Tulip time

Well, Planting time, that tricky period. November/December
Today I made places for 24 Bakeri Lilac Wonder after getting rid of two leggy lavenders on the shelf.
I put in 10 Praestans fusilier in the island bed, marked with anemone stems. And 5 up by the meadow.
Florosa went into the quadrant behind the NW box ball, 10 of them. Hope some of the viridiflora have survived for next year too.
I put in 10 Menton tulips, tall, late, copper-pink, in the north border of the conservatory garden, just left of the left-hand box ball.
2 December
I put in another 20 Menton in that bed.
Red Georgette: 4 between Irene Watts and its neighbour. And some more to the left of that.
3 by Iris sibirica in the island bed..
4 Dec 60 large crocus in tower lawn and also in shelf.
5 Dec. Put in the 3 remaining lily-flowered and 4 doll's minuet in front of the mutabilis, right at the front. Filled 2 big pots with peat and 12 Antoinette in each. Tallest ceramic pot has 12 red georgette.
I have two pots left and I want to plant more tulips!
Ordered Suncatcher, 15, and planted by the old Lord Lambourne apple where dahlias were last summer
Pittsburgh still to go in.
Got 60 species tulips as free gift and put them on the shelf bed, took out some more lavenders to do so.

Dahlias May 2018

Most killed in March by the Beast from the East, the most severe and prolonged cold we have had in 50 years here. The absolute temperature was low but the cold east wind did the damage. The cherry laurel looks very sorry for itself, the pyracantha lost most of its leaves.

So I have ordered a lot of new tubers from Sarah Raven. Hillcrest Royal still has some live bits, so we shall see. I was sorry to lose Evelyn, new last year, a fine white. And my new collection of Karma dahlias is gone.  I could replace Moor Park. and Rosemary Webb if it is still available.

This is what I bought. One each, except the 2 whites.

Sarah Raven dahlias bought May 2018

Flamboyant collection

• Dahlia 'Emory Paul'  biggest of these. 10” flowers. Bright magenta. 42” tall.
• Dahlia 'Penhill Dark Monarch' mix of apricot, coffee mousse and raspberry. 5 ft tall
• Dahlia 'Time for All' pink . white edges. 5” flowers.  42” tall
• Dahlia 'Zippity Do Da' mini ball.Purply, fading. 2” flowers. 

36 “ high.

Monet collection

  Karma naomi   Crimson up to 120 cm. Double decorative.

Darkarin. Not so double. Flower4-6”. Height 80 cm. Dark leaves. Rose-wine colour.

Tamburo. Darl red/ semi cactus 36”

White collection

Furka  White cactus, 43 “, good vase life, Sarah says.

Blanc y verde  white 36’ nearly single

Looks like I need a yellow and an orange. Not quite sure what are the survivors from the winter kill.

October 2018
In fact, this is what we ended up with.

Hillcrest Royal and Rosemary Webb, the two survivors of the frost. Large amounts of both, also Chat Noir.  All good.  Hillcrest was the tallest of any growing in either bed. Remember that in future.

Furka and Blanc y Verde. Two good white dahlias, sufficiently different from each other.

One huge cream/caffe latte dahlia, far too big for this windy site.

A bright med/dark red, good shape, plenty of flowers. Maybe Karma Naomi?  Petals rounded? Tamburo is a semi cactus, 36 inches high. or maybe one of the dark reds is Darkarin, 80 cm,  dark leaves.

A shorter bright yellow edged with orange. I wonder if that was Bon Bini? It wasn't very cactusy. not the best Karma dahlia. Go for Lagoon, Fuchsiana Fiesta and maybe Prospero (pink). Still need a good yellow . Yellow Star or Encore?

Most of Sarah Raven's labels didn't survive wetting. Next year, permanent labels!

Review of tulips 2018 May 14

Fusilier in the meadow and in the bed in front of the mutabilis and in the Katherine Havemeyer bed has been very good. Plant more in those places. Not sure if there are two forms? Some not multi headed? Maybe those are the older ones reflowering.

Red Georgette flowering from early May is excellent. A large clump by Rosa mutabilis, and another in the north conservatory border, also in the S border in the "box quadrant".
Consider other multiheaded tulips. Red is good but there must be others.

Tulips need to be planted in groups of up to 10, two here and two there is not good enough.

The coloured viridiflora in the box quadrant is not so good.

Lily flowered tulips by the shed not so big as last year. Maybe cheaper bulbs? Aladdin excellent, then (I think) Ballade and Ballerina.
More could be planted: maybe 75 or so, then I could cut for the house. But 150 would not be too many....

Couleur cardinal in a tub with Antoinette and wallflower is fantastic.  CC and Antoinette flower at same time, actually CC is a little earlier but there is a big overlap. CC is also very good in the conservatory north border.

Is it White Triumphator or Purissima in a tub with Little Beauty? That works well too.

Species tulips in border at foot of willow trellis don't show up at all. If planting again, plant big tulips there.

Bakeri Lilac Wonder is a star in the "shelf" bed.  Just beginning to go over. Plant more. Also, consider planting small species tulips on the end near the steps, along with very low things like lambs lug.

How has your black spot been?

Roses vary a lot in their susceptibility to the fungal disease, Black Spot.  This can be a killer and a reason why you cannot grow some varieties.  I use organic methods to cope with disease most of the time but I make an exception for my (our)  roses.  That means that I spray the plants most seasons from time to time and if the season is a bad one for black spot,  like this one has been (wet and cool), I try to spray every fortnight.

Two things affect how much black spot you get.  One is the kind of black spot you have in your neighbourhood; this can affect which varieties show resistance and which are relatively susceptible.   The other thing is the microclimate in the garden.  'Agnes' is a rugosa that often does not show a lot of the disease.  The 'Agnes' bush I have in the open border is fairly healthy but the one planted against the house is showing more black spot than just about any other.

So by looking around the garden at this time of year, you can see most clearly which roses are more resistant - the ones that are healthy even although they have never or rarely been sprayed.  The suscepts are those that are looking very sad even after spraying regularly throughout the season. The list below has the most resistant at the top and least resistant (susceptible) at the bottom.  Remember that this is according to infections observed in my garden over several years.

Tuscany Superb
Perle D'Or
Rose de Rescht
Blush Noisette
Rosamudi
gallica Versicolor Rosa Mundi
Ispahan
MutabilisRoseraie De L'HayPhyllis Bide
Brenda ColvinAgnesCupidWilliam LobbLittle White Pet
Old Blush ChinaStanwell PerpetualPenelope
Scharlachglut
Albertine
Mme Alfred Carriere
American Pillar
Windrush
Complicata

I use the systemic fungicide, 'Systhane' (active ingredient myclobutanil).  The chemical prevents new infection of healthy tissue but also has a curative effect on any disease already present on leaves and stems.

IIn 2016. I plan to use another systemic substance, the chemical Phosphite (also known as phosphonate, a salt of phosphonic acid).  This substance induces the natural defences of the plant.  The mechanism is fairly well understood and is known as Systemic Acquired Resistance.  This can also be seen when early infection of lower leaves of the plant can induce resistance in upper leaves and vice versa.  The resistance appears to be non-specific as the plant is protected from viruses and a range of fungal and downy mildew diseases including rose downy mildew. 

Tweet me if you have a comment about your findings compared to mine. @rudebotanical

Well, waiting for a spell of cold weather before planting the tulips didn't work. Up till today, there's been one frost, and we've had a month of wet and stormy but not cold weather. So, since the weather was having a rest today, I planted 30 greigii tulips: Toronto, Quebec and Girlfriend in front of the shed.

I also planted 10 each of Elegant Lady, Ballerina, Aladdin and Jacqueline in a wide row behind them. Roll on spring!

Dahlias 2013.  The most flowers from the big shaggy pale orange one we can't identify. A bit floppy as a cut flower. New Baby and Glorie van Heemstede didn't produce a lot of blooms. Karma Fuchsiana didn't either. Hillcrest Royal was good, and so was the large dark purple pompom. Taratahi Ruby was also very good. My favourite this year was the unnamed one we got from Hazel. It makes a very good cut flower, lasts well. They all responded very well to a liquid feel of tomorite at the end of August. Do more of that next year.

This year the plants grew much higher than ever before and needed more support. Remember that next year.

Our replacement dark blue plum sucker put on a reasonable amount of growth this summer, the best for years, though that's not saying much.

Department of good resolutions and new beginnings:
I have planted 10 Menton tulip bulbs in the bed by the Rosa Mundi. Six precious Sprengeri bulbs have gone into the "meadow", well marked and protected from squirrels by mesh. Sorbet which is like Marilyn should go in a pot. I have 40 lily flowered bulbs: Aladdin, Jacqueline, Elegant Lady and Ballerina for the bed beside the shed.
Along with them will go Toronto, Quebec and Girlfriend, but I'm afraid I've made a mistake in getting Greigii tulips: they might be too short for the size of the flower. We shall see.
Fifty allium sphaerocephalum (I think) have been put in everywhere, each one with a label, as well as 10 white allium in the north border of the conservatory garden.

I've started cutting down the dahlias and must remember to get some tubers of the orange one to Corinne in the spring.