Autumn Crocus Naked Ladies

Autumn Crocus Naked Ladies

After seeing Naked Ladies at Harlow Carr gardens in Harrogate I decided to plant some Autumn crocus for myself. The blue Crocus speciosus were planted under some rhododendron shrubs and the colour has been a good strong blue. The corms would have flowered without being planted so it is little to do with the peaty soil but hopefully the leaves that follow the flowers will now help bulk up the Crocus for future years.

The blown flowers on the pink crocus were from far larger bulbs. As you can see they are too near the surface but many Crocus have the ability to use their roots to pull the bulbs deeper in to the soil. I will not be disturbing them to find out. I will cover with some more soil if only to deter mice from eating the bulbs.

Even now if you find bulbs on sale or special offer it may be worth buying some of these interesting bulbs.

War Memorial Flowers Chosen with Care

War Memorial Flowers Chosen with Care

This war memorial is still well adorned with flowers in late October. The Sweet Alyssum ‘Carpet of Snow’ is doing the job of providing a pervading scent. The Geraniums with white and green bicoloured leaves are probably Caroline Schmidt or a relative of Frank Hedley but the variety is less important than the over all effect.

The setting was evocative of Peace but in November the reminder of less peaceful times will be demonstrated by the Poppy Wreaths and tributes. The Poppy, long a symbol of death and rebirth and now of wartime remembrance, is Papaver rhoeas, the Common Poppy or red flowered Corn Poppy.

British Legion Poppy Appeal donation site

Formal Garden Design

Formal Garden Design

Not everyone has the space or finances to design and stock a formal garden on this scale but a bit of design thought can go a fairway to achieving your objectives. Gardening is primarily about plants but the setting, presentation and juxta-positioning combine to make your unique garden design. The best tip I can give is ‘design to suit and please yourself’ as you are the one who will be spending most time in the garden.

Stages of Garden Design

Make a wish list of your priorities and the features you would like to incorporate or remove. You may not like all features equally so grade priorities or mark them into order eg Essential Flowerbed, Lawn, Garden seat, Vegetable patch – Desirable Compost heap, Shrubs, Greenhouse, Fruit trees – Optional Pond, Patio, Rock garden, Wildlife area, Sculpture etc.

Measure and sketch the garden taking into account the fall or slope of the land. Mark the sun, prevailing wind and rain shadows on the plan. Make your first mistakes on paper it will be easier and cheaper to correct.

Put the plan on to gridded paper so you can do the plan to scale. Cutouts may help. Start with permanent features like the house, boundaries and fixtures that you know will not move. Do several sketches to explore ideas and  do not worry about individual plants at this stage they can change.  Look at garden books and photographs for inspiration if you are struggling.

When you get the bones of a design that you like, fill it out with textures like paths and focal points but still resist planting schemes. Peg out the design on the ground, using rope for curves, so you can get a better feel.

Prepare a planting plan to give shape and character starting with tall and feature plants. Keep an eye on planting distance, height and spread of chosen plants. Check compatability, colour shape and form so you plant to achieve a harmonious design. Finally fill in with low growing plants and ground covers.

Drafting  your formal garden design on paper gives you opportunity to test ideas and visualise what might be possible. It can and should be a happy and interesting prelude to your garden implementation phase.

Check out the BBC for design ideas

Cyclamen for Woods and Shade

Cyclamen for Woods and Shade

Cyclamen are happy in dappled shade and grow well under trees. If you want to imitate suitable conditions use un-composted bark chippings as in the photograph.

Ivy-leaved Cyclamen or Cyclamen hederifolium also formerly  called Cyclamen neapolitanum have numerous scented, white or light pink flowers in autumn that show before the leaves grow.
This species readily naturalizes and seeds prolifically.
Like other cyclamen, it resents being transplanted and corms can grow up to a foot in diameter.
Roots emerge from the upper surface and sides of the tuber and not from the lower surface.
Cyclamen like a light soil and good drainage protects the corms from rotting.

Round-leaved Cyclamen Coum flower during the early spring from January to the middle of March. They prefer some protection from bad weather.
They make interesting alpine pot plants.

Book Cover

‘Cyclamen: A Guide for Gardeners, Horticulturists and Botanists’ by C. Grey-Wilson is available from Amazon

Black Eyed Susan or Susie

Black Eyed Susan or Susie

This simple annual climbs or clambers upto 2 feet tall. Provide a simple support with a triangle of hazel twigs or canes. Black Eyed Susan do best in a sheltered position or as a conservatory plant. Also called Thunbergia Alata they are annuals that should grow easily from seed.
The late summer flowers are intense in colour and the name comes from the dark center or eye. Cream, white, yellow and orange varieties are available.

Thunbergia fragrans Angels Wings has twining stems with 2inch wide white flowers. Whilst notionally it is perennial it blooms well in the first year and can be treated as a half hardy annual.

  • Black Eyed Susan at Thompson & Morgan
    • Autumn Environmental Tips

    Autumn Environmental Tips

    Autumn Crocus
    Autumn Crocus

    Feeding birds and providing habitats continues through autumn and winter. Planning to reuse, re-purpose or recycle also contributes to the Environment. Why take your car to the garden centre to buy more plants in containers when you can derive pleasure from growing your own.

    Clear up and Clean up

    • Tidy borders, lightly hoe or fork over to deter weeds and collect up canes, pots & nets.
    • Clear away old crops, leaves and plant debris adding it to your compost heap.
    • Keep one natural corner area  and leave debris to rot down.  Add  a pile of twigs or logs to provide food for insects and shelter for small creatures through winter.
    • Wash all pots and soiled items ready for reuse next year. Save and recycle what you can.
    • Rake up tree leaves as they fall, wet them and put  in to a wire cage or plastic bag with some puncture holes and they will rot down to leaf mould in 18 months or so. (they do not rot quickly or heat up like compost but make small amounts of good friable soil).

    Plant Care

    • Plant your spring bulbs, Daffodills go in early to develop good roots but Tulips should wait until November.
    • Save buying new plants by lifting and dividing clumps of herbaceous perennials.
    • Collect your own seeds and plant those to avoid buying new next season.
    • Give your surplus plants to others so they do not need to buy new.
    • Conserve key plants by covering tender specimens such as tree ferns in hessian or move plants into a safe zone.
    • Spread your rotted compost to protect the crowns of plants through winter and give them a good start for next year.

    Tools

    • Look after your tools. Clean and oil them.
    • Use a whet stone to sharpen bladed tools and store them safely through winter.
    • Broken handles can be replaced or new long handled tools made by putting a trowel on a broom handle.
    • Think about Christmas presents for you and the garden

    Other Resources

    Royal Horticultural Society RHS ‘Gardening for All’
    National Council for Conservation of Plants and Gardens ‘Conservation through Cultivation.’
    Garden Organic National Charity for Organic Gardening.
    BBC Gardening

    Tips for growing Magnolia x soulangeana

    Tips for growing Magnolia x soulangeana

    Spring flowering Magnolia x soulangeana can be planted now. Container grown plants from grafts or cuttings will flower sooner than bare rooted shrubs. Check the container is not pot bound and older, grafted plants will perform quicker. It is a case of paying a bit more to get what you want as it can take up to 5 years for Magnolias to start flowering.

    Growing Tips

    • Blooms may fall during spells of warm weather so avoid planting in very sunny parts of the garden. Also avoid early morning sun and wind which can damage young growth. Other than that magnolias are hardy shrubs and trees.
    • You can under plant Magnolias as their structure is open but avoid damaging the shallow, delicate roots. I suggest you try Muscari (grape hyacinth) or other small bulbs.
    • You can layer your existing magnolia in August using current year shoots but rooting may take a couple of years.
    • Pruning should not be needed except crossing branches and reshaping. hard pruning can set back flowering for several years.

    Varieties to Grow

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    Knapweed Garden Gem or Invasive Weed?

    Knapweed Garden Gem or Invasive Weed?

    Centaurea macrocephala also called Knapweed is a tall perennial plant in the cornflower family. Even wikipedia can’t decide about the scale and desirability of the Centaurea family.  As with many families there are good and bad and this species seems fine in my garden.

    Growing Centaurea macrocephala

    • At 3′ to 5′ high this bold plant is ideal for providing vertical interest in a sunny, well-drained herbaceous border.
    • The golden-yellow thistle like flowers are on stiff stems from July to late summer and  mid-green, lance-shaped leaves are followed by attractive seed heads.
    • The flowers are attractive to butterflies bees and many insects as you can see. This and the attractive seed heads make this variety an eco-friendly plant to grow.
    • When dried the seed heads are excellent for use in flower arrangements.
    • Other Centaureas are blue and purple and can make fine cottage garden plants.
    • Avoid Spotted Knapweed that are invasive and ugly cousins  Centaurea biebersteinii , Centaurea maculosa and Centaurea maculosa subsp. micranthos


      • More insects on a Purple Centaurea that flowered in June.

    Heather Moors and Gardens

    Heather Moors and Gardens

    On Ilkley Moor the heather is blooming and smelling a treat. Certainly the horseflies seemed to think so until we got to the top of the moor where the heather really made a statement.
    In your garden heaths and heathers can be very useful perennial plants. They have all year round interest and are generally low maintenance plants (and being hardy they take a bit of killing).

    There is a Heather Society for the enthusiast which can be found on this link

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