Tag: gardening

October garden plant of the month: Viola

Vigorous autumn bloomers! 
Everything seems to change so quickly in the garden in October. The trees shed their leaves, and the summer blooms and perennials reach the end of their flowering period. But that’s not the case for violas in October. They love the somewhat lower temperatures, and keep flowering vigorously with their beautiful colours until winter comes. And then? Well then they just carry on flowering. Violas won’t be defeated by wind and weather, and create colour and atmosphere in the sombre autumn and winter months.
Viola: tenacious flowering with twice the pleasure!
It’s no surprise that the autumn viola is one of the most popular plants in the garden. In beds, containers or pots on the balcony or patio – the viola will keep flowering anywhere for months. A bit less in the winter when it’s really cold, but it’ll carry on again cheerfully in the spring. Plant breeders and growers have created beautiful varieties in a lovely range with yellow, white, pink, blue, orange and red shades. Violas with eyes, spots or faces sometimes create even greater contrast in the flower. There are large-flowered and small-flowered violas, and nowadays we are also seeing more double-flowered varieties. There are even hanging violas which look fabulous in bowls or fixed to the wall in a sack. Great names such as Holland, Aalsmeer or Swiss Giant are widely known amongst the large-flowered violas, and the Viola cornuta is very popular amongst the small-flowered varieties.
So there’s plenty of choice to brighten the garden with violas in October. The plants also combine well with other autumn plants such as Calluna, Gaultheria or Skimmia. And things get truly festive in the garden in spring if bulbs have been planted below the violas in multiple layers. The violas planted in the garden in October will then combine with the bulbs in the spring to produce an explosion of flowers. So you get twice the pleasure!
Caring for Violas
A viola is exceptionally easy to care for. Whether it’s planted in the soil or in pots or containers, it can really cope anywhere!
Violas will remain healthy and attractive by following a couple of simple tips. It’s important that they’re placed in partial shade to full sun. Plant the viola in nutrient-rich soil, and water regularly.
If the temperature is above freezing, the viola will continue to grow and flower vigorously, and will then need some extra feeding once a fortnight in order to stimulate flowering. Removing wilted flowers will also encourage the plant to flower more profusely. Once the plant has finished flowering in late spring, you can replace the violas with beautiful summer annuals.
More information about the Viola and other garden plants can be found at Thejoyofplants.co.uk.

September’s garden plant of the month: cushion chrysanthemum

 

Chrysanthemums are often thought of as cut flowers, but there is also a wide range of other chrysanthemums. In autumn in particular the range features cushion chrysanthemums, which flower when the days are short. The plant responds to the short days by creating buds. They’re branched, bushy plants in many different colours and flower shapes. Cushion chrysanthemums are very suitable for use outdoors in the garden or on the balcony, patio, garden paths or by the front door. The plants flower so profusely that the foliage is completely hidden. The attractive floral domes provide weeks of pleasure, which is why they’re deservedly the Garden Plant of the Month for September!

Continue reading September’s garden plant of the month: cushion chrysanthemum

August garden plant of the month: Gentian

Vivid blue
There are a lot of remarkable characters amongst the perennials, but the Garden Plant of the Month for August is very special. With its intense blue colouring and beautiful bell-shaped flowers, Gentian (Gentiana) reminds us of its natural home in Alpine meadows. The Gentian range has developed considerably, and there are now white, pink, blue and bicoloured varieties. A beautiful perennial to use in pots or in rockeries or borders. It will certainly catch the eye as is pretty as a picture!
Gentian
The current Gentian range offers compact growth and rich continued flowering. These plants look their best between July and October. The colour blue in particular has been extensively developed in the Gentian range. There are sky blue, pale and dark blue and indigo varieties. The Gentian originates from the temperate mountain regions in the northern hemisphere and the Andes. The name Gentian derives from Gentius, King of Illyria (former Yugoslavia) who is said to have discovered the healing properties attributed to Gentian, such as strengthening the digestive and immune systems and the ability to reduce bile.
Caring for Gentians
Gentian likes the spot with full sun to partial shade. The plant does have special requirements with regard to the soil. Moisture-retaining, somewhat poor soil is important, since that’s what the plant has in the mountains where it grows. Many species also require somewhat chalky and well-draining soil. It’s easy to make a mixture of sand, clay, potting soil and gravel to use for Gentians in pots. In autumn and winter make sure that the soil is not saturated with water when the frost comes. You should therefore cover Gentians, but make sure that the soil is well-ventilated.
Tips for keeping Gentians
The best thing is to do nothing! Gentians are very hardy, and will die back above ground and hibernate below ground. It’s important to leave the plant alone to keep it healthy and lavishly flowering. So don’t divide or replant it, but leave it where it is. Give the plant some fertiliser in the spring to promote flowering and you’ll be able enjoy these remarkable plants for years.
More information about Gentian and other garden plants can be found at Thejoyofplants.co.uk.

July’s plant of the month: Potted summer bulbs

 
Colourful, impressive, summery bulbs 
Most people are familiar with spring-flowering bulbs but there are also a various range of bulbs sold in pots in the summer months that can bring colour and atmosphere to the patio. We have selected three summer-flowering potted bulbs as the Garden Plant of the Month for July: the Calla, the Lily and the Star of Bethlehem. Varied, colourful and impressive, both on their own and combined together or with other garden plants.
Potted summer bulbs: Calla, Lily and Star of Bethlehem 
Zantedeschia is often known as the Calla or Arum Lily. In the past, we were only really familiar with the flowers of the white Zantedeschia aethiopica – it has large white calyxes and can grow quite big in the garden. There are now more compact varieties, in many different colours from white to orange and dark purple to yellow. The flowers are smaller, the plants also have attractive markings on the leaves in the form of silver spots.
Potted Lilies are all hybrids – many original species originate from Japan, China and Korea. The name LA (Longiflorum x Asiatic hybrids) is an old Latin plant name for the Lily. The plant is characterized by the many buds on the stem and the leaf that extends the full length of the stem. The larger the bulb that is used, the more buds there will be on the stem. The most common potted Lilies have large flowers with a strong scent, and the LA Group usually comes in pastel shades. The range of colours varies from yellow, orange and red through to pink and white. Many bicoloured lilies also have flowers with an extra spot in the Calix.
Ornithogalum, as the Star of Bethlehem is officially known, grows from beautiful leaf rosettes from which a leafless stem emerges with the flower on the end. The name Ornithogalum derives from an old Greek plant name which means ‘bird milk’ (‘ornithos’ = bird, ‘gala’ = milk). There are three most common species. O. Saundersiae has long stems over a metre in length bearing a composite white flower. Every separate flower has an eye-catching black dot at its heart. O. dubium is much shorter, often just 10 to 30 centimetres and is available in orange and yellow. O. thyrsoides has white composite flowers in the shape of plumes.
Caring for Calla, Lily and Star of Bethlehem
The summer-flowering bulbs are very easy to care for, and will give weeks of pleasure.
  • The plants are undemanding and can be placed in both the shade and the sun. The temperature does need to remain above at least 5-8 °C, but that won’t pose a problem in the summer.
  • Make sure that the soil never dries out, so water regularly, particularly when the plants are placed in pots or containers. The bulbs and tubers mean that the plants can survive through a slightly drier period, which is handy when you go on holiday for a week.
  • Give plant food once a fortnight to ensure lavish flowering. Remember, the plants are only for decoration and not for consumption.
Tips for keeping potted summer bulbs
Summer-flowering potted bulb plants can be kept by bringing them indoors after flowering in October or November. That gives them a hibernation period whereby the plant remains dry and the foliage dies back. The bulbs and tubers will then produce plenty of new flowers during the next growing season. You can plant them outside again from April onwards. The plants will then produce the fabulous flowers again in the summer.
More information about potted summer bulbs and other garden plants can be found at Thejoyofplants.co.uk.

Garden plant of the month: Spruce

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We have long known the Spruce is the most popular Christmas tree. With its fine, slightly prickly needles it takes pride of place in many a living room. But the Spruce is also a popular evergreen conifer in the garden. Its attractive shape means that the Garden Plant of the Month for December can shape the whole look of the garden combined with other shrubs and conifers.

From big to small! 
The Spruce (Picea) is a hardy needle conifer that ranges in size from 50cm up to 50m. For those that produce cones, these will hang at the ends of the branches. This garden plant is often supplied without roots, and therefore needs to be placed on a wooden cross or metal stand. Increasingly we are seeing Christmas trees with rootballs and even miniature Spruces with an attractive conical form – Picea glauca ‘Conica’. The decorative value is determined by the arrangement of the branches bearing the needles (actually the leaves) and the tree’s shape. By placing the spruce in water, you can help prevent needle shed. The Spruce definitely shapes the look of a garden so it’s a good idea to plant a solitary tree which has room to grow.

Caring for the Spruce
Follow a couple of simple tips to keep the Spruce healthy and looking its best. Plant in a damp, moderately nutrient-rich, somewhat acidic soil –  the Spruce can tolerate both shade and full sun.

Replanting a Spruce with roots in the garden requires some care. When buying the Spruce, check that there is a sufficiently large rootball at the bottom of the tree, and preferably place the tree on a Christmas tree stand containing water and shrub food. Because the plants have been standing indoors in the warmth for three weeks, the transition outdoors is not always easy. A frost-free period is therefore important in order to allow the plant to root properly in the garden. Caring for miniature Christmas trees in the home is often much easier as long as you water the plant regularly and place it in a light spot. The cooler the spot, the longer the plant will continue to flourish.

Spruce pruning tips
With most Spruces, particularly the dwarf varieties, there’s no need to prune. If a larger Spruce is getting too big or too bare, prune the plant ideally in spring (April, May). Use ordinary hedge clippers for this and snip a few centimetres off the ends of the branches. This will keep the shape nicely symmetrical and bulk out the spindles.

More information about Spruce and other garden plants can be found at Thejoyofplants.co.uk.

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Free seeds from Grow Wild Scotland

grow-wild
Dear Grow Wild Scotland partners,

To celebrate winning a National Lottery Award (Environment Category) Grow Wild are giving away over10,000 FREE Scottish native wild flower seeds to be sown this autumn, click here to register for your FREE seed packet www.growwilduk.com .

Please share this email with your impressive network of community organisations and partners and encourage them to register. This special opportunity ends at midnight onSunday 9th October 2016. If you would like to create a personalised seed packet offer to share among your groups, members, audience, clients or contacts please let me know.

We do also have some seed kits left for autumn sowing should you wish to kick start a transformation project or event. Please get in touch.

Claire Bennett

Grow Wild Scotland Partnership Manager

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c.bennett@kew.org

0131 554 2561  |   07917 264891

www.growwilduk.com  |  @GrowWildScot