Category: Prunus – Fallopia

Six on Saturday 28/6/2025

The welcome rainfall has really boosted everything in the garden, although it is always sad to see the early bloomers finished until next year. My garden is always at its best Mid-April To mid-June. I can now breathe a sigh of relief, as the couple of bamboos that I have, are finally greening up again. I always worry that they aren’t going to recover after their winter battering, because they are so late. I have a Phyllostachys nigra which was badly damaged a couple of years ago, and only partially survived. We are promised another “heatwave” next week. I think it is meant to reach as much as 29°C on one day!

An abundance of geraniums this week. I wanted to get them in before some finish flowering.

I’m sure Rosa ‘Rambling Rector’ is on steroids. This is only its third year since I planted it, but I never thought this would be the result. Some late pruning, to contain it a little, has certainly helped the flower count. On a warm day it fills my tiny garden with scent, so I won’t complain. A drastic prune is now due!

Geranium ‘Galactic’ or to give it the full title Geranium pratense var. pratense f. albiflorum ‘Galactic’, poor thing! It sat in the garden unrecognised, until I found an old label that had been disregarded a few years ago. I am always hesitant when identifying geraniums, as the variations are often very slight. This has led to a growing problem of, plants offered for sale, being wrongly labeled. Best left to the specialists.

Unfortunately the flower is much pinker than shown, as the name implies. Geranium x oxonianum ‘Dusky Rose’ is a new cultivar which I am hoping should flower right through the summer.

Another low growing geranium (6″). Geranium Orkney Cherry is bred by Alan Bremner in the Orkney Islands so it must be hardy.

Geranium Patricia is another cultivar from Alan Bremner and is the result of Geranium endressii x Geranium psilostomen. I know this one will produce flowers through the summer. Geranium ‘Galactic’ however, I will be cutting back in the next couple of weeks, and hoping for a second flush of flowers.

My favourite pink geranium. I have had Geranium × oxonianum ‘Wargrave Pink’ for many years, even before I made the decision to grow more geraniums. This is another one I know will keep flowering right through the summer.

This meme is hosted by Jim Stevens who is to be found with all the details and links to plenty of other blogs to enjoy at Garden Ruminations.

Trees,climbers,shrubs and other random plants. (Part 8)

More jottings from my old garden.

Prunus

Prunus avium

The wild cherry, just slipped this one in because I had one at the bottom of the garden. Unsurprisingly the avium comes from the fact it is generally propagated from seed deposited by our feathered friends.

Rhus

Rhus typhina
Rhus typhina autumn colour

The stag’s horn sumach, is a bit of a curiosity, it only fruits on female plants although the male carries the flowers. It gets its name from the way the branches resemble a stag’s antlers also the stems carry a sort of brown velvety russet which is also reminiscent. A fairly undemanding, strong grower, it is easy to propagate as it produces plentiful suckers and can quickly turn into a thicket if allowed. The pictures could possibly be of Rhus typhina laciniata.

Ribes

Ribes sanguineum
Ribes sanguineum

Flowering currants are one of those plants which belong to the era of when forsythia, philadelphus and ribes was just about all that was on offer. The flowers offered early nectar for bees and other insects but once flowered the actual shrub itself was hardly engaging for the rest of the year. Still has a place in the larger garden with some cultivars available, in particular an old favourite R.sanguineum ‘Kind Edward VII’. As you would expect the prevailing impression from the plant is the smell of currants.

Robinia

Robinia pseudoacacia

Known in the UK usually as the false acacia this tree is actually a legume even to the extent that the roots fixate nitrogen. I never really liked it, although the fresh leaves were attractive, it frequently carried areas of die back and a rather untidy form as can be seen in the photo’. In this case it did die completely one day so I had to tolerate it no further.

Rosa sericea subsp. omiensis f. pteracantha

Rosa sericea subsp. omiensis f. pteracantha

This is real one-off, it was impossible to grow roses in my damp shaded garden without massive fungal problems but when I heard about this rose from parts of China and read an account of it growing in Nepal I had to have it! Grown for its spectacular thorned stems it had small nondescript white flowers followed by red hips of which unfortunately, I don’t have a picture, however the spectacular red stems and thorns make up for it.

Fallopia

Fallopia baldschuanica

The Russian vine or one time Russian glory vine, (syn. Polygonum baldschuanicum) was very popular for covering up unsightly structures until it was realised it could also cause untold damage to the structures and any shrubs and even trees in the vicinity. Superb when in flower but rather uninspiring for the rest of the year, definitely needs handling with care!