A Warm Welcome Back!

Hello!

It's been almost 2 years since I last posted on this blog, unfortunately time got in the way of things but here's hoping this year I can find more time to write on here. Fingers crossed there's still someone that would like to read these posts! 

It's New Years Day so it seemed the perfect time to get this blog  going again ...

So, what do I have to share with you all? Well there was a little glimpse of Sunshine this morning for a few hours so I made the most of having the day off work and decided to take some photo's of the plants in my garden that are currently grabbing my attention ...

HELLEBORES
One of my favourite plants and they're invaluable in the garden during the Winter months. These are just starting to produce their flowers and it's always exciting waiting for their buds to burst open.

I have quite a few varieties in Pots and the Borders, the one's in the ground are the first to get going but the Pots are slowly waiting in the wings ...

TIP - Removed old foliage along with any that has black markings, this will reduce the spread of 'Blackspot' and also show off the emerging flowers more.

FOXGLOVES

Last year is sowed some Foxgloves, Digitalis 'Apricot', which were potted on into 2 litre pots. 

They are currently sitting on a table and will be planted out in the Spring. 

They were given a dusting of Frost this morning ...

SARCOCOCCA CONFUSA (CHRISTMAS BOX)

A Winter - Flowering Shrub that provides everygreen interest all year round, however at this time of year is when it really performs. It produces tiny white Flowers and black Berries, however don't let the size of the flowers confuse you ... the perfume is extremely strong and I can smell it a few metres away from where it's planted in a border near a bird bath. A welcome surprise when walking past! This shrub is about 5 years old and rather large however I also have a smaller version of it in a pot by the front door. That way I can smell the perfume when I go to and return from work!

PENSTEMON

Finally even though we've had Winter Weather and cold temperatures one of the Penstemons is still producing flowers. Not something you'd usually expect to see on New Year's Day!

Well I hope you've enjoyed today's post, I'l be back when I have more photo's along with sharing what I will be growing throughout the year ... here's to 2020!

HAPPY GARDENING!

August's Plant of the Month!

Good Morning!

The PLANT OF THE MONTH for August is ... Penstemon 'Raven'
Penstemons are one of the easiest plants to grow and are great for a gap in the border that needs filling quickly! Flowering from June to first frosts they are one of the best performers in a garden and are rarely victim to attacks from slugs and snails.
They are also a great plant for anyone that is a beginner to taking cuttings!
There are a range of varieties but the one that I have chosen for today and that is also in my garden is called 'Raven'.

Photo from Crocus

Photo from my garden (You can also see the white variety growing alongside)

CULTIVATION 

This particular variety is semi evergreen, happy in most soil types and aspects in either full sun or partial shade.
This plant will grow 50-100cm tall which is great for a border. This plant is clump forming and the flowers are similar to those of a foxglove which will flower from June right up until the first frosts. To make sure that flowering is continuous make sure that you deadhead once each flower spike has finished.
During the winter months it is best to leave the plants foliage intact and give it a dry mulch to protect the crown and roots. In Spring once you can see new shoots emerging you can cut the original stems down to the base to promote a fresh flush of growth.

This plant can be propagated in the Spring time by division, softwood cuttings in early summer or semi-hardwood cuttings in midsummer.
I took some cuttings myself on the 10th of July and they were ready to be potted on into individual 9cm pots yesterday ...

PROBLEMS

Generally disease free, can be prone to attacks from pests but usually pest free.

HAPPY GROWING!

XXX

Garden Checklist ...

Good Morning!
Here's a few things that you can be getting on with today in the garden ...

1. Tidy up  - If you've got some Heucheras in your garden and they are looking a little worse for wear after the recent months then now is the time to give them a little tidy up! Remove any dead or damaged foliage along with any faded flower stems that are still on the plant.

Heucheras aren't the only plants needing a little tidy up, if you've got any Penstemons growing now is the time to cut the old stems down to the fresh shoots at the bottom. The reason we don't do this after flowering is so that the old stems can help protect the shoots from severe frost in bad weather.

Potted Heuchera

2. Veggies - The soil is starting to warm up so if you'd like to get some veggies sown such as Carrots, Beetroot, Salad Crops, Radishes and Spring Onion then now is the time to get started!

3. Extra Plants - If you go into Garden Centres at this time you should see some pots of Sempervivums for sale, quite a few of them will have more than 1 rosette and each of these can give you an extra plant! I found a pack of 6 for £10 earlier in the week and I've managed to get 30 plants from these 6 pots! All you need to do is remove each rosette and pot on into some gritty compost.

 

 

4. Climbing Plants - Climbing plants such as Clematis and Honeysuckle will be putting on new growth quickly and will need tying in to their supports as soon as possible. 

5. Faded Flowers - Deadhead the faded flowers from Azaleas, Rhododendrons and Camellias but be careful not to damage the newly developing leaves. 

6. Weeds - It's one of the least enjoyable jobs for some people but it is one of the most important! Dig out as many weeds possible now and they will be much more controllable throughout the rest of the year. They soon multiply so it's best to get on top of them!

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

HAPPY GROWING!

XXX

New Year Blooms ...

Good Morning!

I hope you have all enjoyed the Christmas  / New Year Break, it's flown by!
Today I thought I would share a few pics of what is currently in flower in my garden, what with all the mild weather we've had this Winter certain plants are flowering earlier than usual ... or simply haven't stopped! 

Why not take a look around your own garden and see what you can spot.

The White Speckled Hellebore I bought last year from a local garden centre is almost in full flower, a few weeks ahead than it should be.

Whereas my Hellebore 'Pink Beauty' planted in the ground is still forming buds.

Although it's not technically in flower, the brightness of the foliage of my 'Leucothoe Fontanesiana Makijaz' always catches my eye when I walk past it, especially when it's just been raining!

My Alstroemeria Inca 'Ice Koice' hasn't stopped flowering although this is the only stem with flower buds left than I can see.

I took two cuttings from my Hebe 'Pearl of Paradise' the year before last which have grown into good size plants. The one that is still remaining in a pot has started to flower this week.

Flowers have also appeared on the Viburnum 'Tinus' which is right for this time of year, the following photograph is from the plant in the back garden with just a few flowers, it was also attacked by Viburnum Beetle in the Summer. However the one planted in the border at the front of the house, albeit a bit smaller is covered in flowers!

The Euphorbia in the GH border has an early flower spike whilst the one in a pot hasn't any but looks equally impressive when it's glistening with rain.

The Winter flowering Clematis 'Winter Beauty' growing against the shed is in it's first year of flower. I've been watching the flower buds grow over the past month or so and one of them finally bloomed yesterday!

My Purple Penstemon hasn't stopped flowering since last Summer.

Nor has the Climbing Rose 'Hiedelberg'

... and finally the Iris 'George' that I have under cover in the Greenhouse is showing signs of colour!

Thanks for stopping by!

HAPPY GROWING!

XXX

It's Time To ...

Good Morning!

I can't believe that tomorrow we are starting October already, this year has flown by! However this month is my favourite and not just because it's my birthday on Monday lol I love seeing Autumnal foliage coming through and the cooler days are a lot easier to cope with!

Back to today's post and it's about what I have done this week.

First up was finding some time to take some Penstemon Cuttings, just incase I lose some over the Winter, it's always good to have some back ups! I have a lovely deep purple and white Penstemon of which I have taken the cuttings from.

First off when taking Cuttings I like to prepare the pot they are going into first. I use a mix of Compost and Perlite for drainage then wet the compost.

I collected 4 cuttings just incase some of them fail.

Stripped them off their lower leaves, dipped into Rooting Powder and then placed down the side of the pot.

I will keep these over winter in my GH and hopefully I shall have some healthy plants for next year.

I also sowed a selection of seeds for next year, can you tell the colour theme?

I'm going for a mix of Reds & Pinks!

This year I thought I would try sowing the Sweet Pea's in Toilet Roll Tubes. Due to their depth they are recommended for Sweet Pea's so that they can develop a good root system, might aswell give it a try!

Lastly it was also time to compost the left over Tomato Plants which included my 3 TomTato Plants! I have to say I wasn't overly impressed with the total amount of Potatoes from all 3 together, especially the size of a couple of them, but it's always worth trying something new.

However there was one Potato that caught my eye, don't you think he looks like a Whale! He even has an eye! lol ... I don't even think I can bring myself to eat him!

Thanks for popping by, what are you up to in the garden this week?

HAPPY GROWING!

XXX

Around The Garden ...

Good Morning!

Before I get started I better warn you now that there is a LOT of photo's in this post, so you might want to get comfy! Here are a few snaps of how the garden is looking at the moment, albeit it's not at it's best and it's made me think about what will work next year, and what won't. But surely that's all part of the fun of gardening isn't it?

First up is the side border near the conservatory is one of the areas which I'm forever re-jigging lol Tucked in the corner is some staging with my Bonsai's, a wall basket of a Fuschia and in-front of that is a Rhododendron and an Apple Tree. Infront of that is one of my few remaining pots of Summer Bedding, a tub of Dianthus which you can only just see in the centre and then a big pot holding my David Austin Rose. I planted my 'Carex - Buchananni' in the border earlier in the week and grasses really do provide a lot of interest in the garden at this time of year.

TIP - Grasses are great for gardens which catch the wind.

Also planted in the border but is rather hard to see in the photograph is a spare Rudbekia plant that I had. The red's match the brown of the Carex perfectly.

Dianthus 'Crimson Rim' in the centre pot and also the high planters near the door.

This is the pot display near the back door, as you can see it consists of a few Evergreens which provide year round interest along with some remaining Summer Bedding. In the centre is one of my Agapanthus plants but as you can see it's decided not to flower this year. This will be moved into the GH over Winter and fingers crossed will bloom next year!

Tucked on the other side of that display is a small potted Gerbera which as you can see has lovely coloured petals. The only thing I'm not too keen on with them is the foliage.

My potted Alstromeria has been moved from the front of the house to the back and provides height and colour in one of the corners.

My Dahlia border in front of the shed has done well, there is also some deep red Rudbekia's tucked in and I shall be using more of them next year.

Next year I will also be spacing the Dahlia's out more as to be honest I knew I'd planted them a bit tightly. One variety bloomed at the start of the season but as you can see there's only one going for it now lol

If you spin around you will see my other border which is much more established, consisting of another grass and some Phygelius & Penstemons. These provide great colour and height right from the start of Summer to the early frosts.

The majority of my Penstemons are purple but there is one white which has sneaked in and I love it. It was originally labelled as Pink but I'm much more happy with the white!

Towards the back of the garden my winter climbing Clematis 'Winter Beauty' on the shed which has put on some good growth this season so fingers crossed we'l have some nice flowers at the start of next year.

My mini pond area consisting of some more grasses and an Acer in the background.

Then finally there is the Salix - Flamingo which I planted a month or so ago!

Thanks for stopping by,

HAPPY GROWING!

XXX