Gardeners Tips – Page 211 – Tips and advice for gardeners about gardening

Bush tucker trials could refer to Tomatoes grown on bush varieties because they make great ‘tucker’. I love the sweet sharp taste of some of the new Cherry Tomato varieties.

Quick Tips for Growing Cherry Tomatoes

Buy a variety like Sweet Million or Gardeners Delight.
Garden Pearl has been specially bred by Unwins for growing in containers.
Baby Plum Tomatoes are now available in a variety called Sweet Olive.
The Tumblin’ series can be grown in hanging baskets or containers.

Cultivation of Tomatoes

The surface roots take up the fertilizer and nourishment. Encourage them by building soil around the stem.
The tap roots go deep in search of water. Help by making sure you water well into the soil by sinking a pipe or pot near the plant to fill up & make sure the water gets deep down.
Do not be too greedy with each plant. Stop them growing when you have 5-8 trusses of fruit by pinching out the growing tips. This channels the energy into your fruit.
Feed and water on a regular consistent basis.
I still support my Cherry tomato plants with a cane and string.

Plants and seeds available from Thompson Morgan

More Tomato growing tips

Small is Beautiful Particularly amongst Alpines

April 15, 2010 hortoris

You do not need a large garden to grow a massive range of interesting plants and flowers. The 2p coin gives some impression of scale to this Saxfraga cranbourne which is about the same size as the coin.

Note how it needs the protection of grit plus a sand and grit plunge bed as these small plants can easily be washed away and generally do not like damp roots.
Many alpines dislike wet foliage and would rot so I always water from below.

There are many species of Primula that could form the basis of an interesting miniature collection. This photo is of Primula allianii Joan Hughes. There is a National Auricula and Primula Society if you get keenly interested.

Similarly there are many Androsace to collect and experiment with. This display, in a 4 inch pot, requires several plants of Androsace carnea pyrenaica together to make the interesting shoe.
There is a specialist society within AGS for these small plants Androsace.org.
See a range of other pictures here .

Easter Flowers and Altar Decoration

April 12, 2010 hortoris

On the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after March 21st churches are filled with Easter flowers.

A fine display of altar flowers was arranged at this church. The white lilies of Easter in various species were popular this year, the traditional Lily longiflorum, these Asiatic hybrids and where available the Arum and Cala lilies fulfilled the Easter tradition of white lilies.
‘Often called the “white-robed apostles of hope,” lilies are said to have been found growing in the Garden of Gethsemane after Christ’s agony. Tradition has it that the beautiful white blooms sprung up where drops of Christ’s sweat fell to the ground in his final hours of sorrow and deep distress. At Easter time, Churches bank their altars and surround their crosses with masses of Easter Lilies, to commemorate the resurrection of Jesus Christ and hope of life everlasting.The pure white lily has long been associated with the Virgin Mary….. read more on Phillip’s florals.

In this arrangement there are white Gladiolus and yellow Lilies where we might of expected other yellows like Polyanthus, Chrysanthemum ‘Tuneful’ Pussy Willow catkins or even Orchids Oncidium varicosum for a bit of exotic. All the flowers have some longevity when cut for a vase and do particularly well in the cool shade of most churches.

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Spring Shrubs Forsythia and Flowering Currant

April 10, 2010 hortoris

Forsythia is now in rampant bloom around our village. The sunny yellow flowers compete with the Daffodils for a place in the yellow spectrum of colour.

Blossom arrives before any leaves on the twiggy growth from earlier years. This cloaks the shrub in a mass of yellow blossom that really takes some beating. Only the very old wood has not got blossom this year and I will be tempted to encourage new twiggy stems by selective pruning when the flowering has finished. This will only be a light trim like they say at the barbers not a No 1.

Forsythia grows 1-2 feet per year from cuttings taken in late spring when the wood is green. Push 6 inch stems into a gritty soil preferably with some peat added as they like acidic soil. The shrub grows to 7-10 feet tall and almost as wide if left untended but it is then open and erring towards straggly, so I recommend the post flowering trim.

Flowering Currants also called Ribes sanguineum are also early spring blossoming shrubs. The sprays of flowers are like racemes of red or dark pink that are on show as the scented grey green leaves start to open. There is also a light pink variety that is a strong grower reaching 10 feet tall if left to its own devices.It is best kept at a 4-5 foot height.

Some better know varieties include ‘King Edward VII’, with red flowers, ‘Pulborough Scarlet’, also with red flowers and ‘White Icicle’, with white flowers.

Tips for Spring Shrubs

Prune after flowering. This encourages new flowering wood to grow for next year.
Take cuttings to propagate new shrubs in spring or early summer.
Mulch shrubs after summer rain or a good watering to see them through a dry summer.
Both Flowering Currants and Forsythia are east shrubs to grow.

Pollination Makes The World Go Around

April 7, 2010 hortoris

Without pollination there would be no new seed, no new crops for animals and no food in our supermarkets. (No supermarkets may be good news for several reasons but I will put up with them to keep being fed).

Wind pollination may work for some plants particularly those with catkins that shed pollen in copious quantities. The main pollinators in a garden are insects and they deserve our respect. There have been scare stories about the declining population of Bees so I was pleased to capture (in photos ) these bees hard at work on my Crocus crop last week.

Tips to Aid Pollination

Avoid using pesticides.
Grow plants that attract and feed butterflies, birds and insects.
Make insects safe and at home in your garden.
Do not expect F1 plants to pollinate.
Hand pollinate your curcurbits (courgettes, marrows and cucumbers).
Tap flowering greenhouse tomato plants to get the pollen into the air and thus other flowers.

Saxifraga in Well Drained Pots

April 6, 2010 hortoris

Small can be beautiful in the world of Saxifraga as can be seen with this Saxifraga Cranbourne one of the Kabschias series. This hybrid has a flat cushion bearing many rose pink flowers.

Normally Saxifraga suendermannii has a solitary white flower but x kellever has these pink flowers. The hybridisation of Saxifraga is one of the pleasures of this plant.

Saxifraga griesbackii from Englerias section has lime encrusted rosettes with tall arching sprays of pink flowers. The flower stalk is covered in deep red glandualr hairs show above. They look good over a long period whilst the inflorescence is growing and opening.

I have arrived late to the pleasures of Saxifraga but to see the range of plants I have been missing I looked at the Rock Garden Society of North America
If naming of varieties is still a difficulty for you at least you can find out what your variety probably isn’t by referencing this site.

Gardening for Maximum Flowers per Square Foot

April 1, 2010 hortoris

What is the annual plant that produces the greatest number of flowers per square foot of ground? Despite the ‘Million Bells Petunias’ I still think it is the old reliable Sweet-Pea! Sweet Peas are loved for their scent, wide range of colours and as a cut flower.

Sweet Peas are easy to grow if you provide well manured ground. The roots are long so dig deep and compost well to provide food and moisture and you will be well rewarded.
Plant out, your seed raised, Sweet Peas in the first week of April or buy sturdy deep green plants from a nursery.
Take care not to damage or bend the long roots so they will need a deep hole.
Support each Sweet Pea with a twiggy stick and put some black cotton between the twigs to keep birds away from eating the tasty new plants. I also use a pea net.
After the plants have settled, about 7-10 days, nip out the growing tip to encourage branching and sturdy, bushy plants.
Feed weekly with a liquid tomato feed when buds start to appear.
Train up canes, removing tendrils, if you want long stemmed exhibition flowers.

Tips for Growing Busy Lizzie

March 22, 2010 hortoris

Photo by ndrwfgg

Busy Lizzie are bright and colourful bedding plants that you will find easy to grow if you avoid frost. Stick to the annual varieties and you will have flowers from June through to the first frost. They do not need pinching out unless they are leggy when you get them.

Busy Lizzie Tips

Buy plug plants or seedlings and grow them on until the danger of frost has gone. If you do not have a windowsill wait until mid May to buy them.
Seeds are very small and I have found germination is erratic. That may be due to my lack of green fingers.
Busy Lizzie are great for shady areas because nothing flowers in those positions as well as they do. They will perform in sun as well.
Busy Lizzie have a succulent stem and need plenty of water when they are growing quickly.
Plants grow about 8-12 inches tall with a similar spread depending on variety.
Busy Lizzie are fine in baskets, containers or the front of flower beds.

Colourful flowers is one of the main reasons for growing Busy Lizzie. Pastel shades called ‘Tempo’ , white, purple, candy striped Tuti and vibrant Spectra or even a bronzed leaf version are all available. Busy Lizzie do not make cut flowers.

Useful Links
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Gardening Epithets and Plant Names

March 19, 2010 hortoris

The purpose Â Â botanical names of plants is to provide some information about a particular plant that distinguishes it from other plants. Starting with the species or type of plant then an adjective applied to the plant, the specific epithet, which is often helpful in describing the plant.

This second word can often tell us the colour of the flowers, the height of the plant, whether the leaves are long and thin or short and fat, whether the plant is sticky or prickly, where it comes or who discovered it. (There is only so much space for information so a bit of detective work may be needed).

Below are three lists of the Latin specific epithets often used in gardening or naming of plants. Nearly all trees and shrubs are feminine usually ending in â€“a, ( whilst male names end â€“us but mean the same). You can add to these lists as your knowledge grows.

Latin Epithets for Colour

Musa Coccinea.

alba – white
aurea – golden, yellow
chrysantha or flava, Â luteaÂ Â -yellow and sulphurea â€“ yellow
aurantiaca – orange and citronella – lemon
coccinea, rubra or punica – red and sanguinea – blood-red
purpurea – deep pink or rosea – rose pink
phoenicea – purple and violacea – violet
viridis – green
pallidia â€“ cream,
incana – grey or glaucus â€“ greyish- blueish
argentea – silvery,
azureaÂ or caerulea – blue
nigra – black

Dictionary of Botanical Epithets contains a great deal more information, derivations, stems and meanings.

Latinized Epithets Location or Origination
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Osteospermum a Winter Survivor

March 17, 2010 hortoris

My Osteospermum has survived through one of our coldest winters for some time. It grows in poor dry soil and gets no attention except for an occasional prune if it over spreads its welcome.

If I gave it TLC like I did to my various Cystus then I may be reporting yet another fatality.

The BBC recommend Osteospermum jucundum a variety with an RHS AGM (that is enough initials for now ed.)

I can’t do better than the Osteospermum website for more information.

A blaze of annual colour is available from Thompson Morgan