Generous Geraniums- Part 2.

Just a quick update while I wait for winter to pass. Thanks to my regular browse through the Thompson-Morgan website, I stumbled across the (unknown to me) Geranium I had posted about in September. Just as I had described this lovely flower it appears she is very true to her given name, Geranium 'White Rose.'

Our plant at work unfortunately became very leggy and to my despair, my boss threw her away just before we overwintered the rest of the Geraniums for the winter. I salvaged her and took 5 of the healthiest cuttings I could collect and I have been desperately trying to root them over the colder months. I have one successful plant of 'White Rose' from the summer, although I am still hopeful for a few more from my newer cuttings, they're growing but I am unsure to whether they have actually rooted (some grow purely through the soils moisture. ) I will to my best to keep them stable until the warmer months. Fingers and toes crossed.

If cuttings for this Geranium are unavailable to you, here's the link for some plugs I stumbled on. Thompson-Morgan

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.