Planning ahead for Summer harvests

It's damp and disgusting outside.  Yes. I've got a couple of camellias in flower and Helleborus corsicus has popped out the first flower of the winter but the rest of the garden is a bit bleak.  Just the weather for snuggling indoors thinking about the summer and possible harvests.

I used to have an allotment but age and some physical problems forced me to give it up.  But we missed the fresh flavour of home grown salad and vegetables.  So I looked at the small patio at the end of the rear garden and set up a container vegetable plot atop the bare slabs of a sitting area we hardly ever used.

It's not a large space.  Room for five 140L containers, various potato bags, some smaller 30L containers and a decorative herb bed.  Alongside is a narrow strip under my west garden wall and a 1 metre square raised bed.  We also have summer space for a few tomatoes and chilli peppers under the canopy outside the kitchen.

It's been worthwhile - and also quite decorative.  Take potatoes.  I only grow early and salad potatoes in my half dozen potato sacks.  We don't need a lot for the two of us.  Nothing beats the flavour of new potatoes in early summer or a good salad potato later in the year.  You know they are ready to begin harvesting once the flowers have faded but until then the flowers are actually an attraction.  Here's 'Maris Peer' a good second early:

Leafy greens are always a good bet in a small space, particularly if they can be harvested over a long period, a few leaves at a time.  A small container of lettuce perhaps...

..or a patch of mixed rocket and mizuna leaves in my small raised bed

Just enough to add fresh variety to sandwiches and salads.

On a larger scale black kale adapts well to container growing and is happy to tolerate successional leaf picking.  And it's certainly decorative.

Other suitable container crops require a longer term approach.  I grow garlic in one of my 140L tree tubs.  The cloves are planted in late October, overwinter happily and are ready to harvest in June, just in time for the space to be occupied by a quicker to harvest crop such as the salad leaves above.

Maria loves runner beans.  Picked when young and tender for preference I've not succeeded with them till last summer, young plants succumbing to my ever present slugs and snails.  This year I succeeded.  This is 'Enorma' growing up canes in a tree tub:

Easy to understand why this bean was first grown as decorative climber and only later used for food.

Has it been worthwhile?  Financially, probably not.  Containers aren't cheap though they'll last long.  Compost and fertiliser is quite expensive given the quantities needed to refresh the tubs.  But the convenience of picking absolutely fresh produce for instant use far outweighs the monetary hit.

 I'm on TV

It's always nice to see one of my garden or plant images used.  It's even nicer to see one on TV.  So, watching on catchup earlier this evening the latest Gardeners World Winter Special episode, I suddenly had the feeling I'd seen this image before:

Much to Maria's consternation, I did a quick rewind and then a pause, did a check through my portfolio of images on the Alamy stock agency website on the tablet and identified the shot.  Muscari armenaicum 'Valerie Finnis', a lovely pale blue grape hyacinth that I photographed in 2014 in my own garden and one of my early uploads to Alamy.

I grow a couple of Muscari, and we grow a lot more in the bulb meadow at The Garden House. but I've always liked this one. So it was enjoyable to see the image used on a BBC programme.  It's not my first TV licence but it's the first I've actually seen on the screen.

I like big leaves

In many ways I could be considered a foliage gardener.  Oh, I like flowers, the more brightly exotic the better, but the attraction of leaves is always foremost in my mind when buying or simply admiring plants.  Leaves simply last longer than often ephemeral flowers and a garden full of interesting foliage retains it's form and structure far longer through the year.  And for the tropical look, the bigger the better.

Which is why I like Fatsia and the closely related Tetrapanax.

Most people will be familiar with the big glossy leaves of the evergreen Fatsia japonica, the Japanese aralia, commonly grown as houseplant but hardy enough to grow unprotected through most of the UK.  It can grow pretty big but is amenable to some pruning for shape.  For years it was a feature adjacent to my small pond but I had to remove it to make way for a connecting path to my daughter's house.  I've not replaced it but I do have my eyes on the rather eye-catching white stippled form 'Spider's Web'.

Possibly slightly less hardy is Fatsia polycarpa from Taiwan.  The foliage is not quite as glossy as F.japonica but the leaflets are more divided, particularly in the selected 'Needham's Form'.

This form is growing well at The Garden House, surviving quite harsh frosts and snow in it's site at Buckland Monachorum on the edge of Dartmoor.  When it flowers in late autumn it's then that you see the big difference between the two species.

These are the flower heads of F. polycarpa...

...while these belong to F. japonica.

If you notice any resemblance to ivy (Hedera) flowers it's not surprising.  Both Fatsia and ivy are in the same Schefflerieae tribe of the Araliacea and can even cross to produce x Fatshedera hybrids.

At one time the Japanese rice paper plant, Tetrapanax papyrifer, was also counted as a Fatsia but has since been moved to its own genus.  Well grown, this has massive leaves, largest of all in the 'Rex' form.  

At the moment mine has a single stem and I can accomodate it's bulk but time will tell whether I can keep it.  It's flowering at the moment and may well sucker next year.  The leaves are barely frost hardy and I usually lose them every winter but the stems seem fine.  As for the flowers I think they're more notable for the brown indumentum on the stems.  I'll leave you to judge,

A Christmas Camellia

It's early this year, often waiting till mid January.  It being Camellia x williamsii 'St Ewe'.  Right by the front door, ready to greet any visitors who need a little floral cheer to brighten bleak midwinter.  A promise of spring to come.

Merry Christmas from John and Maria

Hedychiums

Clearing the now frost touched stems of my ginger lilies this morning made me realise how much I enjoy these very tropical looking perennials. Even in their now brownish state they still look quite interesting.

Rhizomatous perennials from eastern Asia, I only grow a few of the hardier species and varieties.  I'd grow more if I had the room but, alas, space is lacking.  Although their footprint is reasonably compact the tall summer stems, clad with large, undivided leaves, can easily reach 6ft / 180cm or more in the taller varieties. Related to bananas and true gingers, the stems are formed by the overlapping leaf bases, with new foliage emerging from the centre of the elongating stem until, finally, the flower heads emerge.

With me, the earliest to flower is Hedychium 'Stephen', usually by early August.  I actually photographed this clump in my garden in 2012.  13 years later the clump is still extant though the rhizomes have wandered around a bit, been divided (best left till spring), suffered quite heavy frost at times but are still going well. 

The individual flowers are faintly scented, don't last long, but progressively open up the elongated flower head.  Expect about five days flowering per stem, with individual stems maturing at slightly different rates to prolong the season.

Hedychium 'Tara' is, arguably, even more attractive, with big heads of orange flowers above even taller stems.  A statement plant even before it flowers, it's more reliably clump forming than 'Stephen'.

Again, the individual flowers don't last that long, but a decent sized clump can be in flower for a fortnight, usually by early September in my garden. 

If 'Tara' has a failing, it's a lack of scent, not something that can be said about the next two.  I bought my next Hedychium as 'Pink Hybrid' from Hardy Exotics, near Penzance in Cornwall.  I'm not sure of the naming - there does seem to be a lot of confusion - but it's thrived for years in what must be the coldest spot in my garden.  Whatever it is, it's powerfully scented - as long as it flowers before frost has a chance to hit.

It's also, as Hedychium's go, fairly long flowering, with multiple flowers emerging in turn from. the individul buds in the head,

This a characteristic sharde with the equally well scented Kahili ginger, Hedychium gardnerianum.  I grow this one in a large tub at present but it seems to be hardy with me so, as I've recently cleared a space by my south facing back wall, it can go in there, hopefully to clump up and produce increaing numbers of the impressive flower heads.

The final Hedychium I currently grow is H.greenii.  I've written about this one before so I won't go into detail - but here's a picture from the garden taken late September.  It's another late flowering one.

With all of these it's important to leave the clumps in one place for as long as possible.  The rhizomes need time to build up the energy needed to produce the tallest stems and maximum flower heads.  And be aware that they can late to resprout in the spring, often hardly visible till June.  Apart from that a good mulch over the rhizomes in winter; moist, ferile soil; and a position in sun or late shade suits them well.  They certainly provide the tropical touch to any garden.

 

The invasiveness of Gunnera

Every exotic or larger scale water gardener loves the massive leaves and structure of the Brazilian perennial sold as Gunnera manicata.  Hardly surprising, as a clump by the waterside, or in a wet area of a garden, adds a true tropical touch to any planting.

Now it appears we've all been getting it wrong.  According to recent research by the Royal Horticultural Society what's been widely sold as G.manicata is in fact a hybrid between G.manicata and the invasive G.tinctoria, banned fom sale or cultivation in the UK since 2017.  This hybrid, G. x cryptica, has now been found to be equally invasive and will now also be banned from sale and new cultivation.

The research that led to the desicion can be found here, in the journal Sibbaldia.

What this means for gardeners is yet to be seen.  After all, clumps of Gunnera are everywhere.  Will we now be forever denied the sight of sunlight spearing through the massive leaves?

Will some of the great Cornish gardens lose their jungle plantings of the aptly named giant rhubarb? Or will gardeners be allowed to control any invasion risk by removing the massive flower heads before they set and then shed seed to float downstream?

Time will tell, but, if we lose this plant our gardens will be the poorer for it.

It doesn't affect me personally - I simply don't have the room for another plant this size.  But it does affect The Garden House, with a large clump by the arboretum lake, a lake that is fed by and returns into a local Dartmoor stream that eventually feeds the Tamar.  Will we have to remove it?  I don't know - but I'll find out.  I'd miss this view:

 A favourite view at The Garden House

I've been a volunteer at The Garden House since 2016 and have generated thousands of images in that time.  But there are always a few that stand out in the memory as capturing some of the essence and ethos of this remarkable garden.

This is one:

Taken from a vantage point on the south side of the garden it looks over the bank of the quarry garden and across the cottage garden to the taller growth beyond.  Standing sentinal at the edge of cottage garden is a fine example of a triple trunked Betula pendula 'Tristis', a columnar weeping birch just coming into autumn colour. The planting is soft and flowing, a blending of numerous species and varieties of plants, combined to form a tapestry of interest during this late September period. The softer autumn light certainly helps to make the photo stand out but the garden is the star.  I can take the same shot at different times of the year and with each one revealing a different pattern of colour and interest.  To me, that is the mark of a great garden.

Winter's bark

Currently recovering from the effects of whichever bug laid both me and Maria down over the last few weeks a walk round the rather hilly ten acre site of The Garden House made me realise three things.

Firstly, at 73, I don't recover as quickly as I used to.  A mere couple of hours walk was exhausting.  Secondly, even the best of gardens can be bleak in December.  Pregnant with possibility, and an enjoyable walk, but stll bleak.  Thirdly, never underestimate the attraction of colourful bark to provide some winter cheer.

Birches offered a good number of variations, starting with the red-brown peeling bark of Betula utilis subsp. albosinensis 'China Rose'...

...through the subtler red of Betula utilis 'Buckland'....

...to the white of B. 'Festowii'

Maples, Acer species and varieties can also offer excellent bark interest.  Snakebark maples such as Acer davidii 'Ernest Wilson'..,

...or Acer tegmentosum 'White Tigress'....

...provide interesting variations on the same theme, while the brown peeling bark of Acer griseum offers contrasting variety.

Mahogany barked Prunus serrula shone brightly when the sun came out, inviting hands to polish the lustrous bark.

These are all relatively small trees, well suited to add interest to restricted spaces in small gardens.  But if even these are too large it's worth considering one of the shrubby, bright barked cornus varieties such as Cornus alba 'Sibirica'....

...or, for complete contrast, the ghost bramble, Rubus thibetanus.  

Cut back hard after the winter's display, their colourful stems brighten any garden scene.

Cycas revoluta

I took this photo in 2006, at Lamorran House, St Mawes, Cornwall, during my early stages of infatuation with exotic gardening.  On a plinth in a gravel circle was a beautiful potted sago palm, Cycas revoluta, with Butia capitata in the background.

At the time my rear garden had a gravel circle surrounded by dense planting and I thought a sago palm would make an excellent centrepiece, replacing the Phormium that currently occupied the spot.

Sago palms, especially big sago palms, are not cheap, so I bought a small one in the hopes of growing it to a decent size.  Unfortunately they're not hardy, even in a sheltered Plymouth garden.  Dreams became dust one bleak winter.

The gravel circle went, partially sacrificed to build a studio for Maria.  Plants grew,  The space left had no room for a Cycas centrepiece.

But I stll had a hankering for a sago palm.  And this time I had a covered canopy between Maria's new studio which trapped the heat from the house and enabled me to provide winter protection for a number of half-hardy plants.  Enter the latest sago palm.  Again a small one, for cost reasons, but after three winters and two growth flushes it's starting to produce a trunk and very reasonable set of leaves.  

Come the summer it moves around the garden, though I don't change the position during the flushing phase to avoid twisted fronds.  Tough plants, they just need regular watering and feeding during the summer growing season, and that little bit of winter protection to survive my Plymouth climate.

Wintergreen foliage

December can be bleak in English gardens, even ones in the relatively mild maritime climate of the South West.  We may have missed the worst of the recent harsh frosts and snow, though it fell, was fleeting and mostly confined to Dartmoor, but it's still a bit dreary and drab at this time of year.

Yet there is still promise and interest for even the smallest plot.  One such delight lies in brightly patterned wintergreen foliage, produced by perennials that, in the wild, take advantage of leafless winter canopies to bask in what little sun there is before going dormant during the darker months of woodland summers.

Plants such as Cyclamen. C. hederifolium may have flowered back in September but the often ornately patterned leaves persist till spring.  Variation is rife - and certainly adds to winter interest..

Or consider Arum italicum 'Pictum'. Tough and hardy enough to stand up to winter weather, the wintergreen foliage has brightly intricate traceries of silver among a green background.

Both of these can add interest to the winter garden and, because of their summer dormancy, fit nicely among taller growing, summer flowering perennials to provide twelve months interest in even a tiny space.

The snowdrop season has already begun

The Garden House, at Buckland Monachorum, Devon, UK, houses an ever increasing collection of snowdrop species and cultivars.  I'm a volunteer there, helping to document the 10 acre garden as the seasons come and go, and one of the later autumn to early spring joys is getting down to (usually wet) ground level to photograph the 350+ collection of species and cultivars. Getting down is fairly easy - getting up again can, at 73, be more problematic.  But the results are worthwhile.

A fair number of cultivars of the glaucous foliaged Galanthus elwesii flower in November and December.  I don't claim to be a snowdrop specialist but it's always enjoyable to see vigorous clumps of, for example, 'Huggett's Round' in full flower among the last of the autumn display'

Equally vigorous is G. elwesii var. monostictus 'Smaragdsplitter', with green flashes on the outer petals.  Under the careful attention of head gardener Nick Hayward and his garden team and our resident snowdrop expert Pat Eaton this is now flourishing in mutiple sites in the garden

G. reginae-olgae is anothe autumn flowering species, never better than opening wide to bask in the low angled sun.

 As well as the species we grow a number of early flowering hybrids, including this rather lovely, yellow marked G. 'Turkish Delight'

These are but a fraction of the collection.  Most will be on display between mid January and March 2024 when The Garden House snowdrop festival takes place

 

Hippeastrum papilio

Big and blowsy, the florist's Amaryllis are highly bred cultivars of South American Hippeastrum bulbs.  Definitely decorative as house and greenhouse plants and easy to prepare and flower for Christmas or the early new year they are very popular at this time of year.  But they do lack a little elegance.

Enter the butterfly Amaryllis, Hippeastrum papilio.

Heavily marked with red streaks and flashes against a green and cream base, it lacks the flamboyance of its blowsier cousins but more than makes up for it in elegance.  

I bought my plant a couple of years ago as a potful of small bulbs from Plant World, Devon. It's taken a little while to build up to flowering size but the end result has been well worthwhile.

Care and maintenance has been surprisingly simple.  Unlike it's larger cousins it's almost evergreen and doesn't need a dormant period in autumn to trigger flowering.  Mine goes outside for the warmer months and onto a sunny windowsill for the colder months.  A regular feeding regime - I use a high potash liquid tomato fertiliser - keeps the plant in good health.  Offset bulbs are regularly produced to generate a thicket of strap like leaves outwith the flowering period.  A decent size pot is needed to accomodate it's offset producing habit  - but not too big, the roots do need some restriction.

Endangered in the wild, but readily available in cultivation, it's definitely worth the time and effort to grow.  The results are their own reward.