Early Colour

The mild weather has meant that many plants are beginning to flower earlier than usual in our garden. We have already had the ‘Rinjveld’s Early Sensation’ Daffodils  flowering in November and now my Lenten Roses (Helleborus x hybridus) are rearing their beautiful heads, crowning the handsome deep green leaves below. We have a particularly striking apple green seedling that is covered in strong bud branches and about to show off the freckled flowers with matching fluffy stamens that complete the picture.

 All this activity has encouraged me to begin tidying up my borders, although I am wary that we could still get a spell of hard weather. At the moment, plants are suffering from wind scorch on their unseasonally soft growth rather than frost damage, which has been the case for the past three winters! Tender plants such as Penstemon and hardy Fuchsias may look scruffy but all of the old growth will need to remain for another month or two if I can bear it! Never the less, the borders are taking on a different feel as the green shoots of Daffodils and Snowdrops begin to pierce through the soil, along with the perennials  Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’, Hemerocallis (Day Lilies) and Pulmonaria ‘Blue Ensign’. Pulmonarias are such useful plants for shade and early colour – often starting to flower in January and February, when there is usually very little apart from evergreens to give interest.

Evergreens are the furniture of the garden and still give the most interest at the moment. The Myrtle (Luma) that I planted as a cutting from my grandmother’s garden years ago is now a huge tree. The tiny, deep green leaves are very wind proof and the bark is now mature enough to take on a beautiful cinnamon colour despite the local cats using it as a scratching post! Of course, plants that are known as ‘semi evergreen’ such as Abelia and shrubby winter flowering Honeysuckles have also kept their leaves because of the mild weather and we even have a semi evergreen climbing Honeysuckle Lonicera ‘Halliana’, in flower! The Hebes in the front garden have made pleasing, evergreen mounds and one has fluffy white flower clusters, which are more usually out in late summer, when they attract butterflies and moths.

 My Miscanthus grasses have looked amazing all winter; their leaves and stems bleached out to faded browns and the skeletons of the feather duster flowers hung on until the last vicious gale that we had stripped them bare. There are already plenty of new shoots coming up from the ground, so I have removed the old growth and chopped it up into short lengths for the compost heap.

One of the bins is ready to be turned and the compost closest to the base is rotted enough to use as mulch over any bare soil as I tidy the borders. This really does help to keep the weeds down and will help to protect my Crocosmia clumps if hard weather does threaten the soft shoots that are appearing. 

Mr McGregor

Winter Borders Are the Most Dramatic of Them All

For many gardeners, the months preceding winter can be a depressing time. At this time of year, whilst there is the beauty of changing leaves and the excitement of planting bulbs for next spring, a lot of garden duties are clearance. Dying leaves, withering stems, the last fading flowers dropping their blooms signals an end to the year and a draining of garden exuberance. However, winter can offer some magical qualities for the garden, and not only is this time of year perfect for transplanting and putting in new shrubs, but pick the right plants and you can have fantastic interest throughout the colder months of the year.

Winter, perhaps more than any other season, is about creating drama in your borders, pots and green retreats. Spring brings the tender new leaves of plants, and summer is about a deluge of blooms and vigorously flowering borders, but the colder months offer the chance to create visual flair against a dark backdrop. Any hint of green will draw the eye, any eruption of colour will stir the senses, and it is for this reason that I adore the winter period.

Depending on your garden size and shape it’s important to consider planting possibilities. A dozen or so cyclamen or clumps of snowdrops can make a dramatic impact if placed in borders of a small garden. However, spread them through a larger garden, or around corners which cannot be seen from the house, and the visual impact is instantly lost. In you can’t afford to buy in bulk, consider planting containers on your patio or pots on your porch instead. And though planting winter window baskets is lovely, unless you have additional colour in your garden to pull your interest, your eye will go no further than the petals in your window boxes.

It’s not all down to blooms however, and some of the most visually stunning plants for winter offer not flowers, but fruit and stems. Cornus (Dogwood) comes in a various number of coloured stems including orange, red and yellow, and whilst plants can be monotonously green throughout the year, their branches become alive with colour during the colder months. This is especially true when set off against the browns, blacks and whites (snow prevailing) of winter. You can use these species in your garden for winter interest, planting two or three specimens together to offer islands of colour in your borders. The vibrancy of hues keeps for a long time even on cut off stems, and if you don’t have any plants but are lucky enough to know someone who does, see if they have some pruned twigs to spare. These can be pushed into the ground throughout borders or even pots to create colourful drama and you may even find that a few push out roots when the spring weather arrives.

If you have silver birches in your garden, cut down any obscuring foliage so that you can see the glistening trunks in full view. Meanwhile, leave pruning of plants producing red berries such as pyracantha, cotoneaster and holly until very late winter when birds will have taken most of the colour away. Callicarpa is an additional plant which offers luminous berries, this time of purple, and is a great winter season garden addition.

There is no need for winter gardens to be dull and soulless. Whilst you may not be spending much time in your oasis, adding colour in view of windows will draw your eye out into the garden through the long cold months. And whether you plant up visual containers, scatter winter beauties through borders, or offer some architectural elegance with vivid stems, the drama can be just as magnificent as at any other time of year.

This post was written by Geoff Wakeling, author of the popular gardening blog; The Guide to Gay Gardening

A Gardening Event in Woking

Another big weekend is coming up at the end of this month and this time, Mrs McGregor and I will be visiting Woking in Surrey for the Snowdrop Splendour event. It takes place on the 29^th and 30^th January and it sounds like an excellent days outing; Lady Christine Skelmersdale a bulb expert will be talking about snowdrops, which will be quite interesting as they are a flower I don’t know too much about.

 The event organisers are also planning to show a range of Galanthus, both common and uncommon that is available to buy. I think this is why Mrs McGregor wants to go; there will also be bulbs and plants for winter interest to look at.

This is sure to be quite an interesting and fun day out. I think the children are quite glad they aren’t coming; I’m sure my daughter will be in her bedroom all day on her computer whilst talking to her friends on Skype and my son will be on his PlayStation (something Mrs McGregor and I beginning to regret giving him for Christmas).

Mr McGregor

Gardening jobs for January

It is the New Year and time to start our resolutions and if your resolution is to tend to your garden more often we have some great starting points for you to begin the year of gardening with.

Here are our top jobs to do in the garden for January:

1.       Snowdrops – Now is the time to get yourselves kitted out with some beautiful Snowdrops. They are elegant flowers that decorate lifeless borders in an instant and easy to grow.

2.       Start ordering/planning – This is the best time for you to start planning your summer flowering and start ordering. Take a look at our summer flowering bulbs today and see what you could be growing in your garden this summer.

3.       Prepare for strong winds – When January comes, so do high winds. Stake any young trees if you haven’t already and ensure all fence posts and archways are secured properly.

4.       Clear you flower borders – Getting rid of debris and having a general clean up of the borders with your garden rake will make planting new bulbs and flowers so much more pleasurable.

5.       Prune you Buddleias, apple and pear trees – Fruit trees are dormant at the time fo year, which is perfect for pruning and thinning out.

6.       Mulch – Your borders will be glad to receive some mulching, the soil will soak in all the extra nutrients you are giving it. Use well rotted manure, compost or leaf mould and spread a layer as thick as 2 inches.

Notcutts