My Wintery Garden

Woke up this morning to a wintery world and very cold temperatures. The garden looked so pretty in its frosty cloak, I felt I just had to take some photos.

The holly is glorious and full of berries this year.  This one is Golden King, a female variety - yes you read it right!

Here I am peeking through the lilac tree, trying to see a robin feeding at one of the feeders.

My winter cabbages are frozen!

and so are the plants in the border, but they will all recover.

What's happening in your garden today?

Scarecrows for Halloween

There's something about scarecrows and Halloween, isn't there!  There's always the feeling that one of them might come to life and start harassing the neighbourhood!  A few years ago, in the village of Shillington, near where I live, they had a scarecrow festival.  People there made scarecrows and put them in their gardens for others to come and see. I went along and I was very impressed with their efforts.  We were given a sheet with details of the exhibits and encouraged to vote for the one we thought was the best.

Walking round the village had an eerie feel to it.  Almost the first one we saw was exhibit number 31, see above, which portrayed a very creepy pumpkin head man. It must have taken ages to make this one up.  

Here are some more:

This last one really did come to life and walked down the street right past us!

After we had looked at all the wonderful exhibits, we had tea and cakes in the village hall and admired all the goods on sale. It was a lovely afternoon.

Answers to Round One of the Gardening Quiz

Well, here are the answers to the Round One Gardening Quiz  -

1)  What is the correct generic name for the hardy perennial commonly known as the Day Lily? Is it a) Helxine  b)Heliopsis or c) Hemerocallis

Answer: c) Hemerocallis

+++

2) Do the species Pieris, Permettya and Philesia require acid or alkaline soil conditions?

Answer: Acid

+++

3)  A native of southeast Europe, the hardy perennial Alchemilla produces intricately branched heads of star-shaped yellow green flowers, making it a favourite with flower arrangers.  What is it's common name?

Answer: Lady's Mantle

+++


4)  In a flower, what name is given to the part of the stamen on which pollen is borne?

Answer: Anther

+++


5)  Approximately how many species make up the Anemone genus of hardy herbaceous perennials?

a)  12  b)  60  c)  150

Answer: c) 150

+++


6)  Formerly known as Funkia, this hardy, herbaceous plant is grown for its foliage and trumpet like flowers and is suitable for shady borders and waterside planting.  By what generic name is it now known?

Answer:  Hosta

+++


7)  Which of the following terms is used to describe a plant that flowers and dies in the second season after germination, producing only its stems, roots and leaves in the first season?
a) Annual  b)  Biennial  c) Perennial

Answer: b) Biennial

+++



8)  What is the common name of the hardy, quick-growing annual Limmanthes douglasii, a name the plant acquired from it resemblance to a popular breakfast food?

Answer: Poached egg plant

+++


9)  Two of the species of Allium listed below would be found in the vegetable garden.  Which is the odd one out, grown mainly for it's ornamental flowers?

a) A. moly   b) A, porrum,  c)  A. sativum

Answer: a) moly

+++


10)  The hardy perennial Acanthus has deeply lobed leaves and tall spikes of mauve and white bracts.  What is its common name?

Answer: Bear's breeches

+++


11)  In a botanical name, what does the word vulgare mean?

Answer: Common or ordinary

+++


12) Dog, Marsh and Sweet are the prefixes for three of the ten species of which British hedgerow and woodland flower?

Answer: Violet

+++

How did you do?

Questions taken from Geoff Hamilton's 'Gardeners Challenge' book

It's Quiz Time!

Let's be a little different today. Let's have a quiz. Together we will test what we know and add to our knowledge.

1)  What is the correct generic name for the hardy perennial commonly known as the Day Lily? Is it a) Helxine  b)Heliopsis or c) Hemerocallis

2) Do the species Pieris, Permettya and Philesia require acid or alkaline soil conditions?

3)  A native of southeast Europe, the hardy perennial Alchemilla produces intricately branched heads of star-shaped yellow green flowers, making it a favourite with flower arrangers.  What is it's common name?

4)  In a flower, what name is given to the part of the stamen on which pollen is borne?

5)  Approximately how many species make up the Anemone genus of hardy herbaceous perennials?

a)  12  b)  60  c)  150

6)  Formerly known as Funkia, this hardy, herbaceous plant is grown for its foliage and trumpet like flowers and is suitable for shady borders and waterside planting.  By what generic name is it now known?

7)  Which of the following terms is used to describe a plant that flowers and dies in the second season after germination, producing only its stems, roots and leaves in the first season?
a) Annual  b)  Biennial  c) Perennial

8)  What is the common name of the hardy, quick-growing annual Limmanthes douglasii, a name the plant acquired from it resemblance to a popular breakfast food?

9)  Two of the species of Allium listed below would be found in the vegetable garden.  Whis is the odd one out, grown mainly for it's ornamental flowers?

a) A. moly   b) A, porrum,  c)  A. sativum

10)  The hardy perennial Acanthus has deeply lobed leaves and tall spikes of mauve and white bracts.  What is its common name?

11)  In a botanical name, what does the word vulgare mean?

12) Dog, Marsh and Sweet are the prefixes for three of the ten species of which British hedgerow and woodland flower?

Answers at the end of the week!

Questions taken from Geoff Hamilton's 'Gardeners Challenge' book

The Apple Harvest

This is our Cox's Orange Pippin harvest for 2016. We've had the tree since 1985, but after a disappointing few years at the beginning, we decided to get rid of the tree, which was not producing very tasty apples.  I think maybe it was the fault of the rootstock. The top half of the tree (Cox) was amalgamated with a different rootstock, but it didn't really work and the apples were more than sharp.  We cut down the tree, applied acid to the base and put a bucket over the top of it (for three years). After that time we decided the tree must be dead and removed the bucket. It still looked dead. However, the next year it showed signs of life and you should see it now! This is a charmed tree and no more harm will come to it. I promise.

This year we had a bumper harvest, which we collected yesterday. I tried one of the apples and yes! it was edible and nicely sweet, yet a little sharp, just like a Cox is supposed to be.

The apples which had been a little damaged on cropping, I have made into some Golden Apple Mincemeat for the mince pies at Christmas.  The recipe is below.

and it turned out very well. I have 8 llb jars of mincemeat to eat and share, just right for harvest.

Do you have any apple tree stories to share?

Happy Gardening.

September is here.

Although September has arrived, we still have a good show of nasturtiums in the garden. The hanging basket is nearly over, but some of the seeds have dropped off and taken root in the soil beneath and these are flowering in abundance just now.  We don't eat the flowers nor the leaves, although both are edible, but the lovely colours give much joy in the garden at the moment.

I've managed to save a lot of bulbs, which have been dried off in the shed and on the lawn and kept, to replant this month.  Each year I buy new bulbs, but also mix in some older ones.  Some of them are immature and will not flower for a year or two yet, but each year, I plant them so they can get a bit bigger.

We usually plant daffodils in September and tulips in October.

Have you got your bulbs ready yet?

Happy Gardening!

Indian Balsam and a walk along the canal path at Leighton Buzzard.

Walking along the canal path at Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, England, recently, I came upon this interesting looking plant, which was new to me. It was growing abundantly along the side of the canal, separated from the path and reminded me of a small orchid.

When I got home, I looked it up and this is what I found:

'Indian Balsam

Impatiens glandulifera

Introduced as a garden plant from the Himalayas in 1839, and naturalised along waterways and in waste places, this tall, stout-stemmed species grows 100-200 cm high.  It is hairless and the stems reddish. There is no mistaking the rather orchid-like, mave, dangling flowers.

Flower: purplish pink, 2-5.4 cm, petals 5, forming a broad, lower lip and hood; sepals 3, lower forming a mauve, spurred bag.

Flower arrangement: long-stalked racemes arising from leaf-axils.

Flowering time: July - October.

Leaf: opposite or in threes, 5-18 cm long, elliptic, toothed; reddish glands along basal margins.

Fruit: capsule, club-shaped, opening by 5 valves, which spring into coils, shooting out seeds.'

Information from 'Illustrated Guide to Wild Flowers' by Stephen Blackmore

The Indian Balsam flowers were just behind me as I stood admiring the lock keeper's cottage below.

Join me as I walked along the towpath. If you look carefully at the next picture, you will see the Indian Balsam flowers just behind the signpost.

The red and black boat is preparing to use the lock to descend to the lower level (see next picture).

The lock gates must be opened to allow the boat to pass through and down.

We caught up with the red and black boat further down the canal just after we had lunch.

This was the pub where we had lunch. It was called the Globe Inn. We had a lovely lunch of fish and chips, scampi and chips and hunters' chicken with chips.

A Bumper Harvest of Runner Beans

We are currently enjoying the results of Jim's labours on the runner bean patch.

Every year he plants the seeds on May 26th, a special birthday, which he always remembers and carefully tends the seedlings until they are able to grow up the poles. It can be like running the gambit because slugs and snails are often abundant in a wet Spring and they will gobble up any fresh shoot that pokes its head above the soil. Jim uses slug pellets. It's the only way, we find. I think the birds have realised the pellets are not for them because they leave well alone.

Yum!

Happy gardening!

Taking Geranium Cuttings

These beautiful plants are really pelargoniums, but they have come to be known as geraniums and grace many gardens and municipal walkways in summer.

Now is the time to take cuttings to ensure continuity for next year. They are easy to propagate and it's fun to do. Just cut off a suitable piece from a healthy plant and remove all flower heads and excess leaves. This allows the cutting to establish roots quickly. This is what I started with:

and this is what I ended up with:

If you want to, you can dob the end of the cutting in some hormone rooting powder, but I don't bother. I find that they root perfectly well without it. Next push the cutting into a small pot with some compost in it and water. If you use a large pot, you can put several cuttings around the edge. I do both. During the wintertime, I get most sun at the front of the house in the evenings and that winter also has the largest window ledge so I can fit almost twelve little pots along there and keep an eye on them during the colder months.  There cuttings will be big enough by next April to put out in the border.

You will need to water when the pot is dry, but don't over-water and keep an eye on the leaves. Sometimes you bring them in with a small caterpillar on the leaf and if you don't remove it, then it will munch away until all the leaves are gone and the caterpillar is fat! Put the caterpillar back in the garden to dessimate something which doesn't matter so much. It's a good idea to label the pots with the colour the flowers will eventually turn out to be. I usually take three slips of each colour.

Here is a mixed pot of cuttings:

This year I am taking cuttings of white, pink, peach and red geraniums. We'll see later how they do.

Happy gardening!

Mesembryanthemum

This is such a useful little plant for summer. It's a bit late now over here in England, but if you buy just one packet of seeds at the start of summer, you will have a dazzling display in a tub on your patio or in the border. They flower all through the summer, when the sun comes out! So pretty, just like little stars!

They are annuals, so will only last for one season, but, as you can see, they are well worth it.

Mesembryanthemum, originally from southern Africa.

Happy Gardening!

Cotinus - the smoke bush

You gave me diamonds, I gave you smoke.

You gave me water, I gave you hope.

You gave me earth - I rested my feet.

By the shed in my garden we used to meet.

You gave me sunlight that shone from above.

At the end of the summer I glowed with your love

My colours were many, red, brown, orange, yellow

Our love became strong, bonded and mellow.

Copyright Stella Jones 2016