Plantpassion

Winter flowers, - are they important?

Even though the temperature got above freezing today, - Spring is still a little way off. I know the general consensus at school pickup today was "glad you were out there today, and not me"

But even if you don't get out in your garden much at this time of year, it's still worth having the earliest of blooms to take you from Winter into Spring, - and here's why

That Bee was having a Ball on this Hellebore. If our bee's come out of hibernation and there's nothing to feed on, then we'll all be in trouble.

Other plants that they'll love at the moment.

Sarcococca confusa, Clematis Cirrhosa, Lonicera purpusii and Galanthus Nivalis (common snowdrops).

Romance doesn't have to cover lots of miles

My Hubby and I have been together 20 years. The love is still there, but the Romance is often hidden under family life. We even forgot our anniversary in January. (until our friends and family reminded us with cards).

But one of the main reasons I don't get flowers on a regualar basis, is because I moan incessantly about the air miles they travel. So when this arrived on Friday I was truly grateful

This is a bunch of UK grown flowers from Wiggly Wigglers.

I Luurve the fact that it has very few greenhouse grown blooms, and is mostly hardy shrub foliage. The best early spring foliage and hardy blooms collected together to make a great bouquet. Eucalyptus. Ferns, Skimmia, Hebe and Hypericum all make for beautiful bunch in very romantic green and reds.

Wiggly Wigglers in Hereford aren't the only ones growing cut flowers for sale in England, I also know of Ben at the Higgledy Garden (Cambridge) , Georgie at Common Farm Flowers (Somerset) and Jane from Snapdragon Garden (Loch Lomand Scotland). I've yet to find anyone in Surrey, although i'll be growing my own supplies this year, at both the Allotment and the School garden for this summer.

Please let me know if you find more UK based cut flower suppliers, - we grow so many wonderful plants for cutting in the UK, I'd love it if I could just encourage one or two more people to think twice before they pick up that bunch of roses that have been flown halfway round the globe.

Wildlife in the garden

This evening, i'm talking to my local WI group about attracting wildlife to even the smallest garden. (Smart move on their part, to have a speaker who's within walking distance for if it snows later)

We're very lucky in this part of the world to live in a semi rural area, with an abundance of wildlife. - I'm not sure how i've managed to do the school run yet this winter without running over a pheasant.

As gardeners though, I truly believe that we have a duty to make sure that our gardens are as hospitable as possible for all kinds of wildlife. Really there is an amazing synergie between gardeners and the creatures that inhabit our trees shrubs and borders.

This Robin loved me weeding this border under a beech hedge last week. Getting rid of the bindweed and celandine meant he could get to the worms beneath, and there were plenty of empty snail shells around, so I think maybe he'd already been feasting on them.

Of course one of the best things for wildlife is also very good for us gardeners with not that much time on their hands. - Don't make things too tidy. Clearing beds and borders of debris and seed heads just a couple of times a year, and leaving a corner of the garden were things can grow wilder than normal is just fine.

Unfortunately for me, the wildlife has made too much use of the seedheads i've left in my borders, and i'll just have to show the WI ladies photos, of the sunflowers, eryngium, and other stripped bare seed treasures that the birds have found.

Viburnum Davidii - Blue is the colour

There are some plants that I don't often plant, as I feel that they are overused by landscapers in "Carpark" type plantings. Viburnum Davidii is one of those. It was a plant I got bored of and I took out of my last house garden (A new build with the front gardens "landscaped") when it became a home for all the visiting Vine weevils. - However after seeing this earlier in the week, I think I might be trying again with this shrub.

Behind the scenes at the Wisley Butterflies

One of the talks that I give to gardening and WI groups is about gardening for wildlife, and butterflies feature in that talk, but today I got to see some rather different and exotic butterflies and learn a bit about what goes on behind the scenes at Wisley to get these wonderful creatures into their glasshouse to amaze the public in the depths of winter.

The butterflies are sent in Chrysalis form, from Belize to Wisley via the experts at Stratford Butterfly farm. When they arrive, they are hung upside down (stuck on with non toxic copydex) in an emergence cage which is kept warm and humid. These green chrysalis will be Blue Morpho Butterflies in a couple of weeks.

When they do emerge, they need to hang for a few hours for their wings to dry out, before they fly.

(Owl and Malay Lacewing newly hung from the emergence cage)

When they've warmed up (and the glass house at Wisley is lovely and warm for them at the moment) then they'll fly off to find out what tropical delights the glasshouse staff have laid on for them.

Each year the Wisley team find more varieties of plants that are able to flower in an English January, and to provide nectar for tropical butterflies.

Orchids, Calliandra, the Jade vine Strongylobum and Lantana were all being well visited today by butterflies.

But for those that don't like the Wisley specimens, there is a buffet table

Where the guests actually prefer the fruit at the rotting, past it's best stage, and the centre of the flowers are sugar water (10% solution) for feeding and drinking.

I really enjoyed my butterfly trip today. And they are very popular as the queues on Sunday when I went with my family, and the full glasshouse today prove. So I hope they are here to stay as a winter attraction at Wisley. - They are in the Glasshouse until Mid February, so don't worry if you can't get there in the next few days.

Now i'm off to plan more attractive plants for our native butterflies this summer. - Anyone know if they like sugar water too?

 

 

 

 

 

Autumn leaf colour to put a November smile on your face.

I do love November,- maybe it's because it's a birthday month in this house, or because I love walks through piles of leaves, or because I love the abundance of fresh apples to eat. Maybe it's the colours in the leaves.

Probably a lot to do with the last one.

I went for a walk to Wisley at the beginning of the week with William. - They currently have lovely paper bags with leaves printed on the outside, so we had a fantastic couple of hours searching for the right varieties to fill the bag.

With Liquidamber, Quercus, Gingko, Nyssa and Betula on the list we had a great time picking up the best coloured leaves.

If you've got room in your garden, the best large specimen trees have to be either Liquidamber Worplesdon or Nyssa sylvatica Wisley Bonfire. Here they are in all their glory

Not that small gardens have to miss out on the fantastic leaf and bark colour.

With Acers, (and grasses) Nandina and Prunus Serrula giving fantastic autumn colour.

Enjoy the colours while you can,  - with heavy rain forecast at the weekend, we are likely to have soggy leaves on the ground by next week.

 

Deadheading perennials to keep them blooming longer

I've had a lot of pruning to do today. Shrubs like Pyracantha and Bay, suddenly have branches that get in the way at this time of year. Philadelphus that smelt fantastic in May and Early June, now need to be thinned through, and if you want flowers that will last way in September, it's well worth doing as I have today and given lots of perennials a real haircut.

This Helenium was at it's peak last month.

But today it was looking a bit tired

By cutting it back, (i've shortened each stem by about 20cm to a leaf bud) it will reflower in about 2 weeks.

You don't always get quite as many flowers as the first flush, but plenty to keep your border blooming.

For now, the Echinacea and Verbena can shine in this part of the border.

I've also been pruning back

Lemon balm - cut right back to the ground

Lavenders - these start producing next years flower buds in September, so deadhead them by the end of this month.

Calendulas/Marigolds - very important to cut back annuals otherwise they will just seed and stop flowering completely

Alchemilla mollis - this will give a 2nd flush if you are brutal now (see how here)

and Euphobia Robbaie - cut back all flower stems to the ground on this spring flowering ground cover, and it looks a whole lot tidier, and encourages it to spread - but use gloves as the sap is poisonous.

 

Post Holiday pathos

The trouble with being a gardener, is that when you go away on holiday, the garden just, - well does it's own thing.

Random thoughts on my early evening stroll.

How did that grass get so long and weedy in 11 days?

I'd better pick some apples, or those branches will break.

I wonder if the lemon cucumbers will taste better or worse now they are lemon colour?

Why is it that now the sweet peas are ready to pick, the Calendula are looking over?

How can weeds get to smoothering Hosta size in just over a week, when everything else in that dry shady border struggles?

Better get mowing/deadheading/picking/weeding in the morning, - good job noone thinks i'm home till tomorrow! (don't tell them)

Wisley - Sunday morning inspiration

Summer Sunday morning - time to meet with family and friends outside in the sun. I feel fantistically lucky to have The RHS garden at Wisley just 10 minutes down the road. So my Sunday mornings often include a wander and coffee at this world famous garden.

This was the view along the glasshouse borders.

In case you didn't know, - RHS Wisley opens at 9.00am at the weekend. So you get to have fantastic views of stunning borders including the new Rose garden (so good all the Roses have to be smelt)

With the garden almost to yourself.

Then there's the Wild at Wisley playground, where an hour of Den building was the perfect way to let 7 year olds enjoy themselves outside.

Magnolia Grandiflora - first flower of the year

The sky may be grey, but i'm really happy as the first creamy white flower (centre picture) is showing on the Magnolia Grandiflora in my front garden.

I was lucky enough to inherit two Magnolia's in my front garden when I moved to this house.

Magnolia Grandiflora is a Stately specimen, - mine is taller than the house, and about 15 metres wide ( the photo was taken from the upstairs window)

The other is a deciduous type, and flowers prolifically in spring (probably Soulangeana)

It then drops all its leaves in the Autumn, causing us several weeks of raking /sweeping up.

Now you'd think that the Evergreen Magnolia Grandiflora wouldn't be as much hard work, - after all, Evergreens don't drop their leaves, do they?

But this one does. - Not all at once, and not so the tree goes bald, but between Early Spring and summer, it regularly deposits a sack full of tough leathery leaves on my foliage bed each week

It only stops dropping leaves for the summer when the new growth is complete, all the glossy new leaf buds are fully open, and the flowers start coming.

So as well as cheering on the first beautiful flower of the season, i'm now looking forward to a couple of months without having to rake up leaves every week.