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Month: July 2019

Funny Quotes for Gardeners

Funny Quotes for Gardeners

  • All those weeds – so little thyme
  • My plants are not dead they are just sleeping
  • Gone to pot
  • Gardeners on average eat 50 pork pies a month – first time I’ve been above average on anything
  • Gardeners know all the dirt
  • Summer is set in with all it’s usual severity
  • I am Julian and this my friend sandy
  • I could give up gardening but I’m no quitter
  • Where there’s muck there’s brassicas
  • Before they made Alan Titchmarsh they broke the mould ( groucho Marx)
  • The answer lies in the soil
  • You can’t have everything I mean where would you put it
  • Sweat peas and whirled peas
  • You can’t improve on nature unless you can get it to look at the pictures on seed packets
  • If you want it to rain water your garden
  • To tell a flower from a weed pick it and if it grows again back it is a weed
Organic Tips from America

Organic Tips from America

Our transatlantic cousins still benefit from the Pilgrim fathers gardening knowledge taken to their shores centuries ago. The potato famine of 1845-50 caused Irish farmers to discover the Idaho potato. Now these and other horticultural favours can be returned by this book of organic homespun tips.

Book Cover

On the other hand did we contribute to the Hamburger and KFC? (That is kale, fennel and cauliflower). In return we got a Turkey!

Brambles or Blackberries Is it Just a Name

Brambles or Blackberries Is it Just a Name

It is not a question of which name but Brambles and Blackberries should be thought of together as one is the fruit of the other.Looking carefully at this picture you can see young unopened buds at the top center with some flowers that have been pollinated and begun to show nascent green fruitlets which will turn into blackberries when they swell and ripen.

As with many fruit there is much in the breeding and plant selection and I recommend checking the availability of various selections 

Wild Brambles

  • Hedgerows and uncultivated land can become home to robust plants. They are often treated as weeds as for gardeners they have invasive tendencies.
  • Long stems or branches often overflow on to paths and the thorns or spines can catch the unwary.
  • Plants growing in sunshine can provide a large crop of fruit
  • Bramble jelly used to be made from wild collected blackberries.
  • In my opinion they make a good flavoursome crumble or mix well with apples in a fruit tart.
  • Flowers attract a range of bees and wasps which is essential for pollination.

What use are Daylilies?

What use are Daylilies?

Hemerocallis also called Daylilies

These are a popular perennial that can grow to 2 – 4 foot depending on variety and location. It dies back in winter only to regenerate with fresh green strappy, arching leaves in spring. The plant forms good clumps which can be split when they get too large.

Daylilies have a profusion of short lived flowers sometimes only lasting a day as the name implies. So many flowers are produced that there is a continual supply and each blossom bear close inspection as well as offering a good all round display. They normally flower from June to August.

  • Daylilies have given a wonderful show this year!
    Hemorocallis is a plant to look out for and to add to your collection.
  • For those who want a colourful display with lush foliage I can recommend Daylilies

Special uses of Daylilies

    • Plant them close to daffodils to help hide the dying foliage.
    • The plants like water so it is possible to use them by streams or in a bog garden using varieties such as Hemerocallis aurantiaca, (orange) Hemerocallis citrina and Hemerocallis minor a dwarf yellow plant with scented flowers.
    • The flowers are edible and can be added to salads or dried for use in soups
    • The latest new introductions will be more expensive when new but if successful will be available more cheaply in seasons to come
    • I grow Hyperion a yellow flower and want to try some bi-coloured plants like Franz Hals or Flore Pleno

Several varieties are shown here but many more can be seen on Google.

Daylily Tips

    • Available in many shades of yellow, gold, orange,red and bronze – try some from your trusted local garden centre.
    • Size of plant varies but choose your plant by the flower, its scent and how it is held above the foliage.
    • The plastic coloured identification label may not be true on some cheap plants.
    • It is OK to buy plants in flower as long as you give them plenty of water when planting and in early growth.
    • Propagation by division is easy and the success rate quite high but I don’t make each division too small.
    • Find out more at the Hemerocallis society

Poppy Parade

Poppy Parade

poppy

Poppies are easy to grow, sometimes too easy  because they self sow all over my garden and despite the delicate petals I thought of them as weeds. So much so that I forgot to photograph any earlier this year but now have captured some pictures of perfectly purple poppies.

These poppies were grown from scattered seed and plants are 4 feet tall and are producing lots of single flowers. If they are in the wrong place they are easy to pull straight out of the ground. The roots can be a foot long and carrot shaped but help to anchor the plant.

This is another poppy that is flowering well in my garden at the moment. I like the double flower for the lush petals but they are less use to bees and other insects. …

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