Saturday 25 June 2016

June's Floral Favourite's ...

Good Morning!
It's been a little while since I've had the chance to post on here so today I thought I'd share with you my favourite's from around the garden this month. 

Right back at the start of the month the Hebe 'Pearl of Paradise' of which i'd grown from a cutting came into flower. Even though they only flower for a few weeks of the year the blooms on this variety are well worth the wait.


Geum 'Tangerine' has also been flowering prolifically throughout the month ...

slowly followed by Geum 'Cosmopolitan'

My David Austin Rose 'Princess Alexandra of Kent' has produced some lovely blooms with a perfume to match.

The new variety of Cosmos called 'Xanthos' has recently come into bloom the past fortnight, so far the flowers are sparing but they are lovely to look at.

One of my favourite plants that I like to grow as an Annual each year are Nemesia's. Along with the Vanilla White variety dotted around the garden in Pots and Baskets I have a pot of the variety 'Easter Bonnet' of which you can smell straight away when walking past. 

The Hanging Baskets are slowly starting to fill out and establish themselves ...

Astrantias 'Rubra' and 'Buckland' have started coming into flower this past week ...


along with the Alstroemeria Inca Ice 'Koice' sitting outside the Greenhouse door ...

Finally followed by the first blooms from the Sweat Peas in the past 2 days.

Thanks for popping by, I hope you all get the chance to spend some time in your gardens this weekend!
HAPPY GROWING!
XXX

Friday 10 June 2016

Garden Checklist ...

Good Morning!
It's been a little while since I've been able to post but here's a few things that you can be getting on with this weekend in the garden ...

1. Tomatoes  - If you are growing Cordon Varieties of Tomatoes this year then right about now they will be needing a little help. Cordon varieties need to have something to climb up which is where Bamboo canes usually come into use! Simply place them into your Tomatoes final growing pot (making sure not to damage the roots) then tie the plant to the cane using string. It is also recommended that you tie a cane across the top of the canes to provide support for the canes which will be needed once the plants get growing!  

TIP - Make sure you remove any side shoots produced by the plant as soon as they are visible and don't worry if your plants develop curly tops, this is a perfectly normal things for a healthy plant to do!

2. Climbers - On the subject of support, climbing plants will be putting on a lot of fresh growth right now (e.g. Sweet Peas & Clematis) and the young shoots will need tying in. This is also one of the easiest times to do this as the new growth will be fairly flexible.

3. Faded Foliage - Foliage might be looking a little tired on plants such as Pulmonaria and Hellebores, cut back any of the foliage affected which will promote new growth and reduce the risk of disease.

4. Stronger Growth - Encourage stronger bushier growth on bedding plants by pinching out the growing tips. This will delay flowering for a couple of weeks but will prolong the flowering period for the year and the plant will be much bushier!

5. Biennials - In the Greenhouse now is the time to start sowing Biennials, these are plants which will develop vegetative growth in the current year then flower the next. 
These include plants such as Foxgloves & Wallflowers.

6. Hedging - Finally if you are planning on trimming or pruning any hedges this weekend make sure that you check them for any nesting birds first to ensure that you don't disturb them.

Thanks for stopping by, don't forget you can find all the previous Checklists on the page tab above.
HAPPY GROWING!
XXX