If you want to pick a bunch of flowers like these next spring first you need to buy and plant your bulbs.
The best selection is generally available first.

Buying Spring Bulbs

• From August the bulbs start arriving in the nurseries and Garden centres.
• I have bought my first selection of miniature Narcissus Little Gem. They will grow 6-8″ high (or short) and flower sulphur yellow.
• I have in mind to grow them in pots in the cold greenhouse.
• Another variety I am on the look out for is ‘Cedric Morris’ which often has flowers by Christmas. It is the earliest daffodil I know and beats the first snowdrop and winter aconite into flower.
• Below is a display of small Narcissus shown to scale against my filofax.

Tips for Narcissus Growing in Pots

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Perennials are a huge group of plants that should survive year after year. The majority of perennial plants discussed here are herbaceous in that the leaves and stems die back and new growth restarts from the buried roots in the new year.

Choosing Shapes and Colour

• The delicate blossom of Oriental Poppies, the bristly blue spheres of Echinopsis Globe thistles, the Yellow daisy stars of Rudbeckia or the spikes of Red Hot Pokers can be a challenge for gardeners to mix in the same border.
• Some shapes and colours go well together whilst other clash.
• Some look good when massed together others need loose groupings or space to become a specimen plant.
• My tip would be ‘if in doubt keep it simple’.
• Generally put tall plants at the back of borders but occasionally vary the height in the middle.
• Consider the foliage, as much as the flower, as it will be with you far longer than most blossom.
• Bear in mind different flowering times, don’t expect primroses to flower with purple Monarda no matter how good the colour combination would look.

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I have tried to grow several Pelargonium varieties this year and been pleasantly surprised at the various forms and colours I have succeeded in producing.

The Grandiflorum is an upright, shrubby perennial with soft smooth stems bearing lobed leaves and large, pinkish-white flowers with dark-purple markings. The plant above I spotted in Chelsea Physic garden this summer.

Dwarf Pelargoniums

• I have long had a plant that resembles ‘Don’s Helen Bainbridge’ that I got from Fir Trees nursery. It has tricoloured leaves and grows only 3″ above the pot.
• After some success with this variety and liking the small habit I bought a collection of Dwarfs and they have done well in the first year. I will see how my many cuttings now perform.
• I try feed main plants with high potash feed from spring and indoor flowering has generally been good.
• Alice and Kerensa have been amongst my favourites with pale flowers tinged with pink.
• The 3″ pots, I have used, dry out quite quickly and better watering would have produced better plants.

Miniature Pelargoniums

• I didn’t realise that miniature geraniums were so varied and interesting . Without a formal description I have taken miniature to mean 4″- 7″ high with smaller than normal geranium leaves. Read the rest of this entry »

The Japanese poetic work, ‘Manyoshu’ published in 759 AD but written 300-400 years prior  selected 7 flowers for Autumn. This corresponds to the 7 Herbs of spring reported on an earlier post.

Autumn has a slight air of melancholy as the summer glory fades and a last bright showing of seed and flower takes pride of place in the garden.

Seven Flowers of Autumn

• Lespedeza, Bush clover
• Miscanthus sensis, Japanese Pampas Grass
• Pueraria Thunbergiana, Kuzu Vine
• Doianthus superbus longicalcinus, the Fringed Pink
• Patrinia scabiosaefolia, Golden Valerian or Golden Lace
• Eupatorium stoechadosmum, Orchid Herb
• Pharbitis, Morning Glory

The latin name has been given first followed by any common names or translation. In some parts of Japanese gardening culture there are slight variations to the plants selected. Often Platycodon grandiflora the Balloon Flower is substituted for one of the above species.

Poetry in the Garden Read the rest of this entry »

The oldest anthology of Japanese poetry composed from 450AD refers to ‘seven plants showing green through the cold earth as harbingers of spring’.

Eaten on the 7th day of January, mixed with rice gruel, this concoction makes an early spring dish of varied herbs. Each herb has its own homeopathic effect on our health.

The Seven Spring Herbs

• Combined together the following plants form ‘Haru no nanakusa’.
• Oenanthe stolonifera, water celery, or water parsley
• Capsella bursa-pastoris or Shepherd’s Purse
• Gnaphalium affine or Cudweed
• Stellaria media or Chickweed
• Lamium amplexicaule,  Henbit, or Deadnettle
• Brassica rapa,  White Turnip, mustard greens, or celery cabbage
• Raphanus sativus or Japanese White Radish

This may be a hard mix to find in the UK but the idea of mixing herbs appeals to me. If you have a favourite mix or concoction then send details via our comment section below.

For ,ore information see the Japan Times online


Grow and Crop your own Soya Beans

• For a little grown vegetable Soya are an easy and attractive crop to grow.
• Sow in a propagator or into warm soil May or June if sowing direct outside.
• Plant in well-drained, moist rich soil, 6 inches apart. Keep well watered, particularly as pods are setting.
• You will get 3-4 beans to a pod but you get lots of hairy self pollinated pods at the top of the plant.
• Plants are virtually pest and disease free.

How to Use Your Soya Beans

• You can pick pods whilst beans are still green and boil them in the pods with salt. Butterbean & Envy are good varieties for this purpose available from organicseedsonline.com
• Shelled the green beans can be treated like broad beans
• When pods turn brown harvest the dry beans and they can be stored in an airtight container. Soak them for 12 hours before using.
• Good varieties include Ustie, Butterbean and Elna.
• Commercially grown Soya is often GM but produces oil, Soya milk, Bean Curd or Tofu and can also be fermented to make Soya sauce.

Japanese Beans

• Azuki beans are a hairy annual similar to Soya beans. They have yellow flowers and longer pods.
• Daizu is the Japanese Soya rich in oil and protein. Flowers are violet or white and pea shaped.
• Miso is a bean paste made from Soya beans rice and salt.
• Tofu is an easily digested protein made from soaked and curded soya beans.
• Natto is fermented Soya beans often eaten at Japanese breakfasts.

I have to admit I do not like the smell of Achillea but some of the new hybrid varieties are making me reconsider growing the plants. Achillea ‘The Beacon’ looks brilliant in large groups of 2′ high, swaying flowers.

Achillea Growing

• Growing conditions and variety influence eventual height from 18″ to 6′.
• These perennial plants get taller each year if not divided and replanted each Spring.
• The leaves are ferny, attractive grey green and sometimes silver or woolly white. The leaves give Achillea millefolium it’s name meaning thousand leaves.
• In the Iliad, Achilles’ soldiers used yarrow to treat wounds hence the common names “All Heal” and “Bloodwort”.

Flowering Conditions

• The flower heads are long lasting and attract hoverflies, bees and other beneficial insects.
• Most Achillea have flat flower heads in a range of shades with many yellow varieties.
• Achillea are hardy and drought tolerant, preferring free-draining soil in sun or light shade.
• Deadheading will result in more flowers with repeated flushes of flower.
• Most varieties gradually fade in colour after opening or pollination, giving a pleasing harmonious effect.
• To vary flowering time, usually June to September, practice the Chelsea Chop by cutting plants back by about 6in in late May.

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The Japanese have a long and detailed affair with fruit tree blossom. Apricots, Prunus armenaica and Plums, Prunus salicina are well known to western gardeners but what of Mumes.

What are Prunus Mume or Mumes

• The wild Mume has single white or pink flowers in February-March which cluster densely on dark brown branches.
• The flowers are intensely fragrant that has encouraged the breeding of many 100′s of cultivars throughout Asia.
• The blossom opens before the Cherry blossom season and is the harbinger of spring.
• A ‘Mume’ is a green to yellow, downy fruit with a groove running the length of the fruit from the stalk.
• Prunus mume, commonly known as ‘ume’ is also confusingly called Japanese apricot, or Chinese plum.

Uses of a Mume

• The tree is cultivated for both  fruit and flowers.
• Old decorative trees are venerated and used near temples.
• Mume are grown as Bonsai to flower at the new year. Wild varieties perform best.
• The flowers are the subject of many traditional painting in Japan and Vietnam.
• The fruit is grown as a crop although it is very sour.
• In Japan the fruit is dried in the sun and preserved in salt to make a pickle.
• They can be put with sugar into strong alcohol to make a drink like cherry brandy.

If you are looking for a show stopping display of spring flowers then why not try planting   primary colours of Red, Blue and Yellow in the same bed.

A sweeping display of blocks of colour contrasting with the other primary colours can have a stunning effect. Over planting with primary-coloured annuals will help the design continue through summer. This list starts off with bulbs in the primary colours but you can use whatever takes your fancy,  as you will see, I like Polyanthus.

Reds mainly Tulips

• Small early red Tulips are Daylight and Show-winner.
• For elegant Tulip shapes try Fosteriana Red Emperor, Charles or the more muted Rosy Dream.
• Abba and Carlton are doubles to sing about.
• Appledorn, Hollands Glory and Red Impressions remind you where most tulips come from but Barbados is a stunning fringed red to add to your selection.

Blues avoiding Purples

• Muscari Azureum or other Grape Hyacinths are some of the best blues. I like Blue Spike, Super Star and Valerie Finnis.
• Hyacinths, Crystal Palace, Blue Star, Delft Blue, Ostara and Kronos are just some of the blue varieties to try. Personally I would not bother with the yellow Hyacinths such as City of Harlem
• Camassia, Chinodoxa and Anemone ‘Lord Lieutenant’  are varied bulbs flowering blue.
• Dutch Iris are some of the finest blue flowers, Hildegard and Sapphire Blue. Iris reticulata, Joyce and Cantab are also well worth growing.

Yellow Aconites to Zantedeschia

• For something a bit different try yellow Iris Danfordiae, Fritilliaria Raddena or Ixia Yellow Emperor.
• Crocus species Chrysanthus Dorothy, Fuscotinclus and Romance are small yellow crocus whilst Golden Mammoth is just what it says, Golden and Mammoth.
• Jonquilla Daffodills grow to about one foot and bloom freely. Baby Moon, Trevithian and the double Pencrebar are worth trying.
• King Alfred did more than burn the cakes he had ‘the’ yellow Daffodil named after him.
• Tamara, Carlton and Fortune are worthy substitutes

Are you a windswept gardener who suffers from prevailing and random wind (in the garden I mean). Well here are some tips and plant selections to help make the most of your conditions. Your other suggestions would be welcome.

Initial Thoughts of the Windswept (move home)

• Screen a windy site with Trees and Shrubs then fill in with sturdy perennials.
• Think of wind breaks when locating garden furniture or planning a new hedge.
• Seaside gardens hint at some of the great garden features that you can incorporate into your windy garden.
• Drought or water shortage often goes with a windswept garden so select plants that are also drought tolerant.
• After planting give new additions some protection until they are established and water regularly until the roots grow. I put large pots, fleece barriers and even temporary trellis near new plants.

Selection of Trees

• Mountain Ash or Rowan trees grow in some inhospitable places. Read the rest of this entry »