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Tag: perennial

Euryops Yellow Daisy

Euryops Yellow Daisy

Daisy daisy give me fine leaves too

euryops

Growing one foot high Euryops acraeus or Euryops evansii is a dwarf shrub that makes a neat and compact plant. In summer the grey mounds of leaves are covered with small bright-yellow daisies that have an even deeper-yellow in the centre.
It is a tough plant that survives all but the most extreme summer conditions including moderate but not prolonged drought. It can rot if too wet and unfortunately it isn’t reliably winter hardy. Propagated by stem cuttings that can be overwintered inside. They are being promoted by the horticultural trade and are progressively available at garden centers in the spring so expect to see more around.

Other Euryops, and there are around 100 species, can grow into small trees but due to winter frailty I can not recommend any varieties.

Euryops look good in groups of 3 and they are a suitable filler for cottage or perennial gardens. If your garden can use a shot of bright yellow all season long then give Euryops a trial.

Fastia – Fastia Japonica

Fastia – Fastia Japonica

High five these palmate leaves of Fastia japonica

This Fastia was grown indoors as a houseplant then planted in the garden where it thrives to the point where it is now flowering at the end of summer.
It is several years old, 4 feet tall & wide and is very happy in a shaded north facing position.

When you have finished with some old house plants you can try to give them a new life outdoors. If they fail you have lost nothing. I have several former foliage house plants in a low maintenance area of the garden where I let plants get on with it for themselves.

The evergreen finger shaped leaves are larger than a hand and create a sculptural plant. I haven’t studied the flowers before but they are neat and simple spheres.

Sorry this photograph has a blue cast from a near by wall.

Aquilegia Growing

Aquilegia Growing

aqu2

Aquilegia are growing and flowering in all parts of my garden at the moment. This Aquilegia canadensis or red columbine hybridises very easily and will self sow if left to its own devices. This Aquilegia Kansas looks very striking in tight groups.

aqu-honeysuckle

When I saw this photograph of Aquilegia colombine growing with  Honeysuckle the significance of the names escaped me. The Honeysuckle will flower a bit later than the Aquilegia which I will cut down after it flowers in the hope of a second flush of flowers later in the year.

horns

The horns of a dilema are shown on this close up of an Aquilegia flower. It pays to take the time to inspect individual flowers as well as the whole plant.
You can acquire or just admire plants as part of a collection

aqu-rhodo

Aquilegia combine well with other plants and the colours of the Rhododendron work well with the shade of this Aquilegia.

aqu

Whilst it may not be obvious Aquilegias grow as small alpines 4 inches tall like A. Flabellata and as 3 feet high plants and various sizes in between. A good selection of seeds from many Aquilegia varieties are in the  Chiltern Seed catalogue.

aqu-leaf

The leaves have a pleasing shape and vary in colour from the yellow green above to grey green and dark green.

aqu4

Give Aquilegia a try in your garden. They grow very easily from seed so poor specimens and colours can be weeded out.

Aquilegia

Seed Suppliers and Specialties

Seed Suppliers and Specialties

Membership of a garden society can be a good source of good value seeds.
Not all seed companies are the same and many have distinctive specialties.
The big well known brands generally have a full range of annuals, perennials and odd selections. Most now offer higher value items including plugs and kinder or pot plants.

Many brands are now owned by the same company and the niche suppliers often offer more seed or better products in a narrower focused  range.

Choice Seed Companies

  • Thompson & Morgan wildflowers and  thousands of varieties of seeds with useful germination  guide available online.
  • Boston Seeds – Online seed shop offers grass seed mixtures for lawns, paddocks, sport, plus agricultural seed and wildflower seed. Volume orders
  • The Chilli Company – Sells a variety of hot chilli seeds including ‘Brain strain’ and collections to take advantage of a current trend for growing Hot Chillies
  • Chiltern seed  new web site but the old catalogue has flowery descriptions and an excellent range – no photos but great mail order catalogues
  • D. T. Brown and Co. Ltd. – Offers a range of flower and vegetable seeds, including organics. Order catalogue online.

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Verbascum Banana Custard and Other Mullien

Verbascum Banana Custard and Other Mullien

Verbascum banana custaard

This nine foot high perennial plant has a striking spire of yellow flowers. This variety has several smaller spikes in this case an impressive fourteen at the last count and still growing. This is a Verbascum hybrida and I also have a white which is less robust but still stately.

  • The leaves are hairy and can cause skin irritation
  • In the wild ‘Mulliens’ produce prodigious volumes of seed as do the hybrids. I treat good specimens as biennial although they are perennial as they are easy to grow from seed.
  • Flowers do not open evenly up the flowering spike but have colour for many weeks in summer. If dead headed there will often be a second flush later.
  • Mulliens like sun and space but are not fussy about soil conditions
  • Try grow a variety with multiple stems. Some have only one spike.

Verbascum
Design Tips

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Tips for Growing Pulsatilla the Pasque Flower

Tips for Growing Pulsatilla the Pasque Flower

pasque-flowers

The Pulsatilla is also called the Pasque flower or meadow anemone and although related to the anemone it is a separate part of the buttercup family Ranunculus.

Also commonly known as the prairie crocus, Anemone Pulsatilla, Wind flower and Easter Flowe.

  • This clump forming herbaceous perennial is 6 inches tall and the flowers can be red, blue, purple or white and have six velvety petals with curled, pointed tips surrounding a ring of bright yellow stamens. Flowering around Easter they have the alternative native British name of Pasque flower.
  • All plant surfaces are covered in fine, soft hairs as can be seen in this images.The attractive seed heads which follow are spherical with silvery plume like styles raised on elongated flower stems.
  • Not to be out done the foliage is exquisite in spring.
  • The plant is best treated as poisonous although it is occasionally used in herbal medicine.
  • Protect from excessive wet winter weather. They tolerate alkaline soils and are found naturally in the wild.
  • They dislike root disturbance and can be difficult to establish. They can be grown from seed or propagated by root cutting but try not to disturb the main plant as they take several years to flower at their best. Plant when small and leave undisturbed.
  • Pulsatilla vulgaris Red Cloak is a great variety to grow from seed. Rubra is another red variety.

Seeds from Thompson & Morgan

Other Pulsatilla Facts
Pulsatilla vulgaris is the county flower for both Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire.
Single flowers are followed by attractive fuzzy seedheads resembling those of clematis.
There is one double cultivar called Papageno

Passion flower Pulsatilla

Other Pulsatilla species  include:

Pulsatilla alpina
# Pulsatilla chinensis
# Pulsatilla grandis
# Pulsatilla halleri
# Pulsatilla montana
# Pulsatilla nigricans
# Pulsatilla patens
# Pulsatilla pratensis
# Pulsatilla vernalis
# Pulsatilla vulgaris
# Pulsatilla subslavica
# Pulsatilla cernua

Spring Shoots of Dicentra

Spring Shoots of Dicentra

green-shoots-of-spring

The economies of the world are waiting for a sign of the green shoots of a spring recovery. This Dicentra plant shows that not all good things are green and I love to seek out red shoots amongst my plants.

Other notable red shoots come in spring from the herbaceous Peonies and from Rhubarb plants but back to the Dicentra family or bleeding heart for a moment. The plants are easy to grow and reliable perennials whose clump grows each year. They resent disturbance so are hard to split for propagation but root cuttings from the edge of clumps are not too hard to strike.

Dicentra King of Hearts & Ivory Hearts

Dicentra Varieties to Try Growing

  • Dicentra spectabilis is the variety above that will flower with dark pink heart shaped flowers. There is also a white version sold under the unsurprising name of Alba but this is generally Dicentra eximia.
  • Dicentra formosa has cherry-red hearts that dangle like lockets on arching stems above mounds of fern like foliage. Also nicknamed Dutchmans Breeches.
  • Bulb forming Dicentra cucullaria and Dicentra canadensis are cream or white in flower but retain the distinctive Dicentra fern like foliage.
  • Dicentra scandens is a yellow flowered climbing species that I not found to be hardy.
  • There are 19 species of Dicentra from America and Asia.

Dicentra scandens

Growing Tips For Dicentra Formosa

  • The finer leaves grow well on the edge of woodland.
  • The grey leaved forms are OK under deciduous trees or shrubs but will stand more sun and can be used in alpine gardens.
  • Heavy clay soil needs improving with sharp grit and a granular feed in early spring.
  • The outer edges of plants are more vigorous than the centres. Use these to form new plants.

Dicentra cucullaria

‘Dicentra cucullaria (Dutchman’s breeches) is a flowering plant in the family Fumariaceae, native to North America. It occurs mainly in the eastern half of the continent, from Nova Scotia and southern Quebec west to eastern North Dakota, and south to northern Georgia and eastern Oklahoma; there is also a disjunct population in Idaho, Oregon and Washington. It typically grows in rich woods. The common name Dutchman’s breeches derives from their white flowers that look like white breeches.’

Dutchman's breeches - Dicentra cucullaria

Credits
Dicentra King of Hearts & Ivory Hearts by peganum CC BY-SA 2.0
Dicentra scandens by gnomicscience CC BY-NC 2.0
Dicentra cucullaria by aposematic herpetologist CC BY-NC 2.0
Dicentra cucullaria by dmott9 CC BY-ND 2.0

 

Tips for Growing Astrantia

Tips for Growing Astrantia

golden acre gardens leeds

Astrantia are unassuming garden perennials now coming into flower from June .

Tips for Cultivating Astrantia

  • Astrantias are superb perennials for the stream edge or a moist border.
  • They may tolerate drier soils as long as the plants are mulched
  • ‘Claret’ is a beautiful variety with deep red pincushion flowers.
  • After flowering, plants can be rejuvenated by cutting them back close to the ground – fresh new foliage and a late crop of flowers start appearing shortly after.
  • Plants do not make big clumps or spread but they can be split in early spring.
  • Grow from fresh seed or buy as plants. Thompson Morgan

Astrantia Varieties and Features

  • Astrantia have star-like flower heads in reds, pinks and pastel shades.
  • The variegated form has an AGM Astrantia major ‘Sunningdale Variegated’

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Growing Different Daisy Flowers “Townsendia”

Growing Different Daisy Flowers “Townsendia”

Townsendia formosa

This genus of conspicuous Aster like flowers deserves to be better known.

Growing Habits of Townsendia

  • This perennial genus comes from North America and Mexico.
  • Some Townsendia are tall, erect plants, like typical daisies, others form small, leafy rosettes, or have a sprawling, prostrate appearance.
  • The plants like a sunny well drained spot or they will be short lived.
  • Sow seed in gritty compost and surround plants with grit or gravel.

Some Species of Townsendia.

  • Townsendia formosa shown above has lilac coloured flowers above thin narrow foliage.
  • Townsedia grandiflora has large violet flowers 1-2″ wide on 5-10″ stems in summer.
  • Townsendia exscapa has white or pale pink flowers.
  • Information on the other 20+ species by L M Shultz
Grow Ericaceous Cassiope

Grow Ericaceous Cassiope

Cassiope Badenoch

Cassiope are a valuable group of small wiry stemmed ericaceous perennials with white bell-like flowers blooming in spring. Leaves are unstalked and densely overlap.

Tips for Growing Cassiope

  • Grow in lime free sandy or mossy soil. Very hardy if given good drainage.
  • The smaller varieties are good alpine house and pot plants growing below 12″ high.
  • Plants are cheap to buy and can be propagated from cuttings or by pegging down.
  • Plants hybridise quite easily.
  • Grow in a cool shady or semi-shady places in the rock garden or shrub border.

Hybrids and Species to Grow

  • Cassiope Randle Cooke is a super little Cassiope with deep green leaves closely clasping the stems.
  • Cassiope Badenoch shown above has a mass of off-white bell shaped flowers
  • Cassiope Edinburgh another wiry stemmed ericaceous perennial with tightly packed deep green leaves and larger white bell-like flowers in spring.