hedge.
• The flowers may have a second flush in autumn and the purple or red berries are edible though difficult to pick due to the prickles
• The species Helmond Pillar for is less robust than most Berberis and as its name suggests grows in a uniform pillar or column shape. My specimen is very slow to grow Read the rest of this entry »

Tips for Growing Phormium

• Phormiums make a striking architectural plant and feature in your garden.
• Called New Zealand flax the sword like leaves are leathery and useful for flower decorations.
• This variety of variegated Phormium tenax is 6 foot tall.
• Plants are usually vegetatively propagated  so look like the parent plant.
• Some plants can be grown from seed but I have no experience.
• Try Phormium as a potted plant.

Lots of varieties including, Apricot Queen, Black Edge, Bronze, Bronze Baby, Co-ordination, Copper Beauty, Coppershine, Dark Delight, Duet, Emerald Isle, Emerald Pink, Evening Glow, Gold Sword, Jack Spratt, Jester, Maori Sunrise, Pink Panther, Pink Stripe, Platt’s Black, Rainbow Maiden, Rubra, Sundance, Surfer Boy, Thumbelina, Tom Thumb, Tricolor, Yellow Wave. are available from http://www.fernwood-nursery.co.uk/phormium.htm

Wandering Jew is the common name of Tradescantia purpurea shown above. the leaves have a brownish  upper surface with a purple underside and fleshy paler stems. The colourvarieation is stronger if the plants get plenty of light.

How to grow Tradescantia

• Put five or six cuttings together in the same pot. This will produce several plants and a fuller pot.
• Tradescantia purpurea likes a moist soil whilst other Tradescantias like to be kept on the dry side. Purpurea can be kept in a shallow pot and are not a trailing variety.
• The quicksilver Tradesacntia fluminensis is bold and bright with silvery variegation on the leaves from a supply of bright light. this is a trailing variety that likes a regular liquid feed.
• The trailing Tradescantia blossfeldiana has pale green hairy foliage capable of withstanding rough treatment. It is easy to root from cuttings. Often grown in hanging baskets it needs less feeding than other Tradescantias.
• Trim back straggly growth after summer. Root new cuttings on a regular basis using them to fill gaps in the pot.
• Tradescantia flower with three petals but it is the leaf form that attracts most attention. Read the rest of this entry »

Silver Birch or Betula pendula has gleaming white trunk and stems that look good in winter with yellowing leaves in autumn that add seasonal colour. As a native British tree birches are good for the environment and encourage wild life.

Growing Silver Birches

• In a large garden a full grown Silver Birch can offer shelter to smaller less robust trees and shrubs.
• Silver Birch prefer light sandy soil but are quite tolerant of most soil conditions.
• Normally cultivated to above 30 feet tall Silver Birch seek out light, bright conditions.
• Small ‘whips’ or sapplings can be planted in Winter or Autumn and mature trees seed quite freely.
• The branches can be tied together to make a beesom. The timber is white and used for craft work and furniture making.
• A weeping Silver birch Betula pendula ‘Youngii’ produces a dome shaped or mushroom headed tree of lesser proportions. Read the rest of this entry »

From my experience of gardening, these are some of my favourite and most useful gardening tools.

1. Secateurs. When it comes to secateurs, there is no  point in buying some cheap variety. I recommend buying a really good pair and looking after them (i.e. don’t leave them out in the rain!). Secateurs are the most versatile and indispensable tool in the garden. They can be used from everything from pruning to picking flowers. With secateurs you can feel like an artist in the garden! – Secateurs at Amazon
2. Long Handled Shears. I’ll never forget the first time we bought my mother a pair of long handled shears, it makes the job of cutting edges so much easier and more satisfying. Don’t break your back and knees using old shears. Get some long handled shears and make it easier. Long handled shears
3. Bulb Planter. A bulb planter makes planting bulbs easier but also more targetted and specific. It means that you can plant bulbs in grass or borders. It is particularly useful for small gardens where you need precision in planting bulbs. Bulb Planters
4. Cold Frame. A cold frame offers excellent value for the keen gardener. If you grow a modest range of seeds, you can get a lot of benefit from a cold frame without the cost and difficulty of a greenhouse. A cold frame can be used for hardening off plants and bringing plants on. Cold Frame
5. Hoe. On a dry day when the soil is dry, there is nothing more satisfying than  a bit of hoeing, killing off all the unwated weeds, with easy movements, a great gardening job – much easier than getting down on your knees with a trowel. Hoe
6. Garden Stool. Great for getting up off the ground and keeping your knees dry. Can be turned over for impromtu stool. Garden Stools

• How To Extend life of Gardening tools
• Cheap Garden Tools

It is hard to know where to start with Rhododendrons and the 850+ species. Perhaps a good  book will help the beginner get an overview. Failing that there is membership of the RHS specialist section The Rhododendron, Camellia & Magnolia Group.

www.rhodogroup-rhs.org/ This society controls ‘The International Rhododendron Register and Checklist’ of the named 29,000 +varieties, cultivars and group names.

Gardenerstips

• Look out for plants with the Award of Garden Merit including the following Lepidote species Augustinii, Edgeworthii, Keiskei, Racemosum and Yunnanense.
• Elepidote species are generally larger and AGM’s include Niveum, Morii, Fluvum, Arboreum and Decorum.

source

What to do with Roses  in Winter

• Planning ahead  in January to get the best from your garden roses can be a restful pastime. What varieties and forms do you want to try? Check out some catalogues for ideas and more information.
• Tidy up leaves that may hold blackspot spores
• Prune any broken or damaged branches. Tie up loose ramblers or climbers.
• Spray with tar-oil wash to kill over-wintering pests if you are troubled by them.
• Prepare sites for new roses to be planted in spring. Double dig the ground and add organic matter, compost, humus and/or manure. Mix in bone meal or long lasting fertilizer.
• Transplant any old roses you wish to move but into a fresh site where roses have not been grown before. Read the rest of this entry »

Some orchids are temperamental but this Phalaelenopsis has give unstinting blooms for eight months on the trot without any trouble. Growing on one stem which branched into three side shoots there were upto 20 flowers on the Orchid at anyone time. The variety must be resilient as we gave it no special treatment but these Phalaelenopsis or Moth Orchids are one of the easier Orchids to grow.

Orchid Flowering Tips

• Orchids like a humid atmosphere but apart from  keeping the soil moist, not heavily watered this plant thrived on a north facing window sill.
• We don’t have under the window radiators so there was no dramatic drying
• This plant wasn’t fertilized but we didn’t get any new leaves either so perhaps we should have encouraged new growth for next season.
• The stem has now been cut back by a half to just above a joint. New flowers may grow and if not the plant will be given a rest in a light bathroom. Looking at the Orchid I see a new flower shoot growing from a leaf joint so there are more flowers to come
• Wipe the leaves to remove dust but do not let water stand on the leaves.
• Phalaenopsis like warm, shady conditions so fit in well to most modern homes.
• Leaves are important to the health and flowering ability of the plant. They should be turgid and glossy and mine are 9 inches long and about 4 inches wide.
• This variety is a strong grower suitable for shows and breeding having been the parent of many off spring.
• The pink veins in the petals make an attractive pattern whilst the darker inner petals add some mystery. Read the rest of this entry »