Innholdsfortegnelse for 29-Sep-2018 i Amateur Gardening

“Why do perfectly beautiful flowers go out of favour and how do they come back in again? Who decides? Is it garden designers? Some of them seem more taken with concrete than flowers! Last year, we were told that the dahlia was back from its fashion exile and now we discover the chrysanthemum is restored to the ‘acceptable’ podium. Whilst I am delighted to hear of their restoration, I do wonder if we should care a jot what garden designers think. Dahlias and chrysanths are amazing, and always will be. Ignore the garden design fashionistas – if you like a plant, then grow it and enjoy it!”…

THE next few months, until the weather warms up and buds start to swell, is the prime time for planting and moving trees and shrubs. For the next few weeks you will probably only be able to buy container-grown plants, but between November and late winter bare-root ‘whips’ will be available. These are very young saplings, often without lateral branches, that come with bare roots. They are cheap to buy, easy to plant and soon become substantial. For now though, whether you are planting or relocating a tree or shrub, the same principles apply, though do remember that after around five years in one spot, you are unlikely to be able to move a tree or shrub successfully. Never plant in frozen or waterlogged soil, do water plants thoroughly beforehand…

WITH the festive season just three months away, it is time to turn your thoughts to any Christmas trees living in pots in the garden. Container trees are a growing trend, and although they don’t have the longevity of trees growing in the soil, they should last several years with the right care and attention. A couple of years ago I bought an attractive little blue fir in a terracotta pot. It has recently started to look a bit sad, with browning needles, so I decided to move it to a larger pot and add fresh compost. No wonder it was ailing – when I managed to loosen the tree I discovered that it was actually growing in a second, much smaller plastic pot lodged inside the terracotta container and…

Different varieties and their cultivars take different lengths of time to bloom. For example, ‘Pink Pearl’ hyacinths need 10 weeks of cool conditions followed by 22 days indoors to flower, while the cultivar ‘Anna Marie’ needs just eight weeks in the cool and 18 days inside to bloom. Narcissus Paperwhite should be started now, while October is traditionally the time to plant your Hippeastrum bulbs.…

1 Clear the bed of any weeds, roots and leftover crops. Give the soil a good raking over to break it up. 2 Manure seeds will take better if they are sown onto damp soil, so water the bed first unless there has been recent heavy rain. 3 The seeds will soon germinate and grow, and the plants will enrich the soil and leave no space for weeds to take root. 4 Next spring, or around a month before the bed is needed, dig in the manure and leave it to rot down into the soil.…

WE try to garden as organically as possible, using vigilance and nature to keep pests at bay. While this works well with large, easy-to-catch pests such as slugs and snails, it isn’t always ideal when faced with a massed invasion, which is what happened to our brassicas. I left it too late to net the sprouts and broccoli so they are now more lace than substance thanks to caterpillars of cabbage white butterflies. However, we may have been given last-minute help by some nifty little insects. Cotesia glomerata is a tiny parasitic wasp that predates caterpillars. The adult wasp lays eggs in the butterfly larvae and the hatching grubs eat the caterpillar before pupating around or near it and beginning a new cycle. I had never seen it happening before,…

ONE of the most valuable crops you can grow has to be garlic, especially when you consider how effortless it is compared to some. The standard method is to plant cloves in situ sometime from late September until November to overwinter and mature the following summer. This works fine, providing you give them good spacing, your soil is rich and your site sunny. However, too often in the UK, our crop may be of mostly smallish bulbs of smallish cloves – perfectly good to use, and tasty, but fiddly to prepare. Obviously, different varieties do better. Growing in containers of enriched compost with careful watering and feeding can improve yields, but risks freezing the roots solid in hard winters with some losses. Simply improving their winter growing conditions gives better…

WITH this summer’s heatwave, I imagine I’m not the only one who’s had a glut of peppers, aubergines, chillies and tomatoes – they’ve been prolific! However, with cooling night temperatures, you’ll have noticed a decline in yields: these sun-loving tender crops need warmth to help ripen their harvest, and that’s been decidedly lacking in the past few weeks. If you’ve still got lots of immature fruits hanging on your plants (which is often the case if your plants were started off a little late) then I have some good news. Here are a few tricks you can use to encourage them to ripen up. Don’t reach for the chutney jars just yet… Next Week: Cover autumn raspberries and perpetual strawberries, clean up shallots, onion and garlic for winter storage, change…

WE really should get more excited by currants and gooseberries. We love the flavour – there’s nothing quite like a traditional summer pudding – but tend to assume that the plants don’t need much looking after. So we pick the fruit, prune (if we don’t forget) and then wonder why they’re not doing as well as they might. The fact is, by choosing the right varieties, and giving them just a little care and attention, it’s possible to improve the crop dramatically. Rather than barely enough for a couple of pies, you could have ample fruits to freeze – to enjoy garden-grown berries now and at Christmas. A well-grown currant or gooseberry bush can reach 6ft (1.8m) high and yield 5kg of fruit a year. Are yours growing that well?…

Regular pruning of your currants and gooseberries is essential to produce good crops, and it doesn’t take long. Here’s how: BLACKCURRANTS Fruit best on young growth. In winter, cut about one third of the growth back to soil level, concentrating on the oldest black-stemmed shoots. RED AND WHITE CURRANTS These fruit best on mature growth. Aim, first, to build up a framework of branches carrying fruiting spurs (as you do with apples), by cutting main shoots back by half and side shoots to one bud. Then prune in winter, cutting all new growth back to two buds. GOOSEBERRIES Shorten the current season’s growth to five leaves in summer. Then, in winter, cut all side shoots back to one to three buds.…

Hosta ‘Forbidden Fruit’ This large hosta has thick leaves with a golden centre and a blue margin, which will put off the slugs and snails. It has lavender-coloured summer flowers Osmunda regalis Along with all other ferns, the royal fern repels slugs and snails. It is deciduous, reaches about 5ft (1.5m) in height and enjoys a damp spot in partial shade Hosta ‘Blue Mouse Ears’ This small hosta has rounded ‘mouse-ear’ leaves in blue. The leaves are thick, with lavender flowers in June and July. Creates a clump just 6in (15cm) in height Stipa gigantea Ornamental grasses are not attractive to slugs and snails. This striking golden oats grass is a tufted evergreen reaching 6½ft (2m). Ideal in full sun in a well-drained soil Rosemary officinalis…

Pinch out growing tips when there are four or five pairs of leaves – this will encourage plenty of side shoots. Use plant supports – either an obelisk, tepee of canes or netting – and put these in place before planting out. Tie in young shoots to show them where they need to climb. Plant out in late March or April, in a sunny spot. Chop up comfrey leaves and add to your planting holes. These will add potassium to the soil and help ensure lots of flowers. Pick regularly to prevent plants from setting seed.…

Will winter kill my Zantedeschia? Q How can I successfully grow Zantedeschia and keep it flowering? Would they survive winter in the garden? M Freeland, Claygate, Surrey AZantedeschia aethiopica is not reliably hardy here, but should do well in a warm and sheltered spot, well watered in the growing season. They can be grown as a pond marginal or in a bog garden, or in ordinary soil that doesn’t dry out. They can cope with full sun, but do better in partial shade and appreciate added organic matter at planting time and in winter to protect the crowns from frost. Zantedeschia do well in pots unless they are crowded. If this happens, divide them and repot in fresh compost when buds start to swell in spring. You can cut the…

1 Should the roots be dry, soak before planting. If the planting hole seems dry then water that, too. 2 From pots, gently tease out roots stuck in a pot shape. Make sure the compost surface remains at soil level. Sprinkle a product containing mycorrhizal fungi on the roots to aid establishment. 3 Make sure any established summer-fruiting raspberries have been pruned, and selected stems tied in to supporting wires. Tension 3 parallel wires between posts, the highest at 5½ft (1.6m). 4 Young or old, raspberries benefit from mulching over moist soil in spring and autumn.…

‘Woodstock’ Densely packed blooms are a rich magenta-purple pink with deep purple stems. Great with gold foliage, or alongside paler blooms. ‘Gipsy Queen’ Not for the faint-hearted, these stiffly erect spikes of apricot salmon flowers will make a real statement in the garden. ‘Yellowstone’ Cheerful canary yellow blooms maturing to a creamy, buttery yellow are a fine sight against bright green stems and foliage. ‘Anastasia’ Multiflora hyacinths are more delicate in form, with wider spaces between beautifully formed flowers. This one is deep blue with dark stems.…

We have two prizes to give away this week, each containing a 400g Peckish Daily Goodness ready-to-use feeder and a 400g Peckish Complete ready-to-use feeder. The Peckish Daily Goodness feeder is ready to use and filled with Peckish Daily Goodness Nuggets that are packed with suet, peanuts and mealworms. The Peckish Complete Easy Feeder is a refillable bird feeder that provides a ready-to-use complementary feed for wild birds. Included in the Easy Feeder is the high-energy, no-mess Peckish Complete Easy Feed All Seasons seed mix. We have two sets of feeders to give away, with each feeder worth £4.99. See below for details of how to enter the draw. How to enter Send your name and address on the back of a postcard to Peckish Feeders Draw (29 September), Amateur…

THE very best bits of BBC1’s Antiques Roadshow are when taken-for-granted tut turns out to be valuable. There was the Ming ‘fruit bowl’ worth £200,000, John F Kennedy’s pre-loved leather jacket at £250,000, and a worthless old door blessed with graffiti by Banksy that sold for £403K! Sadly, unlike those dusty heirlooms in the attic, plants don’t become more valuable with age: they just fall from fashion, outgrow their space and end up in the shredder. Or so I thought… While filming in North Devon this week, I met serendipitous gardener Margaret Jewell, who has an amazing collection of dwarf conifers. Back in the 1990s, when everyone else was ripping these ugly ducklings out, Margaret looked at hers and saw swans! Instead of getting rid of them, she trained hers…

SHRUBS and trees are the framework of the garden around which everything else is planted. Deciduous or evergreen, they give height, depth and substance, and create focal points and vistas. While most look their best in spring and summer, autumn and winter are when the gardener does most of his or her arboreal nurturing. This is the prime time for planting and relocating, and November through to February is when bare-root plants are readily available (see opposite page). When it comes to pruning, most species should be left until late autumn and winter when they are completely dormant and won’t bleed lots of sap. The exceptions to this rule are walnut, magnolia and the prunus family (cherries, peaches, nectarines, apricots and almonds), which are trimmed between April and July. Also,…

If, like me, you were an enthusiastic purchaser of plants through the summer, you may have several still waiting for room in your borders. They may not survive winter in their original container, so repot them into one that is slightly larger. Keep them well watered and sheltered until next spring when they can be planted out once temperatures have risen. Young trees should also be supported with a stake and tie, secured in a figure-of-eight. This keeps them stable with room for movement against the wind, which will help strengthen the roots.…

1 Remove the tree from its pot. If it is root-bound, cut away the plastic. If it is in a clay pot, soak the roots first so they slide out more easily. 2 Carefully tease out any roots that have become constricted or started to circle the rootball. 3 Repot the tree in a mix of John Innes No3, which is robust enough to feed the tree, and grit to help drainage and prevent root compaction. 4 Plant to the depth of the rootball and infill with compost and grit, firming it down to remove air pockets. Water well.…

1 Place some bulb fibre in a bowl that is deep enough for the bulbs, but still allowing their tops to show. 2 Dampen the compost, but make sure it’s not soggy otherwise the bulbs will rot. Tip the bowl to drain excess water. 3 Place the bulbs on the compost so they are close together but not touching each other or the bowl. 4 Add more compost until the body of each bulb is covered but the tops are just peeking out the top. 5 Store the pot somewhere cool and dark, either in a cupboard or drawer or wrapped in a black bin liner.…

THE ingenuity shown by gardeners to re-use and recycle, when viewing back gardens from the train and visiting allotments, is always of interest. What would we do without pallets, to dissemble and reconstruct as compost bins, plant containers, cold frames, even storage boxes and old sheds? Then there are the reused glazed windows discarded by the double-glazing companies and reemployed as cloches and cold frames, and in their original form in homemade sheds. When it comes to supports for nets, fleeces and Environmesh, you name it – someone has found a suitable second hand structure. “Old compost bags can make good weed suppressors” Strong polythene bags used to carry potting compost, manures and bark products have a multitude of re-uses. Stuff a 20-litre bag with dry grass or fallen leaves,…

SUCCESSFULLY growing from seed has to be one of the most satisfying things a gardener can do. Yes, it take space and nurturing, but it’s all worth it when you think of the wonderful array of ornamentals and fruit and veg that can result from even the tiniest seeds. Autumn and spring are key sowing times, though different types of seed have different requirements for successful germination. Hardy annuals and perennials can be sown outside now or in spring. Autumn sowings will start to germinate before winter and the seedlings will sit tight through all but the very worst conditions and come back to life next spring. Half-hardy annuals and perennials are more tender than their hardy cousins and need to be sown undercover in spring. Harden off the seedlings…

1 Before the hard frosts come, bring your citrus, pelargoniums, tender herbs and any similar plants back under cover – somewhere bright, cool and frost-free. 2 Stop regularly watering most tender plants growing under cover. From now on, give just enough water to stop them wilting. 3 Store marrows and pumpkins in a warm, dry room to ripen their skins, then keep them in a cooler dry place. 4 Collect up everything that’s fading and dying, so you can compost it before the weather withers much of the value away.…

INTEREST in British wines is on the rise! In the past 10 years, the number of commercial UK vineyards has increased by 30% and the home counties won three Best in Show medals at this year’s World Wine Awards. For those of us with more modest ambitions, it’s still hugely rewarding to grow a couple of these evocative vines. A greenhouse is the best environment for dessert varieties such as ‘Muscat of Alexandria’ and ‘New York Muscat’ while wine grapes such as ‘Pinot Noir’ and ‘Chardonnay’ are happy in a sunny, free-draining spot outside. The secret to successful ripening is heat, so this should be a bumper year for grape-growers! Indeed, the two indoor vines I take care of are looking the best I’ve ever seen them. We’ve been watching…

OWNERS of trained plums, cherries, gages and peaches, take note: you must prune them now or wait until next summer. Collectively referred to as stone fruits this group, which also contains nectarines and apricots, can only meet with secateurs during the warmer, drier months. If pruned in the winter, these trees become vulnerable to silver leaf fungus and bacterial canker infections – both of which can be life-shortening for the tree. The problems are encouraged by cool, wet weather, which is why summer pruning bypasses the issue. If you own free-standing, globe-shaped trees then no pruning is necessary. However, for those of you (like me) who train them as fans against walls or fences, a quick prune is needed now to cut back summer’s extension growth and keep plants in…

Currants and gooseberries come either pot-grown or bare root (dug from the nursery). Bare-root plants generally offer the widest range of varieties and are usually the best value. Order now for November planting. Bare-root plants establish more quickly if treated with Maxicrop or Seasol. Both currants and gooseberries appreciate a sunny site and fertile, well-drained soil. Shelter from north and east winds is helpful. Prepare your site thoroughly, adding weed-free organic matter. These are hungry plants whose strong growth needs to be encouraged. Plant in autumn, 1in (2-3cm) deeper than their old soil level. Immediately after planting, cut plants back hard to stimulate new shoots.…

I LIVE in a very old house with flagstone floors and gaps under doors, so I have more of a problem with slugs inside the house than with those outside in the garden. In the morning I am met with little silver trails across the kitchen floor. Slugs and snails play an important part in the ecosystem of the garden and provide food for birds, and mammals such as the hedgehog. Slugs also eat decomposing vegetation, which helps to speed up the composting process, so they are not all bad. Although you might think you want a garden (and a house) completely free of these molluscs, you would soon miss them. The UK climate is perfect for slugs and snails, and they breed rapidly in damp weather. Slugs spend a…

‘Matucana’ Said to be the most fragrant of all sweet peas. Purple and plum-coloured petals make a sumptuous combination, and while the stems are short and the flowers smaller than modern sweet peas, that scent is truly intoxicating! H: 6 1/2ft (2m). ‘Almost Black’ A modern grandiflora sweet pea that combines the best attributes of Spencer types with the heady perfume of the old-fashioned varieties. With luscious flowers in the darkest purple (hence the name) and long stems. H: 6 1/2ft (2m).…

Chrysanths are increasingly popular in containers. Bought in bud, they are often grouped in seasonal displays with pumpkins and dried corn – then composted once they’re over. However, the Mezzo and Prelude series can be bought as young plants, grown on and planted three to a 30cm pot or five to a 40cm pot, for flowering from September onwards. Tidy the plants up once flowering finally finishes, keep them in a bright corner and they should bloom again the following year.…

Q What is this gorgeous plant in my garden? Mrs Maureen Stone, Welwyn Garden City, Herts A It is clary sage ( Salvia sclarea turkestanica ) and grows to around 4ft (1.2m) or so. It is a biennial and dies after flowering. However, because of its genetic variability it may prove to be a perennial and will delight your garden for years to come. Q Please could you identify this caterpillar? Gerald Tryllon, Margate, Kent A This is a pale tussock moth caterpillar. Its tufts of yellow hairs distinguish it from any other species. The caterpillars feed on a range of deciduous trees and shrubs, and it used to be a pest of hops when they were more widely grown. It is fairly common throughout England and Wales. Q How…

Of cabbages and things! We are now in autumn, and this was traditionally the one season devoid of home-grown cabbages! You could sow seeds of (and grow) summer, winter and spring cabbages, but autumn cabbage varieties didn’t really exist. However, over the past few decades, plant breeding has enabled us to grow these vegetables all year round. So let’s look at some of the stories surrounding the humble – but ever so great – cabbage! Cabbages are from the Cruciferae plant family, which contains many plants – both edible and decorative. It is also known as the mustard family. The word Cruciferae comes from the Latin word for ‘cross’ – think of ‘crucifix’ – and was given to members of this family because the flowers have four petals arranged in…

Cannas ‘can-do’ from seed I THOUGHT I would share a photo of the cannas that I grew from seed. They have loved this year’s weather conditions and I am in ‘canna heaven’ in my small town garden! Lorraine Morton Cheltenham, Glos Wendy says Hi Lorraine. I love the lush, tropical effect of your cannas – such useful plants as they cope well in shade. Your favourite rose varieties... DELIGHTED to read about roses in AG, 1 Sep. Over 60 years ago, my mother took a cutting of the climbing rose ‘Zéphirine Drouhan’ from my grandfather’s garden. She was delighted it had no thorns! It was still flowering after she died and we sold the house in 2008. I retired last year, and imagine my delight when I found the…

Any evergreen that takes regular trimming can be cloud-pruned – that said, fast-growers like leylandii should be avoided. Good subjects include phillyrea (a slower-growing cousin of the olive), holm oak, yew and white blossomed Osmanthus x burkwoodii. As well as stiff fencing wire, you should use bamboo canes to train stiffer branches, lashing the wood to the cane and then gradually bending it out to create a tiered shape. After a year, the cane and wires can be removed, and after two or three years your efforts will be rewarded with a tree that grows in attractive clouds.…

1 Using sharp, clean secateurs or scissors, remove several healthy, non-flowering shoots approximately 6in (15cm) long. 2 Remove the lower leaves from each cutting and pinch out the top bud. Dip the lower ends in rooting compound. 3 Insert cuttings around the edge of a 4in (10cm) pot (clay is best) filled with a dampened mix of cuttings compost and sharp sand or perlite. Water again. 4 Seal the pot in a plastic bag held away from the cuttings and keep it somewhere warm and light until they root and grow.…

1 Dig a hole deep and wide enough to take the rootball and add lots of well-rotted manure or compost. 2 If necessary and if it’s possible, tie the branches together to protect them from breaking. 3 Lift the shrub with soil around its roots (they usually have the same stretch as the branches). 4 If the roots are compact and the shrub small enough, move it in a bin liner or wrapped in plastic. 5 Place it in the new hole. Check the depth is correct using a cane laid horizontally across the top. 6 Infill using a mix of soil and compost. Tread it down to secure the shrub and remove air pockets. 7 Water well, so the water soaks in and doesn’t run off. Keep soil damp…

A SUMMER of growing takes a lot out of your soil, so use the fallow days of autumn and winter to replenish it. We have two ways of improving our soil – the borders are heaped up with well-rotted homemade compost or bought-in soil improver, and the raised beds are sown with green manures. These are packets of fast-growing seeds, often members of the pea family (legumes), that are readily available from garden centres and online. They fix nitrogen, which is essential for strong stems and foliage, back into the soil through their roots, and the roots also help open up the structure of the soil, which is helpful if you garden on heavy-to-work clay. The top growth is allowed to flower and mature and is then dug back into…

IF you are growing citrus trees in pots they will have loved this summer’s Mediterranean levels of heat and sunshine. Our small lemon tree overwintered in the greenhouse, where it produced a respectable crop of small fruit last winter. I expected it to be too young to do much this year as well, but several months spent on our sunny patio have prompted it to throw out another wealth of fragrant white flowers. Hopefully it will fruit well again too, though it will need warmth and a change in food to give it a decent chance. Lemons and limes require a minimum temperature of 10°C/50°F to flourish, while calamondin oranges need it to be a few degrees warmer. Kumquats are the hardiest citrus fruits and can tolerate a drop to…

1 Sieving compost removes and disperses larger clumps and debris, making it easier for smaller seeds to germinate. 2 Tamping compost flat creates a level plane that gives the seeds greater contact with its surface. 3 Always use fresh tap water when wetting seed compost as it is free from impurities that might hinder healthy germination. 4 Small seeds can be tricky to sow thinly. Make it easier by mixing them with a little horticultural sand or picking up a few at a time with damp fingertip.…

AS you’ve probably realised, I’m not in favour of the perfect bowling-green lawn because it’s almost certainly been treated with a broad-leaved weedkiller. It’s very likely that the person who used the weedkiller has managed to breathe some of it in and possibly got it on their fingers. It probably won’t have done them much good, and I speak from experience because when I worked in vegetable research in the early 1970s, I used a systemic fungicide called Benlate. Benlate, which was marketed by DuPont, was introduced in 1968. It kills microorganisms and invertebrates, including earthworms. It binds to the soil and does not dissolve in water. By the 1990s DuPont was facing around 1,900 claims from growers and fish farmers. It paid out US $750 million (£575 million) in…

1 First things first: remove any fruits that are immature – small in size, green (if not aubergines) and rock hard. They won’t have long enough to grow fully and ripen, so sacrifice these in order that the more mature fruits then have a chance of ripening. 2 Put the plants under slight stress – strangely, this helps to speed up ripening. Reduce or even stop watering and, if the plants are growing in the soil outside, slide the prongs of a garden fork under the rootball and part-lift the plant out of the soil. 3 Warmth is the key to ripening, so move potted plants into a greenhouse, conservatory or (if your family will allow it) a spare room. Those growing outside can be removed from any supports and…

WHAT looks like the rear end of a dog, can be made into cheese, and needs to be virtually rotten before you can eat it? Answer: a medlar. I’m sure that description hasn’t won you over, so let me try again! Medlars are fully hardy, low, spreading trees that perfectly suit the back of a sunny flower border. Their large, spoon-like leaves turn golden yellow in autumn before falling, and in spring the plant is smothered in large, white-tinged pink blossoms. The medlar tree is excellent for attracting pollinators to your plot, doesn’t suffer from pests and diseases, and any fruit you don’t consume is gorged on by blackbirds, fieldfares and waxwings during winter. Being self-fertile, only one tree is needed to attain a crop – and you can expect…

Apply a general fertiliser at about 4oz/ 100g per sq m every winter, and follow with a 2-3in (5-8cm) mulch of well-rotted, weed-free organic matter. Check fruit cages regularly to ensure there are no gaps where birds can get in. Look out for pests. Gooseberry sawfly caterpillars also attack red and white currants; gall mite attacks blackcurrants and transmits disease; mildew attacks gooseberries (although certain varieties are resistant to it). Watering in dry summers will increase the crop significantly. If possible, use a drip system as sprinklers are wasteful and encourage disease.…

1 Grow slug-proof plants that have thick, scented or fluffy leaves. 2 Keep your garden tidy, and lift stones and pots on a regular basis to remove slugs and snails that are hiding. 3 Apply slug pellets sparingly early in the season on 14 February to catch the first generation. 4 Use organic methods such as surrounding plants with grit or applying a garlic wash. 5 Many seed companies promote their slug-proof offerings, so keep an eye on the seed catalogues.…

‘Fire and Ice’ A strong, vigorous grandiflora-type sweet pea. The lovely bicoloured petals mix cool-white and lilac-blue with magenta-pink, and the fragrance is powerful. H: 6ft (1.8m). ‘Mrs Collier’ Introduced in 1907, this heirloom grandiflora has primrose-yellow buds opening to creamy-white flowers. Blooms are small but numerous, with one of the strongest scents. H: 6 1/2ft (2m). ‘Painted Lady’ One of the oldest sweet peas, dating back to the 18th century. Resembles the wild sweet pea, with shorter stems and smaller flowers. The bicoloured blooms are pink-red and white. H: 6ft (1.8m). ‘Wiltshire Ripple’ This unusual-coloured Spencer type has white frilly petals with maroon blotches and speckles. Fabulous fragrance and good stem length, making it an ideal choice for cutting. H: 8ft (2.5m). ‘Black Knight’ Another old-fashioned grandiflora. Less showy…

‘Anniversary’ A Spencer type that is particularly popular with exhibition growers thanks to its lovely long stems and ruffled petals in white and pale blush-pink. Up to six flowers per stem. Keeps producing new blooms well into September. H: 6 1/2ft (2m). ‘Charlie’s Angel’ This modern grandiflora type is the epitome of elegance. The large, frilly flowers have a soft, floaty appearance and come in a pleasing pale-lavender. It’s one of the longest-flowering sweet peas available. H: 6ft (1.8m).…

‘Grandchild’ The generous double blooms are a bright mauve-pink with dark centres. Opening from dark-purplish buds, they’re carried on short plants. Ideal for the front of the border or for containers. Flowers: Aug-Sept. H: 16in-1 1/2ft (40-45cm). ‘Aunt Millicent’ Well-branched, upright and vigorous plants are covered with large daisies in pale-pink with golden eyes. Noticeably weather resistant, they’re one of the hardiest of all. Lovely with pale-blue asters. Flowers: Sept-Oct. H: 3ft (90cm). ‘Mei Kyo’ Short, neat, twiggy and unusually small-leaved plants produce clusters of pale purplish-pink pompoms over many weeks. Self-supporting; very hardy. For a yellow version try ‘Nantyderry Sunshine’. Flowers: Sept-Nov. H: 2ft (60cm). ‘Perry’s Peach’ Weather-resistant and more substantial than many singles, flowers have two or three rows of petals in a peachy pink shade with a…

Small spring-planted chrysanths settle in better than large autumn-planted ones, so note the varieties you like now, and order them for delivery in spring. Plant in a sunny, fertile but well-drained site. Divide established plants in spring, and replant strong, healthy splits straight away. In summer, support taller varieties with canes and twine; plants rescued after they have collapsed never look as good. Watch out for white rust – buff or rusty pustules on the leaves, eventually turning white. Pick off any infected leaves and destroy badly infected plants.…

What’s ailing my raspberries? Q Why are our raspberries so poor? They are short, have yellowy leaves, die back and produce hardly any fruit. We put them in about three years ago, into well-dug soil, with supports – and we hoped to have a good crop by now. What do you think is wrong, and how can we help it? Ernest Piper, Wigglesworth, North Yorkshire A Happily settled raspberries should deliver a good crop by year three, so clearly your miserable plants are not enjoying their home. Raspberries prefer a slightly acidic soil, with average-to-good moisture retention, but they can be persuaded to grow pretty much anywhere, even on light or limey soils. Above all, they need good drainage and if subjected to low-lying, saturated soil during winter, will often…

For Christmas flowering, larger heat-treated bulbs are potted up and ‘forced’ from mid-August to mid-September. The same treatment given to bulbs from late September on, treated or untreated, might mean they miss Christmas but they will still come into flower earlier than those growing outdoors. Pot bulbs into 3½in (9cm) pots, several close together in a bowl or even balanced over water in a special hyacinth vase. Use your usual potting compost or, if easier to handle, light bulb fibre and water in. Place them in a cool, dark place indoors for roots to grow. Alternatively, put them outdoors, against a wall or in a lidless cold frame and heap old compost over the top in a mulch 7in (18cm) deep When green growth tips show, bring indoors to a…

25 September 1878 The fifth annual International Potato Exhibition was held at Crystal Palace, London. 26 September 1641 English botanist and physician Nehemiah Grew was born. He was one of the founders of the science of plant anatomy and his studies were published in The Anatomy of Plants (1682). From a chemical analysis of water from springs at Epsom, Surrey, he isolated magnesium sulphate, known to this day as Epsom Salts. 28 September 1855 There was a public outcry following the Government’s announcement that it intends to build a bridge and footpath through St James’s Park, London. 30 September 2010 Alan Titchmarsh’s fourth autobiographical work, When I was a Nipper, was published. Previous works included Trowel & Error (2002) and Knave of Spades (2009). 28 September 1954 US botanist and…