Plant of the Week - Family Apple Tree

Blossom has been late this year due to the late onset of spring, so I have just managed to catch the blossom on my family apple tree while the sun was making a brief appearance.

I wanted to get a family apple tree as we only have a small garden with room enough for one apple tree, but sourcing one with the exact varieties you want is harder than I thought. With the only other option being to attempt some DIY grafting, I found a happy medium online at Blackmoor Nurseries which had two of the varieties I was after (Worcester Pearmain and Egremont Russet) with a compromise on the Golden Delicious.

My tree is on M9 rootstock and is now in its third year in the garden (I believe it was two years old when I got it) and has come into its own this year with masses of blossom. Last year we only managed to eat three apples from the tree, which I think were all Worcester Pearmain (and deliciously sweet and sharp).

Family Apple Tree in blossom

I read somewhere that the late spring could be a boost to fruit crops, but to the detriment of wheat and other grains, so I am hoping to have a bumper crop this year - watch this space!

The direct link to this tree on the Blackmoor Nurseries website.

More flaming parrots

While I'm here I thought I'd post a newer photo of the flaming parrots now they are open in all their 'St George's Cross' glory.

Plant of the week - Tulip 'Black Parrot'

I have to admit that I have a bit of a thing for black flowers, I've tried a few over the years and of course none are really 'black', but this tulip has a lovely deep velvety dark plum colour that is far more exciting that just plain black. The fringing on the petals gives an amazing texture to the flower and it opens right up into a sort of 'bird-of -paradise' shape.

My tulips in pots haven't done that well this year, the foliage has gone brown and some of the flowers never made it to fully opened but I managed to snap the best example at its full openness. You can just see a couple of its less resplendent neighbours in the background.

Again I got these from crocus (no I don't work for them!) and can be obtained at the link below.

http://www.crocus.co.uk/plants/_/tulipa-black-parrot/classid.1000000303/

Plant of the week - Clematis Alpina 'Frances Rivis'

As clematis go, this one is pretty amazing. The problem I had was a north-west facing slatted fence right by the house that looked pretty ugly. What could I grow up it to break up the hard lines of the fence that would survive in the shade, have good foliage foliage and provide some colour.

Then I stumbled upon this clematis while looking for a variety that would thrive in the shade. In the space of three years it has scaled the the fence stretching for the sunlight on the other side and covered about 10ft of space horizontally.

It's done less well in the last two years despite being hardy, I think caused by a period of harsh weather/frost that came late in the spring after the new buds had already started to grow. Despite this setback its still a mass of colour and bees love it - its right by the house so the delicately shaded mauve flowers can be seen while I'm typing this from my dining room table.

If you have a shady wall that needs colour I would really recommend giving this a try!

Again I bought mine from Crocus - here's the link to buy it on their site.

http://www.crocus.co.uk/plants/_/clematis-alpina-frances-rivis/classid.856/

Plant of the week - Tulip 'Flaming Parrot'

My first plant of the week is this fantastic tulip - 'Flaming parrot'. I really do love tulips, and I have a few different varieties in the garden. This beauty caught my eye this morning as it had just opened the day before. I love the boldness of the colours and the texture of the petals. My daughter also commented that if you look straight down into the flower it almost looks like the English flag!

I've naturalised these at the edge of the lawn and purposely avoid mowing that area (there are snakeshead fritillaries growing there as well) and they seem to be happy being left in the ground throughout the year.

Much more exciting than those boring old red tulips!

I usually buy my bulbs from Crocus - the quality of their bulbs is excellent and they come lovingly packed. The link to them on their site is here: 
http://www.crocus.co.uk/plants/_/tulipa-flaming-parrot/classid.2000014411/

My very first post!

Each week I will highlight one of the plants in my garden, with a photo of it at its full glory, and let you know a bit about why I chose it and why I love it.

I'm not an expert just a keen enthusiast who loves all things that grow, so these are my own trials and tribulations, advice and experience, recommendations and warning.

I hope some of this will be useful to someone out there...