Royal Bridal Flowers

Royal Bridal Flowers

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White was the order of the day for Kate Middleton’s bridal bouquet.

Previous Royal Weddings

  • The Queen chose white Orchids in 1947.
  • Diana The Princess of Wales had Gardenias and Stephanotis the waxy strongly scented white flowers.
  • Princess Anne stepped most out of line with cream Roses, White Heather for luck and Scotland, plus the strongly scented Lily of the Valley.
  • The Countess of Wessex had Arum lilies, Fressias for scent and again Roses.
  • Sarah Ferguson carried a bouquet with perfumed Gardenias, cream Lilies, pale yellow Roses, Lilies of the valley and a sprig of myrtle.
  • Camilla Duchess of Cornwall was slightly different in adding grey and cream Auriculas to a traditional bouquet.

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Turn your arrangements into botanical works of art – here are some examples and clubs you could join.

For a recommendation that is a bit different but scented and locally grow Kate could try Phlox. Something for her future father-in -law to talk too during the lengthy ceremony.
Phlox

Top 10 Easy Flowers To Grow

Top 10 Easy Flowers To Grow

sunflowers
1. Sunflowers. One of the most rewarding plants to grow from seed is the sunflower. You can sow seed in March – May. April is a great time. For best results. Try sowing seed in 3 inch pots. Protect from slugs and keep well watered. After a few weeks the seedlings can be planted out. Sunflowers will need staking. But part of the fun is seeing them grow so rapidly. – Growing Sunflowers

2. Daffodils. Bulbs tend to be very easy to grow. The main thing is to plant at the correct depth in the autumn. If the bulbs are in good condition and disease free they will flower for several years. They can be helped by a liquid feed and dividing when overcrowded. Growing from seed requires great patience and expertise. Growing Daffodils

3. Sweet Peas. Sweet Peas aren’t the easiest to grow, but they are wonderful. You can sow direct outdoors but you will have to watch out for slugs. Sowing in 3inch pots will give better results. They also need something to grow up. They will soon reach 6 feet. The other secret of sweet peas is to keep cutting the flowers – this will give you wonderful cut flowers for the house and extend the flowering season. Growing Sweet Peas

4. Nigella – Love in a Mist. If you want a really easier flower to grow try ‘Nigella’ common name ‘love in a mist. You can just scatter seed in the garden and it tends to look after itself. You can sow the seed in either autumn or spring. Once it gets going, it will set seed. It is resistant to many pests as well.

5. Iris.
Spring Flowers

See: Growing Spring Iris – Bearded Iris

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Willow as a Crop

Willow as a Crop

copiced land

Willow can be grown as a crop and used for many purposes. It is not a garden crop as it needs a lot of water and can be a bit of a thug as a tree.

This Willow is growing on the flood plain at Rodley nature reserve. At the back you can see 8 feet high trees growing away. You can also see how some trees have been coppiced or cut to the ground and the uprights taken away.
The stool or remaining root will regrow a further crop of willow for next year.

Fence from coppiced willow

Willow can be woven to form hurdles or fences. Willow is supple and will bend when green and can be watered to increase suppleness.

Laid hedge

Laid hedges are made by partially cutting through uprights and laying the young growth at a slant. Willow is used to offer an upright support against which the laying can be joined.

In addition to traditional uses Willow Weaving has become an interesting pastime. Garden supports, arches and frames can be built from willow and sculptures can be created by the artistically or practically minded. Grow sweet peas up a willow frame.
A step guide DVD is available from amazon

Willow can be grown in rows of bushes and cropped for making basket weaving willow. Grow your own trug!

Book Cover

Three Colours – One Flower

Three Colours – One Flower

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As flowers age they can lose some of their colour.
The sun can have a bleaching effect and the pigment should already have done it’s job of attracting pollination insects.

Some flowers have petals that are a throw back to an earlier plant cross

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Other plants may be programmed to produce flowers with a natural variety in their colouring.

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Photographs can lie especially when it comes to the rendition of colour.
The colour temperature and light conditions can make the same pigments appear different in different conditions

Italian Lantana

Lantana camara often has three colours on one blossom in this case pink, yellow and red.

Kids Plants to Make Them Gardeners

Kids Plants to Make Them Gardeners

Book Cover

Kids can have fun in the garden and on a windowsill. It can give them an understanding of food and green issues in a fun environment. Help them grow plants that are easy, reliable and develop quickly to maintain interest. Give them good soil, a sunny location and help so they are not put off  gardening in the future.
Kids can be turned into enthusiastic gardeners from an early age and with luck it will stay with them for life

Plants for Kids

  • Mustard and Cress are quick germinators and growers and produce an edible crop in days not weeks.
  • Sunflowers are very popular with children, the seeds are easy to handle and the growing plants look bigger every week.
  • Nasturtiums are quick growing and even if they do not like the peppery tasty the flowers and leaves are edible. The three seeds per flower show how plants reproduce year after year whilst providing food for other creatures.
  • Plants from tubers or bulbs such as Dahlias and Lilies are popular for the flowers. For indoors as a present for Mum try a Gloxinia
  • Seed potatoes. Peas or Courgettes are reliable croppers.

Indoor experiments that we tried as children …

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Growing Hollyhocks – Purple Malva

Growing Hollyhocks – Purple Malva

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Hollyhock family are from the Alcea genus but I couldn’t find a UK supplier of the variety above..

Malva sylvestris Magic Hollyhock has beautiful rich purple pink flowers, veined deep glossy purple, some loosely double like Old Fashioned Roses. It thrives easily in most soils providing a magnificent display.
Book Cover
Cultivation

  • Sow from late winter to early spring 1.5mm (1/16in) deep in John Innes Seed Compost.
  • Make sure that the compost is moist but not wet and seal in a polythene bag until after germination, which normally takes 15-21 days at 21C (70F).
  • Transplant when large enough to handle into 7.5cm (3 in) pots.
  • Grow cool and later plant out 60cm (24in) apart into an ordinary but not rich soil in sun and some shelter. If windy tie to a stake or support.

Hollyhock Malva sylvestris ‘Magic’ is available as seed from Thompson & Morgan

 

Want to know if it is an Alcea or Malva read about Aroids

 

Read Growing Hollyhocks for Fun

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Ant Pest Control in the Garden

Ant Pest Control in the Garden

Ants and aphids on weed in our flower garden

Ants can be an unsightly nuisance and inspire concern. However they do not directly damage plants but are more a sign that you have another pest problem.

Ants eat the honeydew secreted by aphids, scale insects and other pests. So ant go where there is food and are clever enough to farm aphids by carrying them from one plant to another to increase their food supply.

Ants can burrow into the soil of seedlings disturbing roots.


Prevention and Control

  • Ant Killer Gel contain a specially formulated d-phenothrin gel to destroy both ants and ants nests. Ants carry this insecticidal gel deep into the nest to destroy it from within.
  • Generic insects Killer sprays for Fleas, Bed Bugs, Moths, Ants, Wasps, Mosquitoes are available.
  • micro-emulsion formulations  provide a fast and effective way to kill ants and other crawling insects.
  • Amazon range of ant controls
  • Remember no aphids, no food, no ants!
  • Aphid killer and controls from amazon. or read organic control for aphids

 

Photo credit Martin LeBar creative commons license on flickr

Poppy Companion Planting with Vegetables

Poppy Companion Planting with Vegetables

Opium Poppy

Think before you allow poppies to proliferate.
Poppies rob a lot of goodness from your soil.

Poppies and Vegetables

  • Poppies grown close to purple sprouting broccoli and other brassicas will inhibit the plants and reduce your potential crop.
  • Poppies that are planted close together have the ability to kill off other plants.
  • Odd self sown poppies may not have a dramatic effect but better safe than sorry.
  • Beans and Peas that ‘fix’ nitrogen back into the soil may not appear to suffer such an effect but take care with green leaf crops.

Poppies as a Weed

  • The large quantity of seed produced from a few plants can cause poppies to become weed like infestations.
  • If I could convert the latex into a useful crop as they do in Afghanistan it may be another story
  • Seed remains viable in your soil for many years. One years seeding = many years of weeding
  • Long tap roots make some poppies hard to weed. If you break the root you may get two plants next time.

poppy seedheads

Uses of Poppies and Seeds

  • Seed from the opium poppy Papaver somniferum can be crushed to form seed oil.
  • Poppy seeds are used, whole or ground, as an ingredient in many foods such as bread and baked products.
  • Different varieties of poppy seed are used as a spice, a condiment, a decorative garnish and a thickener in food.
  • Seeds can be used in bird seed mixes
  • Poppy is popular in many different international cuisines.
  • The crop is grown for the production of opium, morphine, codeine and the alkaloid thebaine

Related try Growing Poppies from Seed

Garden Wind Problems

Garden Wind Problems

wind swept

Trees shrubs even small plants react to wind. The example of this Yew tree is a bit extreme but you can see the effect of a strong prevailing wind.

Problems Caused By Wind

  • Plants may grow on a slant, leaning away from the wind. This inhibits growth and plants will not reach their full potential.
  • Shrubs and trees  may be distorted not growing  leaves or branches on the windward side.
  • Intermittent wind can cause plants to bend, then grow straight giving stems a twisted or crooked appearance.
  • Wind can be energy sapping for gardeners, so too for plants that have to live in the conditions.
  • ‘Wind rock’ making plants sway at ground level loosens the roots of shrubs like roses and can kill.
  • Strong wind can ‘burn’ young foliage.
  • Strong wind can uproot or blow down trees and plants.

wind swept

Prevent and Cure Wind Problems

  • It seems easy but do not plant in windy locations. If you must, be prepared for wind problems when choosing plants. Opt for low growers, hardy plants and shrubs with an open habit that allows wind to blow through.
  • Use natural barriers as wind breaks. Use hollows, walls, hedges and buildings to create a wind shadow.
  • Stake and tie plants.
  • Protect with barriers such as netting
  • Accept the results of wind damage, it is natural after all.