Tips for Growing Series – Page 2

Sunflowers for Display and Cutting

January 25, 2024 hortoris

Sunflowers look great in a vase but are heavy drinkers and need conditioning in a dark place overnight after cutting.

I have tended to drift away from growing Sunflowers but now I think my reasons may not be correct.
I tended to grow tall varieties which produce one or few flowers. They were showy but needed support from the wind in our northern hills.
The knew the space was better dedicated to other plants and the only sunflowers that grew this year were self sown from our bird feeders (and the flowers were small weedy efforts that I should have pulled up).

North Carolina University Sunflower trials
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Growing Campanula, Canterbury Bells, Bellflower & Balloonflower

June 17, 2023 hortoris

Alpine or border Campanulas come in many species and varieties.

Campanula lactiflora â€˜Loddon Annaâ€™ above was grown from seed distributed free to members by the RHS. It grows four feet tall and has many very attractive open bell shaped flowers. The flowers are arranged on a stem in a loose cone shape but with each of about 60 flower about an inch wide the effect is light and flowing. This species is commonly called the Milky bell flower and is a lilac colour.

Growing Campanula.

Most Campanulas bloom in June and July, but some varieties continue all summer.
Plant seeds or seedlings in May, though they can be sown in August and protected during the winter.
Most Campanula plants tolerate full sun but like some moisture in the soil. The smaller varieties grow in walls and rockeries.
Thompson Morgan have a fine seed collection.
There is a white Campanula persicifolia alba

Hints and Tips about the Campanula Family

Plants are generally perennial other than the annual Campanula macrostyla and ramosissima.
The small hairbell or harebell are sometimes called the Bluebells of Scotland
The scent is very mild during the day.
There is a National Plant Collection at Burton Agnes Hall in Driffield.
Smaller campanulas are ideal for rockeries, borders and pots

Dwarf Campanula by Graham Nichols
See also Campanula for the rockery here or Alpine campanulas.

Read Bells and not Cockleshells
Wikipedia lists 473 species. Tall bellflowers grow from the Great Lakes region south to Florida and from the Dakotas east to New York.^[10] They thrive in partial shade and grow along woodland edges, in open woods, shaded meadows, streambanks and ditches.
Images of Campanula carpatica a compact campanula covered for a long season in summer with masses of blue, upright, bell flowers.

Platycodon or Balloon flower are a relative of Campanula that have grown in popularity over the last few decades.

‘My book of Campanulas and Bellflowers in cultivation’ 1959 by H Clifford Crook provided and provides useful detail about the wide range of cultivated plants

Tips for Growing Clematis all Year Around

September 3, 2019 hortoris

There is a clematis for every season, every aspect and every place. The flower size and colour range is also wider than you may imagine. Update I have just bought (2.9.19) another clematis Madame Le Coultre for flowering june to august.

Types of Clematis for growing all year around

Early Flowering Species like alpina or montana types.
Summer Flowering hybrids like patens and florida types
Late flowering Hybrids and species like jackmanii, tangutica and viticella types
Herbaceous clematis x jouiniana or Koreana lutea
Evergreen and tender species armandii, cirrhosa and tender plants from the southern hemisphere

Selected Varieties by Colour

White – Marie Boisselot, Montana sericea, Armandii or Clematis chrysocoma.
Red – Ville de Lyon, Madame Juklia Correvon or Ernest Markham.
Yellow – Clematis tangutica, Moonlight, Ligusticifolia or Otto Froebel.
Violet – Etoile Violette or Clematis alpina Francis Rivis.
Blue – Ascotiensis, Macro petal Blue Bird or Multi Blue.
Pink – Clematis montana Elizabeth, Bees Jubilee or Hagley Hybrid.
White and purple Clematis florida Sieboldii.

Soil and Growing Condition Tips

Soil for Clematis should not be too acidic but alkaline soil is fine. Impoverished soil near a wall or under a hedge should be improved with plenty of humus before planting. Sandy soil looses moisture quickly and also needs humus adding.
All clematis will grow better if the roots are kept cool. Plant a bit deeper than the soil level in the pot where they were grown and cover the roots area with a tile, rock or mulch.
Large flowered varieties will have stronger colours if the flowers grow in light shade.
Use a good Foliar feed every 7-10 days and a good root drenching weekly.

Types of Clematis Support

All clematis even the herbaceous varieties need some support. The easiest support is often other plants with matching characteristics – heather for small macropetala types or a tree for the more robust viticella varieties.
Walls are fine as long as the mortar and brickwork is sound for a network of wire. Clematis montana can cover a large wall quickly.
Trellis itself needs to be securely attached to battens but can be attractive when cloaked in Clematis or on it’s own in winter.
Archways, tripods and obelisks look great when covered with a climber such as clematis. Similarly pergolas can have both climbing roses and clematis co-existing.
Try a pillar made from a length of Oak or hardwood to train your clematis because you are bound to want to grow more once you start.

Varieties of Clematis from Thompson & Morgan

Clematis urophylla ‘Winter Beauty’ also known as Old Man’s Beard flowers is a superb evergreen clematis bears its delicately fragrant, waxy, bell-shaped flowers in the depths of winter.
The foliage is so lush, that you’ll think its summertime all year round!
Plant Clematis â€˜Winter Beautyâ€™ against a warm house wall so that you can appreciate its winter flowers from your window. This sought after variety will appreciate a sheltered site with some winter protection.
Height: 4m (13â€™). Spread: 1.2m (4â€™). Pruning Group: 1

Clematis â€˜Bill MacKenzieâ€™ really couldnâ€™t be easier. Watch it scramble over fences, covering unsightly sheds with ease. From midsummer this versatile climber is covered in small canary yellow blooms, which give way to large fluffy seedheads for an attractive autumn display.

Clematis â€˜Crystal Fountainâ€™™ are quite extraordinary.A fountain of crystal-blue stamens radiate from the centres of the dazzling blue, 15cm (6â€) wide blooms. Terrifically floriferous, this clematis continues to bloom throughout summer and into early autumn. It’s compact habit makes it ideal for containers and small gardens.

Clematis armandii flowers in spring with exquisitely fragrant, star-shaped white blooms literally smother this beautiful evergreen clematis in spring. The new foliage emerges bronze tinted, gradually maturing to glossy dark green that will quickly cover walls and fences within a few years. Best suited to a sheltered position, this vigorous clematis requires plenty of space to twine its long evergreen stems.

Companion plants for Clematis
Tips on Pruning Clematis

Cultivating Clematis All Year Around

Pot up small clematis plants and grow them on until large enough to plant in their final positions.
When planting clematis, choose a position in sun or semi-shade and plant the climber deeply in moist, fertile, well drained soil.
Position the top of the rootball at a depth of at least 3″ below soil level to encourage new shoots to form from the base of the plant and prevent wilt.
Clematis dislike soils that are particularly wet or dry. Soil can be improved by the addition of plenty of well rotted manure or garden compost.
Train clematis plants onto a suitable support such as trellis, wires or a freestanding climbing frame.

Fuchsia from Autumn Cuttings

July 14, 2019 hortoris

Fuchsias root very easily and it a simple matter to take cuttings both to increase your stock of plants and to protect them from winter losses.

Cuttings in September & October from Semi-hardwood.

I think this is the best method for those without a heated greenhouse.
Cuttings are taken late in the season when the bark has started to harden and ripen.
Select side shoots 6-10″ long and pull them off with a heel. A heel is a bit of the main stem attached to the base of the cutting.
Insert the cutting with 4-5 others in a 4″ pot
If growing several pots of cuttings plunge the pots into a tray of sand to keep them evenly moist and frost free.

Summer Cuttings from Green Tips

Select cuttings 3″ long with two or three pairs of leaves.
Cut the shoot just below the point where the lowest leaves join the stem. Trim off the 2 lower leaves and pot 2″ apart.
If taken in July, pot on the rooted cutting before winter. Do not worry if they loose there leaves in winter they will regrow from February.

Spring Green Tip Cuttings

Similar to summer cuttings they should be treated in the same way.
Pot on as soon as rooted in about 2-4 weeks.
Keep in gentle heat, shade from sun and gradually ventilate.
Stop the plants at 4 pairs of leaves to get bushy growth and flowers from June and the rest of summer.

Short Tip Cuttings in Heat January – March

This is the method used by our local nursery.
Overwintered plants are pruned by removing all green shoots. Then syringed with tepid water once a day to induce dormant buds on the old wood to shoot.
When new shoots have 3 pairs of leaves take the cutting leaving one pair of leaves behind.
Pot in a 3″ pot with 2-3 other cuttings and place in a propagator.
After rooting 10-14 days very gradually allow air to circulate.

More Fuchsia Cutting Tips

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My Climbing Hydrangea

November 11, 2018 hortoris

I like the idea of a climbing hydrangea more than the actual experience. Good specimens seem to produce a profusion of frothy, white blossoms particularly when grown by someone else.

My Problem Climbing Hydrangea

In my case I planted the sole attempt near a supporting wall. The soil my not be of the best quality, fertility nor humous rich. So what can I expect from Hydrangea petiolaris an Asian woodland native.
To compound my sins the wall faces north but in mitigation it is only 2 feet high and the climber now occupies both sides. However flowers are there none or sparse to say the least.
Nostrums, potions and plenty of compost have not stimulated leaf or branch growth so what hope of flowers.
I expected this Hydrangea to take a while to settle in and start producing but 5 years on and my patience is wearing thin. I guess that is true of the plant which is still keen on revenge for my earlier mistakes over its location.
I would prune it after flowering in mid summer but without flowers to set me off I have been a bit too lax. Then again the plant is a bit lax too.
In researching this post I discover Hydrangea anomala is a species of vine hydrangea and may be my plant is as confused as I am.
I trim the vine to control its height and width or make cuts at leaf nodes to encourage the plant to fill out. However I may be chopping of my buds to spite my face.

Where too Now

Cut my losses and turf the climbing hydrangea out.
Take cuttings and try new locations more in keeping with its needs. A poor strain of plant will not get better after vegetative propagation.
Stick with it and be happy there is one plant to have a moan about.
Either move to the south of the UK or buy this book about getting Hydrangeas to bloom in the north.

Gaillardia Bring Sunshine like Flowers to Borders

September 9, 2018 hortoris

Gaillardia is a genus of flowering plants in the sunflower family part of Compositae or Asteraceae like the daisy. Gaillardia are native to North and South America. I hope they grow well in Yorkshire as I have just created a new bed from birthday presents brought up from sunnier and warmer Oxford.

As a perennialÂ Gaillardia have a long flowering season are commonly called blanket flower, or if confused with Rudbeckia they can be called cone flower. The daisy-like flowers are produced from early summer to early autumn in shades of orange, red and yellow, add sizzle to the garden and attracting nectar-seeking insects.

Gaillardia Specifics from Gardeners Tips

Gaillardia do not require deadheadingÂ but the plants will look better and be fuller if you do cut the stems back when the flowers start to fade.
Â Gaillardia is easy to grow but can be a short-lived perennial so divide plants every 2-3 years and encourage reseeding.
Grow best in full sun.
Gaillarida forms a slowly spreading mound.
Gaillarida has lance-shaped gray-green leaves.
Flowers are 3 – 5 inches across in various shades of yellow and red. Most have petals surrounding a center disk which produces florets. Plants grow 18 inches high by up toÂ 24 inches wide
Â Gaillardia x grandifloraÂ Common Name: Blanket Flower
Part of the 1,620 Asteracea genera and 23,600 species of herbaceous plants. TheÂ 12 species of Gaillardia hybridise so we see a range of colours and forms.

Sowing Gaillardia Seed Tips

Sow fresh seed six to eight weeks before the lastÂ frostÂ in your area.
Use a moist but not soggy mix including some vermiculite
Sow three seeds in the center of the pot. Do not cover the seeds.
Mist over the top of the seeds.
Try provide a temperature of 60 to 65 degrees Fahrenheit and eight hours of light per day.
ToÂ avoid washing the seeds from the pot’s center or burying them under the soil apply water slowly when the soil becomes dry.
After germination remove the weakest seedlings and avoid disturbing the roots of the strongest seedling.
Fertilize the seedling every fortnight with a 10-10-10 nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium water-soluble fertilizer.

Gaillardia with slippers. It goes to show that a cool blue will tone well in the garden with the bright Gaillardia colours.

Miniature Pines are Smaller than Dwarf Pines

January 12, 2018 hortoris

What is a Miniature Pine

Small pine trees have been grown and sold as Dwarf plants for years but true miniatures are raised as clones from potentially larger species.
Miniatures are classified as such if they will not exceed 40cm height or width over 10 years. Experts recommend exhibition quality plants should not grow more than 25mm per annum ie. 25cm in 10 years.
True miniatures are clones of other pines.
They mayÂ grow as spontaneous sports, as bud mutations or seed faults .
Witches brooms creating miniatures pines are dense growths that result from virus infection or insect damage.
Bonsai are restricted growth plants and not true miniatures.

Miniature Pine Varieties

Pinus mugo Donna’s mini 20x30cm cushion form
Pinus mugo Mini MiniÂ globose habit 20×25 cm
Pinus mugo Suzi 30x30cm spreading with orange-broan new growth
Pinus mugo Zwergkugel 35x35cm
Pinus mugo unicinata Jezek 20x30cmÂ good cushion form
Pinus mugo Bonsai Kramer 10x20cm
Pinus syvestris MarshallÂ 30x25cm
Pinus syvestris beauvronensis ultimate height 24 inches growth 1.5″ per annum
Pinus strobus
Pinus uncinata
There are many other species that sport or produce miniatures but pines are consistent favourites.

Dwarf Species include;

Dwarf conifers are at least twice the size of miniatures after 10 years. As the sign above shows many conifers are sold as Dwarf plants
The pine family includes Dwarf White Pine, Dwarf Swiss Mountain Pine,
Many conifers sold as Dwarf are just slow growers and will continue to grow into sizable trees given time and favourable conditions.
Dwarf Lebanon Cedar, Dwarf Alberta Spruce,Â Dwarf Japanese Juniper.

Â Collecting and Displaying Miniature Conifers

Miniature conifer is the catch all name for the smallest of the conifer family.
The size makes them ideal for use in miniature landscape plantings, alpine or scree gardens, troughs and pots.
Miniatures are also popular for exhibition purposes.
Restricting the size of a pot can cause the needles on lower branches to fall
Top growth shouldn’t extend over the pot. Repot as the conifer grows until you have a pot 36cm or so. There after the miniature pine may be happier in the ground .
The main shape and forms of miniature pines are conical, globus, pyramidal or spreading.

Growing and Cultivating Miniature Conifers

Miniature conifers are never likely to outgrow their situation.
Pot miniatures into a compost of equal amounts of John Innes no.2, grit and composted bark.
The aim is a tight bun with closely displayed needles and a compact display. Fertiliser is only needed occasionally and in frugal quantities.
Thatch or dead needles should be removed from inner branches to avoid die-back.
Shallow, plastic pots are lighter to move around and should not harm the plants.
Prevention is better than cure so treat for vine weevil and dose annually with a fungicide.
Top dress annually with compost.
Outdoor specimens can be trimmed in spring by candling (removing new extension growth) to retain shape.
Plants can be grafted onto clean longer stemmed rootstock but why would you want a tall miniature.
Side grafting on to compatible rootstock can be done in January and then kept frost free.

Comment

Miniature conifers and especially pines are worth growing in a cold greenhouse or outdoors. There is a range of shapes and colours to cultivete and a good supply is available from Kenwith Nursery growing miniature and dwarf conifers for the last thirty five years.

Kenwith Conifer Nursery

Hydrangea Red White and Blue Photographs

July 11, 2017 hortoris

Growing Towards the Light

March 19, 2017 hortoris

Light Affecting Growth

Some plants do not require high levels of light for growth, because they are adapted to low light conditions (such as jungle and forest plants).
Plants left in the dark will grow taller than plants in lighted conditionsÂ but they will also be yellower and more spindly.
Increased height is often a response to low light levels – the plant is trying to grow over anything that may be blocking the light, and will grow towards any source of light.
Etiolation is an extreme form of photosynthesis, and it occurs when you keep a plant in the dark too long.
When a plant is blown down, like this teasel, its efforts to regrow will produce distorted stems or branches.
Plants on a windowsill may grow only one one side, towards the light, unless turned frequently. (I must turn my pelargoniums again this afternoon).
Seedlings need good, even light as a spindly plant many not recover. Beware sun through a window can burn seedlings.
Too little light and leaves may brown and drop off.
Blue daylight bulbs are the best if natural light is unavailable.

For more details read science for schools

Etiolation is a process in flowering plants grown in partial or complete absence of light. It is characterized by long, weak stems; smaller leaves and often pale yellow coloring.Â

Blanching is the exclusion of light to prevent greening up of Celery Leeks and other plants

Grow Healthy Hydrangeas

March 17, 2017 hortoris

There are several types of Hydrangea to consider. The Mop Heads or Hortensia above, the lace caps or other species. They are a rewarding group of plants to grow well but need the right conditions to excel.

Provide Suitable Growing Conditions

All hydrangeas thrive in moist well drained fertile soil.
Too wet and humid and you may get root rot and botrytis on foliage.
Hydrangeas appreciate partial shade.
Shallow chalky soil or light sandy acid soil may cause yellowing of leaves. To cure this water or foliar feed with Epsom salt (Mangenisum Sulphate).
Hot dry conditions can encourage powdery mildew.
Hydrangeas can be prone to insect attack from Aphids, Red Spider mite, Capsid bugs and even Vine Weevil.

Flowering Problems

The main cause of non-flowering is pruning too hard and cutting off the buds. Just trim off the old heads in spring to the first fat buds.
The failure of flowers to turn blue is caused by a shortage of trace elements of Aluminium. This is available in acid soils but not alkaline soils.
Some species will change from pink to blue by using a proprietary preparation or colourant. This is unlikely to work when the soil is too alkaline.
If you have a pink flower this can be enhanced by applying limestone or chalk during winter.
White flowers remain white whatever you do. Some fade to a pink tinge.

Other Sources of information

Hydrangeas available from Thompson & Morgan

See Help to change Hydrangea colour
Hydrangea Hydrangea an enthusiasts site

Amazon for Hydrangea books