Granton Community Orchard Garden is having some Tree Planting Days on Monday 7th through to & including Thursday 10 March. Fifty fruit and nut trees, (a couple going to the Community Hall) including apple, plum, cherry, pear, hazel and almond will be planted (writes Laura Munro). Continue reading Granton Community Orchard Garden: it’s time for trees!
Turn over a new leaf!
Even when it’s not snowing, Viburnum brings snowballs to the garden – and if it does freeze, this garden plant stays green and brings an early spring-like invigoration into a garden lover’s garden!
Snowball is a diverse family of shrubs. There are species that remain green in winter, and semi-evergreen varieties and species that shed all their leaves. As compensation, they do grow sprays of white and pink flowers on the bare branches between November and March. Those flowers have a fabulous fragrance and are very frost-resistant: a spectacular combination.
Generally speaking, the later the shrub blooms, the larger the flowers will become. Snowball also either has a second flowering in the autumn or will produce lovely red, blue or black berries at that time of year. With foliage that also changes colour beautifully in autumn, this garden bloomer has something special to offer in every season.
More information about Snowball and other garden plants can be found at Thejoyofplants.co.uk.
You can find out about all our other plant-related categories on Flowercouncil.co.uk.
Blue conifers stands proud as the Garden Plant of the Month in January, and will also be in the spotlight all month on Thejoyofplants.co.uk. Continue reading Plant of the month: Blue conifers
SNH funding for North Edinburgh Arts
North Edinburgh Arts has received one-year funding from Scottish National Heritage to continue their award-winning garden project. Look out for activities focusing on nature and landscape in the near future …
From arts clubs for kids to gardening groups for adults, there’s something for everyone at North Edinburgh Arts this autumn!
Heather heralds the arrival of Autumn
Heather: Nectar in the Autumn
In September, the summer flowers in the garden and on our terraces have peaked so now it’s heather’s time in the spotlight. Heather begins to flower in September and is a source of luscious late summer colour, and for this reason, it is Thejoyofplants.co.uk‘s Garden Plant of the Month of September.
Carpet
Heather (Calluna vulgaris) is a European classic and is native to the coastal areas of Western Europe, Great Britain and Ireland, as well as being one of Scotland’s most prolific plants. It grows in beautiful long shoots with shingled leaves and small symmetrical flowers. Its purple and pink flowers have a slightly weathered appearance and that gives both the plants and the countryside a tough and natural look. In the garden, the plants provide a hardy carpet that give a calm and authentic effect whilst in pots, heather becomes a robust eye-catcher.
Nectar
Heather will flower from September to early November. The flowers contain an abundance of nectar which enables the bees to have a quick restock before winter begins, thereby providing us with a plentiful supply of their delicious heather honey.
Pure Nature
Heather is a perennial plant that can survive 30-40 years in the wild. It is a little higher and less dense than other types of heath and this gives it a strong and natural appearance. In the wild, the purple and pink flowers create beautiful landscapes. In the garden, heather has the same effect, providing a wonderful contrast to the other green and variegated leaves, with its foliage deepening and intensifying as the year progresses.
Heathers are incredibly versatile and look fantastic in pots and rockeries, as well as providing stunning ground cover alongside flowering perennials and grasses in your flowerbeds.
Care Tips
Heather can be planted at any time of the year, provided the soil is not frozen, and should be pruned every year after flowering.
Interesting Facts
– Heather provides a great flavouring agent for beer, wine and tea – cheers!
– Heather is used in many cosmetics such as shampoos, lotions, bubble baths and perfumes.
– And finally, in the plant world, Heather symbolizes admiration and good luck!
‘Bill and Ben’ tackle the tatties!
A group of green-fingered sheltered housing residents have taken to growing their own fruit and vegetables. Seven residents at Port of Leith Housing Association’s St Nicholas Court, on Ferry Road, have become the ‘Dottery Diggers’!
The purpose of the initiative was to get residents active outdoors, gain new skills and grow their own fresh produce which can be used for meals.
The Diggers fundraise to buy their tools, seeds and pots and have already grown tomatoes, strawberries and onions. Two of the residents – John Ross and Bill Smith – have been in charge of growing potatoes.
Maureen Tait, PoLHA’s Sheltered Housing Services Manager, said: “Our residents embrace new initiatives and I’m delighted the fruits of their labour are going down a treat.
“We’ve not had a brilliant summer weather-wise, but through rain or shine, the budding gardeners have been out tending to their produce. The most difficult vegetables to grow have been potatoes, but John and Bill have worked hard and even earned themselves the nickname of Bill and Ben!”
Fling the doors open to the garden and head outside! Summer is here and what better way to spend your free time than being outside and enjoying the sunshine in your beautiful, flower-filled garden. July is the month when the blooms of the hydrangeas are at their extravagant peak and gardeners everywhere simply cannot believe their luck. For this reason, Thejoyofplants.co.uk G
Take your pick
The hydrangea is a vigorous and hardy plant and is also extremely popular. There are numerous different varieties and colours ranging from white, pink, blue and purple. One of the best known is the delightful ‘Annabelle’ (Snowball) variety, with its heart-shaped leaves and large, white, ball-shaped blooms (hence the name!).
The ‘Paniculata’ Hydrangea, with its gracefully arched branches and clusters of cone-shaped blooms, is also a great garden favourite. Many varieties, particularly the lace-cap and mopheads, have the fascinating, chameleon-like ability to change colour when adapting to different environments and soils and will often change colour in late summer.
So, if you want to give your garden that natural, luxurious, extravagant feel, why don’t you fill your borders and terraces with white Annabelles and Paniculatas, or, if you would rather go for a playful and lively kaleidoscope of colour, try composing a combination of multicoloured hyrdrangeas in your borders and containers.
Water, water, water
The name Hydrangea, roughly translated, means ‘water barrel’ and this alludes to the hydrangea’s cup-shaped flower and its need for plenty of water. You will know straight away when your plant needs water because it will go limp but it will also immediately spring back to life once its thirst is quenched.
Enjoy for as long as you can
Hydrangeas are even beautiful in Winter. Leave the flowers on the plant and when they are covered in a layer of frost, they become the sparkling jewels of the Winter garden.
From well established award winning gardens, to new grassroot food growing projects, the diversity of the initiatives which feature in the programme will surprise and delight Festival goers. Venues open on the weekend of 20 and 21 June include a library, an office block, a secret garden, and a farmhouse which is undergoing an incredible transformation!
A citywide celebration
From Portobello to Wester Hailes, Granton to Blackhall, Tollcross to Old Dalkeith Road, and many others in between, every corner of Edinburgh will have a garden celebrating the joy of community food growing. There will be a rich menu of events suited for every taste, for children and adults alike, including: children’s poetry writing, bug hunting, storytelling and sharing, choir music, conversations on nature, food and sustainability, wind band, foraging, cooking and eating, as well as practical gardening workshops, and the launch of Edible Edinburgh Food Charter of a Sustainable Food City.
In association with Sustrans, visitors can also join in a guided bike tour of the
gardens (free but ticketed). Bookings can be made online.
Whether on foot or on two wheels, visitors can plan their Festival trip and keep up to date with the latest events and information via The Power of Food Festival website (details below).
A Festival for everyone
Why not invite your friends and family to take part in the first Edinburgh Power of Food Festival? The weekend will give everyone a chance to meet people in their local community, to join those who are transforming the city landscape everyday, and to give a deeper meaning to the word ‘community’. Maybe it will be the beginning of a great adventure: who knows where The Power of Food will take you?
The full programme of events can be accessed here: PoF Programme
Come with family and friends to The Power of Food Festival
Celebrating community food growing and local change makers
summer solstice weekend 20-21 June
W: poweroffoodfestival.wordpress.
Twitter @PoFFest FacebookEdinburghPowerofFoodFestival
