GARDENER'S WORD - IDEAS AND TIPS

Scilla Forbesii (also known as Chionodoxa Forbesii, as well as Giant of the Snow) has a beautiful flower growing from a bulb. The flowers are a very striking blue and I have grown it (in a pot) for the first time in decades of gardening. I had never heard about it until the end of last year when I was hunting online for spring bulbs. According to the RHS, ( RHS link to Scilla Forbesii ) this little bulb is extremely tolerant of conditions such as growing medium, light, exposure, aspect and is hardy down to -15c.   Another name for it is Giant of the Snow as well as Forbes Squill, I kid you not. Scilla forbesii aka Chionodoxa forbesii

Scilla siberica bulbs put on a delightful show, especially the blue variety as the colour is quite intense. I am growing them in a container of compost along with Muscari which haven't yet flowered. Scilla siberica tolerates full sun or partial shade and mine are in a spot which is sunny for much of the day. However, as you can see from the below image, the blue naturally appears deeper with a bit of shade.   Scilla siberica Blue Scilla siberica Blue

I made the mistake of planting Crocus vernus 'Pickwick' corms in a bulb lasagne without labelling the bulbs in the lasagne. I must have been gardening in a dream that day.  Anyway, I managed to find the name of the below crocus by trawling through online orders and comparing images. Pickwick is a fabulous Dutch crocus with quite a large flower which makes it stand out in the crowd.  Crocus vernus Pickwick It grows in a large plastic pot of compost in a sunny position.  I thought a bulb lasagne was a great idea until the plants started to grow and some of the crocuses in flower got buried under tulip leaves.  I will remember later this year although I am thinking of sticking most of my spring bulbs in the borders for next spring.  Crocus vernus Pickwick

At last, despite the continuing rain of the last few weeks here in West Yorkshire, England, the spring bulbs are putting on a show in my garden containers. I admit, I went a bit mad last autumn and planted spring bulbs by the hundreds, literally. They aren't just in tubs but in the borders too where they are a bit slower to appear. Below are various irises (reticulatas), crocuses (luteus Golden Yellow), tete-a-tete narcissi, and thick tulip leaves with a promise of flowers yet to come.  I hate winter and spring is my favourite time of year. Why? Because when March arrives I have months of spring, summer, and autumn to look forward to.  The below Iris reticulata bulbs are a new variety for my garden. They are an intense violet-purple and  'Spot On' seems the perfect name for them as those splashes of white on the falls really do make them rather special.  Iris reticulata 'Spot On' Last but not least, Iris reticulata 'Harmony' which I have grown for years. It ...

You gardeners know how it is, the garden shed begins with enough room and then you add this and that and eventually it all becomes a mighty jumble where you can't find anything. I, more or less, resolved that problem last summer by adding hooks to the shed walls. Have a look! Oh, and that white thing?  A refrigerator shelf broke off. I am still hoping to find some use for it as I have run out of wall space.  Increasing storage in a small garden shed The thing is, having more space meant I have more room for more garden gadgets and it's now starting to look a bit full again but the above is how it looked at the end of April 2025.  That grey thing at the bottom left of the image is an Amtech S5640 60kg Folding Aluminium Sack Truck. I t folds flat and opens up to a little platform that can be used for lugging heavy bulky things from the car to the garden.  The black hooks are heavy duty 'AinDen Garage Wall Hooks' The lawnmower is suspended from an old stainless-steel cl...

A recent arrival to my garden is Acer palmatum Sango-Kaku, also known as the Coral-bark maple. I'm already hooked on Japanese maples (acers) but am limited with regard to numbers by the size of my garden which, at most, is 30ft by 30ft (and that's stretching it a bit), and already houses a garden room and a shed. As soon as I saw the red branches of Sango-Kaku (Sango) I had to have it, and yet it is not the smallest of acers.  In the image below you can see the autumnal glorious colours and even when all the leaves are shed, there will still be that glorious bark!  Acer palmatum Sango-Kaku - October 2025 In fact, it can, over time, achieve 8 metres if left to do as it pleases. It is of bushy habit and mine is going to be restricted in the way they restrict bonsai trees, by pruning. It is doable, I have seen it. My new arrival is already 3ft (90cm) tall and reaching for the stars. It needed repotting as it was  already somewhat root bound.  Like most Japanese maples, ...

In May 2014 I bought an Acer palmatum 'Orange Dream' from a British store that sells everything from clothes, to beauty products, to flowers and food. Not so much plants nowadays. The plant was small and cost me £15, which was quite expensive back then. It was a beautiful thing but it quickly died and that was when I first discovered that dreaded vine weevils had arrived in my garden and had eaten all its roots! In 2023, I finally eradicated vine weevils by desperately bombarding my garden with Nemasys, not just as recommended but monthly, I wasn't having those munching weevils and their little root gnawing offspring killing off anything else. It was expensive but money well spent.  Acer palmatum 'Orange Dream' - October 2025 - repotted A week or so ago, I decided to buy another 'Orange Dream' and so I ordered one from a seller on Amazon for just short of £13. I had used them before and they were excellent but, oh boy, the 'Orange Dream' turned up ...