GARDENER'S WORD

When I made the decision to remove the William Morris rose, that poor rose that did nothing wrong but lack the ability to cope with our appalling wet weather here on the Pennines, its flowers balling and rotting before they could open, I wrote to the David Austin nurseries who bred the plant.  I got a response.  I had requested their advice about a replacement, saying that I wanted a rose that repeated, that could replace a climber, that was fragrant, that was healthy, with flowers that would happily open even with a lot of rain.  They recommended Mortimer Sackler and they told me that they had no more of that rose in containers.  Fortunately, today, my luck was in when I visited the Royal Horticultural Society gardens at Harlow Carr, near Harrogate.  They had several Mortimer Sackler roses and I bought the one I considered the most robust.  After all, I have had to remove a three year old climber and now it has left a gaping gap in my row of roses along th...

I revisited the Royal Horticultural Society gardens again today, at Harlow Carr, because the way this summer has gone I never know when it will be decent enough weather for me to visit again before winter is here.  It's been a nice day, not too hot, some sun, and the rain kept away until I got home around 4pm.  I managed to take a number of photos today.  Click on the images to see them more closely:   I've added photos of a few flowers on a separate post .

As I mentioned in my previous post today , I visited the Royal Horticultural Society gardens at Harlow Carr this afternoon and took a few photos of the grounds and flowers.  There were not so many plants to photograph that I thought were of interest but I liked the strange plant in the first image and have no idea what it is.  The RHS at Harlow Carr are strangely remiss in providing labels for their visitors to identify plants.  Click on the images for a closer view.  Mystery plant.  Reminds me of the house plant 'shrimp plant'. Zonal Pelargonium display Achillea attracting many bees and other nectar loving insects This is some strange kind of thistle, I think.  Giant containers packed with Cosmos??? Kniphofia and other plants.  That wall is looks revolting.  It is supposed to represent a 1960s garden feature Photos of the grounds taken today

The sun is shining and the plan was to read John Grisham's 'The Confession' while lolling about on the hammock/swing but this blasted wind and rain has created so much work in the garden that I keep spying little jobs that need doing out of the corner of my eye - dead heading blooms that should have had days left in them being one of the jobs - mowing a lawn that is now showing signs of turning to moss - shortening the raspberry canes that are whipping around like cat o'nines in the wind.  Most annoying.  And I just zapped about a trillion greenfly clinging to Prima Ballerina.  How dare they!  Perfect Prima Ballerina I bought Prima Ballerina earlier this year and it has been doing fabulously except, now, it has started to do a very odd thing. It is sporting, on the same shoot, the typical coloured flower as well as a pale yellow one with flecks of pink, and is showing a deeper red rose on another shoot which is not coming from below ground le...

  After persevering with the David Austin rose, 'William Morris', for three years the time has come for me to say goodbye to it.  I don't consider it a fault of the rose, more a fault of the English weather conditions which that particular rose seems unable to cope with.  The balling of the flowers in the unsummery conditions that prevail, year after year, is unacceptable.   I shall possibly just buy another of the roses that I already have, safe in the knowledge that it can cope - such as 'The Generous Gardener', 'Wild Eve', or even a non-David Austin climber that I have grown before.  How sad though, to dig up a rose that, if the weather had just been kinder, dryer, would have done so well and it is such a prolific flowerer, smells so sweet.  But I don't believe that English summers are suddenly going to be as lovely as they should be, or could be.  More like pigs will fly.   William Morris at its best Below, '...

It's a Sunday morning and I was just looking at old photographs on my computer hard-drive and came across many photos showing how my little garden has progressed over the years since I moved in, in October 2009.  It's interesting to look back and see how things have progressed.  I've shown them in reverse order.  2017 Above, 2017. A new double-glazed, cedar-clad garden room has been erected and a well-built mini-shed has replaced the old shed which looked as if it was about to keel over!  2017, May 29  Above 2017, the old fence (which had started to rot and blow down) replaced with concrete posts, gravel boards, and fencing panels that slotted in and allowed the passage of air and light. 2015 Above, 2015 - panoramic view of garden 2014 Above, 2014, panoramic view of garden  2012 Above, 2012, taken from the hammock/swing. 2012, north facing border, doing well.  Above, 2012 taken from bungalow.  2012, wid...

The trough under my living room window has filled out splendidly and although the view of it from outside is lovely, it is also lovely looking at it through the window.  When I first had the trough affixed to the wall under my window, I made the mistake of growing low plants which could hardly been seen from inside.  I won't make that mistake again.  I am looking forward to planning what I will have later this year, to flower in winter.  It will, no doubt, be a challenge as I believe we are in for another harsh winter.  But, for now, I have a trough packed with zonal pelargoniums, trailing pelargoniums and white trailing lobelia. The yellow flower that you see below is not growing in the trough but is the Arthur Bell rose which I grow in a border beneath the trough.   Zonal pelargoniums are great value for money.  So easy to propagate.

I think zonal pelargoniums (often erroneously called geraniums) are one of the most giving plants that I grow.  Every year, in very early spring, I take cuttings from my old plants and grow them on, discarding the old woody plants if they look too woody or leggy.  From buying just a few different coloured plants, about 6 years ago, I now have so many I have to give them away.  I grow them in a small border (as below) and I grow them in troughs .  They are great in tubs and in hanging baskets too, or you can put them in individual pots hung from fencing.  I've seen them trained up posts too.  However, they demand sun and warmth to do well - they originate from South Africa, I believe.  This year, as we have had such a dreadful sun-lacking year in West Yorkshire, it took quite a while before my pelargoniums got their act together and started flowering as they usually do.  Many pelargoniums in a narrow, shallow border between...

Spent an hour or two at Betty's restaurant at Harlow Carr, Nr. Harrogate this afternoon and then popped into the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) garden centre next door to see if any plant could lure me to buying it.  I was so tempted when I saw a beautiful clematis with a small flower like a jasmine.  It had a wonderful perfume and was very floriferous but only flowers from June to September.  I am afraid I demand more than that from my climbers - more like 6 months or more.  But here it is, clematis flammula:  (click on the images to enlarge)   Clematis - 'Flammula' There was a lovely Dahlia or two although I have to say that none was as beautiful, to me, as the one I grow, Fascination , which has a lovely deep red leaf and bud.  Kelvin Floodlight was really pretty though.   Dahlia - 'Kelvin Floodlight' I think that Penstemons (below) are lovely if you have a herbaceous border but not particularly the best choice for the frozen n...