Gardeners Tips – Page 134 – Tips and advice for gardeners about gardening

Dianthus the Perfect Pink Pinks

July 16, 2014 hortoris

Bright brash ‘Indian Pinks’ are verging on red in this cultivar. It looked great in the first season but I lost the plant over winter so perhaps the variety should be grown as an annual. All that glitters is not Pink. I hope to do better with a new bed I have created just for a collection of Pinks or Dianthus plumarius

Pinks prefer neutral to limey soil and Rhododendrons like soil on the acidic side yet these two plants have thrived together for several years and both produce a good show of flowers in their season. The soil is very open and reasonably fertile and I leave them to their own devices.

The same clump in winter.

Top Feeding and Watering Tips

Feed regularly during the growing season with a rose or tomato fertiliser.
Feeding is particularly important after the first flush of blooms has finished in order to encourage them to flower again.
Pinks will tolerate dry conditions but will only produce continuous flowers if you water regularly.
Water the base of the plant to avoid damaging the blooms.
Do not over water young plants and make sure excess water can drain away.

Dianthus Species of Pinks

Dianthus alpinus – Alpine Pinks
Dianthus amurensis – Amur Pinks
Dianthus arenarius – Sand Pinks
Dianthus armeria – Deptford Pinks
Dianthus carthusianorum – Carthusian Pinks
Dianthus caryophyllus – Carnation or Clove Pinks
Dianthus chinensis – China Pinks
Dianthus deltoides – Maiden Pinks with green foliage
Dianthus gallicus – French Pink or Jersey Pinks
Dianthus gratianopolitanus – Cheddar Pinks
Dianthus monspessulanus – Fringed Pinks
Dianthus microlepsis – Tiny 1″ high species
Dianthus myrtinervius – Albanian Pinks
Dianthus plumarius – Garden Pinks, Wild Pinks
Dianthus seguieri – Sequier’s Pinks
Dianthus superbus – Large Pinks
Dianthus x hybrid – Sweet Pinks

The Star series are single Dwarf PinksÂ notable for their toughness and hardiness. Most varieties like the Night Star above will make a lovely compact mound of grey-green foliage, topped by a mass of sweet smelling flowers. They will repeat flower if dead headed and fed. Ideal for planting in rockeries, containers or pots. Flowering height approximately 5 inches.

Seeds and plants are available from Thompson Morgan

Cottage Garden Sweet William – Dianthus

July 15, 2014 hortoris

More on a topical favourite Dianthus the Sweet William.

This selection of Sweet Williams are grown from one packet of seed. The frilly flowers look almost double and when massed together in one flowerhead they look stunning.

A cottage garden favourite the Sweet William is in flower from July to September. They make good cut flowers and a nesting spot for earwigs. (Give them a good shake before bringing them into the house.)
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Organisations working to save gardens

July 14, 2014 hortoris

Are you interested in garden history. There is a great deal to be learnt from our horticultural and agricultural past and researchers have a fund of knowledge available via the internet.

You can also research the culture of sculpture and the homeless Knomes

In addition to the RHS here are some web links to organisations maintaining gardens or retaining documents relating to gardens include:

Garden History Society (www.gardenhistorysociety.org

Kew Gardens http://www.kew.org/library/

English Heritage http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/nav.2

Museum of Garden History

National Trust (www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/

UK Database of Historic Parks and Gardens

Scottish Archive Network (SCAN) (www.scan.org.uk/

Association of Garden Trusts (www.gardenstrusts.co.ukÂ A national organization representing County Gardens Trusts that are actively engaged in conserving, researching, documenting and caring for the heritage of parks, gardens and designed landscapes.

If you think I have missed an important site or wish to contribute please let us know. Good luck with your researches.

National Council for the Conservation of Plants and Gardens or NCCPG is a charity that manages the system of National Plant Collections. Amongst other activities its member receive a biannual magazine Plant Heritage and information on conservation.

http://www.nccpg.com/page.aspx?Page=1

The web site is informative and can help you locate where and when you can visit a particular national collection and lists open days and events. You can also purchase the Plant Collections Directory for Â£5.

Sweet William Organic Seeds

July 13, 2014 hortoris

In addition to collecting my own seed I like to try new varieties.
Suttons seeds have a ‘Kaleidoscope mix that I have just bought as an experiment. They were half price in the Wyvale sale and look as though the flower heads will feature white and a range of other pastel colours.

Cottage garden favourites are now running to seed in my garden. I am glad I dead headed the plants earlier and got a second flush of flowers but now is the time to collect seed.

Sweet William Seed.

Each pollinated floret will generate seed which is held in a firm upright cup.
As the seed dries and gets ready for distribution the cup opens and the black ‘gritty’ seeds can be shaken out. I use old envelopes to collect the seed into so I can keep and name different seeds.
If only a proportion of the seed capsules are open gently shake the plant into your container. If the majority are open I cut the head off, invert it over some paper and gently shake and squeeze to extract the seed.
Sweet Williams are quite promiscuous so do not always grow just like the parent you collected from. They will have many of the characteristics so select from the colours you like. The red flowered, red leaved types are my favourite but you may prefer the pastel or chocolate kinds.
Nature knows what it is doing and the seeds can be sown now to germinate and grow before the ground gets too cold. If you want an informal effect you can just shake your seedheads over a soil patch and wait.
Other members of the Dianthus family such as Pinks and carnations can be treated in the same way

The seed I collect will be organic as I have not used any chemicals for the last two years on or around my Sweet Williams. However they will not be certified by the soil association but in the scheme of things that wont matter.

Sowing & Growing Tips
As I have just bought the seeds I am sowing them to overwinter and flower next year.
If sown in February or March they should flower the same year.
They like a bit of space to excel so allow 6-9 inches apart when planting out in the final sunny positions.

Five June Garden Photographs

July 10, 2014 hortoris

A big bright month for flowers following a lush spring in Yorkshire. Not all plants behave to the seasonal timetable buy the Poppies are still stunning.

Aster alpinus the Alpine aster – bought from the nursery at Newby Hall in blue, white and purple varieties which are still to flower.

Selfsown Aquilegia or columbine, set off by broad Bearded Iris leaves.

Oriental Poppy that looks blood red late in the day but was glowing in the early sunshine.

Iris reticulata with self sown Euphorbia

Deciduous Azalea in Late spring yellow. One of the Rhododendrons in the Pentanthera group

More Garden Mosaic Photos

July 9, 2014 hortoris

Robyne Jay scores again with more marvelous mosaicsÂ made available under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 license.

The Iris, part of the Iridaceae family, are my all-time favourites.Â A shame they do not last long as cut flowers – all the more surprising all these photos were collected.

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A Bunch of Flower Photos

July 8, 2014 hortoris

Nothing in the flower world says more about the season than a Sedum like this bunch of Autumn Joy. As a careless gardener I seem to have lost my Sedum with dark purple, fleshy leaves but it was never as robust as Autumn Joy.

Due to a lack of sun and summer warmth our Sunflowers have been very tardy this year. It is hard to believe that I have only one flower on display at the beginning of September.

I planted some perennial Lobelia and they have thoroughly enjoyed the wet conditions during summer as they built up strength for this sort of floral display.
This variety may be Lobelia speciosa ‘Grape Knee Hi’ or Hadspen Purple and I have several Lobelia cardinalis that have prevoiusly defied my gardening skills.

Another monster this year has been the Phlox paniculata. White and pink varieties in particular have shown spectacular flowers and scent.
Bunches of flowers indoors are still giving delightful aromas even though we have hidden the flowers on top of tall cupboards as the vases are a bit naff and there are so many other flowers deserving display.

The late flowering double Clematis has just made it into my autumn photos. Clematis Josephine Evijohill is a ‘florida’ type that was on sale at a local nursery. I resisted the temptation to buy and so I will not have any genuine garden photos to show in future.

Yellow & Lilac
Tejvan took this photo in Oxford Botanic Gardens. On the left is an imposing Verbascum. I love the way its tall yellow spikes contrast so well with the purple spikes in the background. Just to add a bit of interest there is the odd splash of orange from a rogue intruder.

Protecting Vegetables from Pigeons and Rabbits

July 7, 2014 tejvan

Unfortunately, the vegetable gardeners’ best laid plans can be spoilt be two large pests – rabbits and pigeons.

Rabbits are on the increase in our local area, and if not careful, they can decimate a crop overnight. Scent barriers have limited success and need regular replenishment. Noise barriers are even less effective in my experience. Fencing has some protection but burrowing and jumping are sports in the Rabbit Olympics.

Pigeons can also pick at vegetables, especially in the winter months they will attack your purple sprouting broccoli.

The best solution, short of standing outside all night with a shotgun is to cover up the vegetables in netting. It’s not ideal if you are aiming for an ornamental vegetable garden but, it is less unsightly than leaves with big holes in veg.

This is a simple contraption with six stakes topped off with a flower pot. A net is then secured over the top, providing an effective barrier against wild animals.

Floral Mosaic Garden Photos

July 6, 2014 hortoris

Thirty six photos arranged as six by six pictures of perfect plants are formed together by robynejay to produce these stunning mosaic patterns.
I am hard pressed to select a favourite but will opt for the red Poppies.
No true gardener would want to see all those hungry caterpillars but aren’t they fantastic?

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The Spider Plants Cleome and Chlorophytum

July 5, 2014 tejvan

Common names can be used for more than one species.

Cleome

Cleome hassleriana

If you are looking to grow something a little unusual, it is worth having a go at growing Cleome, sometimes known as the ‘Spider Plant’

The genus Cleome encompasses about 170 herbaceous annual or perennial plants. A common garden variety is Cleome hassleriana.

Cleome’s can grow quite tall, upto 4 feet in some cases. It has attractive spider shaped leaves and after flowering leaves seed pots streched out horizontally. The flowering season can last for 2-3 months.
In the beginning they are susceptible to the usual pests like slugs and snails and will need protection. Once established Cleomes can reproduce at a quick rate.
They may need staking as they become susceptible to windy conditions.

Cleome spinosa is good for dry conditions.

Houseplant called Spider Plant
Chlorophytum comosum is often called the spider plant. It has interesting, frondy, generally bicoloured leaves and they are the main reason for growing this plant. Small white flowers are found on mature plants.
Plantlets form on the end of arching stems and these spidery stems make propagation simple.