Tag: plant of the month

Colour Festival: April plant of the month

Big flowers, small flowers. Climbing, hanging and creeping. For use in beds, in pots and containers, and in hanging baskets. The Colour Festival brings spring to your garden, patio or balcony in a flash. Begonia, Verbana, Gazania and Bougainvillea are all rich bloomers in different forms, so that they bring instant visual delight and experience to your garden.

Continue reading Colour Festival: April plant of the month

Festive plants: December Garden Plants of the Month

 December is an atmospheric month where we spend a lot of time indoors, but we can also make the garden Christmassy with the Garden Plant of the Month for December. As well as the familiar Christmas tree, there are three attractive evergreen plants that we can transform into a festive plant: Buxus, Laurus nobilis and Chamaecyparis.
By the front door, in the garden or on the balcony, these plants will certainly look very impressive with atmospheric lighting and Christmas decorations, that enables you to turn a permanent plant in the garden into a beautifully decorated festive plant. With these three evergreens, December becomes even more atmospheric!
Buxus, Laurus nobilis and Chamaecyparis: Evergreens with festive aspirations!
Buxus’s is commonly known as Box. The evergreen branches symbolize life, which is very appropriate at Christmas. This evergreen shrub lends structure to a garden, balcony or patio, particularly in winter. Buxus’s leaves also remove fine particulates from the air. Boxwood is very heavy and was used in the past to make musical instruments and sculptures. Buxus plants can be pruned to virtually any required shape – they’re almost ‘kneadable’ products. Decorated with festive materials Buxus looks fabulous in the garden in the run-up to Christmas!
The best-known festive conifer is Lawson Cypress, Chamaecyparis lawsoniana ’Ellwoodii’. This plant, which reaches a height of around 1.25 m, is very suitable for pots or containers and for ‘dressing’ beautifully. ‘Ellwoodii’ has a vertical pyramid shape, and is greyish blue. The juvenile form of the plant has upright twigs and narrow blue needles. Older plants have more tips, and the adult form has scales. It is often used as a decorated Christmas tree during the festive season.
Laurus nobilis or Laurel is also very suitable for use in an attractive pot or container beside the front door, enhancing the foliage and trunk with Christmas decorations. The globe or pyramid shapes are best suited to this. The evergreen Laurus nobilis has a stately and eminent appearance, which is referenced in the word ‘nobilis’. And if you want to use the leaves in a delicious recipe, you’ve always got the Laurus nobilis to hand.
Caring for Buxus, Laurus nobilis and Chamaecyparis
You can keep these ‘festive plants’ healthy and attractive by following a couple of simple tips.
•   All three species should be placed in partial shade to full sun. Place the plant in well-draining, moderately damp soil, and water regularly.
•   Give the plant extra food in the spring so that they grow well and remain healthy. It’s particularly important to feed the plants regularly if they’re in pots.
•   In principle Buxus and Chamaecyparis are very hardy. Laurus nobilis can tolerate a few degrees of frost, but it’s a good idea to protect the plant or bring it indoors in the event of heavy frost.
Pruning tips for Buxus, Laurus nobilis and Chamaecyparis
All three festive plants are very suitable for topiary, and are often offered in unusual shapes. Buxus and Laurus nobilis in particular can be turned into fabulous spheres, pyramids or cylinders. The best times to prune the plants are June and the end of September. Pruning is only really necessary if the plants get too big and to keep them in shape.
More information about Buxus, Laurus nobilis and Chamaecyparis and other garden plants can be found at Thejoyofplants.co.uk.

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.

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: Panicle Hydrangea

GPOTM-July-panicle-hydrangea_01-HR

The panicle hydrangea has become one of the most popular garden plants. The plant immediately evokes old rustic farmhouses, where long rows of flowering hydrangeas stand alongside water. One unusual type of hydrangea is the panicle hydrangea – this flowers with a plume-shaped spray. White and pink varieties, which develop their colour as the flowering season progresses, are a particular treasure in the garden.

The panicle hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculata) is the lesser-known of the ‘ordinary’ hydrangea you are familiar with. The panicle hydrangea is a strongly deciduous shrub with elegant, plume-shaped sprays which are 15-30cm long.  It stands out in any garden, blooms lavishly and is also insect-friendly. The plant combines perfectly with other garden plants, and can be planted both in the soil and in pots on a balcony or patio.

With many panicle hydrangeas the colour of the flower develops during the flowering period from July to September, providing a constant surprise in the garden. Some varieties are also offered as standards.

Caring for panicle hydrangeas 
Panicle hydrangeas can be kept healthy and will flower again every year if you follow a couple of simple tips:

  • The panicle hydrangea likes a spot in full sunlight or partial shade, and likes a humus-rich, acid, moist soil.
  • Regularly water the plant when it’s been dry for a while outdoors, particularly if it’s just been planted in the soil or in a pot.
  •  Unlike all other hydrangeas, the panicle hydrangea can also cope with a somewhat drier soil.
  • Give the plants special hydrangea fertiliser immediately after pruning to ensure that they keep flowering profusely for a long time and remain healthy.

Pruning tips for panicle hydrangea 
Pruning is very important for the panicle hydrangea. It ensures that new flowers develop on the plant every year, and keeps it young and healthy.

  • The best period for pruning is February – March.
  • By leaving the exhausted flowers on the plant in the autumn and winter, you can allow snow, frost or dew to create fantastic silhouettes.

The panicle hydrangea blooms every year on new branches which grow out of the plant after pruning so you can happily cut them back to 10-20cm above the ground every winter. This will also keep the plant more compact, and in the summer it will flower fabulously with large, heavy plume-shaped sprays. Pruning the plant higher up (e.g. to 60 cm) will give lighter plumes.

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

Garden Plant of the Month
In July the panicle hydrangea takes centre stage as Garden Plant of the Month. ‘Garden Plant of the Month’ is an initiative from Thejoyofplants.co.uk. Thejoyofplants.co.uk asks growers and horticultural specialists from the floriculture sector to select a garden plant every month with the aim of inspiring and enthusing.

May’s Garden Plant of the Month: Woodland Sage

WOODLAND SAGE 

A delight in your garden

sage

One unusual feature is that Woodland Sage is one of the few garden plants with square stems. Honeybees, butterflies and dragonflies also love the plant because of its high nectar production so it’s safe to say that the Garden Plant of the Month for May is a blessing to your garden!

Woodland Sage is a member of the Salvia plant family that includes over 900 species.  Unlike other varieties, this variant is a feast for the eyes rather than the stomach but is perfect for idyllic garden displays as the purple plumes sway elegantly in the wind.

More information, care tips and images of Woodland Sage can be found at Flowercouncil.co.uk.

April garden plant of the month: Million Bells (Calibrachoa)

For an instant injection of summer

flowers

Ideal for hanging baskets, window boxes and pots, and it also does very well in borders amongst other ground covering plants.  Wherever you place them, their colourful trumpets perform a summer samba that lasts well into the autumn. Continue reading April garden plant of the month: Million Bells (Calibrachoa)