GARDENER'S WORD

I never was a winter gardener and as I am aging, I am less so.  This mild weather has me doing all I can to rescue plants and prepare for next spring.  I really don't like this time of year, autumn.  I know, I appreciate the beauty of the colours in the trees but, at the same time, I get a terrible sadness at seeing plants die that have given me so much pleasure, and seeing many of the plants go into hibernation.  Pelargonium border at its best. I have dug up my border of pelargoniums, cut back the tops and potted them.  At the moment they are in a tiny green house, along with some of my more tender herbs - rosemary, chives, marjoram, lemon balm, lemon verbena, and lemon thyme.  The strawberries are still happy enough in their pots.  Later, as some of the leaves die back, I will tidy them up, push them together and protect them in the worst of it with fleece.  Meanwhile, the Lonicera Scentsation is providing wonderful red berries and it i...

Early summer, June,  I bought a plant at the RHS Centre in Harlow Carr.  It cost me £12 and at the time I thought 'ouch, bit expensive' but just had to had it.  It was planted in a hanging basket and so perfectly beautiful.  The common name for it is Million Bells, and the latin name is Calibrachoa. Million Bells in July As it turns out, it was quite an investment.  It must have been flowering for some time before I bought it in June.  It has flowered strongly all the way through summer, coping with the sunshine, the wind, the pouring rain, and the shade.  Million Bells in September 2011 And it is still flowering strongly, despite the dropping temperatures and daylight.  Million Bells in October  I was wondering how to propagate it, thinking it an annual and that it would be dead in a few weeks.  I never see seed pods on it or dead flowers for long.  It actually clears up after itself!!!!    Appar...

Spring 2012 seems such a long way off but today I have bought bulbs to look forward to.  I plan to plant them in troughs and tubs rather than in the garden borders as I don't haven't yet finished chopping and changing the borders around.  Once thing I don't like about bulbs is having to wait for the foliage to die down before they can be dug up. These are what I bought today at the RHS centre, Harlow Carr, near Harrogate, North Yorkshire:  

Although the north wind doth blow, my Polka raspberry plant is still providing me with a few beautiful raspberries and I have high hopes for next year.  And Princess Alexandra of Kent and The Generous Gardener are still providing me with exquisitely fragrant blooms.  As are the sweet peas. Sweet peas colourful and fragrant But we have a week of rain ahead, according to the weather forecasters.  How miserable!

My garden seems to be at the lull, like in the tropical zones, just before the storm hits.  I'm speaking of the forthcoming coldness of autumn and cruelty of winter.  We've had such a glorious week of high temperatures and brilliant sunshine which has given the garden, and me, a much needed boost.  Slowly but surely, I am removing exhausted plants, still dead-heading, and occasionally having to mow the lawn.  (I hate mowing the lawn.  It's the only good thing about winter in the garden.  But mostly the garden is just getting on with it alone.  I've taken a few photos (sorry if some are a little out of focus.  I think it is my problem with balance rather than the camera).  The roses are, as always, doing their utmost to make the garden beautiful and I am surprised at how lovely the begonias in the hanging baskets have been, and still are.  They have outshone and outlasted the lobelia, that's for sure. Such a lovely rich yellow B...