Friday 25th October 2013

Still mild and it did not rain! The group pricked out some of the seedlings of hardy annuals which had germinated in the greenhouse, but mostly we planted masses of bulbs in pots. Including ‘spring bulb lasagne’, layers of bulbs in large, deep pots. (Instructions from Sarah Raven: How to plant bulb lasagne).

Ammi majus

The light levels are dropping and it will be cold soon. Bridge reminded us of things to do now:

Last chance before spring to sow hardy annuals e.g. nigella, ammi, calendula, sweet peas, larkspur, orlaya, cornflower, corncockle, ratibia, in cold frame or cold greenhouse for a bit of protection against weather. Helps to grow them hard so that they develop slowly but strongly. Sow ammi majus in modules so that tap root is not disturbed by pricking out. Plant out in open beds in March.

Sow hardy broad beans – Aquadulce Claudia variety – in pots or direct in ground. This gives an earlier crop and helps avoid black-fly.

Plants over-wintering Japanese onion sets in ground, leaving the tips above the earth. Or can plant in modules to get root system established, and plant in ground a month later.

Plant garlic individual bulbs 2.5 inches deep in open beds.

Plant bulbs in beds and pots – daffodils, crocus, iris etc but tulips can wait until it is colder. In pots set bulbs close together but not touching to avoid disease.

Plant indoor narcissi like ‘Paperwhite’ in containers (no drainage holes needed) in pure grit. Water sparingly and stand in the light, turning every day so that they grow up straight. Flower in approximately 6 weeks. Can continue planting up until February for extended display if bulbs stay firm and healthy.

Plant Ident:

Shrubs and trees bearing berries:

Pyracantha varieties (very thorny) - prune in April back to 2 buds. Red or yellow berries.

Cotoneaster (not thorny) deciduous or evergreen small trees and shrubs e.g. C. franchetti with orange berries, C. rothschildianus with yellow berries makes a good specimen tree, C. watereri has red berries and is evergreen.

Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna) known as May, has small spines. Good for windswept gardens. White, pink or red flowers in May. Lots of varieties available from Notcutts Nurseries. Berries can be used in cooking.

Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa) known as Sloe. Has big spines. Flowers very early on bare wood. Can be used for sloe gin; put berries in freezer for 24 hours to soften.

Viburnum opulus known as Guelder Rose, frequently seen growing wild on the South Downs. White flowers, red hanging berries resembling redcurrants. Also worth growing: Viburnum tinus, V. davidii, v. rhytidophyllum. All love chalk.

Euonymus europaeus – has striking and vivid orange and pink split fruit in autumn. Bushes get very big but there is a more compact variety.

Common Privet has quite big black berries if left unpruned.

Sea Buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides) has silvery grey foliage and orange berries. Very tough shrub for windy/coastal sites. Berries can be used for jam.

Stag’s Horn Sumach (Rhus typhina). Good autumn leaf colour and red velvety fruits. Suckering small tree. Rhus ‘Laciniata’ has dissected leaves and is less invasive.

 

Euonymus europaeus

Viburnum opulus

Sea Buckthorn

Friday 18th October 2013

We had to manage without Bridge today although she had left a few jobs for us.Lovely autumn weather and the asters are still looking fantastic.
We talked about what group members had been doing in their gardens/allotments over the week and also discussed the notion that now gardeners do not really 'put the garden to bed' in late autumn but rather think about what plants you can have that provide interest, colour and structure all year around.

Some activities undertaken this week by garden group members:-

Iris reticulata

• planting Iris reticulata in pots to provide early colour next year in late winter/spring. They are compact usually about 10-15 cm tall so ideal for containers and can be brought indoors when they are flowering as they are quite fragrant
• planting Narcissus 'Paper white' bulbs indoors now. They can be grown in pots with soil or even just in water anchored with stones and you will have lovely fragrant flowers in only a few weeks. You can put a few bulbs in each pot and plant more every few weeks for continuous blooms.They may need some twigs in the pot to support them as they grow.
• also Narcissus 'Thalia' recommended - elegant pure white flower with re-flexed petals that looks good planted in drifts

Narcissus 'Thalia'

Narcissus 'Paper white'

• Hove Gardening Club was also recommende by Susan.  The group meets on 3rd Tuesday of every month from 7.30 and they organise talks, outings and a popular plant fair and membership is only £7 per year.       Check their website for more info Hove Gardening Club

Plant ident:

Salvia elegans

• Verbena bonariensis - has tall sparsely leaved stems with purple flowers, it can grow to 2m - it is a short lived perennial that flowers from Aug- Oct. Can take cuttings in the spring
• Parahebe catarractae - parahebes are woody, mound forming subshrubs that needs a sheltered spot. They are good as edging plants or in a rock garden, white or purple flowers 
• Salvia elegans 'Scarlet Pineapple' is a tender perennial with tubular red flowers 

Activities in the garden this week

• Preparing pots for bulb planting next week
• Building a leaf mould bin
• Clearing beds under the arches
• Potting on wallflowers
• Sowing grass seed on the lawn

Book recommendation:

Caroline Zoob- Virginia Woolf's Garden: The Story of the Garden at Monk's House

Monk's House in Rodmell is only open to end of Oct if you want to visit (Weds- Sun)

Ruth still able to use her secateurs 

Sue on  leaf mould duty

Karin working under the arches

Cosmos still going strong

Friday 11th October 2013

'The miraculous power of gardening: it evokes tomorrow, it is eternally forward looking, it invites plans and ambitions, creativity,expectation........Gardening defies time; you labour today in the interests of tomorrow; you think in seasons to come, cutting down the border this autumn but with spring in your mind's eye.' ( from Penelope Lively's Ammonites & Leaping Fish: A life in Time as profiled in the Guardian and read to the group by Julia).

With those inspirational thoughts in our heads we went on to discuss biennials.Biennials have a life cycle that normally takes 2 years to complete, growing leaves in the first year and flowering in the second. Biennials are often used to fill a gap in the gardening year after tulips and alliums are over. They can often be identified by having leaves growing in a rosette - most familiar biennials are foxgloves, forget me nots or echiums. Seeds for biennial plants can be sown in May, June or July and planted out in early autumn.

Wallflowers (Erysimum) are often viewed as biennials but are actually short lived perennials and they tend to be dug up after flowering as they can get too untidy. Wallflowers are part of the cabbage (Brassicaceae} family and are excellent plants to have in gardens by the sea as they tolerate saline conditions. Bridge suggests buying pots of wallflowers now rather than bare rooted plants and dividing up the plant and potting on into smaller pots. These can then be planted in the garden when they have developed good roots during Nov, they like a sunny or partially shady border to do well. In the Garden House these will be planted alongside tulip bulbs as part of the plan for a red border for next year.

Tulips don’t need to be planted until late October or November. The colder temperatures help to wipe out viral and fungal diseases that may infect the bulbs.

Plant ident:

• Rosa Gloria Mundi - a small red, repeat flowering shrub rose that would be good in a container
• Rosa 'Suma' - a prostrate, spreading rose that works well planted so it can hang over a wall
• Cotinus coggygria 'Royal Purple' ( Smoke bush)- a bushy deciduous shrub which grows to 5m - it has deep purple leaves that become redder in autumn and large feathery pink inflorescences in summer. Grow in well drained soil in sun or partial shade
• Kniphofia 'Bees Lemon' - a frost hardy red hot poker that is not so dominated by leaves as other pokers. It has deep green grass type leaves and prefers moist but well drained soil in sun or part shade. It flowers in late summer and early autumn. Kniphofias are native to Africa.

Kniphofia 'Bees Lemon'

Cotinus coggygria 'Royal Purple'

Compost

We had further discussion about what should be put into compost heap. All weeds should be kept separate and put in bin in front of the house as compost heap does not get hot enough to kill the seeds, but top herbaceous growth and cut up woody growth can be put into compost heap. There is a separate leaf bin as deciduous leaves break down slower.

Activities in the garden this week

• Putting in posts to support the raspberry canes
• Lawn care
• Taking cuttings of tender perennials
• Pricking out wallflowers
• Sowing more hardy annual seeds and pricking out and potting on ones that have been sown earlier - they need a set of true leaves before they are ready for pricking out
• Sorting out plants in the cold frame, refreshing display of plants in front of garden room

The lawn care crew in action, Elaine, Karin & Hilary

Cementing in new posts for raspberries

Pricking out seedlings

Book recommendation of the week:

Home Ground: Sanctuary in the City by Dan Pearson

There is also a current exhibition about Dan Pearson's work at the Garden Museum although only open until 20th Oct.

Nursery recommendations:

Merriments in Hurst Green

Rapkyns in Broad Oak

Garden House forthcoming events:

check out the website for future classes on botanical drawing, garden DIY, plant botany etc

The Garden House

also early notice that on 6th & 7th June 2014 there will be a plant fair at Garden House as part of the Chelsea fringe

And finally Mel's method for drying seed

Friday 4th October 2013 part 2

More photos of Friday group activities

Elaine modelling the latest in waterproof trousers

Clare - you can't just hide behind that rose

New mosaic step taking shape

               

Definitely time for more cake

Friday 4th October 2013

Asters for sale

The early rain stopped so we were able to get out into the garden although the thought of just reading gardening magazines had been tempting. The coffee morning for Macmillan nurses last week had been very successful - raising £350.

We looked at some more plants that would look good in the garden now or good to get planted in the garden now:

• Allium thunbergii 'Ozawa' - a diminutive purple allium that blooms in Sept/Oct
• Aster 'Little Carlow' - a bushy herbaceous perennial aster with bright mid blue flowers that clumps up well, doesn't need staking and doesn't get mildew
• Aster 'Erlkonig' - has pale purple flowers, needs some sun.                               Asters need moisture - can be cut back when they have finished flowering and then they need feeding see Bridge's piece on asters on Garden House website - www.gardenhousebrighton.co.uk/lost-the-plot/we-love-asters-in-autumn/
• Pulmonaria 'Diane Clare' - good for shade, provides ground cover and flowers from early spring
• Miscanthus sinensis 'Yakushima Dwarf' is a compact deciduous grass that grows to 80cm tall, forming a clump of narrow leaves, with feathery pale brown flowerheads in mid autumn

Pulmonaria 'Diane Clare'

Miscanthus 'Yakushima Dwarf'

Activities in the garden this week

• Working on the two big borders on either side of the hawthorn hedge - one border will be a spring border and the other for later flowering plants. We took out most of the plants to clear the beds and divide up some plants that will go back or be moved elsewhere.
• Continue work on mosaic step by the greenhouse
• Potting up sempervivums

Starting work on the new spring border

Events this weekend to look out for:

• Great Dixter plant fair www.greatdixter.co.uk - a wonderful garden to visit even if you can't get to the plant fair.
• West Dean garden event www.westdean.org.uk/garden

Book suggestion of the week
Cuttings by Christopher Lloyd

On A Great Dixter theme Fergus Garrett, Head Gardener will be speaking at the Burgess Hill horticultural society at Oaks Hall school in Burgess Hill on Weds 23rd Oct at 7.45 tickets are £6 from bhhstickets@yahoo.co.uk
Burgess Hill Horticultural Society