This year there is a new planting plan for the raised beds bordering the patio. This will be the first year I have not planted tulips here instead there are Wallflowers Persian Carpet, Digitalis Suttons Apricot and Forget-me-nots’. These have all been grown from seed a considerable saving on plants along with not buying tulip bulbs.
I have saved tulip bulbs from last year, these will all be planted in pots, then if they do not perform well they can be moved out of sight.
The tulip bulbs have spent the summer in the greenhouse they are now clean and ready for the planting.
The Foxglove, Digitalis ‘Pam’s Choice’ has been grown for the main border.
One of the gardening jobs that has concentrated my mind this autumn has been preparing the growing pelargonium collection for the winter. I have been following the Pelargonium Society’s Website Here. advice on reducing the size of the plants so that they will fit into the space available. They recommend to reduce the risk of botrytis infecting plants when they are cut back to a node to ensure the growing medium in the pots has dried out.
Cut back Pelargonium
Having followed this advice it is disappointing to be seeing infected plants even after treatment with yellow sulphur.
BotrytisYellow sulphur applied.
The pelargonium society has recently posted on their YouTube Channel that this is one of the worst autumns for this problem due to the extremly mild, wet weather in the UK this autumn. A gardening friend has recommended spraying with a fungicide.
Young plants growing on for next year.
September cuttingsSummer cuttings
Pictures from the greenhouse this October.
Some other greenhouse Winter residents.
Gardeners are traditionally an optimistic breed so here’s looking forward to a colourful pelargonium 2023.
How do you prepare your pelargoniums for the winter?
On June the 4th and 5th six gardens in the village of Hanley Swan opened in aid of the National Garden scheme.
Thank you to all the supporters who baked cakes, helped with serving the teas and selling plants in support of Saint Richards Hospice, especially the garden owners who put a lot of work in to ensure their gardens looked wonderful and not least of all the visitors without who we would not raise any money for the two charities.
Some pictures from our garden just before opening.
We also had a group visit from Evesham U3A on Wednesday.
Despite poor weather on Sunday we raised £1619 to share between the two charities.
I guess, if you asked any gardener how to sow seeds, you would receive a different answer from each one.
I recently gave a zoom presentation to the Worcestershire Careers Association gardening group on seed sowing.
These are my thoughts.
Containers.
There is a wide range of pots and containers for seed sowing, generally, I prefer to use small pots rather than seed trays because they provide a deeper root run until you get round to pricking out the seedlings.
Large seed trays also encourage the sowing of too much at a time.
I also use root trainers. The large ones are useful for growing sweetpeas, beans and sweet corn, and they save pricking out. You can then plant them directly into the garden. You can buy smaller ones, ideal for starting vegetables such as lettuce or annual flowers.
A free alternative is used toilet rolls centres which fit nicely into the plastic containers grapes are sold in.
Compost.
The choice of compost can be a controversial area. Legislation regarding the use of peat is driving the move to peat-free compost.
I think you only need one type of compost, multipurpose. I use Melcourt ‘sylva grow’, a peat-free one recommended by the RHS. This year I am experimenting with using Fertile Fibre, a Coir product. This is dehydrated making it light to carry and is easily rehydrated for use.
This Coir brick is rehydrated with 3 litres of water.
There is no doubt peat-free compost requires more feed, which may explain why some comparisons show poor results.
I also use fine grade vermiculite for seed sowing, it is light to carry, helps prevent seedlings from damping off and benefits root development. Vermiculite is a naturally occurring mineral that is heat-treated. Traditionally horticultural sand or grit would have been used and as a gardener with recurring back problems, reducing the weight of materials is an important consideration.
Sowing.
For small seeds, I sieve multipurpose compost, to remove the larger pieces, mixing it 50/50 with vermiculite. When planting small seeds, I water from above before sowing or from below afterwards.
After sowing I lightly cover with vermiculite and label. You can cover it with a polythene bag and place it on a well-lit window sill. I use a heated propagator which negates the need to cover individual pots. You will need to remove the individual cover when the seeds have germinated, keep warm with good light to prevent them from becoming leggy.
Coir Jiffy pellets are useful for propagating seeds and cuttings, they require soaking before use.
Jiffy pellets before soakingTomatoes just starting to germinate.
Once germinated they can be planted out into pots to grow on, this also saves pricking out.
I use a mixture of compost with around 25% vermiculite for growing on.
I grow larger seeds such as sweet peas, broad or runner beans in the same 50/50 mix without sieving, planting into root trainers or toilet roll centres.
I have been thinking for some time that the wooden bridge crossing the dry river in the Japanese garden would soon need replacing. It had developed a certain amount of spring when crossing!
It gave way the other day as I was crossing to the shelter, so the decision was made for me as to when I would replace it!
The path leading to it contains slabs set at the diamond so it was an easy choice to add two more as stepping stones, through the dry river bed, along with some more small cobbles.
These should not rot!
I can now carry my coffee/wine to the shelter without fear of spilling anything!
Following my post ‘Peace and Tranquility’ I thought it would be interesting to post some pictures, as slide shows, of Japanese gardens we have visited here in the UK.
Tatton Park.
From their website:
“The Japanese Garden was almost certainly the result of Alan de Tatton’s visit to the Anglo-Japanese Exhibition at the White City in London in 1910.
Inspired by what he saw there, Alan de Tatton decided to introduce a Japanese garden to Tatton. A team of Japanese workmen arrived to put together what is now rated to be the “finest example of a Japanese Garden in Europe.”
The Shinto Shrine and artefacts contained within the garden are all reputed to have been brought from Japan especially for the construction of the garden.” More Tatton Japanese Garden.
Compton Acres.
From their website. “The Japanese Garden encompasses Thomas Simpson’s love for the unique elegance and incomparable beauty of Japanese horticulture.
He imported genuine stone and bronze artefacts to enhance the garden. The Tea House is draped with Japanese wisteria (Wisteria floribunda) and plants native to Japan have been used including the spectacular Kurume Hybrid azaleas, Japanese cherries and maples together with hostas, Hakon grass and a Ginkgo. The pool is home to large Koi carp best viewed when crossing the water on the stepping stones. The Japanese garden is still regarded as one of the finest in the country.” Website: Compton Acres Japanese Garden.
Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons.
From their website: “It would be difficult to find a poet who hasn’t opined on the changing seasons, it is equally relevant for gardeners, be they amateur or professional, who wait with eager anticipation for the first signs that the earth is thawing.
Raymond Blanc OBE is no different and along with his garden team, waits patiently for spring to arrive, taking time to remember the different destinations he has visited and how these trips during different times of the year have coloured his visions.
When East and West meet
His visit to Japan in the early nineties was one such occasion, which ignited his imagination and inspired him to create a Japanese Garden in the environs of the 15th century Belmond Le Manoir. Captivated by the Japanese tradition of Hanami, a longstanding practice of welcoming spring (held between March and May), which is also known as the ‘cherry blossom festival’, Blanc wanted to bring part of his Japanese adventure back to the UK.
The Japanese Tea Garden at Belmond Le Manoir entices guests to become more mindful as they explore, crossing the oak bridge to find sanctuary and was influenced by Taoist, Buddhist and Shinto traditions.” More details of the Japanese Garden.
National Botanic Garden of Wales.
From their website: “This Japanese garden is called ‘Sui ou tei’, which refers to the national flowers of Japan and Wales, the cherry blossom and the daffodil.
It combines three different traditional Japanese garden styles: the pond-and-hill garden, the dry garden and the tea garden. Japanese garden styles have developed over a 1400-year history, each style celebrating the changing seasons in different ways.
Such changes illustrate the transience of life, and tiny details, such as leaf buds opening in springtime, play an important role by drawing attention to the passage of time.
In the last 150 years, Japanese gardens have been created all over the world, adapted to local conditions. They are appreciated for their tranquillity and sense of calm when visitors take the time to absorb the scenes presented by the garden.” Website.
Botanic Garden of Wales
Bridges Stone Mill.
Closer to home and on a more modest scale is Bridges Stone Mill, they open for the National Garden Scheme in Worcestershire.
“Once a cherry orchard adjoining the mainly C19 flour mill, this is now a 2½ acre year-round garden laid out with trees, shrubs, mixed beds and borders. The garden is bounded by a stretch of Leigh Brook (an SSSI), from which the mill’s own weir feeds a mill leat and small lake. A rose parterre and a traditional Japanese garden complete the scene.” Bridges Stone Mill NGS link
Then there is our garden with its small Japanese garden, open for the National Garden Scheme with five gardens in the village of Hanley Swan on the 4th and 5th of June. Details of all the gardens here: Hanley Swan NGS Open Gardens.
It has been said many times during the pandemic how important gardens and outdoor spaces have become to people from all walks of life. Whether walking in the city parks or exploring the countryside everyone feels a benefit. Those of us with gardens have also found them sanctuaries either to sit in enjoying a beverage of your choice or with your head down planting, weeding or sowing, when you soon forget everything else that has been going on. When gardens have been able to open to the public there has been an increase in visitors, delighted to be able to visit gardens again.
Historically, gardens have always been considered sanctuaries, from the ancient Islamic gardens to the tranquillity of Japanese gardens. Irene and I have, for some time, been attracted to Japanese style gardens, inspired by visits to Japanese gardens with the Japanese Garden Society. Most notable to Tatton Park where we meet Professor Fukuhara who helped with the restoration of their Japanese garden. He took us inside the Japanese garden at Tatton and gave us a tour explaining the restoration of this famous garden.
The Shinto Shrine at Tatton Park.
The professor lectures on Japanese garden design in Japan and designed the gold medal and best in show Japanese garden at Chelsea in 2001, now relocated to the National Botanical Gardens in Wales, which we have visited several times.
National Botanic Garden of Wales.
He also redesigned and supervised the construction of the rock garden at RHS Wisley for the bicentenary of the RHS.
The Rock Garden at RHS Wisley.
Those of you who have visited our garden will know we have a small enclosed area designed in the style of a Japanese stroll garden. Many visitors comment on the different atmosphere when they enter and sit in the shelter. With the three essential elements of a Japanese garden, rocks, water and plants, there is at the one entrance a Cherry tree.
Inside there are flowering spring trees, shrubs, bamboo and Acers, for their wonderful leaf colour, with rocks and a dry river bed leading to the Bamboo water spout.
The other gateway is covered with the stunning Japanese white Wisteria, floribunda ‘ Alba .‘
These elements can, I think, be easily incorporated into any garden or even just on a patio to help bring that sense of peace and tranquillity that many have searched for during these times.
Little did I realise when I booked this month’s speaker, for our garden club, on Japanese garden design history how important some of these elements in a garden would become to those of us who are fortunate to own a garden.
A window into our Japanese Garden.
Wishing you peace and tranquility were ever you find it.
Every January I wait for a frosty morning to pollard the Acer negundo Flamingo.
Without the cold weather, even in January, the sap will pour from the cut wounds, which could over time weaken the tree. The branches provide a lovely winter grey blue colour.
This is done to maintain the beautiful leaf colours, otherwise it can revert to green.
The first cuts.Done, now back inside for a coffee and warm up.Acer negundo Flamingo
With encouragement from the Government and countryside organisations such as the RHS and NT there is an increasing interest in planting trees and the benefits to the environment of doing so. While most of these reported on are on a large scale, if chosen correctly there are some wonderful ornamental and fruitful trees for even the smallest garden.
Our garden is approximately 125ft by 45 and within it we have 12 ornamental and 12 fruit trees.
One favourite, Acers can be grown in a pot for many years. They will grow in any reasonable soil although they do prefer soil on the acid side which can be achieved by mixing some ericaceous compost in the pot or planting hole. You can purchase simple soil test kits to find out if you have acid or alkaline soil.
Acer palmatum ‘Senkaki’’
We have several Acers in our garden, Acer griseum is a special one. It looks wonderful with the winter sun shining through its peeling cinnamon-like bark.
In the oriental garden, a favourite one is Acer Negundo Flamingo, its variegated leaves consisting of green centres splashed at the edges with salmon pink, which later turn cream. The trunk of this tree is now four foot tall, the branches above this are pollarded in January to help keep it compact along with preventing it from reverting to all green leaves.
Also in the Oriental garden is the Ginkgo biloba it’s autumn foliage turning a deep saffron yellow. It is a member of a very old genus, with some fossilised leaves found dating back 200 million years. They can grow up to 100 ft tall, I purchased a young 4 ft one which I prune in January to keep it as a column shape.
The Sorbus family is worth considering, Sorbus Eastern Promise is a lovely small tree, perfect for the small garden, its dark green leaves turn deep purple and orange before falling onto our garden during the autumn.
Sorbus Olympic Flame is one to seek out, it is a small, highly colourful Japanese Rowan tree with a columnar habit distinctive for its large foliage that starts coppery in the spring before turning green in summer and fiery red come autumn.
You cannot mention autumn colour without considering the Liquidambar we have Liquidambar slyraciflua ‘Stella’.
One in our neighbour’s garden is particularly stunning in the autumn, always turning colour before ours. This will eventually become a large tree, fortunately it is slow-growing.
Spring colour can be provided by the magnolia family, ‘Lennei’ with its pink-white flowers can grow to 20ft without pruning. A more compact variety is Magnolia stellata.
There is a wide selection of ornamental Cherry trees for the garden. This unknown one in our garden is loved by the honey bees.
Although normally associated with spring blossom, there is Prunus Autumnalis, an Autumn-Winter flowering cherry with white blossom. It is a small tree, suitable for most small gardens. Choose a variety with a single rather than a double flower for the pollinators.
I call Prunus serrula our Champion Tree, it is grown for its wonderful mahogany bark although its delicate flowers are loved by honey bees.
Decorated as a mug tree for our open gardens.
The Silver Birch Betula jacquemontii is considered the best for white bark. With its upright habit it can be grown as a single or multi-stemmed feature. It can reach 4metres within ten years when some carful pruning will be required if you need to control its eventual height and shape.
I think the first choice of tree for any small garden should be fruit trees. The modern grafted Apple tree is well suited to any size garden. We have in our garden Malus ‘Blenheim Orange’, ‘Grenadier’, ‘Hereford Russett’, ‘Kidd’s Orange Red’, ‘Rosette’ and of course Worcester Pearmain’. We also have the Cherry ‘Sunburst’, the Pear ‘Invincible’, Plums ‘Opal’, Victoria the ‘Cambridge Greengage’ and the Crab Apple ‘Golden Hornet’ trained as a globe.
Malus Golden Hornet
The smallest of the trained fruit tree are the step-over apple trees, 18 inches to 2ft tall with a level side branch trained each side, you can literally step over them. They are very productive, often found in French Potagers and are excellent for edging a vegetable border or herb garden. Apples, pears and cherries can be decoratively trained into fan shapes, espaliers and cordons. Plums can be trained as a fan. Ensure it is grown on a ‘Pixy’ rootstock or it will be too vigorous. Plums should not be pruned during winter because silver-leaf and canker can enter through the cuts. Young trees can be trained in the spring with more established ones in the summer.
Fan trained Cherry, Prunus ‘Sunburst’
You can purchase any of these already trained, although expensive you are buying time. Alternatively, you can buy much cheaper bare-root two-year-old whips during the winter.
While many people find pruning daunting it is very rewarding to see a trained fruit tree in blossom knowing there is fruit to follow. I would recommend obtaining a copy of the RHS book Pruning and Training it covers everything from trees to shrubs, climbers, roses, soft fruit and tree fruits.
When visiting gardens and nurseries look out for some of those mentioned above and talk to garden owners. It is worth taking your time before buying a tree as it is a worthwhile, long term investment but can be an expensive mistake to rectify.
Malus Rosette in the raised bed with Malus Blenheim Orange trained as an espalier on the Oriental Garden fence.
The wildlife enjoy the trees all year as a safe landing area before visiting the bird feeders or as a source of food. You see them feeding on the insects hiding in the trees during the spring and summer or the fruits during winter.
That time of year thou mayst in me behold When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang Upon those boughs which shake against the cold, Bare ruined choirs, where late the sweet birds sang …
From Shakespeare to Donovan the colour yellow inspires words.
This is the first time a Nuthatch has visited the garden bird feeders, fortunately it stayed feeding long enough for me to grab my camera. The pictures were taken through the dining room window with the flash turned off.
On the entrance to the Japanese Garden.With a Goldfinch.
The UK Nuthatch is a woodland bird, always associated with trees or tall bushes. It has the unique habit in the UK of plastering mud around the entrance to its nest hole.
Goldfinches feeding on sunflower hearts.Vitis ‘ Spetchley red ‘ Fuchia ‘Mrs Popple’Malus Golden Hornet and Tithonia ‘Torch’The Alpine Boxes and pots.Nerine Bowdenii
Please select Watch on YouTube then full screen for video.
What is giving you Autumn Joy in the garden or countryside?
September is one of my favourite months in the garden, it could be nostalgia because we always had a wonderful show of Michaelmas Daises (Asters/Symphyotrichum) in our cottage garden at home. Many other plants also provide interest at this time of year, the annuals such as dahlias, late flowering perennials, trees and shrubs with changing leaf colour.
The Asters.
Symphyotrichum n.a ’ Harringtons Pink’ with Bee.Symphyotrichum ‘Little Carlow, Solidago ‘Fireworks’ & Calamagrostis BrachytrichaSymphyotrichum na ‘ Barrs Violet ‘
Some of the others.
Sedum Herbstfreud Canna.Vitis ‘ Spetchley red ‘ over the arch.Helianthus ‘Lemon Queen’ and honey bee.Verbena Bonariensis and friend.Miscanthus sinensis Calamagrostis x a. ‘ Karl Foerster’ . These white Asters flower in October.Cyclamen hederifolium.Malus Blenheim Orange
The Movie.
Please turn on your sound, watch on YouTube and select full screen.
Along with many garden owners, we originally decided not to open our garden this year due to the pandemic. However, with the improving situation, we have now held popup openings in June and September supporting the charity National garden Scheme. ngs.org.uk
During these days we have also sold plants for St Richards Hospice and at the village of Pirton church fair. These events have raised just over £1000.
We have to say a big thank you to all our visitors who purchased tickets, refreshments and plants. To the volunteers who manned the stalls and the staff at the National Garden Scheme for their support. The pictures are from the garden just before the September opening.
We are going forward with more confidence with five other gardens in the village joining us next year on the 4th and 5th June for the National Garden Scheme.
Three plants in the garden offering attractive foliage as well as flowers.
Galtonia candicans has white bell flowers with lance like blue green striped leaves.
The Pholx are just starting to flower here, this is Phlox paniculate ‘Harlequin’, variegated leaves with a touch of pink.
This is the first time Colocasia ‘Black Dragon’ has flowered in the four or five years we have had it. We have always being pleased with just its stunning foliage.
Do you have any double value plants in your garden?
This is the first time this colourful garden visitor has been seen this year. These markings are of a juvenile, thankfully it stayed feeding long enough for me to fetch my camera.
Thalictrum flavum subsp.glaucum and Campanula lactiflora ‘Prichard’s Variety’Clematis ‘Perle d’Azur and Dianthus carthusianorumGeranium Johnson’s Blue and Lychnis chalcedonica
Who would have thought a runner bean flower could be so beautiful?
In the raised beds edging the patio Runner Bean White EmergoWith Sweet pea Air Warden.And Self-seeded Poppy.On the Patio.
A video tour of Our Garden@19 in early June. Please select Watch on YouTube and select full screen.
We are opening our garden for the National Garden Scheme on the 28th June, whilst some of these will be over the climbing roses among others should be in full swing.
The plants in the new planter I built in April have settled in well and are starting to grow.
As this is on the North side of the house I selected shade loving plants. These are plants I already had in pots except for a new Trachelospermum jasminoides which I hope will eventually provide an evergreen scented screen.
Fatsia japonica ‘Spiders Web’Podophyllum versipelle ‘Spotty Dotty’, this will soon have bright red flowers. Polygonatum x hybridum ‘Striatum’ a variegated Solomons seal.Skimmia Hermaphrodite does not need a pollinator, the white flowers are just going over and being replaced by red berries.
Viburnum Rhytidophyllum and Hydrangea anomala subsp. petiolaris ‘Miranda’ are trying to cover all the pipes and boxes on the wall. However they are both in pots partly to contain their vigour especially the Viburnum, the mother plant I layered it from was around 15ft high and wide!In a pot on the table is Trillium chloropetalum, some of the leaf markings have now faded.
The rear of the house is not the most attractive however the plants make an attractive diversion.
‘Maggs’ the family cat approves of her new seat in the dry!
A tour of the greenhouses in May, the cold winds and frosty nights dictate that tender plants have to remain inside. This time of year is always over crowded greenhouse time!
The tomato, Amateur, new to me this year, Amelia from https://afrenchgarden.wordpress.com mentioned it as a favourite of her fathers. I was attracted to it because he grew it as a bush tomato.
Amateur tomato plants.
On the side shelf are trailing pelargoniums growing on for the hanging baskets. Pelargoniums are one of my favourite summer plants.
Pelargonium cuttings and three purchased P. Ardens on the heated propagation bench.
Alongside are Courgettes, Genovese Basil in pots. In the root trainers are Coleus, ‘Festive Dance’ seedlings. Thunbergia plata, ‘Susie Series’ White and at the back Hordeum Jubatum an ornamental barley that I first saw growing in Aberglassney garden
On the top shelf are climbing French and Runner Beans, Sweet Corn ‘Swift’ and Dwarf French Bean ‘Purple Teepee’.
Spinach and Rocket seedlings growing on ready to plant in the raised beds later on.
These are Dahlia Merckii seedlings pricked out into root trainers, a seed swap from Fiona Wormald at https://thegardenimpressionists.com two years ago. I did not manage to sow them until this spring, the germination has been fantastic.
The Dahlia tubers are proving to be a little slow to show this year, one of the Striped Vulcan, new this year, has started.
Rainbow Chard in root trainers along with Fennel. This is the first time I have grown bulb fennel.
These young Alstroemeria plants are from seeds collected by my brother last autumn from the ones in his garden.
In the raised beds are crimson flowering Broad Beans.
With Spinach, Sweet-peas on the obelisk and newly planted lettuce.
I have begun an experiment with tulips this year, following an article I read by Fergus Garrett from Great Dixter regarding which tulips they found to be perennial.
The most reliable ones being the Darwin Hybrids, I planted three varieties in November, two in pots and one in the borders. The real test will be next year if they flower as well. One indication mentioned in the article was whether the bulbs had divided into several small ones or remained as one big bulb, these being the ones worth saving.
I planted Tulip ‘Apeldoorn’ in pots placed in several areas around the garden. Please Click on gallery pictures to enlarge.
These remind me of the traditional cottage garden tulips similar to the ones I brought home from my Great Aunt’s garden.
Tulip Hakuun aka ‘White Cloud’ in large white pots in the White and Green garden.
Tulip ‘Daydream’ was planted in bulb saucers in the borders along with Forget- Me-Nots and Wall Flowers.
Tulip ‘Abu Hassan’ has already proved to be perennial here, these tulip bulbs were purchased three years ago.
Tulip ‘Ballede’ was planted in the borders ten years ago and while its numbers have reduced over time, I think for such a beautiful tulip, it will be worth topping up next autumn.
Providing some spring cheer in the welcome rain is Clematis ‘ Pamela Jackman ‘ with pots of Azaleas at her feet.
Along with Apples ‘Rosett’ and ‘Blenheim Orange’…..
….is the Crab Apple ‘Golden Hornet’.
Have you found any tulip varieties to be perennial in your garden?
This winter in Our Garden@19 has been busy with ‘Estate Maintenance’. I previously posted about replacing the trellis and fence in the white and green garden, then as now my brother Derek has been my right hand man.
Replacing the entrance to the propagation area was the simplest of our recent efforts. We gave it an oriental look.
Continuing with the oriental theme, our neighbour’s fence at the back of the oriental garden started to fall over with the weight of the ivy and snow. I decided to cut back the ivy and erect a new fence on my side.
Note the badger path underneath the fence.
Then painted it black to tie in with the rest of this area.
A moon window was added to look into the room.
Next on the list was rebuilding the raised beds.
The old obelisks I built when we came here were dismantled and rebuilt, hopefully with more style, to a design by Geoff Hamilton.
Broad Bean Scarlet Flower and Sweet Peas started in pots now planted out.
These early spring bulbs and flowers have been cheering me up on sunny days. Please click on gallery pictures to enlarge.
Back to the oriental garden.
Black Bamboo
In the rest of the garden…
Discovered in woods at Great Dixter.
The pollinators have also been taking advantage of the sunshine.
Leonie is a knowledgeable and enthusiastic gardener she is the minutes secretary to the Black Pear Gardening Club. I have invited her as guest publisher for this seasonally appropriate article she wrote for the club newsletter.
IRIS UNGUICULARIS.
One of my favourite plants at this time of year is IRIS UNGUICULARIS (I.stylosa) Algerian Iris.
This lovely flower is native to Algeria, Tunisia, Turkey , Greece and Syria where it grows in light scrub,open pine woods and rocky places.
It flowers from late autumn to early spring when so few plants are in flower. The flowers are beautifully scented, in shades of lavender to deep violet with a yellow throat.
This winter flowering Iris is easy to grow in well drained soil in full sun. Plant near a wall to help maintain the soils heat. I grow it in a raised bed that’s in full sunlight for most of the day, but that said I also grow it in a woodland area in partial sunlight and it is still happy but doesn’t flower quite so well. It is also useful to grow at the base of clematis as they like their heads in the sun and their roots in shade and it helps to hide the bare base of the clematis and keep its roots cool.
Plant it so that the rhizomes are just below the surface of the soil and 10cm (4in) apart.
It produces an evergreen mound of narrow, arching grass like foliage. This foliage does become brown and bit untidy but can easily be trimmed back to keep it looking good.
A top dressing of bone meal or potash in either autumn or spring is beneficial but look out for snails hiding among the leaves.
It dislikes being moved, but if you have to disturb it do it in spring after flowering. It may sulk for a while before it starts to flower again.
This is a long lived plant. I grow the species variety from divisions taken off my mother’s plant that has been growing in her garden for probably fifty years.
Two other very nice named varieties are ‘Mary Barnard’ which has a lovely velvety blue-purple flower, a much more intense colour than the species.
‘Mary Barnard’
Also, ‘Walter Butt’ a ghostly pale grey-blue , but with a heavenly scent.
‘Walter Butt’
Flowering: November-March
Hardiness: Fully hardy
Height: 30-45cm
Did you Know : Iris was a Greek goddess, the personification of the rainbow, which she used as her pathway though the sky.
Winter visited Our Garden@19 towards the end of 2020.
Flowering in the house and keeping warm is the Christmas Cactus.
Christmas Cactus (Schlumbergera)
From the bathroom window we can see the snow-capped Malvern Hills.
Snow boot painted by the Grandchildren as a Christmas present.
A snowy video tour of the garden wishing you a Happy New Year please turn your sound on and select full screen.
Thaw.
Over the land freckled with snow half-thawed
The speculating rooks at their nests cawed
And saw from elm-tops, delicate as flower of grass,
What we below could not see, Winter pass.
EDWARD THOMAS (1878-1917)
Thank you for visiting Brimfields.com during 2020, hopefully, some of you may be able to visit the garden in person later this year if we are able to open for the village church funds in May.
This December has so far been very mild here in Our Garden@19 with only one frost.
The cannas and dahlias are all lifted…..
….safely stored in the garden shed with fleece covering for the cold nights.
The tender plants are divided between the two greenhouses…
Two small areas have been planted with Tulips also Foxgloves, Wallflowers and Forget-me-nots, along with several pots in the hope that we will be able to join the village church open gardens in early May.
The majority of the pots are stored over winter on the patio in the hope that the squirrels do not find them!
One of the many ‘Estate’ maintenance jobs for this winter was to replace the trellis fence between the White and Green garden and the Blue Borders…
It edges the path where the badgers enter the garden, I was concerned, due to its poor condition, they would push through into this area of the garden instead of following their usual path via the ground bird feeder.
With help from my brother, we managed to replace it in one day with Rebar steel mesh normally used in reinforced concrete, without doing too much damage to the climbing Iceberg rose.
I have used Rebar before it is an excellent replacement for trellis.
In The Oriental Garden the Magnolia ‘Stella’ fury buds are forming.
One of my aims within the garden is to try and have something in flower or of interest in the garden throughout the year, this month it is the Hamamelis Moll Pallida (Witch Hazel).
Below is the last garden tour video for 2020, here’s hoping for a better 2021. Please turn your sound on select full screen, play and enjoy.
A video of the changing autumn colours in Our Garden@19 and some borrowed landscape. I filmed this over a two week period to record the changing colours. Please watch on YouTube
What is providing you with Autumn colour?
With the requirement in most countries to wear a face mask due to the Covid19 pandemic smiling at people is difficult. I have read that an eyebrow smile works, this Spike Millagan poem brought a smile to my eyebrows.
Why you should allow some ivy to grow in your garden.
Wild Ivy in flower.
I do grow some cultivated variegated forms, ivy does not produce any flowers until their adult growth stage when the leaf shape changes, usually at around 10years. They can be kept pruned to their juvenile stage and leaf shape when they will at least provide nesting sites for birds.
Ground cover under the Bug Hotel.Hedra helix Gold Child on a shady fence.
Historically August has been viewed as a low period for the garden, due in part, I think, to owners of large estates traditionally moving to Scotland for the grouse season, today it is the main holiday season for everyone with school children. (Except for this year). High temperatures such as the ones we experienced early in the month this year can spell the end of some plants, such as my Sweetpeas.
It does not have to be so. There are a wide choice of plants to fill the borders in August, Phlox, Japanese anemone, roses, if you have deadheaded, dahlias, late sown annuals, pot plants such as pelargoniums, asters are just beginning to flower complimenting ornamental grasses for the late summer look.
The video is of Our Garden@19 filmed towards the end of the month and following the heavy rain and winds. Please select full screen and turn on your sound.
What has survived the August weather in your garden?
The Covid-19 restrictions have inevitably prevented any meetings of our club, The Black Pear Gardening Club..blackpeargc.org.uk Our family has been using Skype for keeping in touch so I decided to try and hold a trial meeting for the club with the opportunity for members to say hello, I then presented pictures from our garden with the aim to include pictures from members gardens at the next meeting. While technology can be challenging we did manage to hold the meeting.
July has been a busy month here in Our Garden@19 with the open garden visits cancelled I had been left with a large stock of plants that I had hoped to sell. We decided, with the village of Pirton, (Worcestershire), where my brother Derek lives, to hold a plant sale in memory of his wife and our late sister in law, in aid of St Richards Hospice who cared for Diana. When the plants had been made presentable for sale, a large transit type van arrived to transport all the plants the day before, ready for setting up the sale the next morning.
The sale was well supported by the village, both helping and purchasing plants along with several members of the garden club.
The video below is the one I presented at the virtual meeting, ‘Our Garden@19 in July.’ Please turn your sound up, click to full-size screen, play and enjoy.
The tomatoes are a bush type? ‘Maskotka’ which crop well despite their vigorous growth.
While we did not have many April showers the May flowers have, like us, enjoyed the sunshine.
Please join me on a video tour of Our Garden@19 to see our May flowers. Turn up the volume, click on the link below and select full screen, play and enjoy.
Orchards have long been a feature of the Worcestershire Countryside, apples for cider, eating and cooking and similar with pears and plums. The Vale of Evesham has a popular fruit blossom trail and because we are unable to visit it this year, I have created this blog post about the development of apple varieties in Worcestershire and a fruit blossom video trail of the fruit trees in Our Garden@19.
Following the Second World War government policy encouraged the grubbing up of orchards to grow more wheat, resulting in many old fruit varieties and orchards lost.
Today there is an increasing interest in restoring orchards with old local varieties of fruit, especially in village or community orchards. Hanley Swan and Welland both have a community orchard.
Worcestershire was responsible for the development of many varieties of apples.
I have listed some of them below with information from the Worcestershire Orchards (Please visit their very interesting website). http://www.worcestershireorchards.co.uk
Worcestershire Orchards.
Worcester Pearmain
This is the most well known of the county’s varieties and the only one still grown on any sort of commercial basis. It is believed to have originated from the pip of a Devonshire Quarrenden grown by a Mr Hale of Swan Pool, Worcester and was introduced as a commercial variety by Messers Smith of Worcester in 1874.
King Charles Pearmain
A dessert apple said to have been raised by Charles Taylor, a blacksmith of the village of Rushock in Worcestershire in 1821, is claimed by Hogg in 1876 to have been introduced commercially by nurseryman John Smith of Worcester. It is also known as Rushock Pearmain.
Lord Hindlip
A late dessert apple whose name suggests an origin at Hindlip just north of Worcester, yet it was a Mr Watkins of Hereford who first submitted it to the RHS fruit committee in 1896.
(Hindlip Hall is now the Head Quarters of West Mercia Police).
Newland Sack
This variety, as its name indicates, originates from the district of Newland just outside Malvern. According to the ‘Herefordshire Pomona’, the variety arose around 1800, supposedly from a pip that grew from a discarded pile of pomace (the pulp leftover from a cider press) at Newland Court.
William Crump
This apple takes its name from Mr William Crump who was the one time head gardener at Madresfield Court near Malvern. He is credited with raising the variety and personally exhibited it in 1908 when it received an RHS Award of Merit. It is believed to be a cross between ‘Cox’s Orange Pippin’ and a ‘Worcester Pearmain’.
Edward VII
Another of the older culinary apples that were no doubt displaced by the ‘Bramley’. It dates from 1908 when it was introduced by Rowe’s nursery of Worcester. Having been first recorded in 1902 it is thought to be a ‘Blenheim Orange’ X ‘Golden Noble’ and won a Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Award of Merit in 1903.
Pitmaston Pineapple.
A quite different and distinctive russet, claimed by Herefordshire but associated with Pitmaston in Worcester. Some might be attracted to this particular apple by its reputation as being everything the supermarkets hate, being small, yellow and spotty yet with a fantastic taste!
It makes for a good garden tree with its moderately vigorous and upright growth pattern and the small fruit is ideal for children. The flesh is crisp, beneath a thick yellow skin with a russet of dots. Flavour is intense, being of a sweet, sharp and slightly nutty character and as the name suggests, with the slightest hint of pineapple.
As a tree, it is notably scab resistant although very prone to biennial cropping, with huge crops thrown one year and virtually nothing the next. The variety is neglected because of the small size of the apples. They are ripe from mid-September onwards and if stored well will keep until December.
The variety is thought to have arisen from the pip of a ‘Golden Pippin’ and although recorded in Hereford in 1785 it was introduced by Williams of the Pitmaston district of Worcester, hence its inclusion in this county list.
Pitmaston Russet Nonpareil.
This dessert fruit claims (by name) to be the ‘Pitmaston Russet’ beyond compare. It was raised at Pitmaston near Worcester by nurseryman John Williams.
The variety first fruited in 1814 before being formally introduced in 1818.
The skin is a bright green with varying levels of russet over it. The fruits have firm flesh with a rich, aromatic flavour. Will keep up to Christmas and beyond.
You cannot write an article about Worcestershire fruit without mentioning:
The Worcester Black Pear
History of the Black Pear The iconic ‘Worcester Black Pear’ appears today in places such as the City coat of arms, the County Council crest and the cricket and rugby club badges, whilst an image of the pear blossom was borne as a badge by the Worcestershire Yeomanry Cavalry until 1956. The earliest reference to any pear associated with a crest is in relation to the Worcestershire Bowmen, depicting a pear tree laden with fruit on their banners at the battle of Agincourt in 1415. Drayton’s poem of Agincourt mentions the fruit, where it is referred to as the badge of Worcester: “Wor’ster a pear tree laden with its fruit”.
Tradition has it that during the visit of Queen Elizabeth I to Worcester in 1575 she saw a pear tree laden with black pears, which had been moved from the gardens at White Ladies and re-planted in her honour by the gate through which the queen was to enter the city. Noticing the tree Elizabeth is said to have directed the city to add three pears to its coat of arms.
The modern grafted Apple tree is well suited to any size garden. We have six in our Garden@19, Malus ‘Blenheim Orange’, ‘Grenadier’, ‘Hereford Russett’, ‘Kidd’s Orange Red’, ‘Rosette’ and of course Worcester Pearmain’. We also have the Cherry ‘Sunburst’, the Pear ‘Invincible’, a Plum, ‘Opal’, the ‘Cambridge Greengage’ and the Crab Apple ‘Golden Hornet’.
To view the fruit trees in blossom in Our Garden@19. Please turn up the sound select full screen, click play and enjoy.
Every year since 2011 our village church has held open gardens over this bank holiday weekend, we have taken part every year bar one. This year, along with all open gardens it has had to be cancelled. With the public unable to come to the garden, this weekend, I have produced a tulip video tour from Our Garden@19.
Please turn the sound up, select full screen on the video, click play and enjoy the tulip tour.
In August 2019 Irene and I were invited to a family event near Lincoln, this provided the perfect opportunity to visit a garden that has long been on my wish list ever since reading about their technique for growing Bearded Iris. Sadly when we visited the iris were over, however, as with all good gardens, there was much else to admire. We have many bearded Iris in the garden, several inherited from my Mother and Great Aunts’ gardens. Bearded iris have beautiful delicate, often fleeting flowers, due to our weather, which can make them even more precious.
Bearded Iris has fallen out of favour due largely to the traditional way of caring for them, with the need to lift and thin them, in the autumn, every three to four years. The “Doddington system” is a trouble-free way to divide them, requiring minimum attention. Some of their older iris have been in the same beds for over 30 years.
Their system is based on the fact that bearded iris set their flower initials in August and require the rhizomes to be warmed by the summer sun.
The iris are split every year after flowering in June, just as the new leaves start to grow. The iris are not lifted but split with a spade, leaving the healthy young rhizome with shoots, whilst removing the old rhizome. the aim is to leave 9-12″ between plants. Then you remove the early summer leaves and flower stems leaving the new late summer leaves. They topdress the bed with bone meal, I use rose fertiliser because foxes are attracted to bone meal. Large rhizomes can be divide with the spade with one part lifted to transplant, either to fill a gap, expand the bed or pot up to sell on open garden days.
I have been using this system since 2014, I was initially attracted because it entailed much less bending, having had a back problem for some years.
Bearded iris in Our Garden@19
I. pallida subsp. pallida
Unknown
I.Alcazar
I. ‘Ola Kala’
I.Gudrun
Another interesting fact with Doddington is they contain the Bryan Dodsworth iris collection. He was the most celebrated C20 British breeder of Tall Bearded Iris and was awarded the Dykes Medal for new varieties 12 times.
“For many, the Gardens at Doddington are just as spectacular as the Hall itself. Remaining faithful to the original Elizabethan layout, mellow walls provide the framework for the formal East Front and West Gardens. Beyond the West Gardens begin the lovingly restored Wild Gardens. Over the generations, most recently by Antony and Victoria Jarvis and Claire and James Birch, the gardens at Doddington have been restored, cared for, nurtured and developed to their fullest potential.
THE EAST FRONT
The point at which the dramatic nature of the architecture of the Hall becomes apparent. A regular pattern of box edging and topiary follows the outer original Elizabethan walls, leaving the central view of the Hall from the Gate House uninterrupted. Standing guard in the forecourt are four topiary unicorns, representing the Jarvis family crest.
THE WEST GARDEN
Reorganised in 1900 with the help of experts from Kew, the West Garden is a riot of colour from April through to September. Wide borders filled with botanical surprises such as the naturalised Crown Imperials, elegant Edwardian Daffodils and a Handkerchief Tree frame a tapestry of box-edged parterres bursting with glorious Bearded Irises in late May/early June.
THE WILD GARDEN
A spectacular pageant of spring bulbs begins in early February with swathes of snowdrops and Crocus tommasinianus, continuing through March and early April with drifts of Lent Lilies and our unique collection of heritage daffodils, winter aconites and snake head fritillaries until May when our famous Irises steal the show in the West Garden. There are also winter-flowering and scented shrubs, Rhododendron, and an underlying structure is given by topiary and some wonderful trees – the ancient, contorted Sweet Chestnuts that overlook the croquet lawn are still productive.
Meandering paths lead you to our Temple of the Winds built by Antony Jarvis in memory of his parents, a turf maze that he made in the 1980s, and if you look hard you may find the ‘dinosaur’s egg’ (a large boulder that he put in the branches of a field maple tree to surprise the grandchildren).
A nature trail starting from just beyond the Temple at the end of the Garden follows a circular route back to the ‘ha ha’ at the end of the Yew avenue and provides a pleasant and interesting walk of about a mile. The route passes through woodlands, open parkland and a wetland meadow from where the clay was dug to make the bricks to build Doddington.
THE KITCHEN GARDEN
Thanks to a grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, the formerly neglected two-acre Walled Kitchen Garden was restored to its former glory in 2007. Just a stone’s throw from the Hall it now provides an abundance of fruit, vegetables, salads and herbs which take centre stage on the Café and Restaurant menus and are regularly for sale in our Farm Shop.
By implementing organic techniques including crop rotation, minimum tillage, biological controls, the use of green manures as well as no-dig beds, we are able to naturally maximise productivity and minimise pests so we have no need for chemical fertilisers, weed killers or pesticides.”
A photo garden tour.
East Front
West Garden
Wild Garden
Kitchen Garden
Bryan Dodsworth
A great name for an Iris!
If you have an opportunity I would recommend a visit to Doddington Hall, besides the hall and gardens, they have a cafe, restaurant, farm shop and several other shopping outlets, you can even get married there.
With our gardening club’s meetings cancelled for at least the next three months and the majority of us self isolating for various health reasons, I decided to record a film, Spring Tour, ‘Our Garden@19’ to share with our members on what should have been our meeting day.
This is the first time I have done this using the video setting on my canon camera, therefore it is not very smooth and you will need the sound on your device on full to hear my dulcet tones!
You do not require a Youtube account to watch it, just click on the link below.
I now happily share it with my brimfields.com followers, enjoy and stay well.
Despite the awful weather this winter, it has been a busy one here in our garden@19, see: (A Winter Project and a Wildlife-Friendly Experiment.) following on from several autumn projects.
With all the depressing news from around the world, just an hour working in the garden is welcome, ending with a quick photo tour accompanied by a chilly wind.
It is cheering to see that despite everything else, spring is coming in the garden.
On the patio.
The Alpine beds.
Looking colourful with some dogwood prunings inserted…
Arabis procurrens with Euphorbia myrsinites
…Also
Ipheion ‘ Alberto Castillo ‘
Crocus.
Corydalis cheilanthifolia
In the woodland walk.
Brunnera macrophylla
The Blue Border…
Narcissus ‘King Alfred’ in the blue border.
Under the arch…
Euphorbia characias subsp. Wulfenii
In the Oriental garden…
Camellia × williamsii ‘Donation’
What is spring bringing to cheer you up in your garden?
When we purchased the house, I designed the garden and the rear of the main border, now named the blue border, was planted with climbing roses, trained to rope swags. Unfortunately, the rope soon rotted and was replaced with trellis. Now several years later the trellis along with some of the posts required replacing this winter. With a coil of blue rope already in stock, I have gone back to plan A. The posts have been replaced, painted to match the colour scheme and furnished with new fittings. I also took the opportunity to remove two of the oldest roses. They came with us from our previous garden and there are still two identical ones elsewhere in the garden. Managing so many vigorous rambling/climbing rose was becoming quite hard work. (Old age, mine not the roses). These will be replaced with clematis, joining some already there.
