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Month: September 2012

Organic Winter Pansy

Organic Winter Pansy

Winter pansies won’t get eaten by aphids it is too cold. Pansies don’t need fertiliser to put on a good show in fact you don’t want lush growth in winter.

Helpful Hints for Better Winter Pansies

  • Pansies face the sun so view them from the south to avoid looking at their backs.
  • Low winter light means white and pale colours show up far better than the dark colours.
  • Smaller flowers will be more plentiful and will hold their shape, larger flowers tend to flop
  • A mulch of bark chippings or gravel will help prevent mud splashes
  • Most winter pansies are best in autumn or spring but RHS trials recommend ‘Nature’ White, Ocean or Yellow, Ultima Silhouette, Panola Daffodil and Skyline Yellow Blotch.
  • Plant in pots or in sheltered sunny positions for the best show
  • It is too late to plant seeds this season but retailers have a good selection on sale at the moment. I have bought some cheaply from Aldi and as I update this post I can report they did  winter flowering species proud. They came back well even after hard frosts.

Winter pansies start to come into their floral own in February and March.

Try Thompson & Morgan  for winter pansy seeds and plants.

Bergenia for Winter Foliage & Spring Flowers

Bergenia for Winter Foliage & Spring Flowers

The best Bergenias have leaves that turn  a strong colour in Autumn. These purple leaves look good in the December garden when compared to the ‘Elephant Ear’  green varieties of Bergenia. These plants tend to be lusty and the rampant, leathery leaves may need cutting back to keep the plant in control.

Easy Bergenia Growing

  • Bergenia ciliata make good ground cover plants 1 -2 foot tall depending on the variety.
  • Bergenia cordifolia varieties have smaller leaved varieties that appeal to me for this red and purple winter leaf colouring.
  • Cuttings from the rhizomes are easy to root and plants spread naturally in most conditions including shade.
  • The lime green varieties may be larger leaved and more robust if you wish to cover large areas.
  • They flower on stems of pink bells in clusters. Begenia Eroica is said to flower for longer.
  • Dead head the flowers for a continuation of flowering.

white-berginia

  • This flower is clear white but the buds are a rose pink.
  • Bergenia have large succulent stalks and like a dampish shady spot
  • The rhizomes spread and the plant is useful for covering large difficult areas like scree banks. It is too large to sit well in all but the largest rockeries.
  • Bergenia varieties including Bressingham White, Baby Doll, Rotblum and Bergenia cordifolia are shade tolerant although better sun means better flowers.
    pink-berginia

Bergenia has some medicinal properties and uses see

Bergenia from amazon