GARDENER'S WORD

It's quite lovely right now where I live with autumn turning the leaves of the trees and shrubs all sorts of shades of red, orange and gold.  The small Prunus avium Stella (Gisela 5) which is growing in a large pot sunk into my garden border is looking rather bare after high winds the other day.  Even so, it's rather lovely with its mostly naked stems with large leaves hanging here and there.  I took a few photos of the leaves today and couldn't resist editing them a little on the computer.  Prunus avium Stella autumn leaves This little tree gives so much pleasure in the garden.  It has lovely white flowers in spring , sweet red cherries in summer , and now lovely golden leaves in autumn.  What more could I ask of it? Click here if you want to check out about pruning cherry trees .  The notes are useful for me, so that I can try and remember to prune my small tree early next spring. Cherry tree, Prunus avium Stella Gisela 5, leaves in a...

I bought two Osteospermums a few months ago, at the beginning of July.  Just two, in individual pots.  At the time I bought them I thought they were a little bit expensive, probably because the big garden centre where I often go is generally so cheap and has such great plants for sale.  How could I possibly have considered two plants expensive that have flowered from the day I bought them, right through the summer, and are still full of flowers and buds.  What a bargain.  Osteospermum 'Sunny Mary' and 'Pink Honey '.  Osteospermum 'Sunny Mary' flowering into November Osteospermum 'Sunny Mary' with insect - Macro photograph Osteospermum Flower Power 'Pink Honey' flowering into November Although I kept them in their pots originally, I soon realised they were not happy and so planted them into my garden borders where they thrived and bloomed. Osteospermum, also known as African daisies, are perennials but they are not hardy and need...

Believe it or not, my hanging baskets filled with a mix of Southgate and Swingtime fuchsias are still going strong.  They are full of buds and flowers and I keep picking off the quickly developing seedheads as fast as I can.  I have never known such a glorious display in my hanging baskets and so no guesses as to what I shall be growing next year!   Unfortunately, it won't be long until the winter frost arrives and nips at them.  Fuchsias are, however, deciduous shrubs and develop woody stems.  If overwintered with protection against frost, they will wake up next spring and begin to flower all over again.  The only problem I ever had with fuchsias, and I grew them in a previous garden (where I hung them from a pergola) is the vine weevil.  It's a pest in all senses of the word. Southgate fuchsia with its dazzling stamens (red) and pistil (creamy white) Southgate fuchsia, heaven for pollinating insects  Southgate fuchsia, after the r...

Many years ago when I had a much larger garden in a more sheltered and less windy area, I used to have better luck with Japanese Maples.  In fact, I cannot recall losing a single one.  I grew them in pots in a hollow at the bottom of the garden where they were sheltered by surrounding shrubs and trees, as well as a dense privet hedge.  Where I am now, despite 5ft fences which are topped by trellis, it's quite a task to get Japanese Maples to survive the wind, not to mention the harshness of some of the winters we get here.  Earlier this year I bought three.  Acer Palmatum Orange Dream lost its leaves some weeks ago.  It's not happy.  Why, I do not know as it is in the same situation, side by side in a terracotta pot right facing east, against the house wall, right next to the Acer palmatum dissectum 'Ornatum' which is also in a pot.  The Ornatum has far more delicate looking leaves and yet it has happily grown and now produced delightfully ...

Although New Dawn has finished flowering, Wild Eve, a David Austin rose, keeps on producing flowers.  Admittedly, they are not as in abundance as they were during summer but just to see the occasional pink flower and bud among the green leaves makes me forget for a moment that we are nearer to winter than to spring or summer.  Wild Eve in the sunlight Wild Eve rose flower surrounded by buds ready to burst Wild Eve rose, bowing down her head in the rain

I noticed yesterday that dozens of blue bottle flies were congregating on my garden fence, in the sunlight.  Was it that the wood felt warm, or that the sun was releasing a sap in the wood that the flies like?  I've noticed before that bees do that too.  They'd better watch out; I've noticed a lot of spiders' webs in my garden just lately.  While they are not the most beautiful of insects, I find the detail on the head and wings of the Blue Bottles quite fascinating.   The below photographs are of two different flies. Blue Bottle fly on garden fence - Macro photograph   Blue Bottle fly on garden fence - Macro photograph.

When the sunflower had done all that it could do, after the birds had kindly sown it earlier in the year, I chopped off its head (ruthless, I know) and placed the head in one of the trays on the bird-feeding station. It's a whole new world under the macro lens of my camera and you can see quite easily the empty places where the birds have taken, presumably, the seeds.  Small sunflower seedhead, pickings for the birds. The black 'tufted areas to the left of the above image are the disk florets which were once golden yellow.  When they wither and fall away, the seeds remain, buried in the seedhead.  You can see the tops of the black, ripened seeds to the right, and the white unripened seeds to the bottom centre of the above image.  I think I may have decapitated the sunflower head too early but, no matter, I always provide plenty of food for the birds and squirrels.  Sunflower disk florets, now separated from the seeds Black, ripe seeds of the...

I cannot believe that I am still getting handfuls of Polka raspberries and juicy perpetual strawberries so late in the season.  Will it last?  I doubt it, there's an almighty wind blowing outside, shaking the fences and the trees.  I don't know how the seed feeders are still on their hooks.  It keeps sunshining, intermittently, with lashings of rain inbetween.  I am so glad that I trained my raspberry canes cordon-style —more horizontally than vertically—in order to try and keep some fruit on them when the wind does this.  There are literally hundreds of tiny green raspberries still in the process of maturing.  The strawberries, in the freestanding trough and containers, are dripping with half-ripened fruit.  I keep picking them a little too early to try and get to them before the slugs and the weather.  As for the Polka raspberries, I have never, not once in all the few years that I have grown them, seen an insect on them other than pollinat...

I took this photograph of dahlias growing in a pot in my garden and am sorry to say that I cannot remember the name.  I don't think it is the gaudy coloured Pooh dahlia , but another one which doesn't grow very tall.  Now, I know I have the label somewhere tucked in a bag with other labels, probably stuffed into the large garden storage box which contains all sorts of paraphernalia and a VERY LARGE and not at all cute SPIDER!  It's not one of the relatively pretty Araneus diadematus spiders , it is dark brown and HUGE!  When I am feeling brave, when I can get my arachnophobia under control, when I absolutely have to open Pandora's box and confront the horror within because I need the bubble wrap and the garden fleece, and the waterproof coverings for the table etc, then I will be able to say what the dahlias are.  Until then... A double dose of delightful dahlias!

In an earlier post I mentioned how impressed I am with the runner bean 'Wisley Magic' .  Some of you will know that Wisley is a place where the Royal Horticultural Society have one of their gardens.  Anyway, today I have run out of fresh green vegetables for dinner so the runner beans are going to be very useful.  It is surprising how fast they have grown, even in all the rain that we have had lately.  The beans are not the least bit woody and most are straight and some about 14 inches in length.  I've picked plenty off this solitary plant and there are lots more still growing.  Imagine, if I had planted the whole packet in a long row I would have been able to feed my neighbourhood with them. Wisley Magic runner beans Wisley Magic runner bean in flower  The flowers are very beautiful and make a nice climber for the fence. Wisley Magic runner bean growing amid the Dr Ruppel clematis, Jasmine, and Generous Gardener rose They attract be...

I've grown various clematis climbers during my gardening lifetime but I've never grown one that gives so much as Dr Ruppel.  Not only does it flower prolifically (at least, mine does) but the flowers are beautiful, they have amazing reproductive organs (I'm sure they won't mind my saying so!) and the pollinating insects find them attractive too.  More more can I ask?  These are a couple of macro photographs that I took of the seed heads the other day.  The climber is still in full bloom with plenty of more buds yet to open - if the weather allows them to.  Winter is coming. Clematis 'Dr Ruppel' seed head - macro photograph Clematis 'Dr Ruppel' seed head - macro photograph

I'm not overly fond of photographs of dewdrops, raindrops, or any kind of waterdrops that look more contrived than natural.  Just lately we have had a lot of rain here in the U.K., or at least in West Yorkshire and my garden is turning into a soggy mess in places as the neighbouring trees have dumped their autumnal leaves all over the lawn and borders.  I went out to sweep up and bag all the leaves that I could and noticed that some of the flowers look lovely covered in rain drops.  Out came the camera.  I hope you realise the great risks that I take to get these photos, like a National Geographic photographer out in the forests and jungles.  Ok, maybe not quite the same risks but I was nearly breaking my neck trying to balance and not slip on the muddy sloping soil while getting the photos of the Malva moschata Rosea.  I think it was worth it, particularly as I lived to tell the tale and my camera survived too.  Malva moschata 'Rosea' after t...

I can feel the winter hammering on my garden gate.  The wind's blasting the leaves off the neighbouring trees and my lawn and flower border are covered with them.  The birds appear greedier than usual with  five collared doves arriving at once and pushing out the poor Wood Pigeon which is a much bigger bird but obviously has better manners, or is less greedy.  There's food enough for all; I make sure of that.  A small squirrel visited today and soon I'll be putting out the fat and seed balls that I made late last winter and the remains of which have been kept in the freezer all year.  I've noticed that the little birds seem to have taken to the cage feeder that I bought a week or so ago.  Hoverfly on Senecio Polyodon flower - Sept 2014 It's lovely to watch them all through my kitchen window.  It seems as if the days of my taking photographs of pollinating insects on my flowers might be numbered unless we are blessed with an Ind...

I know I keep harping on about the merits of dead-heading but I cannot stress enough how much a gardener will lose by not doing so.  This Campanula Medium White has been flowering for months on end and due to my cutting back the flowering stem to new buds and continually dead-heading the spent flowers, it is still making lovely white bells in my garden.  I admit though that it seems exceptional as some of the other taller campanulas have not been in flower for a month or two. Pretty bells all in a row - Campanula Medium White - October 2014

I don't know about you, but when I look out of my home's windows, I don't want to look through the glass to see a miserable view.  Unless you live in a high rise apartment with no window box and no way to hang anything, I don't see any reason not to look out on window boxes and hanging baskets which jolly up the view.  Even if you live in a high rise apartment, you can always have the baskets and boxes on the inside if the light is right!   I'm really fortunately to have a decent view of trees and lawn from the front of my home, and to be able to look out on my garden at the back.  Earlier this year I decided to plant fuchsias in my hanging baskets after years of planting the baskets with a mixture of various suitable plants but the fuchsias have won me over.  I love the way they are framing the window below the green-striped awning.  They have been flowering for weeks, months, on end and I think the only thing that is going to stop them is a...

It had been a foggy morning and now that the sun is shining, the garden is soggy and sparkling with beads of water.  Although I've had, and still have, a lot of bees and hoverflies in my garden I don't have as many butterflies visiting as I would like.  My garden has been visited by quite a few Speckled Wood butterflies and the occasional white one, but today I have had the honour of a rather ragged Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) turning up. It alighted on an equally ragged Champagne Moment rose and stayed quite a while fanning and drying its wings in the sunlight before my camera lens got too close and it cleared off! Red Admiral butterfly on Champagne Moment rose Red Admiral butterfly on Champagne Moment rose I always thought that butterflies only lived for days but apparently they can live a year or so in warmer climates, but do not surviving freezing winters.   UK Butterflies - Vanessa atalanta (external link)   Red Admiral b...

It's taken a while for Penstemon 'Raven' to push up a wonderful flower stem worth photographing.  I can see now why it is called Raven as the flowers are quite dark red.  It's a very healthy plant, just like the other Penstemons that I planted in spring and hopefully it will flower more prolifically next year.  Penstemon 'Raven' The label says that Penstemon 'Raven' (which has received the Royal Horticultural Society Award of Garden Merit) is a semi-evergreen, frost-hardy perennial with neat, narrow, mid-green foliage and stems of dusky purple tubular flowers.  It grows best on sheltered, sunny sites in well-drained soil or compost.  It flowers summer to early autumn and achieves a height of 75cm (30in) and spread of 40cm (16in).

I visited my favourite place yesterday, Bettys café and the RHS shop at Harlow Carr.  I've noticed recently that the bird seed is being wolfed down by the larger birds: the Wood Pigeon and the Collared Doves as fast as I can fill the feeders.  I don't blame them at all.  Winter is coming and they are fattening up in case we have a long hard spell of freezing weather.  The big birds can get very boisterous and today two pairs of doves arrived, all wanting the opportunity to get onto the feeding tray at the same time.  Wanting to give the small birds a chance, yesterday I bought one of those seed feeders that is like a cage.  I haven't seen one go inside it yet so I'm hoping I haven't wasted my money CJ Wildlife, Paris Feeder for small birds I have to say though that I think the above feeder is a bad design.  You might wonder why I bought it but there was limited choice everywhere I looked.  The lid of the feeding tube does not fasten down so ...

I never noticed before what pretty little seed-heads the Japanese anemones make.  I took a few macro photographs of some a few days ago and was a little disappointed with the way they turned out but loved this one when I darkened the photo and increased the contrast.   Japanese anemone 'September Charm' seed head Macro photograph, image darkened for effect.  It's worth noting here that Japanese Anemones have invasive tendencies, beautiful as they are. 

I was looking for autumn raspberries among the 'Polka' raspberry canes this afternoon and jumped a bit when I came across a rather big female Araneus diadematus.  I think she was just as startled as I because she was still for such a long time that I began to think she was dead.  She even allowed me some macro photographs without so much as a wriggle.  When I gently blew the web to disturb her, make her move, she clambered up and hid out under a raspberry leaf.  Unfortunately for her, I turned the leaf and took a few more shots.  Now, this might sound like nothing much to you but I suffer from arachnophobia.  Not as much as I once did, I'm getting braver, but if she had run from the leaf and up my arm, I think my new Canon EOS 6D could have got smashed in the mayhem as I went screaming around the garden!  Female Araneus diadematus - about 1.5cm with legs folded up I know that spiders do not have mouthparts like humans (or eyes, for that matt...