GARDENER'S WORD

It's that time of year again, when many shrubs are slipping into hibernation.  As they go, as you know, some deciduous shrubs develop gloriously rich coloured leaves to brighten up our fading gardens. Here are a few. The Japanese maples (acers) are often stunning at this time of year.  Acer palmatum dissectum Acer palmatum dissectum Euonymus alatus 'Blade Runner' Hamamelis (Witch Hazel) possibly 'Orange Peel'   Acer palmatum dissectum 'Ornatum'   Acer palmatum dissectum Ornatum RHS gardens at Harlow Carr, North Yorkshire - October Berberis thunbergii 'Maria' - photo taken in June. Becomes much redder in autumn Berberis thunbergii 'Maria' - photo taken in June. Becomes much redder in autumn

Every year I struggle to keep plants like my pelargoniums and Crassula ovata (Jade plant) strong and healthy over winter.  I don't have a heated greenhouse, my garden room is not heated, and the only option I have to keep my red pelargoniums alive over winter is to bring them into the kitchen.  It's not easy: the sunniest window is in the living room but there is a massive radiator running full width below it, and the kitchen window and the large window in the little breakfast room, (my only other options), face more or less east and get little sun in winter months.  So today I have treated myself and my plants to a Niello  full spectrum LED light (from Amazon) which you can see in the image. This lamp has a large clip for a base so it can be attached to shelves and kitchen worktops.  Overwintering plants brought indoors under Full Spectrum LED lights Although not expensive, these Full Spectrum LED lights are very adaptable with many options.  The b...

Last winter, by accident, I left an  Osteospermum juncundum  in a garden container and it survived. Osteospermums are South African plants and to think it survived all winter here, high up on the Pennine Mountains of West Yorkshire, is remarkable, I think. When I saw it growing in spring, I repotted it and it has flowered all summer, making bud after bud. It's lovely and healthy.  In fact, it is still in flower right now, late October, and still full of buds.  This winter, though, I am taking no chances and I've  taken it into my garden room . You watch, it'll drop dead on me now I'm giving some of my tender loving care!  Osteospermum jucundum  According to the Royal Horticultural Society information on Osteospermums , they have a plant hardiness rating of H3.

Although I neglected to protect a lemon verbena over winter one year and it survived, it's not something I would intentionally do. I thought I had killed it off and when I got the opportunity, bought two more as soon as they were available at the garden centre.  Then the old lemon verbena,  sprang to life!  That lemon verbena is quite beautiful now, like a little ball of topiary, providing plenty of leaves for herb tea. The lemon scent from the leaves is quite powerful when they are crushed. Lemon verbena - a tender, shrubby, herb I'm keeping an eye on the weather forecasts and as soon as frost is forecast, I will put them inside my unheated  garden room until it is safe to pop them outside again. The problem with them is that they are not evergreen and so shed leaves all over my garden room carpet. The combination of  apple mint and lemon verbena  make a lovely combination for herb tea Apple mint

Each year, ahead of harsh weather, I make sure I bring indoors my pelargonium plants.  I've been growing the same ones for years, generation after generation, each spring taking cuttings and discarding old, woody plants.  Today, as weather forecasts hint at nighttime frosts coming soon, I removed all the young pelargoniums from a trough I have under the living room window and transplanted them into four pots (about four in each pot) which will stay in the kitchen on a window bottom until next spring.  Pelargoniums in pots for overwintering indoors Pelargoniums in an outside trough The pelargoniums are about eight months old and they have flowered all summer and are still in flower. Next spring, they will provide cuttings for a new generation.  Originally, I bought one plant and from that ancestor, I have had a yearly supply of youngsters to liven up my garden.  The flowers are a beautiful red, bordering on cerise. They are such a red that my cameras,...