Horticultural highlight of the week (2014 week 16) - Tulipa 'cummins'

I think I've probably got a bit of a tulip obsession, and of course I love the unusual, whether its in my garden or otherwise.

This tulip is a fantastic colour - an old-fashioned 'mauve' and the fringed tips of the petals catch the sun giving a frilly halo to each bloom.

Tulip 'Cummins' - opened flower

On the unopened flowers this fringing can almost appear like rows of teeth!

Tulip 'Cummins' - unopened flower

And of course these are perfect to capture in close up with my squidcam macro lens...

Tulip 'Cummins' closeup taken with squidcam macro lens for iPhone 5

Tulip 'Cummins' closeup taken with squidcam macro lens for iPhone 5

As with most bulbs I buy, I got these from Avon Bulbs

Horticultural highlight of the week (2014 week 15) - Clematis Alpina 'Frances Rivis'

Already mentioned as 'plant of the week' back in May 2013, this beautiful clematis just keeps getting better every year. It's flowered about a month earlier this year, probably because we had a very mild winter this year. Last year we had a severe winter with some late frosts. Fascinating that this variation can shift the flowering period so dramatically.

I've already described this clematis in some detail - follow this link for the original post. I am going to attempt to take some cuttings of this to bring to the new garden. Watch this space for the results.

Here's a photo of the blooms this year - more impressive than last year.

Clematis Alpina 'Frances Rivis'

Of course, I have added some macro shots of the flowers this time too.

Clematis Alpina 'Frances Rivis' - closeup of stamens - squidcam macro lens

Clematis Alpina 'Frances Rivis' - closeup of flower - squidcam macro lens

Horticultural highlight of the week (2014 week 14) - Mahonia (unknown variety)

The mahonia in our garden was already well-established when we moved here seven years ago, although it was crowded out by a tangle over overgrown roses and a 30ft leylandii (which we had removed immediately - as it was only 10ft from the back of the house.

Since then the mahonia has thrived, although I think it doesn't like shade - it against a north facing fence and grows out away from it as if its stretching for the light.

It's positioned right by the back doors - which means we are able to appreciate the amazing display of colour (and more importantly its heady sweet scent) even when its too cold to amble out into the garden in the morning.

Mahonia (unknown variety) in full bloom

The amazingly intense flowers are very short-lived lasting maybe just one or two weeks before they fade, however the blooms transform into delicate metallic purple-blue berries (probably poisonous) which reach full size by autumn.

The bush itself is a compact 4ft high dense clump of evergreen (but very prickly) leaves. The dead leaves do not break down well as they are thick and waxy like holly leaves, so watch out when clearing up underneath the bush - the leaves have been the cause of some foul language they are that sharp!

Another one I will be repeating in the new garden - I managed to take three successful cuttings last year - it seems to respond well to this. I also sends out shoots underground so small saplings appear all around it.

Of course I have some lovely macro shots of the flower buds taken in February as well as some of the opened flowers taken in early April. Macro shots were taken with my iPhone 5 and squidcam macro lens

Mahonia flower buds (closeup taken with squidcam macro)

Mahonia flower buds (closeup taken with squidcam macro)

Mahonia flowers (closeup taken with squidcam macro)

Horticultural highlight of the week (2014 week 13) - Snakeshead Fritillary (Fritillaria meleagris)

Another late post - I'm doing my best to catch up, currently about three weeks behind!

I'm always amazed that this is a native wildflower in the UK, as it has the air of a tiny exotic, with its intricate chequerboard pattern (almost like snakeskin). I've never seen one in the wild, I'm guessing its a rarity these days.

Snakeshead Fritillary (Fritillaria meleagris)

I bought a handful of each of two varieties - the usual purple/white check and pure white. After two years of both flowering, I haven't seen any white ones this year, and only four of the purple ones. I'm not sure if the bulbs have a limited lifespan or if squirrels have been digging them up (there's possible evidence of squirrel activity in the garden in that several baby horse chestnuts have appeared).

I've naturalised them in grass which is where they look best, as their leaves are long and linear like grass. I'll definitely be adding a few clumps of these delicate gems when I get to my our garden (wherever that is) although I probably won't bother with the pure white variety again.

Snakeshead Fritillary (Fritillaria meleagris) with aphids!

Horticultural highlight of the week (2014 week 12) - Honesty (Lunaria annua)

The silvery seed pods of honesty remind me of secondary school art lessons - still life drawing in particular. Drape a cloth over some boxes on a table, add one violin, a sheeps skull, some other random objects 'acquired' from the biology room and garnish with some dead stems of honesty. Also known as 'silver dollar' the seed pods are silvery and papery, you probably know them even if you can't put that name to them.

Much as I loved still life drawing, I now prefer honesty flowers and they are now one of the earliest splashes of colour in the garden. They are incredibly good at self-seeding - they now exist in all the places where I didn't originally plant them (including growing out of cracks between the house and paving. If you get enough of them they create an amazing purple mist that attracts bees and butterflies.

Honesty (lunaria annua)

Honesty (Lunaria annua) - self-seeded in a dry patch by the greenhouse

They can start to look a bit scraggy one the flowering is over - which is a matter of weeks. It takes some time for the seed pods to mature - so there's a long period where they don't look their best.

I grew mine from seed, bought from Thompson & Morgan. They are perennial, and don't flower in the first year but they are super-easy to grow and once you have them, you've got them for life.

And here's the gratuitous close-up (of course taken with my squidcam macro lens)...

Honesty (lunaria annua) - close up taken with squidcam macro lens

Horticultural highlight of the week (2014 week 11) - Hellebore (unknown variety)

Hellebores are actually the first flower to appear in my garden but they are a bit of a slow burner and (in my opinion) don't actually reach their full glory for several weeks after first appearing. The first hellebore flower appeared in January, and in mid-March they are still going strong and making an impact, even though they are now competing with narcissi, muscari and primroses.

The varieties in my garden were here when I arrived, purple, white and some pale purple and all clumped together - I've since separated them - they do well in shady spots so I've moved them to the side of the garden sheltered by the fencing. They're easy to dig up and replant - the roots are compact and loose and the plants seem to suffer no harm from being moved.

Helleborus (unknown variety)

They self-seed incredibly easily, in fact the areas around the mature plants are dotted with babies - they are almost weed-like in their proliferation. The tiny black mustard-like seeds are easy to collect. I usually just weed the offspring out - but as we are probably moving this year I am going to nurture a few of them to take with me - although I won't be sure of their colour pedigree until they flower.

Helleborus (unknown variety)

To allow the flowers to really stand out, I cut back all the previous year's evergreen foliage to ground level once the flower stems have reached full height. The foliage is usually starting to look a bit tired and ragged by then anyway. It doesn't seem to hard the plants - new foliage re-appears every year.

Helleborus (unknown variety)

Helleborus (unknown variety - white)

As is the rule for 2014, here's a squidcam macro shot of one of my hellebores.

Helleborus - close up of stamens using squidcam macro lens 

Horticultural highlight of the Week (2014 week 10) - Primrose (Primula vulgaris)

This is one of my favourite and best-loved native wildflowers and sit heads and shoulders above the gaudily coloured 'polyanthus' seen in cultivated beds on many a British roundabout and village green. Here in Sussex the advent of spring is marked by numerous clumps of primroses as much as it is by swathes of daffodils and I was very happy when one decided to self-seed itself in my herb garden.

Primrose (primula vulgaris) caught in March sunshine

That was about four years ago, and after the first year, and my efforts to carefully transplant the tiny flowerless offspring of the initial coloniser, they are now firmly established in the garden. It appears to favour well-drained soil and partial shade where it thrives - the plants that have seeded in the part-shaded gravel areas in the garden seem to be stronger and more upright, as seen here where one has appeared in the gravel surrounding the greenhouse.

Primrose (primula vulgaris)

I've now got tens of plants that appear in shady corners of the garden every spring - one of the first real signs that warmer weather is on its way.

Of course the 2014 editions of 'plant of the week wouldn't be complete without a couple of squidcam macro shots.

Primrose (Primula vulgaris) taken with Squidcam macro lens

Primrose (Primula vulgaris) taken with Squidcam macro lens

Horticultural highlight of the week (2014 week 9) - Narcissus 'February Gold'

The first 'plant of the week' of 2014 is a bit of a blatant excuse to post some photos with my recently purchased squidcam lens for my iPhone 5 - which has a great macro lens which of course is fantasitc for some amazing close-ups of flowers, plants, insects and nature in general!

Anyway these little beauties opened up in to the world last week and provide a welcome splash of colour in an otherwise dull and soggy garden. The original bulbs were planted in November 2011 so have started to form nice clumps. Bulbs purchased from Avon Bulbs.

The photos speak for themselves really.

Clump of narcissi 'february gold' -  with aphid!

Rain-splashed narcissus 'february gold'

Narcissus 'february gold' - close-up of trumpet - taken with SquidCam macro lens

Narcissus 'february gold' - close-up of trumpet with water droplets - taken with SquidCam macro lens

Plant of the week - Chinese Lanterns (Physalis alkekengi)

Just in time for hallowe'en and brightening up the view into the garden with pumpkin-like orange seed pods are this weeks choice - chinese lanterns.

Chinese lanterns - Physalis alkekengi

This was my second attempts at growing these plants from seed - the first year I tried, every plant was instantly devoured by slugs and snails as soon as they were planted out. This year I transplanted the young plants into a pot, protected with copper tape, which has worked well to protect them from hungry gastropods.

I'd also read that physalis can spread rapidly throughout the garden if unchecked, so better to contain them in a pot. That's worked well as they are on the patio and in full view from inside the house.

I got my seeds from Thompson and Morgan and they were easy to germinate in the greenhouse - the plants in the photo are now two years old - so not long to wait to see the rewards. Despite their almost poisonously bright colouring, you can eat the fruit from some physalis species -  they are hidden inside the 'lanterns' - I remember them as being bitter but juicy when I tried, and subsequently discovered that P. alkekengi is not grown for its tasty fruit!

Chinese lanterns - Physalis alkekengi

Fortunately their ornamental value outweighs the inedible nature of this species. And no, I didn't adjust the colour on these photos!

Plant of the Week - Clematis 'unknown variety'

It's fantastic that there are still flowers in my garden into early october, it keeps the bees visiting! This clematis was in the garden before I was here and is growing through the hedge by the patio along with a rogue honeysuckle, which is also still flowering. It hides away for most of the year and its foliage and flowers only appear from inside the hedge come early autumn, like a last-minute dinner making a grand entrance.

I have no idea what type of clematis this is if anyone can identify it for me I'd be most grateful.

Clematis - 'unknown'

I love it because its late flowers offer a brilliant opportunity to get some close-ups of the insects that are visiting the flowers. They seem less bothered by my camera lens nosing in on them while they gather pollen and nectar at this time of year. I can sense their instinct that time is running out and their feeding time of year is drawing to a close. Today I saw hoverflies, bumblebees, wasps and several honey bees like the one below.

Clematis flower with honey bee

I'm planning to take several cuttings of this plant so that I can grow one over the fence on the opposite side, which is bare at the moment (my Clematis 'Oberon') seems to have died. The leaves are thick and a beautiful green with a lovely soft serrated edge. The freshness of this plant really stands out in the garden at this time of year.

Clematis 'unknown' - flowers and foliage

Plant of the week - Oenothera (Evening Primrose)

There's still a lot going on in my garden at the end of September, but my choice for this week took me by surprise. The evening primrose has had a second wind and exploded in a flurry of large yellow flowers - it had already flowered in late summer, producing blooms at a fairly modest rate, but it looks like this is it's 'swan song'.

Evening Primrose - Oenethera

What's also unusual is that its flowers are open during the day, rather than opening during the late evening as it did during the summer (hence it's name). This means it's being visited by bees rather than moths as you can see on the right hand side of the shot above. It feels like this one was desperate to stock up for the winter months - visiting every flower several times to make sure none were overlooked.

It was hanging around long enough for me to capture some great shots of it, body and legs dripping in pollen, gorging itself inside one of the flowers.

Evening primrose & Buff-tailed bumblebee (queen)

Evening primrose & Buff-tailed bumblebee (queen)

I pinched some seeds that were growing wild by the road at the end of the street. That was last year, and I already have mature plants. I suspect these will be self-seeding and start to pop up everywhere but I really don't mind!

Plant of the week - Cyclamen hederifolium

The first cyclamen in our garden were donated by my Mum - spring flowering - one white and one-pink. I was fascinated by the size and shape of the bulb which didn't seem to correlate with the tiny delicate flowers and leaves of this ephemeral plant, which disappears without a trace after its flowering spell only to re-appear again each year as if by magic.

I immediately fell in love with their delicate tiny flowers, and their early-flowering nature added to their appeal. But buying the bulbs or plants is quite expensive (about £5 per plant or £1 per bulb) so I decide to have a go at growing my own.

Two years on and my hard work and patience has paid off - there are now several of these tiny plants established in secret corners of the garden. I only just spotted these a couple of days ago as I was trudging up the soaked lawn. I was amazed to discover that the flowers appear before the leaves (the leaf in this shot is a fallen hollyhock).

Cyclamen hederifolium

Germination was a bit of a drawn out affair - soaking the seeds, covering with vermiculite and keeping them warm in a sealed plastic bag - but several months later they sprouted, and two years later they are flowering. I'm hoping the carpet of tiny gems will get bigger year on year. This kind of gardening is all about patience! These ones are autumn flowering - so I get two cyclamen fixes each year.

Cyclamen hederifolium

Plant of the week - Nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus)

A belated post from last week - 12th september

Strange to say that I was hard pushed to decide on the plant for this week. It may be mid-september but there's still lots going on and lots of little beauties popping up as autumn takes a grip.

What caught my eye this week was a clump of little nasturtiums tucked away in the strawberry patch and this especially bright specimen (not PhotoShop enhanced honestly!).

Nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus)

When there's not much colour in the garden that really jumps out at you, this is a little star. I remember chucking some nasturtium seeds in this spot sometime in June when I was having a clearout of old seeds. They are so resilient they don't need any care and will obviously just grow where you throw them.

They are humble plants and often overlooked, but there are some fantastic varieties about and they will self-seed year on year although I am not sure how true the colours are for second and third generation etc.

The best bit about nasturtiums is that you can eat the flowers! They have a slight peppery taste, but they look amazing in a green salad - just make sure they aren't covered in blackfly as mine usually are if they are blooming in mid-summer.

Plant of the week - Blackberry 'Loch Ness'

This weeks' plant is another edible - as there are plenty of sweet juicy fruit in the garden at the moment!

Everyone loves blackberries and we all have childhood (or even adult) memories of picking brambles and cramming them into our mouths, coming home with fingers stained in the deliciously tart purple juice. They are a key ingredient in many a fruit pie and one of the true edible wonders of the British countryside.

Brambles grow everywhere in my garden, I have tough job getting rid of them as they are so invasive. For a couple of years I let them get on with it in one or two remote parts of the garden so that I could gather the fruit for a crumble. But what I didn't like was the scratches and cuts from the thorns. So I invested in a cultivated variety...

Blackberry - Loch Ness

'Loch Ness' really does produce amazingly sweet and juicy fruit, the blackberries are a gorgeous rich velvety black (almost tar-like) colour, and the fruits appear in proliferation. It's thornless, so even little ones (or careless big ones) can pick the fruit without worry of a scratch, its just the spiders you have to watch for when you pop them in your mouth - better to rinse and be safe.

I got mine from Crocus, about 3 years ago, and this year it has really come into its own and produced a bumper crop - the first two years were a bit disappointing, but there are already promises of a good crop next year from the tall strong news stems that have appeared this year. It fruits on the previous year's growth, so once a stem has fruited it needs to be cut back to the ground - taking care not to remove the new stems that will produce fruit the following year.

It doesn't seem to mind the shade - as its growing on a north-east facing wall along with a loganberry. It makes good use of the shady fence that would otherwise be bare.

Bowl of blackberries - 'Loch Ness'

We've already had about 1kg of fruit from one plant - and there are more berries to come. And as if that's not enough, the maple-like leaves become a vibrant shade of orange in autumn before the leaves drop! You can't go wrong...

Plant of the week Blueberry 'Bluecrop'

If I had to recommend just one of the edible plants in my garden then there is no doubt that it would be the blueberry. Even if you have small garden or patio,  there's no excuse as they don't take up much space. Blueberries can be quite expensive in the shops but the plant itself requires very little care other than the acid soil it grows in so growing your own is cost-effective.

I've had mine for about 4 years now and like all fruit bushes, it produces more crop year on year. It's outside in full sun in a pot filled with ericaceous (acid) compost and I only ever water it with rain water (tap water is too alkaline I read somewhere). I do feed it just as its flowering with an ericaceous plant feed.

Blueberry 'Bluecrop' - in a pot filled with ericaceous compost

 I got this plant from Crocus - it came in a small pot - the plant was about a quarter the size it is now. I selected this variety for its heavy cropping and the fact that it self pollinates. I'd read that some blueberries need a partner to help them produce fruit but this has done well all by itself!

The wood pigeons love them - there are a pair of fat ones nearby who are always looking a bit pleased with themselves - probably responsible for eating the entire cherry crop too. But despite this we still managed to get a few bowls full of berries - probably about 1.5kg all in all.

A bowl of delicious blueberries!

Best of all they taste delicious - I only pick them when very ripe - so each one is full of flavour - unlike the supermarket packs which sometimes have 50% bland tasting berries - we have them in crumbles and best of all - with greek yogurt and honey.

Go on - try one at home - I promise you won't be disappointed!

Plant of the week - Crocosmia

There are two important things that I don't know about the crocosmia in my garden. First off, I don't know how they got there, and second, I don't know if I actually really like them. Let me explain...

Crocosmia

I didn't plant any crocosmia, and there weren't any in the garden when we first got here. But then suddenly I noticed them on their silent invasion, in a couple of spots in the garden, unobtrusive, but biding their time.

Then one year I noticed that I was having to pull a lot of the blade like shoots up from various places around the garden, I kept pulling them up - they kept re-appearing. It seemed like they were coming in under the neighbour's fence (or were they actually escaping from my garden into theirs). I'd been throwing them in the compost, but they were surviving and actually growing in the compost. Action was needed - an extermination program.

Aside from the two 'managed' clumps in the garden, I now treat crocosmia in the same way I treat bindweed - all traces of them go to the tip rather than the compost, but its still an ongoing job to keep them under control. The second clump in the garden started off as a couple of leaves which I left as it was in a good spot. A year later and its a huge swathe of leaves and fiery orange blooms.

Crocosmia

So why is such a troublesome specimen now 'plant of the week'? Well secretly I actually love it, its foliage is a great colour, the leaf shape contrasts well with the other plants around it, and it provides a bit of fiery colour at a time when other flowers in my garden are fading. I love its tenacity and hardiness - in the same way a naughty child might always be causing trouble and be under your feet but is still secretly your favourite.

I have a crazy fantasy about digging up a clump and dumping it by the side of the railway cutting by the station, and that in a few years time commuters will be confronted with the sight of a bank of flaming crocosmia on their way from Brighton to London. So if it ever happens - you know how it got there!

Well I don't know how it got into my garden, but I'm kind of glad that it did.

Don't buy the corms - I'll happily send out what I dig up!

Plant of the week - Rose 'Patricia'

I prefer rambling old-fashioned style roses as a rule, but this rose has a special meaning in our house.

The colours really are amazing as you can see from this photo. The blooms are intensely salmon-pink, almost red in the bud, and as they open they show an array of hues from lemon yellow, peach, salmon and fading into a delicate pale pink.

Added to that they smell absolutely delicious!

Floribunda rose - 'Patricia' - blooms half-open

It's a hardy floribunda rose, mine's in a pot and stays outside over winter and has always survived well. Like all roses its prone to the odd outbreak of greenfly, but this year I have been careful not to overwater or overfeed (which encourages rapid growth of soft tasty shoots that greenfly love) and I haven't seem any greenfly on it so far. Maybe the exceptionally dry weather has helped.

Floribunda rose - 'Patricia' - blooms fully open

I'd be interested to hear if anyone else has some organic tips for dealing with greenfly. I've heard that introducing ladybird larvae can help but if anyone has tried this and can recommend I'd love to hear about it.

I bought my potted rose about five years ago from Country Garden Roses.

Plant of the week - Strawberry 'Cambridge Favourite'

Everyone knows you can't beat British strawberries when they are in season. And even better when you can pick them yourself and eat them within seconds of them being picked! Much tastier than the supermarket varieties which have been chilled, travelled and sat around in plastic punnets, the taste of warm fresh strawberries reminds me of going on 'pick your own' expeditions as a child, where the object was to eat as many strawberries as you could without being sick instead of popping them in the basket to pay for them.

I bought three strawberry plants from my local garden centre 'Garden Pride' four years ago. From cultivating the runners and allowing them to spread, I now have a 3 metre long bed full of strawberry plants - the result of my daughter planting twenty plants in the ground two years ago.

First bowl of strawberries 2013 - 'Cambridge Favourite'

I don't give them much care, although they do get attacked by slugs - the wet summer of 2012 meant that most of the strawberries were eaten before they were ready to eat. This year the slugs haven't had much of a chance as July has been exceptionally hot and dry, instead there are a plethora of woodlice eating themselves little hidey-holes in the delicious red berries - disappointingly, some of the reddest berries turn out to be hollow on closer inspection! They taste delicious, even when they aren't quite the traditional pillar-box red - but have to be eaten quickly as they don't last long chilled.

I read that strawberries aren't technically berries. I remember learning in school about the anatomy of a buttercup flower, which is related to the strawberry I think - where the seeds are on the outside of the enlarged flower receptacle. Strange but true!

Plant of the week - Delphinium 'Pacific Giants Mixed'

I tried growing these delphiniums from seeds when I was about twelve years old and can still remember my failure and disappointment to this day. Nigella and calendula were my limits of horticultural expertise way back then.

So of course there's a little bit extra in my smile when I look at these now in my garden, having managed to successful germinate and nurture them to bloom at the age of erm.... twelvety-something. Delphiniums are not the easiest to germinate, but after following the instruction to cover with vermiculite, place the seed tray inside a clear plastic bag (and then kept inside) eventually paid off. I now have about six handsome specimens, which somehow all appeared as shades of blue despite the multicoloured affair shown on the seed packet.

Delphinium 'Pacific Giants Mixed'

My trick to keeping them going has been to protect the young shoots of the plants every spring by means of copper rings. I now have a fine display of blues at the back of the border.

Best of all - bees love 'em! I got my seeds from Thompson and Morgan.