Tulips from Amsterdam

I am in love. 

I have just spent three days in Amsterdam.

The canals, the relaxed pace of life, the pretty streets and bijou shops.  And the flower markets of course. A veritable Aladdin's flotilla of greenhouses chock full of every bulb you can think of, with small packets of cannabis stuffed in the gaps to tempt the tourist into a novel souvenir.   Large recently dug agapanthus tubers coud be bought by the kilo but I fell for the scrambling charms of Gloriosa Rothschildiana (Glory lily) a North African native which is elegant as it is beautiful. Deep green polished leaves show off the large spidery, crimped petalled magenta-pink petals in July making this a climber of distinction.

It's a tender tuberous rooted perennial climber related to the Lilium family and will require cold and frost protection in all but the mildest areas in the UK.  It gets to about 6ft so I intend to start it off in a pot pot and transfer it into the border around May when all frost risk has passed.  Perhaps I shall also grow one on the patio against a sunny wall for exotic colour and shape. But they are adaptable and you can grow them against a trellis, sunny wall, up an obelisk or against a short pillar.

Why not have a go at growing this lovely exotic climber next spring as it really is easy?

The roots come pre-packed in chippings. So just plant them on their sides in pots, say, about 3-4" deep  and cover with compost.  Water them well, thoroughly soaking the compost and then allow any residue to drain away. If kept in a warm room new shoots will appear in two to three weeks. Keep them watered regularly as they grow, but don't drown them - they won't appreciate waterlogged soil. If you want to save the tubers for next year, simply stop watering around October and let the foliage die back and the compost dry out completely. Store the pot housing its tubers in a warm dry spot over winter and then its back to the green house for them the following spring so they can show off all over again next summer.

Plants Swoon in Mini Heat-wave!

These beautiful hot sunny days are absolute bliss aren't they? If only England could have a summer that was reliable like this five months a year. Still,  summers very decidedly here, so let's enjoy while we can.

But whilst our spirits soar and our level of optimism improves when the sun warms our cheeks, your garden plants don't feel the same way.  They get hot, dry and wilt.  Many of you will have wished that you knew how to help your garden cope with these hot spells as you dash about with the hose morn till night to quench the inexhaustible demands for water.

First off you could buy my book, 'Drought Tolerant Plants which goes all the way in detailing how you can sit back with a glass of wine on a summer's evening instead of running about like a trainee fireman to satisfy your plants' demands for water.

Available on Amazon  

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Drought-tolerant-Plants-Greenfingers-Guides-Summers/dp/0755317599

However, if you don't have it yet, damage limitation is the key.

1. Water early in the morning and late at night when the soil will hold on to water more effectively.

2. Add some swell gel to extra compost and top dress your pots with it; better that you mix the compost and granules together to fill the pot at the start of the year, but we are where we are, so a top-dressing is better than none. This will reduce your watering time to a couple of times a week instead of every day.

3.Replace some of your traditional plants with some gorgeous drought tolerant plants that can withstand arid conditions. Or aim for a drought proof border entirely, so at least that is one bed you won't have to fret about. 

http://theopengardencompany.co.uk
 

"Summer afternoons - the most beautiful words in the English language.

Nobody does a summer's day like England; but when we get it right (alas those days are so few) an English summer's afternoon takes some whacking.

I had the pleasure of taking off for the afternoon to visit a beautifully sited wall garden on the Surrey/Sussex borders. It is only in it's seventh year and there is some promising activity going on. Lovely long pathways flocked with lavender; not entirely innovative but it's a proven formula and works effectively. Good old blousy roses were doing a great job; I espied the lively brash 'American Pillar' flowering its heart out as it always does. A lovely raised narrow rill flanked the south side of the garden, planted with water lilies that now the heat of the sun had gone, had closed their flowers and were dozing in the early evening shadows. Water features are rarely executed well, but this was the right size and scale for the garden and added a calm serenity as evening fell. One of the things that was noticeable that there might well be a dearth of colour or interest from summer into autumn.

If you know that your garden falls into a sort of dullness in summer, try the old trick of growing some annuals in pots that you can plunge into the gaps that inevitably occur in once the spring borders have done their thing. Should your garden  lacks any 'oompah' in autumn, go out and buy some great autumn flowering plants now to jazz it up a bit. How about the deep burgundy Penstemon 'Blackbird' the grass skirted golden yellow flowers of inula hookeri or those very effective brown drumstick flowers of Helenium 'Autumn Lollipop?" My new book 'BORDER FLOWERS' ( available from WH Smith, Amazon and all the usual suspects) wil give you some great ideas and the plants are arranged by season, so it's easy-peasy to choose something fab.

Keep an eye on the watering front; these hot spells take their toll and the winds too make soil dry out that much quicker. By the way keep dead nettles (lamium) well watered in this weather as they are the first to fall prone to powdery mildew.  

But most of all enjoy your garden this summer. As Henry James was so fond of saying:

"Summer afternoons - the most beautiful words in the English language. " 

 Hear hear, Henry.

Chelsea Garden Sponosrhsip

We are attempting the difficult task of finding a sponsor for the Chelsea Flower Show. If anyone can recommend any companies with large budgets that have gardening synchronicity please let us know. Thanks

DROUGHT-PROOF YOUR GARDEN

For years I gardened on heavy clay in East Anglia, which has one of the lowest rainfalls in the UK, and a long period of drought meant potential ruin for many areas of my garden. Large cracks opened up in the dry soil and plants keeled over from heat exhaustion.

It was more through necessity than choice that I began employing drought-combating measures in the garden, having witnessed far too many plant fatalities over a long, hot summer. There was insufficient water to cope with all the plants crying out for a drink, let alone time to water in the first place.

Mulching was my first course of action, what a difference it made! My water regime was cut in half leaving more time for other gardening tasks.

Then I started reading up on plants that were naturally drought tolerant and visited well-known ‘dry’ gardens to beg, steal and borrow any ideas, from drought-cultivation techniques to plant choices I could implement in my own garden. This meant choosing plants that were capable of withstanding prolonged dry weather, instead of being seduced by the more showy, leafy herbaceous plants that were so typically in my borders. Roses, lavenders and red hot pokers are drought tolerant so you can have fragrance and fantastic flowers in dry weather.

WISTERIA IN BLOOM

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Wisteria planting, pruning and after care

7th May 2010, by Lucy Summers

Wisteria is the king of climbers. It is the stateliest of climbing plants, with an imperial elegance, enchanting fragrance and the most spectacular flowers.

The wisterias are vigorous twining deciduous climbers with light green pinnate leaves, but it is the fragrant chandeliered flowers that you can see at this time of year that make them so admired.

There are a great many varieties to choose from, some with larger flower pendants than others, and each with its own individual appeal. All, without exception, are highly perfumed, widely esteemed and ornamental.

If you want to grow wisteria take time to plant it in an ideal spot, where it has plenty of room to grow – it can potentially grow into a large climber

Some are tempted to grow wisteria over a large garden structure, but, because of the relatively brief flower period, it is best teamed up with later flowering clematis or roses to extend the period of interest.

Which ever wisteria you plump for, they all need:

• Full sun
• Fertile, well-drained soil
• Strong supports from the outset – these are potentially very large heavy plants
• Careful formative pruning – this will prevent them from being all leaf and no flower

Lucy's Easter plant pick

The wild primrose (Primula vulgaris) is a delightful semi-evergreen native perennial forming low leafy mounds, each topped with sweetly fragrant, single, pale yellow flowers with marked, darker yellow eyes.

Flowering from March to May, it’s a real Easter baby. The wild primrose is a charming plant for pots and containers in north-facing gardens, ideal for the small cottage garden, wild flower or woodland garden. Personally I just leave them to naturalise in wild grassy areas or along banks.