Gardeners Tips

Great April weather has produced a harvest of blossom on my apple trees. With no danger of frost and plenty of insects there should be no problem with pollination. Even the later flowering apples trees have open blossom and this means the essential cross pollination by more than one species will be taking place.

Pollination & Propagation

• Apples are self-infertile and will pollinate themselves. Some varieties need more than one variety near by and flowering at the same time to get good pollination.

• Apple trees are broken into 4 key pollination groups. One cultivar can be pollinated by a compatible cultivar from the same group or an ajacent group eg. A with A, or A with B, but not A with C or D. Bramleys need 2 pollinators.

• Apple pips will not necessarily come true to the parent plant. Most new apple trees are propagated by grafting.

• The type of root stock then dictates the ultimate size of the apple tree. Small roots will grow small trees.

Getting Good Fruit – Dropping & Thinning

• The sheer volume of blossom can’t be converted into fruit by any apple tree. The resources of food and water would be more than they can cope with. This is why there is a ‘June Drop’ when baby applets are dropped from the tree as part of the natural selection process.

• To get good sized, even fruit you need to accept that fruit needs space to grow. Thinning the apples so that two or three grow from one spur will boost the size of fruit.

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Marguerites are a small genus of plants ‘Argyranthemum’. They are part of the wider daisy family and look very similar to Chrysanthemums.

They can be frost tender plants originating from Madeira and the Canary Islands.

Whilst Marguerites are shrubby perennials they are usually treated as annuals and propagated from cuttings or seed each year.

Marguerites Varieties

• Some plants are named Marguerites because of their appearance. All are daisy like with a central yellow disk and white, yellow or pink petals.
• Argyranthemum frutescens is a yellow flower often called the Dill daisy.
• Argyranthemum gracile produces prodigious quantities of white flowers during summer and well into autumn.

Growing Tips

• marguerites make summer bedding plants for borders, containers and often for use in hanging baskets.
• Through warm summers  the plants remain in flower for long periods.
• Some also have very attractive foliage with finely cut leaves .
• Take basal cuttings in the late winter.
• In mild areas plants may over winter outside with top-growth getting cut back but underground regrowing in spring.
• Grow in full sun and well-drained soil.
• Pinch out the growing tips to encourage a compact habit.
• Plants will tolerate some wind.

Marguerite Daisy also called the Ox-eye daisy and Anthemis or Golden Marguerite are not true Argyranthemum but are available from Thompson & Morgan

Marguerite as Standards

• Some Marguerites are grown as standards on long stems and are kept from year to year.
• These standard plants really must be kept frost-free.
• They don’t need much, if any, water in winter.
• Treat like tender Fucshias for storing and propogation
• Keep the Marguerites ticking over through winter so they start growing from the top not the base. Pinch out lower growth.
• Take cuttings in case you lose your main plants.

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What is purple and where do you draw the line between dark pink and dirty red? How much blue should be included to make a purple plant? Does it really matter anyway?

My selection starts with a small Lewisia flowering freely in my garden wall.
As we have said before Lewisia is a ‘trendy’ plant flowering in a range of bright almost neon colours. Give them a try, they thrive in the dry.

This tree peony flower is 10″ across and too stunning to leave out of this picture post. The petals are very thin and the flower will only last a few days but it is worth the garden space as it is one of the first of my Peonies to flower.
As often happens the colour in the flower is more intense at the base of the petals where this Peony is almost a black/purple.

The flowering Currant is a garden favourite as one of the early purple flowering shrubs that takes over from the spring abundance of yellow.