GARDENER'S WORD

While the weather continues to wreak havoc upon my already saturated garden, with wind and rain smashing my roses and dahlias, I wondered what I might post.  This year I have grown, as usual Tumbling Tom tomatoes and after a slow start, one of the four plants actually managed to yield ripened fruit, four bowls of it.  But that has been all.  The other day, while out shopping, I came across a tomato that I had never seen before, 'Jester', which were grown by Andy Roe in Lancashire, England.  It is named so because of the shape of the sepals.  I'll try anything once and I have to say that they are lovely and sweet and firm. I've just grilled some to go with an English breakfast and they were beautiful.  I would love to try and grow them next year but, apparently, other commercial growers besides Andy Roe are, apparently, avoiding them because of the challenges growing this tomato presents.  Doesn't sound too encouraging for me, such a novice. '...

I was watching a BBC television programme the other day, Gardener's World, and learned something new.  Apparently slugs don't like coffee grounds so you could tip the bitter coffee remains around your favourite plants.  Actually, I treasure all my plants.  I did once read that coffee grounds are good for the garden soil (apparently they have a lot of nitrogen) and a store that I know in town, that has a coffee shop, actually advertises to its customers that they can have the spent coffee grounds for free.  I have been happily slinging mine - Taylor's Rich Italian Roast - onto my garden soil for weeks.  Nothing but the best for my slugs! Actually, I also read another comment on an online forum and the writer said that slugs crawled right over their coffee grounds.  Apparently slugs can be picky about their coffee.  So can I. In a gardening book of mine, the author, Alys Fowler, says that she squishes small slugs between her finge...

As we had a rather mild and sunny day today, I had to take advantage of it.  For me, I need time to garden rather than do everything in a mad rush.  I dismantled the small polytunnel that I had used all summer for my tomatoes and strawberries and put together the mini-greenhouse that I had had stored in my shed.  While I would love to have a big, fancy greenhouse made of glass my garden has no space for one.  However, the mini-greenhouse which I paid less than £20 for about 3 years ago is invaluable in spring and over winter.  During the harshness of winter, I keep my potted herbs in there which go quite dormant mostly but which otherwise might not survive the severe low temperatures we have been getting lately.  Plants in pots suffer more than those in the ground.  At the moment though, I have put my perpetual flowering strawberry plants in there.  Strawberries, I believe, are quite hardy so they may have to be taken out of the mini-greenhouse to...

In an earlier post I mentioned that I had had to transplant my clematis 'Arctic Queen'.  I thought the winter months of late 2010 and early 2011 had killed it off and then it started to show tiny shoots which were promptly leapt upon by ravenous slugs.  I dug up Arctic Queen and transplanted it into a terracotta pot and placed it next to my garden shed, behind the swing, where the clematis got more sun and more protection from the weather.  Despite such a rough start to the year, Arctic Queen has valiantly clambered up the shed and has been trying, rather in vane, to flower.  Even so, it has managed to produce one small bloom, albeit rather deformed and very unlike the ones produced in 2011 .   Struggling Arctic Queen Sept 2012   Before the frost comes, I plan to protect the terracotta pot against sub-zero temperatures with either bubblewrap or garden fleece - anything to give the poor plant a chance next year.  Arctic Queen buds Sept 201...

At last, at long last, the hollyhock 'Chater's Yellow' has managed to not only develop buds but open them.  I thought it would never happen as, I believe, the flowers should have been in full bloom two months ago.  But how worth the wait.  Despite the rain continually falling on them, they are perfect, in my eyes anyway.  There are still many buds further up the stem and only time will tell as to whether or not they will open. Alcea Rosea Hollyhock 'Chater's Yellow'     It's not bad, is it, when you think I have grown this sun loving plant in a 10 inch pot (filled with good, well-draining, compost) and the summer has been wet, colder than usual, and very windy.  You should try growing one if you haven't already.  This was a first for me but I know that I shall have to grow one again.  I always, for some reason, assumed it was an annual but various websites describe Chater's Yellow, a double hollyhock, as a short-lived perennial...

Curiosity is making me wonder just how well pelargoniums do as cut flowers.  I have a feeling that they will be very short lived, dropping their flowers quickly.  I was just dead heading a small border of pelargoniums that I have and decided to experiment.  I've never brought them indoors before and that surprises me as they grow on lovely long, strong stems.  I stuck them in a tiny vase with a couple of 'Fascination' dahlias.  The dahlias don't last so very long either.  They, dahlias and pelargoniums, have no fragrance as such but they look bright and pretty.  

About six years ago I bought, for half price, a lovely marble topped table and powder-painted chairs for the garden.  Each year I protect the marble table top with a sealant which prevents water getting into the marble which can then freeze in sub-zero temperatures.  The expansion of the ice can cause the marble to crack.  I also protect the table with a waterproof cover during winter, just to be extra safe.  So far, the marble is fine but I wish I could say the same about the chairs.  Why do manufacturers make metal, outdoor garden furniture that can rust, only protecting it with a thin coat of powder-paint ?   I do appreciate that it is supposed to be harder but a small scratch will allow rainwater to enter and then rust starts gnawing away at the metal.   I keep having to sand down spots of rust which I then protect with Hammerite.  My chairs are starting to look a bit blotchy but at least they should last. ...

When the wind was wreaking havoc in my garden I thought it wise to bring in some roses before they are destroyed.  I cut a long branch of the Margaret Merrill rose which was being thrashed around by the wind.  Actually, I think Margaret Merrill is a lot tougher than I thought.  While the blooms have now and then shown a little sign of balling (nothing near so bad as the problem with William Morris ) when the rain has continued for several days, Margaret Merrill is definitely a rose bush to keep in my garden.  The fragrance is not powerful but still sweet and the cut roses seem to last very well indeed.    Margaret Merrill cut roses in a vase These were cut and put in a vase three days ago, the flowers were open and not in bud stage, and they are still showing no sign of dropping their petals. 

Despite the weather being responsible for a poor performance of the sugarsnap peas in pots, I have realised that this is the perfect way for me to grow them in the limited space I have in my garden.  I've tried growing them in a border but they just took over and were really a pain.  This year, I tried to grow them in a tub and, yes, I admit that I had to sow three lots before I had any kind of success, but this is definitely the way to go.  If the weather hadn't been so unkind, I know that I would have had a lovely crop.  As it is, the yield is rather pathetic, but all the same the plants are still producing pods and extremely healthy too. Sugarsnap peas 'Sugar Flash'  Healthy pods from Sugar Flash Unfortunately, I don't think I am going to have much of a success story about my autumn fruiting raspberries, Polka .   Can't complain, not really, as I had quite a few raspberries off the canes this summer but the main crop should be autumn. ...

Soon, very soon, I will have a million and one things to do out there, but not today. I'm a gardener who likes to garden in comfort.  We are now on our way to mid September 2012 and it is so cold out there I can see my breath in clouds of smoke. Dragon Lady! I had to water my tomato plants, which are in pots, and the hanging baskets, and the troughs and was almost tempted to mix some hot water in with the cold because I thought that the plants might die of shock with the temperature of the water straight out of the outside pipe. I've got my central heating on now inside the house. I think it is the northerly wind that is causing such a chill.   A surviving tuberous begonia from last year hiding in the border When the weather is dreadful, the plants just have to cope. Soon I will repot some of the pelargoniums to overwinter indoors and I have spotted a couple of tuberous begonias that are a complete surprise.  In the summer of 2011 I grew several...

  I think there is little hope for the new, small, and very late buds which are developing at the top of the 5ft stem of the hollyhock 'Chater's Yellow'.  To date, not one of the lower buds has yet fully opened.  Tragic.  Buds that might yet open fully As for the clematis 'Arctic Queen', which is a bit of a rescue job , growing in a pot against the shed, you would think that anything named Arctic Queen might stand up to today's temperatures here in West Yorkshire and I have to say that it is valiantly turning out buds but will they get chance to open before the early frosts?  I doubt it.  Both hollyhock and clematis should have flowered back in July through August and September.  Arctic Queen 13092012

The carrots, Daucus Carrota, in my garden have been about as successful as the sugarsnap peas .  Perhaps that is a little unfair, seeing as how I only have about 12 pea pods growing and I have had a good handful of carrots.  But does it count if the biggest carrot is only about 5 inches long to the very skinny tip?  I think not. I cannot blame the carrot seed though.  The reason that they haven't grown is the lack of sunshine this year and the lower than usual temperatures.  On the bright side, the carrot fly didn't get at them, and they tasted lovely.  I shall probably try growing them again next year.  I grow them in a tub so it's no big deal giving it a go. Fly Away F1 carrots are a type that are supposed to deter carrot fly.   I guess it works.  Despite their size, these are absolutely perfect.

Wild Eve, a David Austin rose, is resplendent.  While not the largest of blooms, it is fragrant and copes so well with the dismal weather - rain and wind.  Its buds open without balling or rotting, the plant does not seem prone to insect attack or disease, and it undemandingly grows in a shady border.  While considered a bush rose, it can be grown as a climber and mine has almost reached the top of my 6ft fence.  I have mentioned it before, I know, but you know how I am with roses.  I mean, just look at them.  Resplendent 'Wild Eve' Earlier in the year I made the great mistake of not tying in my climbers and when a strong wind came along I paid for the error of my ways with a lot of damage.  Roses were ripped apart and this set some of the climbers back for this year.  I was hoping that they would have reached the top of the fence this year and because of my neglect, some didn't. Yesterday, I noticed that The Generous Gardene...

While it's a bit late in the year for the strawberries and tomatoes to start yielding fruit, I say 'better late than never'.   It just shows how a few days of warmth and sunshine can make all the difference.   Mind you, both the tomatoes and strawberries are protected in a small polytunnel.  I have picked more tomatoes this last week than I have had all season.  The perpetual flowering strawberry is yielding healthy fruit which is more than can be said for the other types I was growing.  'Was' being the operative word as I threw out every single strawberry plant I had except for the perpetual flowering type because I was sick and tired of seeing botrytis mould on them.  In my garden, plants have to knuckle down and get on with it, or get out!  Harsh treatment, I know.  :D

These are taken from a small part of Manor Heath Park, Halifax, England.  This is the quiet contemplation corner where there are lots of benches tucked away for people to read or just enjoy the view.  Click on images for closer view. I love the old buildings in this area of town Unfortunately the red poppies are almost over. See the apples, hiding on the tree?  Lovely place to sit Mystery to me.  A kind of achillea maybe? Sc Sedum with butterfly and bumblebee Is this a kind of orchid?  No idea what this is.  It grows about 8 inches high.

As mentioned in an earlier post, I went for a stroll around Manor Heath Park in Halifax (England) today and took a few photographs to share with you.  I have never grown thistles but I do think they are rather spectacular and sometimes quite architectural in a garden.    These were about 7 or 8ft tall   Close up of the thistle in the above image  Another kind of thistle - no idea what.