Fag-end of the year

We had a bumper crop of flowers to choose from for the Christmas table.  The photos show roses Old Blush China, Phyllis Bide and Cupid hips, bergenia, winter jasmine, feverfew, dame's violet, osteospermum, sasanqua camellia 'Narumigata', late hydrangea from Chas Ellis and marigolds. This is the first Christmas we have had snowdrops actually blooming (sheaths split) in the woods. The mild weather has also allowed rasps to ripen in the tunnel so we had a plate with our muesli this morning - and more to come!  There is a lot of rust on the old rasp leaves and also some hyperparasite (Darluca?).

November news, more tulips

Young sprouts

 Eira is almost as big as the new plum tree. It's a sucker that has been selected to replace the old plum tree behind it, which has very few branches left. After researching plums that do well in in the west, we decided we couldn't do better than continue with the small dark blue plum with no name that is found in the gardens all around here.

Blush noisette and Perle d'azur adding to the autumn colour

This mild autumn has given us some new colour combinations.

More tulips have been planted: Princess Irene to the left of the steps in the conservatory garden, along with grape hyacinths on both sides of the steps. Thalia and tulip India have been planted by the white lilac. Twenty-five camassias have been put in the "meadow". A few tete-a-tete daffodils are tucked under the turf in the tower garden, experimentally.

Mid November and looking back

It has been unusually mild for the last month and dry-ish due to a blocking high over Scandanavia.  So we have been able to do more outside now and then.  I am still havesting good rasps from the Moy in the tunnel every few days - they are ripening on terminal trusses on new canes.  The rust is abundant but does not seem to reduce yield.  The plant sale at Treborth last month made more than £1k and took a bit of time to grow seedling salads and harvest hobby spuds from Henfaes to sell at £1 or £2 a take-away bag of 1 or 2kg.

The algerian iris has produced many blooms but suffers predation by some voracious critter.  An ancient, neglected susanqua camellia, Narumigata, is starting to bloom, our reward for releasing it from its pot into the garden.  Rh. pachysanthum is flowering again and is extra special now with its silver indumentum now a rich rust brown.

I gave a talk at Rowen Gardening Club on roses and took a bucket of flowers to hand around.  There were various roses that almost never flower at this time including American Pillar and Francois Juranville.  Old faithfuls were Stanwell Perpetual, Blush Noisette, Mutabilis, Windrush, Mme Alfred Carriere and Phyllis Bide.  Large hips of Cupid were nice and I took cutting wood of Brenda Colvin.

We have had good late flushes of Shaggy Parasols and Blewits, some of which have gone in the freezer as duxelles. 

In the potager, the kale from 2010 has persisted and is still producing on 3ft high stems. We have plenty of Swiss Chard and some sorrel.

Corby lifted the dahlia tubers from the shed area and tucked them away safely (I hope) in the garage. Then what might be a glorious display of lily-flowered tulips went in, Ballerina, Moneymaker (bright red, but not as boring as the tomato of the same name), Doll's Minuet, a viridiflora, very tall and late, and. China Pink.  In the front row, a mixture of Greigii and Princess Irene to wake things up in April.(26 April 2012: greigii not that interesting and completely over by the time Princess Irene begins. Can't yet see Doll's Minuet in the row of lily-flowered tulips)

Jan Reus, which is supposed to naturalize well, went in to the conservatory garden in the amelanchier corner, along with another 10 Princess Irene. That leaves India and yet another 10 Princess Irene to plant somewhere else.

Which dahlias for 2012?

We tried a new set of dahlias this year, except White Ballerina, a hold-over that's a star. Even better because it has long stems and is still producing lots of flowers is yellow waterlily Glorie van Heemstede. The pale orange cactus-flowered dahlia has flowers that are gorgeous but a little too big for the strength of the neck. Can't find its name. Chat Noir may be Sarah Raven's favourite, but it seems too uniformly dark and doesn't last well indoors. We should go back to cactus Hillcrest Royal next year. It was good in 2010. The unknown pink/yellow-centred waterlily given by a friend from Treborth is definitely a keeper. We will try to insulate the tubers in the ground over winter. The little dark red pompom Ivanette didn't produce a lot of flowers, but it is good to have a pompom. Might try New Baby orange next year. One of the Karma series, Sangria, a cactus, would be one of the remaining plants. Also rather shy to flower. Karma Corona would be better, if a strong grower. It is a strong orange. The Karma group are bred for a long life as cut flowers.  I seem to remember we liked Taratahi Ruby a lot last year, a very bright red waterlily. Apache is a cactus in the same colour, but we couldn't find it last year. Another cactus dahlia to look for again is City of Rotterdam which did very well in 2009. Another bright orange, which kept going very well. It is said to be 20" high, which would be good.

Robin Lane Fox advises Vitax Q-4 at planting, Miracle-Gro through July, then Tomorite for good buds and flowers. Will we have artificials like that in the new age that's coming? And plenty of water.
These are dahlias mentioned by him: Dawn Sky, shell-pink decorative with long stems. Scaur Swinton, salmon/pink fine performer. Silver-pink waterlily Pearl of Heemstede. Pale cream waterlily Cameo, and waterlily Glorie van Heemstede. These are all a bit tasteful.....
 SR notes: Geerling's Jubilee is a hot strong pink cactus type. Autumn Lustre is a small decorative orange that SR likes a lot for its staying ability. New Baby also recommended by her.

Ends not with a bang but a prolonged season of weeding.

After the high point in July, when all was present and correct for the family shindig, the garden was left to its own devices till mid September, when we returned from the States.  Our many crops of self-seeders that are rather sweet in June and July had  become scraggly heaps of crowder-outers. I've filled up several cubic-metre compost bags with that green stuff.  The area where the old conifer was removed has been cleared of weeds and mulched with weed-free peat compost left from potato experiments. In that area 3 ruffly multi-coloured  California poppies were been flowering away during an unexpected week of summer that we got in late September. As I weeded, I enjoyed each poppy as it opened.

Dahlia Review for 2011

Each plant had a tag at its base, with the catalogue number from National Dahlia Collection. However, it seems the tags didn't necessarily correspond to the tuber as planted.
Ivanette is a miniature ball dahlia, very round and regular, dark purple in colour. Not such a prolific flowerer as some of the others this year. But that shape is a good addition to the mix.  About the size of a cricket ball I think. Long lasting flowers in vase.

Glorie van Heemstede. Waterlily flowers in butter-yellow range from 4 to 6 inches in diameter. More like 4 than 6 inches in our soil.  Lots of flowers and long stems. Nice open flowers. About the tallest of this year's lot.

Raffles. I'm not sure which one this really is. Look for 0825 on label.
Colour: Orange Blends Classification: Decorative  Description: Small Decorative - Flower size between 102mm/4 inches and 152mm/6 inches in diameter.

Chat Noir. Very dark and cactusy. Almost too dark and some flowers too big for the strength of the neck. Not very good as cut flower.. Tall.

Cactus Dahlia Karma Sangria-Deep pink buds opening to lustrous pink with a yellow base.  Check which one it is.

Gerrie Hoek. "Small decorative". Not that small. Formal shape but not a ball shape. Good pink/orange shading colours. Not that many flowers this year.

White dahlia, not too unlike Glorie van heemstede. Don't know the name.  Good flowers, weak necks, not too many flowers. This would be White Ballerina from 2010.

That conifer

Yes, the last remaining conifer of the three that Vic Smith planted in the sixties is finally gone. We took out the main stems last year, and today the four self-layered pups (10-footers) went. That leaves us with new views up and across the garden and a big open space in the middle of everything to be planted up with--?? The holly seedling that's now a tree in its own right (and with berries this year, hurrah!) will take over the job of the old conifer standing beside the rose arch.
Our new Scharlachglut is amazing us with its super-saturated red velvet flowers. Nearly all the roses are full of flower, even American Pillar, one of the latest.

Too much action and not enough talking

Since we got back in mid-May, it has been all systems go in the garden, full steam ahead and don't spare the horses.  Even though the wind blew hard and it was pretty cool and wet.
Never mind, Katherine Havemeyer flowered for the first time in the bed behind the rose arch, giving us a fine tree-ful of heavenly fragrant lilacs and also leaves that stood up to the blast. Unlike the roses, which are looking a bit sorry for themselves.
Now, early June, the roses are in full flower. The earliest started a month ago, with lemony Agnes. She never used to overlap with the lilacs. This evening we sat in the new garden and enjoyed Alberic Barbier on the whitebeam with back-lighting from the evening sun. Can it get much better?

The moles were desperate over the winter. I've spent a fair bit of time this spring cutting squares of turf to patch the grass in the new garden, and also remade the lawn that runs up to the poly tunnel, removing a lot of the non-flowering  iris sibirica to new beds in the new garden. That's made room for new turf up there. Now you can walk up to look at the sweet peas (currently4" high) without struggling through a jungle.

The sweet peas are trying out a new home in front of the poly tunnel. I hope they will be visible from the house, and I hope they will eventually hide the poly tunnel, at least for a few weeks in late summer!  They have been provided with a rustic hazel framework, all cut by hand from the plantings near Henfaes.

In the back office, as it were, the compost heaps are doing their thing. I've started using the one-ton bags from builder's merchants for the grass clippings and other garden waste, and they work well. I've just emptied one around the garden, have another in hand, and four in various stages of making. The way the grass is growing, I'd better get down to Huws-Gray and snaffle another bag with a hole in it from their skip.

Our visit to Brussels

We went to see Lynn and Phillippe who are on a two-year secondment to the European Commission.  EuroStar was smooth and Lynn was there to meet us.  Our long weekend was full of good conversation and sights with lots of gardens and plants to admire too.

The back garden at L and P's house.  Just look at that cheese board.  And the sweet little China on the wall to the right - Climbing Cecille Brunner - see below.

Belgium

The take-home message for Corby was to have a lot of huge alliums in future. The botanic garden of Louvain showed a dark corner throbbing with big exciting dark purple alliums.

The view from the kitchen sink, end of April 2011

The rose in the foreground is Roseraie de l'Haie, one of the best. Never before seen in the month of April with bluebells, daffodils and azalea. The very earliest rose this year was lemon yellow Agnes by the sunny back wall. Rosa altaica was not far behind; this is another yellow rose.
April was as dry as March, excepting the stormy spell at the beginning.  Not especially warm but good and sunny, enough encouragement for the roses to get started a month early.  In the 1990's only a few roses flowered here in May, Rosa persetosa being one of them. (With its tiny  pink flowers, it was known as the "threepenny bit" rose. Its new home is the bottom of the drive, where it seems to be doing well.)



Looking east from the roof

 On the left is a leafless beech which used to be in the hedge. It will soon be a big tree, The white blossom in the centre foreground is the ancient damson/plum. Rhododendrons behind it are all doing their thing at once. Penjerrick is the pale yellow hybrid with large bells and the red is a Chinese form of R. arboreum.  The pink on the right is R. davidsonianum that China Wilson named after his surgeon, Dr Davidson who sorted Wilson's leg in Shanghai.  The blue one behind is a Bodnant selection of R. augustinii. Click on the image to see the detail better.
In the middle of the picture you can see the path to the woods with the new white gate. Moving right, you look into the new garden with its new lawn and a few herbaceous plants just coming up. The bare area behind the chairs is where the old ivy-covered Wendy house used to be hidden away. Dense planting up there will increase the protection from wind.  Eventually that little garden will be nicely sheltered. One will enjoy one's g and t in the summer evenings.

Top of the garden, Moel y ci in the background

With scaffolding set up for access to the roof, it was a grand opportunity to look down on the whole garden. On the left a big sycamore has just come into leaf.  The new garden beside the wood is a good spot for summer evening sun.   In the middle, Lord Lambourne apple tree, with possibly a few blossoms left after the usual ravages of the bullfinches. The poly tunnel on the right is full of raspberries, and behind the tunnel Corby in a pink hat is doing something in the vegetable garden. The bare space in front of the tunnel will be a bed of high-octane dahlias later on. On the far right, the beech tree in the hedge still holds on to last year's leaves. Click on the image to enlarge it.

April resolution

Make a note of everything planted, date and place.  We have been peering at the bits of straw in the border of the new garden, wondering which ones of last year's new plants have made it through the winter. this is the place to write down that several clumps of Iris sibirica moved from the base of Rosa mutabilis are now transplanted to this new border.

Another note: Ceratostigma, Corrine's recommendation.

Corby is tackling the ivy in the bed by the rose arch. The aim is to eliminate all the ivy from this defined area, which includes the retaining walls at the side of the patio. Ivy's had a free run through the stones, plants and trees since forever. The dry stone walls have been rebuilt by Dave Grundy and Corby and will now stand up without the help of the ivy, so that's a good start.

An old plant given a new lease of life

Rhododendron pachysanthum is an asian species with many good features in the garden.  It is compact and its new growth has a silver indumentum that turns a bright rust colour later in the season.  The flowers open pink and fade to white so the effect is 'apple blossom'.  Sister Shirley grew this plant in Pencaitland (I think) and we inherited it and we remember slinging it from a broom handle to ferry it to Bangor on British Rail.  A large ash tree in the back hedge gradually stole its light and it stopped flowering.  We cut down the ash two years ago.

The New Gate is Hung

At last we have replaced the ancient gate with a renovated one, enamelled in white.  It makes a fitting end to the path to the woods and should help keep sheep out of the garden - once we get the latch figured out.

Spring clean

It's fairly unpleasant to be working outside, but the stronger sunlight through the glass in the conservatory tells us exactly what to be doing today.  We took everthing outside and then got to work with a broom and soapy water inside the glass roof and windows. Then rinsed all off with the pressure washer. Then scrubbed the floor tiles and vacuumed up with the wet-and-dry.  Now you can see out the glass and see that spring is on the way. The lawn outside the conservatory is dotted all over with Crocus tommasinianus.  Most shrubs are starting to slowly slowly show their new leaves.

We removed the 30 yr old Chasselas dore de Fontainebleau, and will be replacing it with a new seedless Lakemount grape planted outside the glass and coming in underneath, as before. This year's hanging begonia will be Million Kisses Amour, a valentine from Corbie. Bright red this time, it'll be placed up in the leguminous tree to look as if it is dripping with tropical red blossoms.

Crocus time

The C. tommasinianus are at their best just now and although they are shaded in the lawn, a mild sunny day brings them out.  Without sun they open up within minutes if you cut them and bring them into the warmth.  You can watch them perform and you have to admit it is magic even although you do it every year.
They are really photogenic as you can see.  And what is that I see - a new species growing out of a puffball.  I know you don't believe it but it's true.

Yes, a late Spring

It is funny not to have daffodils in flower by now.  They are still a long way off but the snowdrops are doing their usual charming thing and the Crocus tommasinianus are standing straight on the lawn.  They look a bit lost there as the leaves are like grass so they are a bit like naked ladies (Colchicum) in minature.  I am pruning roses whenever I get a few minutes of dry weather and between plant moving jobs - like transplanting the Rosa persetosa to the lower driveway.  It is time to be propagating again for the Treborth Plant Sale so anything  that is spare goes in a pot for flogging in April.  The Lenten roses (Helleborus X orientalis) are truly Lenten this year for a change and I did a rare job of protecting the flower stems of our favourite, and expensive, specimen.  The mice are bound to find something else nice to eat.  The early Bodnant hybrid rhododendron, R X cilpinense is opening bang on time so it must be cued by daylength.

February at last

Last year ended with the coldest December ever seen here, and January 2011 must have been a record-breaker too. After all that, prolonged southwesterly gales been a bit of a relief. Today we were out in the garden picking up the pieces. The agapanthus is not looking very happy. David has been retensioning the wires that support the poly tunnel and I have started remaking the hazel trellis on the rose arch. The old trellis lasted 11 years, not bad. We cut hazel wands from the road down to Henfaes. Last week in miserable driving rain, today in what feels like spring sunshine. Crocuses and snowdrops have popped up too.