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Showing posts from July, 2015

WATER DISPENSER / DRINKER BOTTLE FOR WILD BIRDS

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I've become very fed up lately of having to clean out the wild birds' water dish once, twice, or more times daily.  They will keep pooping in it and it spreads disease.  It's not the little birds that do it (they're too busy decorating my garden swing!) it's the big ones, like the Wood Pigeon, that are the culprits.  So, while mooching at the garden centre today I bought a good investment in time saving: a Gardman 'Water Drinker' for birds.  No sooner had I filled it and hung it up outside, birds were coming for a drink.  So sweet.  It holds plenty of water but the water dish is too small for the big birds to perch on.  I've not been mean, they will be able to drink from it by standing on the top of the garden shed but they will have a difficult time of it trying to leave a 'deposit' in the water.   Blue Tit at Gardman 'Water Drinker' I shall still have to clean it to try to prevent the spread of disease, but at least I won't h...

HYDRANGEA PANICULATA 'WHITE LADY'

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Earlier this year I removed a honeysuckle, Lonicera serotina, from my north-facing fence.  I had planted it in 2014 and it was showing signs of being very strong, rampant.  For the position in which it was planted, I didn't really want something that might get out of hand, and it had no sign of flowers buds, so the other day I dug it up while it was still relatively young and easy to remove.  I have no mercy with plants in my garden.  If they don't do what I want them to, well, it's off with their heads and out they go!   I have decided, in its place, to grow Hydrangea paniculata 'White Lady' which I bought today.  It's a shrub, not a climber, and one that I have had my eye on for quite a few years.  I like the way the flowers are shaped and that they are great for cutting. Hydrangea paniculata 'White Lady' 29 August 2015  Hydrangea paniculata 'White Lady' 31 July 2015 The only concern I have about hydrangea paniculata 'Whit...

PENSTEMON 'PENSHAM LAURA'

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Although my relatively small garden is rather packed with plants and flowers, and they are all jostling for space, I always seem to go and buy another and I always seem to find the space.  Some plants come and go over winter, never to be seen again, but there are others which are survivors.  I thought that the Penstemons were supposed to be on the tender side but the ones I grow have not only survived but thrived.  The other day I bought another one which caught my eye some time ago:  Pensham Laura.  What a beauty it is.  It's not yet planted and will remain in its pot while I deliberate as to where I might be able to squeeze it in. Penstemon 'Pensham Laura' pretty pink and white flowers so attractive to bees   "The label says that Penstemon 'Pensham Laura' is a reliable and colourful perennial of upright habit with attractive rich-green, lance-shaped leaves.  Bell-shaped rosy-lilac flowers with clear white throats hang from tall strong s...

DRYOPTERIS FILIX-MAS EUXINENSIS REPRODUCTION

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My Dryopteris filix-mas 'Euxinensis' is at it again.  It's a wonderful fern and now stands about 2ft high in its terracotta pot.  It's always bright and healthy, and tolerates partial shade very well.  I also understand that it can tolerate being on the dry side from time to time.  Mine is in a place where it gets sunshine in the morning for an hour or three (depending on the time of year).  Each year it produces fascinating sporangia on the underside of the fronds.  At least, fascinating under the scrutiny of my macro lens.  I do wish I could get total clarity (focus) but considering each sporangium is about 1mm in diameter, I don't think the images have come out too badly.  The black spores look like Beluga caviar.   Dryopteris filix-mas 'Euxinensis' sporangia (2) with black spores showing Dryopteris filix-mas 'Euxinensis' sporangia ready to burst with black spores showing   The fascinating sex life of ferns...

HOW TO GET A DOUBLE CROP OF RASPBERRIES FROM AN AUTUMN FRUITER - POLKA

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After picking unblemished, abundant, and yet unsprayed Polka raspberries for the last two or three weeks, the old canes (which sprang up tall and green in summer 2014 and provided autumn fruit in 2014) are now finished and I have cut them off at ground level.  But wait, that's not the end of the story.  I grow Polka—considered an autumn fruiter—as a double-cropping raspberry.  All the new canes which have sprung up this summer, 2015, should provide a crop of raspberries some time this autumn, weather permitting.  When that crop has done, I shall leave the canes in place over winter and these canes will provide fruit in summer 2016.  If I did not want Polka to provide a double crops then I would cut down the autumn-fruiting canes in early 2016. This year's green canes of Polka raspberry are tied in and should provide autumn fruit I understand if you grow Polka raspberry canes just as an autumn fruiter that the raspberries are bigger and...

SPLITTING CHERRIES CAUSED BY WATER PENETRATING SKINS

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Apparently the reason for cherry splitting has less to do with the uptake of moisture from the roots than moisture (rain or hosepipe water) falling on the actual skin of the cherries. Cherries are like balloons.  They begin as small, green, embryo cherries and the pit (or seed) develops while they are still small and green.  Then the cherry begins to swell quite rapidly.  The amount of skin it starts off with remains the same and as it stretches the skin becomes thinner, developing microscopic cracks which allow moisture to enter.  It is the moisture entering these tiny cracks which softens the protective skin and allows the skin to split.  Prunus avium 'Stella' Gisela 5 sweet cherries splitting Some types of cherries are more prone than others ('Bing' is prone, I understand) and this is the first year that I have seen this happen to my 'Stella' cherries.  The first year that I had the tree, the first small crop it produced didn't exhibit th...

CHERRY AND RASPBERRY BUMPER CROP

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Even though not so long ago I thought my crop of Prunus avium 'Stella' cherries was going to be a disaster, they've got a move on in the last couple of weeks.  Initially they seemed to have ground to a halt at the green stage, no bigger than a regular-size pea.  The weather can do that, put the brakes on fruit development, and we've had some horrible weather this spring, but my luck was in.  Today I've picked a small handful of ripe cherries and there are more to come.  Doesn't sound like much but when I consider that the dwarf tree (planted in a large container, sunk into the garden border) has only been growing in my garden just over two years and that last year, when the crop was damaged by weather to the extent that only about six cherries remained, I feel like I've had a bumper crop in comparison.  Prunus avium 'Stella' Gisela 5 (dwarf sweet cherry) ripe for the picking I wrote in my last post about the cherry tree that I wouldn't go ...

BUMBLEBEE MITES - PARASITES

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I'd be lying if I said that the images that I took of this little Bumblebee today didn't shock and upset me.  I'd never seen anything like this before on all the numerous Bumblebees and other kinds of pollinators that regularly visit my garden.  Call me soft if you will, but callous I am not.  My first instinct was, you may laugh, to kill the bee to put it out of its misery but, thankfully, I did not.  On investigation on the internet, it would seem that mites don't necessarily cause harm to the Bumblebees.  That's as may be, but I cannot see that they do it any good.  Anyway, this little Bumblebee seemed happy enough flying around my strawberry flowers and when it got sick of being the subject of my lens, flew away without any effort at all.  Bumblebee infested with mites Apparently Mites can have mites Serves 'em right! VJ Bumblebee infested with mites  About Bumblebee mites (Bumblebee Conservation Trust link)

SYMPHYANDRA ZANGEZURA and ARTHUR BELL ROSE

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I've left it a little late to take a photograph of this beautiful perennial, Symphyandra, with its bell-shaped blue flowers, dark stems, and dainty little light-green leaves.  Many of the flowers have faded now but it still looks great next to the yellow Arthur Bell floribunda rose, and I love the way the blue turns to cream before they fade away entirely.  As you can see by the little bee, it is attractive to pollinators.   Symphyandra Zangezura and Arthur Bell rose The label says that Symphyandra has lilac-blue flowers above geranium-like foliage.  It is suitable for borders and containers in full sun or partial shade on well-drained fertile soil.  It flowers early summer to autumn and achieves a heigh of 25cm and spread of 40cm (10" x 16").  Personally, I wouldn't grow it in a container but plant it in a border, as I have.  It looks good among roses and other perennials but has a straggly type of growth and needs a little space so that...

SOWING MANGETOUT OR SUGAR SNAP PEAS FOR PEA SHOOTS

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I've tried growing peas in my garden borders or containers before now and haven't had a great deal of success.  Either I don't get enough peas to make it worth while, which really is what happened in 2012 when I tried to grow them in a container, or they are mildewed, or something.  To be honest, I begrudge the space they take up in a border because although I love reaping and eating the rewards of my labour (that's a laugh!  I'm a really lazy gardener) I want my garden to be filled with pretty things, and pretty things peas are not.  However, sowing peas for pea shoots to eat with salad is another matter entirely.  Sugarsnap peas grow in 2012 Sowing peas for pea shoots is a relatively new idea to me.  I only heard about it a couple of years ago.  It's so easy.  What I do is I stick some peas 2" below compost surface level, a few inches apart, into a good sized pot (I've just used a 10" pot) and wait for them to germinate and...

STRAWBERRIES IN CONTAINERS OR BORDER

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For a number of years I have grown various types of strawberries with varying degrees of success.  I gave up on the well known types which are commonly seen in the supermarkets because they were often either deformed, diseased, or didn't develop at all.  I turned my attention to the more successful Perpetual strawberry variety, (also called everfruiting or everbearers) which is all I grow now.  I grow them in a pot and in a free-standing trough and although the fruit is rarely large, they don't seem to suffer from that awful grey mould known as botrytis.  To discourage disease, every couple of years I discard the old plants and replace with new ones grown from the runners which the parent plants create.  I noticed, last year, that there was a strawberry growing amid the perennials at the top of my sunny border and I decided to leave it right there to see what happens.  This is what happened: Strawberries from plant found growing in my per...

PRUNUS AVIUM STELLA GISELA 5 RIPENING CHERRIES

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Earlier this year my cherry tree began to make fruit but when the cherries were tiny and green, the Wood Pigeon which visits my garden took its life in its beak and started to pull off the cherries, so I put a net over the whole tree.  That, although the tree is only a dwarf, was no mean feat. Then, the green cherries seemed to stop growing after a spell of cold weather, and it seemed as if they would be a lost crop this year, so I removed the netting which stuck out like a sore thumb in the middle of the perennial border.   Now, perversely, the cherries seem to have grown somewhat and are looking as if they might ripen after all.  Such is the plight of the farmer/gardener and watch out, now that infernal pigeon will be back again.   When I was a child my father used to bring home pigeons and my mum would make a pigeon pie.  Pigeon pie, anyone?  Ripening cherries - Prunus Avium Stella Gisela 5 I just cannot bring myself to mess ar...

STRAWBERRIES, RASPBERRIES, AND RAIN

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It's pounded with rain again today, amid spells of sunshine.  I came home to hanging baskets almost breaking their chains under the weight of water which had cascaded off the house roof.  I grabbed a skewer and punctured more holes into the plastic which lines the baskets allowing more drainage - not punctured right at the bottom but about an inch or so above so that during dry weather there is a place where a reservoir of water can settle.  This weather, sun and rain, has been great, so far, for the raspberries and strawberries.  The Polka raspberry, despite the challenges of rust disease and white drupelet disorder , is providing lots of healthy fruit.  I picked a big cereal bowlful yesterday and another one today with plenty more yet to come.  Everfruiting strawberries Polka raspberries Unfortunately, the big fat so and so of a Wood Pigeon is attacking the raspberries.   Much as I love birds, this bird is so destructive that...

BEES ON THE GROUND & INSECT LAYING EGG

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It has been a day of mixed weather with sunshine and storm today.  After a mild and sunny morning, thunder clapped and down rain poured.  I watched through my window hoping that the petals wouldn't be smashed off my Generous Gardener and Wild Eve roses that look so fabulous on my south and north facing (respectively) fences right now.  Then the sun came out again, everything sparkled, and I was glad that I had already mown the lawn.  The birds and busy are keeping busy and seem to be enjoying the mild weather.  Bee clambering amid violas   I worried about a couple of bees the other day.  If they aren't buzzing around, but walking, I think bees are about to die and I don't worry.  There has been no insecticide spraying in my garden for over a year and I read there is such a thing as a ground bee.  They'll certainly be ground if they accidentally get under my feet!  The bee above was clambering over viola flowers and eventually...

HONEYSUCKLE, ROSES and FERNS

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It's been another fabulously sunny day today on the Pennine Mountains of West Yorkshire.  Not too hot, not too cold, and not at all windy.  Just right.  I decided, sitting in my garden early this morning breathing in the scent of Mock Orange ( Philadelphus 'Snow Belle' ), honeysuckle and roses, that my garden is one of the few places where I feel totally content.  It had rained, last night, and the green dampness of the perennials and grass gave off a pungent fragrance that reminded me of a particular spot in a particular park when I was very young. Honeysuckle (Lonicera periclymenum 'Scentsation') and Wild Eve climbing rose There were ferns there, in that particular spot shaded by a canopy of trees at the entrance to the park, that saw only dappled sunlight, and there was an atmosphere of solitude, silence, and peace.  It made an everlasting impression on me, that place, that's difficult to describe but if you have been somewhere like that, you ...

WHITE DRUPELET DISORDER ON RASPBERRIES

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My Polka raspberries have some ripening fruit that are partially white.  This is known as White Drupelet Disorder and can be caused by hot sun on ripening raspberries.  Apparently, it can also be caused by other problems but as my raspberries which are in the shade of raspberry leaves have not been affected, I think we can pretty much assume that the problem is caused by the sun.  It seems that the fruit is still edible.  Poor Polka has also been attacked by rust disease this year.  I shall blame the weather for all which ails it.  I still think Polka is a fantastic raspberry to grow.  White drupelet disorder on Polka raspberry A drupe is a fleshy, thin-skinned fruit that is formed around a central stony shell which contains a seed, e.g.  plum, peach, olive, cherry.  Also an  almond is a drupe (Wiki link).   Drupelets are a number of small drupes which together form a fruit such as raspber...

PENSTEMON 'HEAVENLY BLUE'

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I'm so impressed with Penstemon 'Heavenly Blue' which I had never grown before I bought the plant last year and planted it near to a yellow Arthur Bell rose.  It didn't do much last year and, in truth, I had forgotten what it was (I always expect Penstemons to be pink or red) and have just had to look at the label so I could tell you.  The picture on the label does not do it justice and neither does the description on the reverse.   Penstemon 'Heavenly Blue'  Penstemon 'Heavenly Blue' and Arthur Bell rose The label says that Penstemon 'Heavenly Blue' has trumpet-shaped flowers that are celestial blue and pink-tinged on narrow-leaved spikes.  It is suitable for border edges, rockeries, banks, gravel gardens, and containerse in sun.  It needs well-drained soil.  It flowers from early to late summer.  It achieves a height of 25cm (10in) and spread of 25cm (10in). Actually, it achieves a height greater than that!  The ...

HOW TO PRUNE CLEMATIS GROUPS 1, 2, & 3

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Pruning clematis is one of those confusing and sometimes daunting jobs to do in the garden.  I always make sure when buying a clematis climber that I know which pruning group it belongs to.  I was watching a TV programme today, the RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show, and gardening expert Carol Klein (from the British TV show Gardener's World) talked about it in a no-nonsense, straight-forward, way.   Clematis 'Elsa Spath' - Pruning Group 2 Carol Klein said:  Clematis are usually classified in three groups.  Group 1 includes winter and spring flowering clematis and the simple rule is, leave them alone.  'If it flowers before June, don't prune!'. Group 2 , which include the  big, summer-flowering hybrids and all the double flowering clematis, are more complex.  They flower on old wood so they must not be cut down to the ground.  In the spring you can prune by selecting some really strong buds and chop down just ...

PHILADELPHUS 'SNOW BELLE' HAS IT ALL

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Last year, about this time, I bought Philadelphus 'Snow Belle', a mock orange.  Although I initially planned to grow this small shrub in the border against the south-facing fence, I am, for now at least, growing it in a relatively large tub.  It has a wonderful fragrance and it's great to be able to move the plant close to where I sit, on the swing, when it is in bloom.  After it had flowered last year, I trimmed the shrub a little to keep it in shape, and now it is loaded with big white, fragrant flowers. Philadelphus 'Snow Belle' There's more information about Philadelphus 'Snow Belle' here  (internal link).

BUMBLEBEES LOVE GERANIUMS

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It's been a scorcher for the second day in a row and a busy day in the garden for insects.  Although the weather has very much held things back this year as far as some flowers are concerned, I'm happy to say that the geraniums are, at last, in bloom.  A friend gave me little rooted pieces of her pink and blue geraniums a few years ago and they took very well to my garden, planted in heavy clay and rubbly soil at the side of the dustbin.  They help to pretty-up a not so pretty corner.  The Bumblebees love them as much as I do. Bumblebee and blue geranium   Bumblebee and blue geranium Pink and blue geraniums