Horticultural Highlight- Dianthus caryophyllus

I dedicate this post to my Grandad Eric, in the anniversary of his passing.

My Grandad was a keen gardener and his interest for it fascinated my Mother growing up as well as myself, and I truly believe gardening is in the blood. In my garden I have a collection of bright pink Carnations drifting along the border edge, as one of my Grandad's favourite flowers along with lilies,  I'm often reminded of him, not like I ever forget, but I've cut my plants twice back over their flowering period and they've flowered right from May/June to just fading off now, but they have been such vibrant and soulful little flowers throughout the summer and are very cherished plants among most people, in gardens or in cut flower bouquets.

With the last few remaining, I have collected them up and bought them inside as remembrance for my Grandad.

I hope he would be proud of me, it's lovely to have a part of something he loved in my garden with me.

Moss Code

During the redevelopment of my garden, in the vegetable plot there was a strip along the edge that I planned to grow a Lavender hedge to segregate the gravel from the plot and our garden boundary line. Like most things, nothing is ever as straight forward as planting the Lavender into the ground. In the process of cultivation, I was hitting solid 'rock' just a few inches down and as I made a few more investigatory shovels it became apparent that there was a solid concrete footing (no longer in use) running along the entire stretch of the prospective Lavender hedge. Right then, back to square one. An hour or two later and with some hefty pick axe work from my old man, I was left with several lumps of industrial, and quite frankly nasty looking, pebble mixed concrete 'rocks,' which to my Mothers surprise, I wanted to keep.

The shade border in my garden is still slowly developing and I had planned for a small rockery to be installed in there. One to not follow rules, I didn't want the typical alpine style rockery. For starters I am not a massive alpine fan and secondly I wanted it to look rustic and like it had been there for years. I know where you think this is going, "she's going to use this concrete, how does that look uncontrived?" Well, you're right. This was my challenge. 

I wanted to recycle the acquired concrete. So, I piled it up in a curved drift, sunk the base 'rock' into the ground and filled the gaps with compost, whereby later I plan to plant Aubrietia which love to cascade down rocks along with some Campanula. Although the concrete surface appearance was still glaring and I needed to do something to naturalise it. Moss, one of natures softest cushions, a lot of people see moss as a sign of neglect or unkemptness, I personally love it because of that effortlessly naturalistic characteristic and woodland feel it employs. Not only this, but moss is a vital ecosystem that most underestimate. I wanted to encourage moss growth on my rockery and I had read about a recipe I could make to do this.

-A pot of natural/plain yoghurt

-1/2 teaspoon of sugar

-A couple of hand fulls of moss

I had a large area to cover so I doubled the quantities, but it is all just simply mixed together until the moss is finely dispersed throughout the mixture and then painted onto the area I wanted the moss to grow. All the aftercare needed is a slight misting of water to keep it damp until new moss begins to grow and hopefully, in a few weeks my contrived 'rocks' will look like they were destined to be in their new location teaming with new life and a new found purpose. Only time will tell. 

Why Work Indoors When the World Can Be Your Office?

Our Summers in Britain are gone within a blink of an eye and whether its for work or leisure, we spend every daylight hour and a good amount of the evenings outdoors enjoying the warmth because who knows when we might see it again right? My Mum crocheted me some bunting for my greenhouse (and isn't it the most loveliest thing ever!) and it got me thinking that our gardens really should be treated as outdoor living spaces.

Gardens often come with houses when we buy them so why are they often neglected or treat differently to our homes. I like to consider my garden as roofless room, along with each season change, it's like re-decorating and like our houses are homes to us, our gardens are a home to so much more. In fact I spend more time in my greenhouse than I do in my room and I think most avid gardeners can join me on that one, I keep it tidier than my room too. Our gardens speak volumes about our personalities and personal traits, whether they're kept, unkempt, contemporary or English country, but think of it this way, oftentimes our gardens are what greet our visitors first, not ourselves personally. Would you greet friends with scruffy hair and unclean clothes if they were around for dinner? It's the same principle I feel for our gardens. I hope this gives you a different outlook on your relationships with your gardens, dont neglect it, gardening is probably the most enjoyable 'chore' going. But then again, I am biased.  Just some thoughts I'd like to share.

Going Potty.

Well, this weekend really had gone to pot. But no, not in a bad way at all. I spent Sunday comfortably in my greenhouse pricking out 4 seed trays of Echinacea, Kniphofia and Aubrieta, which meant I needed a lot of little pots.

Last Christmas my parents gave me this little wooden device for making seedling transplant pots out of newspaper.

 At this time I didn't have my greenhouse and I simply did not have the space to house seedlings (or the space to plant them out for that matter) but after I designed my garden this summer, I was so excited to have my new greenhouse that I sowed any seed I had to hand that could be overwintered, I am now overrun with seedlings and the space to house them is becoming a problem again. So I found out my pot maker, not only completely environmental but also a great space saver compared to those plastic pots garden centres push onto us.

On average from each tray I pricked out, I got 24-30 (ish-some weaker ones I disposed of) seedlings and these newspaper pots fitted comfortably back into the seed tray with the seedlings potted up in them ready for storing over the winter. The 6 or 12 cells pots take up far more room than these newspaper pots, but the opportunity for the plant to grow successfully, isn't uncompromised either. The pots are just the right size, about (8cm tall and 5cm wide) for growing new plants and when they have filled the pot they will be ready for planting out. Direct watering into the centre of the pots however to avoiding the newpaper getting too wet and weakening prematurely, I use a pressure mister for this which is especially good for watering overwintering plants as they going need to soil keep slightly moist but they won't grow much over winter anyway and will need hardening off, but they can just be sunk into the ground, pot and all, avoiding root disturbance and the newspaper just biodegrades away. Genius! Economical, environmental and space saving. Three very gardener friendly words. 

Horticultural Highlight-Chrysanthemum

Chrysanthemums, I think, are up there with one of the most well known and loved flowers, even to those who claim to never set a foot into the gardening world. A clear favourite to florists for their array of colours and flower heads from the showy incurved to the understated single, it is a challenge to find a bouquet without a stem in. In my garden I have a group of 6 Chrysanthemum stems, which I was given when I left college. I had been asked to pot up the plants when they were about 6-8in and 'pinch out' half of the selection to create sprays (taking the terminal bud out, down to about 3-4 leaves from the base of the plant) and leave the others to produce single blooms. Unfortunately the cultivar is unbeknown to me but after some book reading, I have found that in my collection it appears I have 2 cultivars, one similar to (if not) that of 'Peach Margaret' (light salmon colour) and the other similar to 'Roblush' (white pink colour) both producing reflexed flower heads.

They provide the garden with that little flush of colour and gentle charm that is hard to come by at this time of year, usually flowering from September to October, they do require a staking properly and the wind this year has done my wonky stems no favours. Once they have finished flowering, the safest bet is to cut them down to a rootstock, lift and overwinter, ready to plant out again next spring/summer. I have such an abundance of flowers from my plants that I have cut a few stems off and brought them indoors for a small display inside as well, which they will still continue flowering for at least a couple of weeks. They make lovely companions with Dahlias for autumn planting, giving any garden a last surge of energy just before they quieten down completely.

Horticultural Highlight-Cyclamen hederifolium

Small but very mighty. With their characteristically nodding flower heads, it would appear that a swipe of wind would obliterate them completely, but this autumn flowering cyclamen, graces us with delicate drifts of vibrant pink just when the days of autumn are turning sour.  Not even the harshest of frosts could dash its spirits, with a hardiness of H5 (fully hardy,) she performs year upon year. 

They naturalise effortlessly under trees or in any partially shaded area and can withstand most soil situations. The flower are first to show before the leaves but the display will last well into autumn, brightening up any space, even into the early stages of winter. The leaves are just as decorative as the flowers when they arrive, mottled green and grey/silver, it is undoubtable to see why its common name is Ivy-leaved Cyclamen. One of the areas left the be developed in my garden is around the water feature, although I have no plans to improve the area now until spring, I have brightened the area with Pansy planted pots. The Cyclamen lie so quietly when they are not in flower that I forget that they home themselves there. Just as autumn arrived, they peeped shots of pink throughout the feature area and ramble carelessly over the border edge, cheering up the view from our kitchen window. A firm favourite amongst our family. 

Horticultural Highlight- Sweet Peas (Lathyrus odoratus)

Yes peas! Sweet Peas are possibly the most favoured annual flower amongst gardeners. Fragrant, effortlessly elegant and the choice in varieties is exceptional, how could they not be a favourite.

I was given a small Sweet Pea pot from my auntie at around mid June, just as I was starting work on my new garden. There were two young plants about 50cm in height just starting to train around 3 canes with very few flowers, unfortunately I do not know the variety but after extensive research I have settled on the option it might be Sweet Pea 'Gwendoline'. The flowers are frilly, bright pink shot through with lilac with a slight white base to each petal, and sumptuously fragrant.  It's now happily settled into its new plot and it stands about 1.5m (with the a little help from canes of course) and about the same wide and its abundance of flowers appears to be never ending. Since I am growing it on for ornamental purposes, I pinch out the pea pods as they begin to form which encourages the plant to produce new flowers, but I never imagined it to be still flowering this strongly coming towards the end of October, it has taken quite a battering to the high winds over the week or so as well, from which I have had to reposition the canes back into the ground many times. It's just been lighting up a corner of one of my beds for many months and looks as through it won't cease yet.

I have re-started a new generation of Sweet Peas now, ready to be overwintered and planted out of in the spring next year. I have 21 happy Sweet Pea 'Cupid Pink' seedlings, which when they flower will have flower heads in a combination of white and soft pink, and fingers crossed they all go on to flower, I will use every one of them. This is a more compact variety, so hopefully the prevailing wind won't be as great of a problem. I have some taller ones to be sown also (Old Spice Mixed) www.mr-fothergills.co.uk and they will be trained to hide a particularly disastrous fence in the veg plot, the fragrance and colour will be enticingly pleasant when I'm working in that area, much better than the fence anway.

The Wind in the Willows

Willow weaving or basket weaving, is one of the most widest spread crafts in the history of human civilisation. We live  in an age where natural materials and talented craft is often overridden with batch produced, uncharacterised, identical products, but the versatility of what can be produced from one material is incredible, and fortunately with the encouragement of 'make your own' from TV shows such as 'Kirstie Allsopp's Homemade Home' and her newer show 'Vintage Home', willow weaving is making quite a revival. 

I was lucky enough to go to The RHS Chelsea Flower Show this year for the centenary, and willow weaving made quite a feature there also. In Stockton Drilling's 'As Nature Intended' by Jamie Dunstan, the angular willow structures were crisply crafted, and with a name like that I wouldn't have expected any less. I was pleased to see a lot of traditional structures and building methods at Chelsea this year.

Stockon Drilling's 'As Nature Intended'
Chelsea Flower Show 2013

I recently had the opportunity to experience willow weaving for myself, I have been itching to try it for so long. I had made christmas wreaths out of dogwood (using Cornus alba 'sibirica' and Cornus sericea 'Flaviramea') a couple of years ago but willow (Salix) is a lot more flexible. My mum, my sister and I made these lovely plant supports or obelisks, all different styles and sizes so we could share each others techniques, I think they just have so much more charm then the typical metal ones that garden centres now seem to force onto us. The best part being we made them ourselves, nothing better than having a plant I started myself grow around something I built myself, that is self sufficiency at its finest!

Mum's middle, Sister's left and Mine right.

The wood we used is called buff willow, the willow rods have been boiled and stripped of their bark, it is then dried throughly to prevent the rods from going mouldy. There are different processes of boiling, stripping and drying to create different effects in the wood. Since our wood had been stripped it would not re-grow if positioned into the ground. The willow is soaked 24 hours before manipulation into structures and you can really tell the difference when weaving the wood that is beginning to dry. It was advised to us to bring the structures inside over the winter as excessive damp will re-soften the willow and exposure to high winds could morph the wood out of shape, but once dry the shape is solid again. 

The wood for both living willow and other structures can be purchased through http://www.musgrovewillows.co.uk/ this is the willow we used and it was recommended to us. The different processes of the wood for the desired end result are explained also. 

Heucheras-The Unsung Jewels of the All Year Round Garden

Mostly evergreen, vivid colours and eclectic variety, the Heuchera is quite the all round performer. Below, a lovely collection of jewels we have at work.

Especially over the last couple of years, I have noticed anyway, Heuchera's have definitely made quite a statement trend, especially at this time or year. Amateur Gardening magazine is definitely giving them quite a feature this season anyway. The vast contrast in colours from bright purple to almost fluorescent lime green, make them a popular choice for group and under planting beneath taller perennials and shrubs and make striking container plants for patio gardens. The trend is very similar to that of the Hosta, a similar principle of plant but when Hosta leaves die back during the winter, the Heuchera shines on through those dull winter days, never spoiling the seasons and gifting us with upright racemes of small pedant bell shaped flowers, rising above the foliage in summer. I have a group of about 5 Aubergine purple Heuchera in the top corner of my garden, in large clumps they provide quite a feature, proving not only tall plants can be eye catching. I believe one is 'plum pudding' with silvery veins on a dark purple leaf, not only beautiful in the summer but particularly striking in the winter months with its cool hues. I love Hostas, but just as they're dying back it allows my Heucheras to really come into their own without competition. With their desire for full sun or partial shade they really are suited for most areas of the garden, in full shade they so tend to go very leggy (a lesson I learnt the hard way) and grow very sparse in structure. 

It's great to be different but I would definitely recommend jumping on the band wagon with these little gems, I would be sure that you would not regret it. 

Horticulture Highlight-Verbena Bonariensis

I have really gone to town with Verbena in my garden this year. The mostly upright, slightly arching stems, finalised with clusters of tiny purple flowers blend so effortlessly into any perennial or shrub drifted border.

They just typically scream country style garden for me, I really so adore them. Their ability to naturalise in most environments, even quite dry- at RHS Hyde Hall they have a very exposed and dry site where Verbena is actually considered a weed, my inspiration for intergrating Verbena naturally amongst my perennials as a soft swaying backdrop, actually 'stems' from Hyde Hall, I just loved how they pop up through the perennials everywhere. I have quite a large drift through my main border at home and I can just see the iconic square stems and terminal flowers, swaying silently at the back of my fore planting. With their long show of flowers throughout summer and even through early autumn, attracting an array of wildlife, I do so fondly adore Verbena, and I can't wait for them to self seed freely amoungst my garden, it's exciting to wait and see where they will crop up next. 

Generous Geraniums

While I was studying horticulture, propagation-regardless of how fascinating I found it to be-was never my strongest point practically. Now that I'm on my own, I've encouraged myself to keep practicing, after all, as I'm often told by experienced professionals the best way for a horticulturist to learn is from her mistakes.

Where I work we have this lovely English country looking Geranium sitting outside our tool shed. The only one of its kind in the garden...and I wanted one. 

So after a bit of light reading on the subject, around early July I took one semi-ripe cutting from the parent. Risky taking just one I know, but ever the optimist.

I prepared the cutting, taking it down to about 10cm in length cutting just below a leaf node and removing the lower leaves, leaving two leaves and nipping out the soft tip. Dipped the cut end in rooting powder and set it in a hole in some multi purpose compost. I had read mixed things on using rooting hormone on Geraniums, some say use it others say don't as it rots the end (I can only assume creating an overly damp environment would do this) however I did use rooting hormone and after weeks of patience, my first little cutting found her legs and is now showing her first bloom.

A quietly satisfying feeling for any gardener. She will be coming inside shortly before the first frost catches her, she is definitely a fond favourite of mine. 

Something Old and Something New

No I'm not getting married, unless being married to my garden counts, but if nature could teach us one thing, it would be how to renew.

I often catch myself saying the phrase -'I could plant something in that'- My love for containerised planting results in me always on the look out for unique objects I can plant up, and today, at our local market, was no disappointment. 

Previously used as to collect eggs, this lovely tin bucket was the first thing to catch my eye.

My final find was these little tin milk buckets.

 Now, if there were two things that didn't go hand in hand it would be me and bedding plants, but reluctant to let my winter garden be a sad one this year (I have been re-landscaping my garden over the summer and haven't been prepared for permanent winter colour this year) I have succumbed to the bedding brigade and planted out some multicoloured winter pansies, and I'm pleased I did.

In my white bucket I have planted a single daffodil bulb for the spring and kept the other two and the egg bucket for winter interest with a little help from a rouge Dryopteris-fern-I had in sited a lonely spot in the garden and a rusted chicken my mum absolutely adores. 

Fortunately my love for terracotta pots over rides my usual disapproval of bedding plants. 

There's great satisfaction in giving a new purpose in life for reclaimed objects, they have a story and a tale to tell. Allowing something old in life to home a new life... there is something quite philosophical in that.

Horticultural Highlight- Lantana Camara 'Feston Rose'

The autumn feeling is very much in the air and as much as I particularly enjoy this time of year, my little piece of summer is still glowingly flowering.

 

I was given this Lantana by a friend of mine and was handed to me very pot bound and not looking in the best of health. A month or so later down the line and she's showing every sign of happiness in these gorgeous little bicoloured flowers. Although frost tender, Lantana camara bear flowers from late spring to late autumn and providing interest the rest of the year with evergreen ovate leaves, what more could you want from a shrub? Come the end of October-beginning of November- she'll need protecting for winter ready for her to start her delicate display all over again in the spring. I absolutely adore this shrub, so much so I have pushed my luck and taken some semi-ripe cuttings now she's settled her roots. A fraction late perhaps but, like most things in horticulture only time will tell.