GARDENER'S WORD

I am not one of those gardeners who has to buy something every time I go to a garden centre, unless I am looking for something in particular.  Now and then, though, something catches my eye and is a 'must have'.  This pot of Calibrachoa (Million Bells) 'Lollilop' demanded that I buy it and take it home with me.  There are three plants within the one pot and are, I was told, made up locally in West Yorkshire.  One plant has yellow flowers, another pink, and the third is purple.  Soon, I shall plant them into a larger pot where they can spread out a bit and show off even more. Calibrachoa (Million Bells) 'Lollilop' The label has this to say: Beautiful combination planting of three individual varieties selected to provide a balanced, colourful display throughout the summer.  Height: 20-30cm (8-12in); Spread: 40-60cm (16-24in).  They require Full Sun to Partial Shade.  They can be planted one combination to a 30cm (12in) basket or container,...

I first planted Helianthemum 'The Bride' aka 'Snowqueen' aka rock rose, a few years ago and each year it has been pretty with a few flowers and its silver leaves, but this year, well, it's just showing off!  I've never taken much notice of it before, growing as it is alongside other flowering plants, however, this year there was no not noticing it.  It was awash with white flowers with small yellow hearts.  The top image, I'm afraid, does not do it justice. Helianthemum 'The Bride' aka 'Snowqueen' - May 2019 The label says that Helianthemum 'The Bride' is an evergreen mat-forming perennial producing masses of white flowers with a yellow centre over light green foliage.  It is suitable for rockeries, borders, walls, banks, paving, gravel gardens, and containers and pots.  It flowers from late spring to early summer; achieves a height of 25cm (10") and a spread of 40cm (16").  It enjoys full sun or partial shade in a wel...

The two garden borders, at the back of my home, are looking lovely right now and hopefully will continue to be so during summer and autumn.  Right now, on the shadier side, the aquilegias ( purples and whites ), Dicentra formosa , and even the chive flowers are putting on a pretty display.  On the sunnier side, lilacs and clematis are in fierce competition for colour although lilacs are the favourites because they also are giving off a wonderfully heady fragrance.  Quietly, together with them in that sunny border are the various glorious ferns and the Japanese maples (acers).  Given a couple of months, the James Grieve apple , which no longer has flowers, should be, hopefully, creating a crop of crisp, green, apples.  Can't wait! Syringa (lilac) Red Pixie , Syringa vulgaris 'Andenken an Ludwig Spath' , Clematis 'Elsa Spath' , Acer palmatum Katsura', Acer Palmatum dissectum 'Ornatum' , and Anemone 'September Charm' (yet to flower) My ga...

I don't often go for clashingly contrasting colours in my garden but I like this jolly little pot of violas and Osteospermum jucundums (African Daisies).   The orange Osteospermum jucundums actually survived outside, in a pot, unprotected, throughout last winter and I never expected it to keep on going.  So, I planted a tray of pretty, multi-coloured, violas around it expecting the Osteospermum to die off, but it didn't, and it's orange, bright orange.  I think it deserves to live and they all look rather jolly together in the one container. Violas surrounding a centrally planted Osteospermum jucundum (African Daisy) plant Sometimes gaudy is good.  Colourful bunch of cut flowers from M&S Violas grown in a border - 2013 Osteospermum jucundum flower, orange with yellow centre

It's a funny thing that I have lots of plants at the front of my home but the one that always gets commented on is Lithodora diffusa.  Actually, I have two and they are both extremely floriferous and, believe it or not here on the Pennines of West Yorkshire, I often see flowers on them, just a few, during winter.  They are, I suppose, after all, said to be alpines.  Recently, two friends of mine have bought Lithodora diffusa after seeing mine in full display.  Can you blame them? Lithodora diffusa 'Heavenly Blue' Lithodora is small, shrubby, and has a tendency to spread out without being invasive; it spreads out from a central stem.  Lithodora diffusa 'Heavenly Blue' The label says that Lithodora diffusa enjoys sun or partial shade.  It is good for ground cover and achieves a height of 10cm (4in).  It blooms June to July and is suitable for rockeries.

I know, I know, it sounds disgusting but if you are a gardener like me who doesn't balk at picking up worms and other garden critters, then squeezing a few squishy aphids won't phase you.  It's a rainy day and after being faced with invasion by Vine Weevils , and snails, and slugs, then I thought I would just check the developing buds on the climbing roses New Dawn and Wild Eve .  They are infested with greenfly.  Or they were until I came along and came them a gentle but not-loving squeeze: result is dead aphids and happy rosebuds.  The rain will wash away the bodies and the buds can continue to develop without harm.  I'll check the roses regularly now.  Ladybird larva eating aphids in my garden, June 2019 If you feel downhearted about your aphid problems, do be aware that even the Royal Horticultural Society roses get infested too.  Luckily for the RHS, their greenfly are being wolfed down by ever helpful ladybird larvae.  You can see one q...

Ok, war has been declared in my garden and I am determined to be the winner.  Not only am I fighting for eradiction of the vine weevils which are eating the leaves of my hostas, and fighting against the vine weevil larvae eating the roots of many container-grown plants (ivies, hostas, ferns, Japanese maples), but I also have slugs and snails attacking and sometimes destroying lush plants; and now, to add to it all, an infestation of aphids (greenfly) are feeding on developing rose buds.  But first, let's talk slugs and snails, beer and copper.  Copper-bound pots and pots of beer to fight snugs and snails - 2019 When waging war you have to have tactics and be prepared to fight dirty.  I have been growing a new kind of runner bean, Tenderstar , and have been waiting for copper tape to arrive before I risked planting them at the base of a metal obelisk.  Last year I planted my Wisley Magic runner beans and over one night, slugs wrecked several young plants....

I've been an amateur gardener for decades and I love it when I see something I have never seen before.  Today I saw, at the RHS gardens in Harlow Carr, a tree called Abies Koreana and it had this wonderful cones on it.  I just thought I would share the image here so you can see what I saw.  Abies Koreana cones If you have the room in your garden, it would be a wonderful tree to have.  Abies Koreana (Royal Horticultural Society external link).

I've been growing Brunera macrophylla for a few years but this year it is outstanding.  I have three, on a little corner at the bottom of my gently sloping garden, close to the patio, near the lawn, near the dustbin (how grand!) where it gets partial shade and where the soil is somewhat damper than elsewhere.  I'm not saying that all those things are important, the dustbin, the patio, the lawn, the slope, the damp, the partial shade, but that is the conditions upon which they grow and which, this year, have done exceedingly well. I planted them in that place a couple of years ago. The plants have been moved around a bit over the years but I think they might have found their forever home at last, maybe.  Brunera macrophylla 'Jack Frost' - 2019 Of course, it could be that the slugs and snails have found better things to eat than my Brunera.  Perhaps they are focusing more on the hostas this year.  That's another story, about to be posted. I g...

I have found that the perennial plants, Japanese anemones, can be invasive in that they push out underground runners and pop up all over the place.  Beautiful as they may be, when you have limited space and an idea of how you want your garden or border to look, this can be a nuisance.   Anemone 'Sylvestris' One perennial anemone which I am perfectly happy with right now is Anemone 'Sylvestris'.  Websites say that it too spreads by suckers but mine is thriving in an awkward little bit of ground, squeezed between paving stones and other plants, one might say between a rock and a hard place, and it seems to be going nowhere else. Anemone 'Sylvestris' I have growing in my sunny border Japanese anemone'September Charm' , which has a lovely flower but its young are appearing here and there and I am having to dig them up and move them on out!   It's a small price to pay, I suppose, for something so beautiful.  It's much taller than Sylvest...

I first planted my one and only Dicentra formosa several years ago and each year it has spread a little and become more and more beautiful.  Most people, perhaps, when they think of Dicentra, think of spectabilis , the 'bleeding heart' but, for me, formosa is the winner.  Not only is it extremely reliable (at least in my garden) but it is floriferous and the bright green leaves are delightful even when the flowers have gone. It's a tidier plant than spectabilis. Dicentra formosa - May 2019 Dicentra formosa is a neater plant than spectabilis.  Mine, which you see above, grows in front of my north-facing fence where it gets filtered light through the fence and also sun more directly when the sun swings to the south.  I actually tried to grow spectabilis, both the pink and the white (alba) and both failed miserably.  Dicentra formosa - 2015 Dicentra formosa - 2015 Dicentra formosa - 2015 

Everything's coming up flowery this year.  I don't recall my garden ever looking like it does right now, at this time of year.  Maybe it's because the plants are getting more mature, bigger, or maybe it's just due to the weather, to the relative mildness of this spring and that spell of peculiar summer weather we enjoyed in February here in the UK. I know there is climate change and all that, but when you live in a country where the weather can be so miserable, it's nice to have a break now and then.  One of the perennials that is putting on a show right now is Potentilla megalantha.  It's like a fancy buttercup and it's really cheerful. Sorry, the photo doesn't do it justice. Potentilla megalantha I grow Potentilla megalantha it in a rather neglected sunny border at the front of my home.  Plants there just have to get on with it and that was always the idea, that I don't have much to do there and can concentrate on my back garden, where I spend...

I always think of my garden as a predominantly summer garden, but right now the amount of flowers on display is staggering.  When did that happen?  There's so much happening at the moment that, where to start?  Ok, let me begin with an Aquilegia caerulea.  They caught my neighbour's attention the other day, so I thought it worthy of a mention here. Aquilegia caerulea May 2019 They are growing amid lots of other plants at the front of a north-facing border which also gets plenty of afternoon sun as well as filtered morning sun through the slatted fence which allows passage of light and air .  It gets the best of both worlds. What rarely seems to get a mention is what pretty foliage aquilegias have.   They remind me of four-leaf clovers. Aquilegia caerulea May 2017

I like to be really specific when I talk about plants on my blog, but the difference between non-native bluebells (Hyacinthoides hispanica and Hyacinthoides massartiana) have me confused.  In my garden, in the shade of a dwarf lilac shrub ( Syringa 'Red Pixie' ), pretty bluebells grow.  I cannot remember buying the bulbs or where I got them, but I know that it took a long time, years, for them to flower.  Instead, I got a lot of lush slender leaves that would lie flat on the soil, and they slowly, very slowly, spread out.  This year I have several flowers and the only thing I know for sure is that they are non-native. They are not English bluebells, Hyacinthoides non-scripta. English bluebell flowers have a distinct appearance.  They grow stems which curve, with the flowers pointing down to the ground, and they flower on one side of the stem.  The tubular flowers are long with the tips of the petals rolling right back.  They are fragrant.  As...

The vine weevil is turning out to be a bigger pest in my garden than the slugs and snails ever were.  A few years ago, vine weevil larvae ate the roots off a young, container grown, Japanese maple: Orange Dream .  I was gutted!  The plant cost a bomb!  Yesterday, I discovered that vine weevil larvae have eaten the roots off container grown Alpine Strawberries .  Vine Weevil Larvae Since winter,  two ivys grown in Long Tom terracotta pots withered up and died after happily growing there for years.  When I went to remove the dead growth last week, guess what!—there were hardly any roots. Vine Weevil pupa I've wondered for a while how it is that my container grown hostas, surrounded by sharp gravel, growing in big terracotta pots standing on metal plant trolleys, get their leaves attacked, not badly, but enough to bug me, one might say.   I've always rummaged around, looking for snails or slugs on the plants but found n...

Although I prefer the scent of Narcissus 'Baby Doll' to 'Silver Chimes', you cannot beat the latter for profusion of narcissi flowers on one stem.  I've counted six but I read that there can be ten.  They are a pretty, white, delicate-looking 'triandus' narcissi.  I only planted 5 bulbs you wouldn't know that from the number of flowers being produced without close inspection.  Narcissus 'Silver Chimes' Silver Chimes attracted my attention when it was first in bud.  I had no idea what to expect.  I mean, I buy bulbs one year, stick them in a pot, and by the spring I've forgotten which is which.  Saving the packaging comes in handy! Narcissus 'Silver Chimes' in bud Apparently, 'triandus' means that they are originally a species from Spain, France and Portugal.  The label has this to say: Narcissi 'Silver Chimes' are a species narcissus, fragrant and multi-headed, which flower from March to April, with a heig...

A new member of my garden's family of plants is Lathyrus 'Rainbow'.  It's a delightful, herbaceous plant and I'm only sorry that I found it when the flowers were ageing and pods were forming.  The pods are lovely, a maroonish colour, but the garden centre allowing them to develop has been at the expense of more flowers being produced.  So, since taking the photograph, I have cut them off.  If more flowers are produced at this late stage, I hope to provide a better photo. Lathyrus vernus (spring pea) 'Rainbow'. What I love, apart from the pretty flowers, is the straggly, delicate appearance of a plant which is relatively compact.  The label has this to say: Lathyrus vernus 'Rainbow' is an attractive, clump-forming, fully hardy plant with late spring flowers in shades of carmine-red, light pink, lilac, rose, and white.  It re-grows from ground level every year.  The flowers are good for cutting.  It achieves a height of 40cm (16") a...

The James Grieve apple tree that I grow in my garden gives me endless pleasure from spring to autumn because in spring it is full of pink apple blossom and then the fruit begins to appear throughout summer with a harvest late August/early September.  At the moment, the little tree, less than 6ft (180cm) high is loaded with flowers and if no gales arrive and blast them off and they are allowed to form fruit, then I could be blessed with a nice crop of apples again this year.   James Grieve apple blossom - May 2019 The James Grieve apple tastes like nothing I have ever bought in a shop.  They are crisp, juicy, a little tangy (which makes them good as a dessert or cooking apple) and the skin is firm but not that horrible waxy tough stuff you get on shop bought apples.  If you don't grow your own apples, you should.  They come in all shapes and sizes, even low enough to step over, so there are endless possibilities. James Grieve apple on dwarf apple t...

What a fabulous shrub!  As soon as I saw the small Exochorda macrantha 'The Bride' today while visiting a garden centre with a friend, I had to have it.  It was a little pricey but it was so heavily laden with creamy buds and white blooms that I think it is worth every penny.  It's a small shrub and a slow grower, taking 10 years to achieve full height and breadth, but that's fine because I'm a bit short of garden space.  I work on the principle that something will probably die at some point and make room.  If not, things will just have to budge over a bit, won't they!  Exochorda macrantha 'The Bride' - aka Pearl Bush For now, I have planted the young Exochorda macrantha into a terracotta pot.  Exochorda macrantha 'The Bride' - aka Pearl Bush The label says: "This plant/cultivar has been awarded the RHS Award of Garden Merit (AGM) because it has proved to be reliable in appropriate conditions and a good performing plant....

Spring is my favourite time of year.  I like to see all the plants waking up and forming buds and spring flowers are so pretty and often a lot tougher than they look.  Today, May 3, I went with a friend to a garden centre in Harden, West Yorkshire and had a mooch around, like I do.  I came back home with three plants.  One, which I mention here, is a little pot of white flowers on tallish stems: Hyacinthoides Hispanica aka Scilla campanulata 'White' also known as Spanish Bluebells.  I wish those in charge would make their minds up what we gardeners should call things!  A delicate thing it appears, with slender straplike leaves and tall stems.  It's a spring bulb, which I had not seen before. Hyacinthoides Hispanica aka Scilla campanulata 'White' Hyacinthoides Hispanica aka Scilla campanulata 'White' The label says that Scilla campanulata White has scented spikes of white flowers every spring.  It is hardy and perennial....