GARDENER'S WORD

I know I have mentioned Begonia semperflorens 'Heaven White' before, and how wonderful it is, but I want to say how odd I find it that two plants, bought at the same time, grown in the same soil, dug up and potted in the same way, and overwintered side by side in the same position, with the same light and warmth, and the same care, should grow so differently.  While one has rich growth with very healthy, with rather compact and strong leaf growth (right image), the other is leggy, paler and has produced a lovely display of white flowers (left image).  It seems clear that individual plants are every bit as individual and different as we are.  They have a 'mind' of their own. I should mention that I have pinched out the tips of both plants during the winter to try and keep them compact and promote bushier growth. How special begonia semperflorens are, or wax begonias as they are also called, that we can grow them in the garden for months (and ...

We are still being subjected to icy weather here in Britain and things are looking a bit sad in the garden although there is a sign of life poking through by way of the tips of daffodils.  The trough under my sunny, south-facing window now has plenty of signs of life with iris, tulips, and hyacinths poking through.   I can't wait to see the colourful display.  Apart from a few ragged polyanthus flowers though, in the back garden, there are no flowers.  The climbing and bush roses are making leaf buds though and really I ought to be spraying them for mildew at this point but it is just too cold.  In a few weeks, when the weather is less cruel, I will prune the shrubs and bushes to invigorate them.  The climbers need no work except for checking for broken shoots.  Meanwhile, I keep on buying cut roses for my home and after a couple of weeks of having white roses, decided on a splash of colour.  I bought a small bunch of shor...

Yet another day of glorious sunshine and if it is cold out there, I don't feel it.  I put my quilted coat on and went out into the garden.  The idea was to read.  After an early morning frost, the sunlight has made everything seem alive and ready to put on a show; or if it not 'alive', it is at least preparing to wake up from a winter's sleep.  Instead of reading, I planted the Lily of the Valley that I bought yesterday.  I feel a bit duped.  Out of a packet that said there were 12 rhizomes, there only appears to be about 6 showing signs of life and the rest looks like peat.  Oh, well, it does say that they spread so hopefully they will do just that.  I planted them in a pot filled with compost and put them in a shady place.  While repotting a tub of tulips which was a disaster (not enough drainage and so it just became totally waterlogged with rotting bulbs) one of my beloved rose bushes managed to give me a thorny 'kiss' an...

Spring is in the air!  At least it was yesterday, and it is today.  I cannot speak for tomorrow.  It's a time for me to start thinking of my garden and what I want to grow this year, apart from my roses.  Yesterday I visited the RHS shop in Harlow Carr and, with the sun shining down through the glass roof of the garden centre, I was inspired to buy.  Last year the begonias that I grew in the semi-shade under my kitchen window were so wonderful, so giving with their lovely green leaves and seemingly never-ending display of showy flowers, that I just had to have more.  I already have tubers for peach coloured begonias so this time I bought 3 double whites, and 3 Giant Pendula Yellow.  They will have to be planted around April, but I will probably start them off indoors.  September 2012, my tuberous Begonias I also bought some Lily of the Valley (Convallaria Majalis) rhizomes.  I've never tried growing them before and I can only...