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Happy Halloween

 

 

 

Happy Halloween my perky pumpkins and enjoying as we are an exceptionally mild autumn isn't it amazing just how much is still perky around the borders.  We are still getting a magnificent harvest of tomatoes once or twice a week and the dahlias, salvias and even some of the poppies are still giving it large but of course there are a lot of species that you can use to guarantee some impact well into autumn. 

Flower Power : Spring Bulbs

 

 

 

 

I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills

When all at once I saw a crowd

A host, of golden Daffodils,
Beside the lake, beneath the trees
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

 

 

Yes, quite.

 

And what could possibly have more flower power than the impact of swathes of yellow Daffs or the welcome sight of the first Snowdrops, Bluebells, or Tulips to herald a fresh new spring and remind us that as the dark winter gloom drifts off another summer looms just beyond the horizon.  

 

There are lots of varieties of spring flowers available in the shops now in the form of bulbs.  And bulbs are so easy to manage, virtually fool-proof and bang on reliable.  Just pop them in exactly where you want them and six months later "Hellooooo" they pop up full of dazzling colour.

 

There are so many reasons to get busy with bulbs right now.  If you've recently moved though and have a new and undiscovered garden it's always a good idea to leave making your additions for one season while you discover what's already in situ - you maybe pleasantly surprised.  If on the other hand you have a few gaps that need livening up then now's the time to enrich your life with some fuss free great value spring bulbs.

 

They really are fuss free and will give you years of service with only two hard and fast rules you need to adhere to for prolonging their lives and maintaining flowering into successive seasons.

 

 After flowering, always allow the foliage to die back naturally and yellow before cutting away.  They can start to develop a shabby appearance and you don't want them cluttering up your borders if you want to get on with planting up your summer bedding but you'll have to be patient as the leaf material is necessary to rejuvenate life back into the bulb for future flowering.

 

 

 And secondly, and what many people forget is that the bulbs do require moisture throughout the summer.  So even though they're out of sight, don't let them be out of mind as if they get too dry then this will inhibit the flowering performance for the following season so even though the foliage will appear above ground flowers will fail to develop. 

 

What to choose? 

 

Of course there are all the usual suspects in the form of daffodils, tulips and the humble but compelling little crocus but you might like to consider the broader spectrum and think about branching out a bit with maybe some Camassias, these will go along happily for many years. 

 

 

 

 

 

Or maybe the slightly less dependable but hugely dramatic Fritillaria Imperialis.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also look out for new varieties of established favourites such as these red Dutch Irises new for 2015

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Or vivid and dramatic shades of familiar regulars which you may not have tried before; like these exotic near black Tulips.  

 

 

Don't forget Alliums; you may already have some, and they are long lasting so will serve you for many years, but they now come in a range of sizes, shapes and colours from mini 'drumsticks' to those giant globes so beloved of the premier designers - so check what's available to keep on-trend and ensure you have your own show to be proud of.   

 

 

 

Couldn't resist having a bit of a splurge - tried not to go too crazy, but since when did that ever work out? 

 

Keep an eye on whatever you buy to maintain them in tip top condition.  As a lot of the summer flowering bulbs, corms and tubers that we bought earlier in the year were delayed in planting up as the beds just couldn't be got ready any sooner.  As a result, the root matter remained inside its packaging much too long and was exposed to extreme variations between daytime and night-time temperatures.  Causing many to suffer deterioration with some even becoming mildewed before they were finally planted up. 

 

 

 

Nevertheless, we were surprised at just how well many of these damaged bulbs, the lilies in particular, overcame that and still performed brilliantly, although they, plus the dahlias and the begonias all got off to a very slow start.  Which really does just go to show that you never can tell with gardening as you'd never expect a partially rotted bulb to produce such a spectacular display.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So it's as well to remember to get everything into the ground or your containers immediately you get them home - especially as you'll have no idea how long they've already been on the shelf or in transit.  Over here at the USG-Plot we've dug another bed to accommodate the bulbs.  This is so that the foliage can die back in its own time and not inhibit any perennials as they appear and need maximum light to get off to a healthy start.  

 

 

First, place them around before digging a hole for them to ensure even distribution just as we did with the bulbs we first planted way back in May.  Also always check the planting depth as recommended on the pack.

 

 

 

The best value we've spotted this year are these netted Daffs from both Tesco & ASDA in packs of 40 or 50 for £2.50-£3.  That could just be the best value you get for £3 this autumn.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Judges' Houses

 

 

 

 

Well howdy-doo, half way through September already and we've made it this far.  Once the X Factor elbowed itself back in centre stage and Strictly sparkled up with a launch show a lot more reminiscent of a Hunger Games style reaping than any mainstream family friendly Saturday night sofa-fest (preferred that when it was more niche BTW, before it got so carried away with itself), we know it's winter draws on and we're seeing the season producing its seed and beginning to wrap itself up and melt off into Autumn.

So feels like we've got all the way through the heats and are now at the Judges' Houses stage of our gardening year. 

Speaking of judging and this year's National Garden Competition finalists have been announced (the winner will be chosen in the next few weeks). 

Competing in any shows or competitions takes gardening to a whole new level of perfection.  No ordered chaos or shabby chic here only perfection is good enough.


But what's perfection?  Surely we all have our own ideas of what ingredients go together to produce a satisfying end product.  It could be an orderly Japanese style arrangement (doesn't do it for me), tropical or exotics, maybe a formal knot garden, a traditional cottage garden or rambling naturalistic meadow style planting.   

 

 

Check out garden competition winners.  Whatever their style, you’ll see one prevailing feature, everything’s manicured to within an inch of its life.  From the lush lawn to the delicate borders it's all been meticulously planned, prepared and maintained with military-style precision.  No weed would dare venture in and the plants are all verdant, robust and razzle dazzle cat's pyjamas. 

 

 

This I know looks a lot like a carnation or pink, but it's actually one of the last of the peony poppies.

And I really like the contrast of the unassuming fluffy ruffle of the delicate poppy against the loud and determined full on attitude of this lily.    



The reality is that by half way through September most everything is beginning to look shabby and tired and ready to call time on another year.  There's not the same enriching power in what little sunshine remains, so nothing feels encouraged to renew and bloom.  Colours are more muted and tail end veg is struggling to cling on the vines let alone ripen.

It's time to think about tidying up and collecting any seed you might want to save.  It's a good idea to use any seed you can save yourself as it preserves your precious cash resources but also because it feels right to recycle, sustain and bring renewal to your garden from within. 

Some varieties are more reliable than others.  We had a total failure with some petunias that we tried to rejuvenate from last year, while all of our bumper crop of sweet, juicy and ridiculously delicious cherry tomatoes were from our own seeds dried from 2013.

If you have a regular dead-heading routine it's a good idea to mark the stems of anything you plan to keep for later by marking the stems as we have here to discourage you from inadvertently chopping off their heads as you do your rounds. 







And with all the shops garden centres and supermarkets choc full of packets of bulbs now is also the time to decide if, what and how many bulbs to choose to kick off another year. 

Best value we've seen by the way are 40 and 50 value packs of daffs and tulips from both Tesco & ASDA @ £3.50.

So, let's make a date and talk about spring time next time.

 

How Grows It? (September)

 

 

 

 

 

 A warm welcome to September, well I say warm; it's all well and truly on the slide into Autumn now and you can feel it starting to resonate down deep in your bones.  The mornings are darker, the days are noticeably shorter and the temperatures are starting to take a dive.  But before we get into all that let's review how things went last month and get a gander at these lovlies.

 

'Ere 'ave a look. 

 

 

They’re the cock of the walk aren’t they?

 

 

These Gladdies were the pride of the border throughout August.  Check out the gamma point of this colour.

 

 

This here is the money shot as the pic is all natural and unenhanced and shows the real vibrancy that these plants can bring when they really turn it on.

They showed up in their trillions (well about 30) and even the paler colours are delightful and delicate

 

 

The first part of August was hot as hell.  That’s purely surmised you understand as I’ve not actually been to hell, not yet leastways; (unless you’re all counting the old Waitrose car park in Berkhamsted, or Stansted Airport, as that’s sure one hell of a dookie). 

Next came the monsoon. 

 

 

 

If you remember we had record breaking temperatures in July and if it hadn't been for the August bank holiday weekend, last month would have been another record breaker in terms of rainfall averages (or lack of).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, what of our veggies? 


We did really well with these yellow courgettes, they are reliable and ripen very quickly into huge specimens. 

Though to be absolutely honest they don't really deliver on flavour - taste is minimal. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The beans on the other hand were the exact reverse in that they were quintessentially delicious but we really felt that the cropping averages were well below par. 

 

 

 

There was an early set back when all of the plants on one side were demolished by black fly although these did revive and are now producing flowers; but it remains to be seen if this is too little too late in terms of being able to develop as the sunshine ratio is now greatly diminished. 

 

We've already researched high croppers and will definitely select a different variety for next year. 

 

 

 

The tomatoes this year, despite days of prolonged sunshine, have been slow to ripen and I don't think that's just us, it seems to be a national trend but now they're coming thick and fast and the flavour is exquisite. 

 

Do be mindful though that if you decide to try these cherry tomatoes that they do need plenty of space as our plants here have now reached 7' and they also have a wide spread.

 

 

 

They're sweet, juicy and so delicious no short-changing on flavour here and there's no doubt that they earn their keep in the long run.

The full sized tomatoes from the Gardeners' World trial are maddeningly slow but are at last on the verge of ripening. 

Lots of people keep theirs under glass right through so those will be quicker.

Plus we started these off about three weeks later than the others so on timing they are about right.

Now we've got them to this stage not sure whether the ripening will happen more quickly if left on the vine or be accelerated by being brought inside? 

So we've picked just one to test this and never fear will let you know how best to turbo ripen off your toms.

Remember those cucamelons? 

They've spent months busily developing a multi-layered tangled mat of foliage and then some tiny fruits begin to develop. 

But these have a nasty habit of detaching themselves and dropping off before developing to full size. 

Of the one fruit that has ripened we can report it does have some inner seeds, reminiscent of a cucumber but the texture is less firm while the skin is slightly tough. 

Might be nice for making pickles as it was slightly gherkinish. 

 

 

 

You'd need a bit more of a batch though than we've managed here. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Many of the plants have given of their best and are now beginning to look decidedly shabby so we've already started to cut hard back to lose any tatty foliage and keep things going for as long as the weather allows.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Despite that all of the poppies have been spectacular and brilliant irrespective of variety.

 

 

 

 

And to end here's a last little bit of sunshine in the hope that we continue to see warm days right through into October.