GARDENER'S WORD

It might have been a miserable November so far, on the Pennine Mountains in the north of the UK at least, but despite the constant rain and fog and sunless skies, I'm picking alpine strawberries and a few Polka raspberries.  I had some today with my breakfast cereal.  The alpine strawberries taste so sweet and they make me smile; they look to be such delicate plants with dainty white flowers and very small berries but, like some people, they're a lot tougher than they look.  Alpine strawberries and Polka raspberries - November 2015 Alpine strawberries - November 2015 The raspberries are taking a beating though as despite all the flowers and the tiny green raspberries, this horrible weather is making some rot before they can reach edible stage.  Still, I'm happy for whatever I can get.  The everfruiting, ever-yielding, perpetual strawberries, or whatever they are called, continue to flower and form fruit but the fruit isn't ripening bec...

Today the weather has been beautiful with blue skies and sunshine.  All in all though, it's been a very odd year in the garden with plants not flowering when they should, not flowering at all, or flowering over and over again.  Take for instance the clematis: the large flowered ones like Dr Ruppel and Elsa Spath were fabulous last summer, 2014.  This year, Elsa Spath hardly flowered at all, and Dr Ruppel flowered a little, then stopped.  Both are supposed to be repeat flowering.  I was expecting, hoping for, so much more.  Dr Ruppel has now, yes now it is nearly winter, decided to wake up and produce large buds and a flower.  Clematis Dr Ruppel flowering in November 2015 Clematis Dr Ruppel flowering in November 2015  I think Elsa Spath might be dead, and one of the Dr Ruppel's too (I had two of those but one seems to have disappeared).  I say that I think the Elsa Spath might be dead, but who knows?  A small flowered cl...

Every year my honeysuckle, Lonicera periclymenum 'Scentsation' produces beautiful yellow and cream fragrant flowers from spring to autumn when the flowers are replaced by red berries.  The berries are enjoyed by Bullfinches, Warblers, and Thrushes, according to the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds ( RSPB - external link).  Not only do the birds like them, so do I.  The berries look beautiful and bright in the sunshine and even brighten up the dull days of winter.    Lonicera periclymenum 'Scentsation' November 2015

Finally, I have cut back hard the trailing fuchsias, Swingtime and Southgate, that have decorated four hanging baskets all summer long.  I hated to do it as there were still plenty of flowers and buds on the plants but the leaves were starting to fall and you just cannot trust the weather anywhere nowadays, including high up on the Pennine Mountains of West Yorkshire where I live.  I'm never sure what is the best way for me to overwinter fuchsias as I have no room for them indoors, and I don't have a regular greenhouse.  Still, last year I put the whole baskets with cut down fuchsias in a Gardman mini-growhouse (I call them mini-greenhouses) and most, if not all, of the plants survived.  This year I have done the same.  Gardman mini-growhouse, flaps open to air plants on sunny day November 2015 Southgate and Swingtime fuchsias are half-hardy which means they will tolerate temperatures down to 0 degrees centigrade and 32 degrees fahrenheit....