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Month: May 2014

Growing Lavenders in Pots

Growing Lavenders in Pots

The secret of good lavender is to keep them neat and tidy by clipping and trimming.

lavender

Lavenders make an excellent choice for growing in a pot. Being draught resistance they can cope better than many plants if a pot dries out. They will thrive in a warm and sunny position on the patio. They offer a refined choice and also give a delightful aroma and help to attract bees.

lavender

They will still need watering in dry spells, but, do not need the volume or frequency of watering that other plants may require.

Make sure you place crocks / stones at the bottom of the pot to ensure good drainage and waterlogging in the winter months. Choose a well draining compost and if necessary add some sand or grit.

In winter, lavenders will survive frost, but, don’t like being waterlogged.

Sunny South African Flowers

Sunny South African Flowers

osteospurnum

Many flowers only come out when the Sun is shinning like these Osteospurnum. As the day gets later or if it is cloudy and dark the petals close up again. Often these flowers attracted by the Sun are the most colourful and bright plants like Livingstone Daisies also called Mesembryanthemum (what a mouthful).

Helianthemum are called the ‘Sun Rose’ because they flower with brilliant colours during the height of the sun. Traditional Sunflowers with big yellow heads of flower and a dark centre do not close up at night but the head follows the sun moving during the day from facing East in the morning to facing West in the evening.

Gazinia

These strippy flowers from Africa are called Gazinia and flower through summer. Also called The Treasure Flower they have silvery-white leaves which makes the plant a pleasure to see, even out of flower. The bright blooms open in the sun and flower in a range of colours from creams and yellows, to oranges, reds and mauves.

too-gerbera
This is another daisy like flower called Gerbera that, like the Sunflower, will stay open but likes a lot of Sun to flower well.

Other Resources

Royal Horticultural Society RHS ‘Gardening for All’
National Council for Conservation of Plants and Gardens ‘Conservation through Cultivation.’
Garden Organic National Charity for Organic Gardening.
BBC Gardening

Soil Testing Kits and Patio Stuff

Soil Testing Kits and Patio Stuff

Book Cover

Test your soil (from each area of your garden) for acidity or alkalinity so you know what plants will thrive.

Chemical Tests
Mix a sample of soil with water. Add the test solution or capsule of test chemicals and watch the colour develop. Read off the colour of the liquid against the chart supplied that gauges alkalinity, neutral, acid and very acidic levels on a scale a bit more refined than the old litmus test from school.
The above kit is available from Amazon and is more detailed and comprehensive in that it also tests nutrient levels of NPK potassium/potash, phosphorus and nitrogen.

Probe Tester
These devices are supplied by Draper and others for checking soil pH levels, moisture content and light intensity. The tester comprises two 210mm long probes, three way selector switch (moisture/light/pH) and easy-to-read dial gauge. Uses solar power, so no batteries required.

Pation Improvers

Patio
Patio

Unfortunately, my patio doesn’t have an underlay to stop weeds coming through, so it is necessary to get the old hoe out and skim off the weeds. Actually it is quite a relaxing job. Also I use the hoe to scrap off some of the moss which starts to grow on the patio.

If you really want to get your patio clean and return it to its original bright condition, you will want to invest in a proper patio cleaner. This Karcher 300 effectively cleans the patio without spraying dirt up onto the walls and your trousers. If there is a heavy build up of moss, you might want to scrap this away first. It is relatively easy to use and at £33, relatively good value for providing one of the easiest ways to clean your patio. It’s easy to forget the original colour of your patio and also how much brighter the original colour can be.

Book Cover Patio Cleaner at Amazon.co.uk

Patio Cleaning Chemicals

Patio Cleaner Liquid at Amazon.co.uk

Patio Cleaning at Amazon
RHS Service
The RHS provides a Soil testing service for a fee details can be found on the Soil Analysis Service web page.

Purple Flowers that Attract Bees

Purple Flowers that Attract Bees

Is it the nectar, pollen or colour that attracts bees to flowers. May be it is all three!
Just watch bees swarm over Thyme when in flower.

b-cistus

Cistus only seem to flower for one day then the petals drop. Resting in the sun this Bee seems content with life.

069

Foxgloves have long tubular flowers so the Bee has to crawl right in to get the nectar. This moves pollen from flower to flower and Foxgloves then produce thousands of small powdery seeds.

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Shade Tolerant Plants

Shade Tolerant Plants

Shade Border at Oxford Botanic Gardens
Shade Border at Oxford Botanic Gardens

Any garden will have a shady corner, there are still many plants we can grow. So rather than reach for the tree pruners try some of these plants.

  • Foxgloves (digitalis). Foxgloves are a tall imposing plant offering a long flowering season of attractive bell shaped flowers. They are biennuals which flower in their second year.
  • Cyclamen (Cyclamen hederifolium). Cyclamen are delicate low growing plants which flower in winter or autumn, giving a range of flowers. They die back in summer, so don’t forget where they were planted.
  • Siberian Squill (Scilla Siberica) This is a bright blue, bulbous perennial which has dazzling nodding flowers in spring.
  • Cranesbill Geranium ‘Johnson Blue’ grows in low growing dense clumps which makes it difficult for weeds to grow through.
  • Epimediums have pretty, heart-shaped leaves and delicate flowers.
  • Lamium (dead nettle) will grow in most shady areas
  • Ivy will grow in shady areas, if you just want green ground cover
  • Helleborus. One of my favourite plants, great leaves and flowers in the middle of winter

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Shade and Dry Areas

Shade and Dry Areas

Try the shade test. If you can’t see to read then plant a fountain as no plants are likely to thrive.
If you can only just read then try Ivies, ferns, mosses, box, Ruscus aculeatus an evergreen shrub or craggy moss & lichen covered stones.
Under a deciduous tree spring bulbs, berberis and some clematis may be good doers.
Lightly wooded areas are havens for hostas, hellebores, solomons seal, trillium and choisya amongst others.

Dry Shade is one of the least hospitable places in the garden but some flowering perennials will thrive. A modicum of sun or light will suffice to provide this more interesting top ten.

Top Ten Dry Shade Perennials

Poppy

1. Convallaria majalis or Lily of the Valley will provide scented bell shaped flowers and spread from underground shoots
2. Meconopsis cambrica Welsh Poppy with single yellow or orange flowers has fern like foliage
3. Lamium maculatum or the Spotted Deadnettle is semi-evergreen.
4. Geranium macrorrhhizum or Balkan Cranesbill has magenta flower sprays and covers the ground quite quickly.

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Accidents with Seeds

Accidents with Seeds

Oh to Bee a Wallflower

Things often go wrong in the garden so it is a change when serendipity takes a hand.

Recent Accidents
In my greenhouse I have a permanent, slatted wooden bench. I must have been careless with some wallflower seeds which have fallen close to the glass, grown and flowered.
Every morning for weeks I have gone to open the doors to air the greenhouse and been confronted by a wonderful smell. If I had planned to get a scented greenhouse I could not have done better.
I will now try more scented accidents but will stick to one scent at a time with wallflowers featuring again next spring.

A different seed accident has taught me a painful lesson. My compost got contaminated either at the supplier or in my potting shed.
I keep my compost in old waste bins and leave the top open when I am using the compost regularly.
To a bag of compost I add sand or John Innes depending what  am growing. This years first batch of seeds grew rapidly but every pot has grown a crop of weeds.
Fortunately I used all the contaminated compost before I realised the problem and later sowings in fresh compost were fine.

 

Occasionally even the best seed packet retailers make a mistake with the contents or plant description. Don’t assume it is always your fault.

Action for the future

I must not mix  one bag of compost with another.
Buy the same brand of trusted compost everytime (I used five different ones this year).
Put a lid or cover on the compost to stop insects, seeds and fungus causing problems.
Not storing paper envelopes of seed on the shelf above my compost.
Plan ‘accidental’ seed sowing in interesting places.

 

  • Whilst in the aluminium greenhouse I strung a firm wire across from the knee high screw holes as part of my intended support for tomato plants later in the year.
  • During the hot spring I have damped down the greenhouse to improve humidity. I used the hose pipe on fine spray from the doorway to water the seed trays.
  • I am ready to harvest the small carrots I have grown in the greenhouse where the tomato plants will go.
Pieris japonica Portraits

Pieris japonica Portraits

An early stunner the Pieris shrubs are amongst my favourite Japanese inspired plants.

Pieris japoninca

Pieris japonica or the lily of the valley bush is one of my springtime favourites.
The clusters of small, bell shaped flowers arrive at the same time as the young, new red leaves in April.

A favourite shrub this Pieris provides colour and scent from the flowers in winter. I spotted this at the beginning of December and expect the flowers to last until February. Eventually the blossom will be replaced with the famous bright red showy leaves that have rightly made the Pieris much sought after.

Tips and Hints for Great Pieris

  • Pieris are happy in light shade. If you place them near paths you will get the scent from the drooping winter flowers early in the new year but allow space for the plant to grow. This years December blossom is very early for the north of England
  • Pieris are ericaceous shrubs loving the same slightly acid soils preferred by Camellias, Rhododendrons and Azaleas.
  • Prune or deadhead after flowering but take care not to remove new leaves which are a delight and the main reason for growing Pieris
  • There are two main species the Pieris japonica and the Pieris Forrestii. I grow the Forest Flame and Katsura hybrid.
  • Leaves start a bright strong red and mature to green making a startling sight.
  • If the leaves tend to yellow and appear sickly it is because of alkaline soil and an ericaceous feed and a peat mulch would help.
  • The shrub is slow growing but may reach 8 feet. However it is still useful under larger trees if it can get good moisture.

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Icelandic Poppies

Icelandic Poppies

159

Icelandic Poppies are native of North America rather than Iceland. I am not aware of any exclusively native Iceland plants.

I find this poppy variety self sows very easily and the seed remains viable in the garden for several seasons.
The plants have a long tap root which may make them harder to transplant.
If the root gets broken when trying to dig out the plant a new one will probably grow in its place. Due to this and its profligate seeding I treat them like weeds.

poppy

Other Icelandic Poppy Images from Google

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Misleading Plant Labels

Misleading Plant Labels

Roses

What you see is not always what you get!

This is an original photograph but the rain drops may have been added by a water spray just before the picture was taken. Many garden photographers carry glycerin water around to enhance a subject prior to snapping away.

Plant Label Pictures

  • When it comes to plant labels be extra cynical.
  • The time of day affects the colour of the flower.
  • Filters can be used on the camera to modify the end image.
  • When ready to be reproduced the image can be changed with digital tools. You may have seen wedding photographs with the naughty uncle painted out or spots on some ones face touched up. Well that can and does happen to plant pictures that are designed to sell the flower.
  • Even at the printers the inks and machine settings used can change the picture on the label. What you see may not be what you get.
  • More radical changes can  be done or may be I have created the first true Blue Rose.

 

Blue, Mauve, Purple, I am not sure what colour this is. All I know is it will never grow in my garden or anywhere else short of laboratory experiments