2025

We have had very little rain here in High Peak having avoided the downpours which have affected other areas and I am now having to water all my containers and pots on a regular basis. The forecast is currently showing an overcast day today (Saturday) but then temperatures are set to go into the twenties throughout next week. I am still very wary of a late frost even though it seems unlikely at the moment. I won’t be happy until we get to the last week of May.

I love this time of the year, the acers are now fully out and everywhere you look trees are bursting into life and the landscape is greening up. A gardener’s week is never done it seems, with the stronger sun and possibility of a late frost the acers stand to be scorched by either one whilst the leaves are so tender.

Specie tulip, Tulipa clusiana var chrysantha on a sunny day and not.

I no longer have cold glass so have to resort to outdoor sowing, of mainly hardy perennials, outside in a sheltered spot. These were sown in early February, as I would do normally under cover, using fresh society seed. Despite this two lots have been pricked out three weeks ago and are almost ready to go into the open ground. I get great pleasure in raising plants from seed and to be honest I don’t know where I am going to put them all. I do sow a good number of seeds, even though I may only keep a few plants of each, because in some cases poor germination is a factor. I am a great believer in raising them hard to get good strong plants.

I am making a bit of an assumption here that this is actually characias but it is filling up an awkward damp corner very nicely so I won’t complain.

These were planted very late and consequently we have February Gold flowering at the end of April. I find I can get away with planting tulips late, but narcissi, not so much.

How did that get there? This montana has appeared around the central heating exhaust after travelling under the tiles from the gutter level. It will be short-lived as I will be taking it down to almost ground level after it flowers in order to paint the woodwork behind it.

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.

Six on Saturday 12/10/2024

We have had a “proper” frost on Thursday night, as opposed to a couple of air frosts about three weeks ago, which is only about 10 days earlier than last year. It caused little damage even on the north side of the house but tells me that I have probably run out of options for a while for Six on Saturday.

I found a clump of clematis flowers hiding in amongst the honeysuckle and rambling rose that cover a boundary fence.

I have a few baskets on the north facing front of my house where at one time I would have used impatiens but find begonias an excellent substitute. Mia culpa, I no longer have the facilities to raise bedding so have to buy in plugs. The one I have always used is Begonia ‘Illumination’ Strain, Apricot Shades although I must admit they haven’t done as well this year which I put down to a very slow start.

Young primula plants which should be planted out by now but I have nowhere to put them. I always have this problem, even when I had a much bigger plot, I always over-produced. I get the most satisfaction from raising plants from seed, particularly the more difficult ones. Every year I would be inundated with seedlings as a consequence of taking advantage of various plant society’s surplus seed offers such as those from the Scottish Rock Garden Club. I will be ordering again this year, but no lucky dips!

Always had a place for a few hydrangeas but I inherited this one. Two out of three I brought with me were decimated by frost in their first winter and didn’t flower the following year so rather than risk a repeat I discarded them. It sounds a bit harsh but space is at a premium.

Mahonia buds waiting to come into flower. I like mahonias but can never tell when they will flower, I have had the same plant come into flower in October and even March in the past, this one came into flower last year whilst the bedding was still going strong but I doubt it will happen this time.

Despite the popularity of many salvia cultivars, I grow them myself but only have one that comes through the winter every year, the common or garden sage still looks good with its grey young leaves at this time of the year. This one is growing through a crack in the paving and I get the scent when I deliberately knock it in passing.

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 3)

Calistemon

Callistemon citrinus or the Australian Bottle Brush displays the distinctive flower-heads over the neat evergreen scented foliage. This remarkable specimen was found on the west coast of Scotland were it has thrived in the mild climate. I have tried to grow it at home but only managed a couple of winters before its demise.

Camellia

There are hundreds of cultivars of the most common camellia – Camellia japonica, many of which can become substantial shrubs or even trees. Although not in my garden I have included a picture of Camellia x williamsii ‘C F Coates’ out of interest, not for the flowers unfortunately, but for the distinctive leaves denoting it as a “fishtail camellia”.

Camellias are another genus which can be susceptible to the dreaded cushion scale pest and subsequent sooty mildew.

Clematis

So much has been written about clematis that there is little point in me adding to it. These versatile plants suit every occasion from growing the rampant C.montana and its many cultivars to cover walls, fences or even buildings to growing the large flowered hybrids just to admire their beauty, a clematis can be found to fit the bill. They are generally trouble free, although an attack of the dreaded clematis wilt can be devastating. My personal favourite is Clematis tangutica in particularly the ‘Lampton Park’ form.

Cornus

Dogwoods, mainly Cornus alba, a native of Siberia, and its forms, are grown extensively for landscaping and general garden planting for their winter bark colours, ranging from yellows to deep reds. For some reason I have not taken pictures of those I have grown, the only one I have being of Cornus kousa or the Japanese dogwood which is a small tree with colour in its seasonal foliage and from its pure white bracts which later reveal clusters of strawberry-like fruit, making it an attractive proposition for the small garden.