Innholdsfortegnelse for 4-May-2019 i Amateur Gardening

“I love the bank holidays — when everyone else is queuing in traffic on the motorways, or queuing at the garden centre, I’m going to be in my garden. There are lots of small jobs to do, and that extra day makes a big difference — but it’s not all about jobs. When I feel like it, I’ll stop, take a break and just look at the garden. Sometimes, just sitting and looking provides inspiration. Let your mind wander and your imagination roam free. I’ve had an idea about creating a new border at the end of the lawn. Will it work? I don’t know, but I’m going to give it a try. Don’t be afraid to experiment.”…

1 Move your leafy begonia tubers into pots of John Innes No2 or quality multi-purpose compost. Grow them on and harden them off before planting out. 2 Prick out seedlings that have grown ‘proper’ leaves (not germination leaflets) into John Innes No1 or multipurpose compost and watch them grow. 3 Pot on plug plants so they are ready for this summer’s bedding and containers. Tease out any circling roots and harden off this month. 4 For an unusual patio container, create a half-barrel pond and fill it with waterlilies and other plants. It will soon attract dragonflies! Bright and beautiful: It’s all about summer bedding at the moment, so buy next week’s AG (in the shops 7 May) for everything you need to know for a colourful summer garden.…

BRITAIN in Bloom is back with a bang this month. Seventy towns, cities and villages will compete in this year’s UKwide RHS competition and will spend May laying the groundwork for gold medal success. St Helier, Durham, Perth, Kingsbridge and Castlecaulfield will battle it out in the much-coveted Champion of Champions category. Early planning is exactly what Truro say helped them clinch the title last year. Conscious of our changing climate, Liam Shoesmith from the city’s parks department said they decided to shake things up and ‘take a punt’ on new plantings perfect for their mild and sunny south-westerly clime. Out went traditional bedding and in came more exotic planting schemes, including the unusual puya with its huge flower spike, dainty saxifrage and architectural agave. With the UK set to…

CREATING a ‘prairie-style’ garden is something of a current trend, but if it sounds like too much hard work (and it can be), you get a taste of the Wild West by growing these stately echinacea. The tall, open-petalled daisies are one if my favourite plants. They look amazing dotted around the border with other perennials and grasses. Because of their prairie ancestry, where they thrive in thin soil and freezing, snow-covered winters, they can fail in our miserable wet winters and heavier soils. However, the variety we are giving away today is one of the more robust and likely to come through unscathed. If in doubt, plant their crowns on mounds of earth and don’t mulch too heavily. Echinacea pallida is a stunning variety with pink, slim petals that…

If you sow next year’s biennials now, the plants will have time to grow enough to be planted out in the autumn. I am sowing wallflowers as I love their bold colours and heady, peppery scent. I usually plant them next to a path for full effect. Sow thinly into trays or pots of dampened seed compost, cover and germinate in light and warmth. When they are large enough, prick out and grow on in summer, then either plant out in autumn or pot up for the winter and plant out the following spring.…

YOU’RE probably seeing aphids now and starting to wonder whether they’re about to ravage your entire garden. Fear not, they’re not locusts. Even the most common aphid found in British gardens, the peach-potato aphid (Myzus persicae), will only visit 40 plant families out of 620. They won’t devastate everything in their path. If your aphids really bother you, rub them off with your fingers because their feeding tubes (or stylets) are very fragile. Aphids play a useful part in our gardens. Many of the aphids in my garden go to feed baby birds in their nests, and a clutch of blue tits in the nest for 21 days will need roughly 10,000 little wriggly things to feed them. Ladybirds, hoverfly larvae and wasps will also collect aphids, and tiny black…

1 Confuse pests by growing target crops between flowers. Plant scent-emitting ornamentals such as tagetes among crops like tomatoes. 2 Use barriers such as insect mesh to thwart carrot rootfly, cabbage rootfly collars, and winter moth grease bands. 3 Break the life cycle of pests by hoeing under fruit trees in winter to destroy the grubs and pupae of apple sawfly and pear midge. 4 Choose varieties that are resistant to pests, such as ‘Flyaway’ (above) and ‘Resistafly’ carrots, which experience fewer rootfly issues.…

1 Make sure you’re sowing fresh parsnip seeds bought this year. Older seed doesn’t germinate well, so will give you dud results. We don’t want that! 2 Parsnips like a sunny, free-draining site. Dig it over and make dibber holes, 6in (15cm) deep and 12in (30cm) apart, filling with multi-purpose compost before sowing. 3 Set three or four seeds on top of each hole (thin later). Water in well, then cover with soil. Cloak the area in insect-proof mesh to thwart rootfly attacks.…

KALE is good for you – but don’t let that put you off! As one of the most nutrient-rich foods we can grow, this leafy vegetable has become very trendy in recent years; but for gardeners it has other attractions, too. For example: many varieties look so wonderful that they’re worth growing as ornamentals – even if you never eat a single leaf. Just consider the many options out there. Added to traditional kales, we now have curly kales and long-leaved cavalo nero types; we have green-leaved varieties, black ones, purple ones – and last year we saw the arrival of bicoloured varieties. In the US, they even have a variegated kale raised from cuttings! In terms of ease of growing, they are pretty much foolproof, with large, easy-to-sow seeds,…

PURPLE curly kale and the modern cavalo nero types make superb summer foliage plants. Used as ‘dot’ plants in beds, or as the centrepiece of a large container, they have real impact and will combine well with many summer annuals. Blue-flowered salvias and convolvulus are especially good companions; white flowers including cosmos look good and I also like bright-leaved coleus as partners. From a spring sowing these ornamental kales will stay in good condition for months – you can pick a few leaves for the kitchen along the way, then harvest more heavily during the winter.…

Improve soil prior to planting by digging in plenty of leafmould or garden compost. After planting in spring, cover the ground around ferns with a 3in (7cm) layer of composted bark. Mulching will help to keep their roots moist and cool. Most ferns like evenly moist soil. Ensure they don’t sit in parched ground by watering regularly during periods of drought. Ferns are sensitive to fertilisers, with overfeeding causing foliage to die back. An annual application of slow-release fertiliser early in the season is all they require. Protect plants from slugs and snails in early spring as they are partial to soft, succulent unfurling fronds. Small ferns make good companions to other shade lovers in mixed containers. Fill pots with multi-purpose compost with added John Innes. Chop back deciduous ferns…

Kniphofia The best known of the red-hot pokers is Kniphofia caulescens, with reddish buds opening to creamy yellow blooms that reach around 3ft (90cm) tall. Or try K. northiae (above) for fabulous foliage and flower spikes of up to 70in (1.8m). Agapanthus In borders or containers, the African lily produces showy flowers in a range of colours and heights. Deciduous types are the hardiest, and the well-named ‘Brilliant Blue’ (above) has striking cerulean flowers that grow to 2ft (60cm). Lampranthus Originating from a semi-desert area and frost-hardy down to -5°C (23°F), the perennial mesembryanthemum (or Livingstone daisy) is a succulent that’s ideal for rockeries. It comes in a range of bold colours. H: 8in-1ft (20-30cm). Berkheya purpurea Lilac blooms (rather like sunflowers) and rosettes of spiny leaves make this South…

Q What climbers can I grow on the west-facing internal conservatory wall in a hanging pot with a trellis? Lee Battersby, via email A You could try black-eyed Susan (black-eyed yellow, orange or white blooms), Cobaea scandens with large pale violet or purple cups in green calyx ‘saucers’, and Codonopsis grey-wilsonii, which has blue and white blooms. Q Now that the aconites have finished flowering, can I cut off the foliage before it has died down? Audrey Morseon, via email A It’s best not to cut the foliage off until it has died down as this will likely result in a poor display of flowers next year. Instead, lift and divide the clumps to control its spread. Do this just as they are dying down, teasing the clumps apart before…

Gastropod: Scientific name for the group of invertebrates commonly known as slugs and snails Mollusc: Higher scientific classification of a group of invertebrates including gastropods, octopus and shellfish Slug: A gastropod without a shell Snail: A gastropod with a shell Slime: A kind of mucus produced by garden slugs and snails which lubricates their movement but also acts as a glue, allowing them to climb vertical surfaces Nocturnal: The habit slugs and snails make of coming out to eat at night Hermaphrodite: Possessing male and female reproductive organs, allowing them to reproduce without a partner…

Roses are a great way to add vibrant and bold colours to your garden, and to ensure that your roses flourish this season and create a garden oasis, Miracle-Gro is giving seven lucky AG readers the chance to win a Miracle-Gro Rose & Shrub Continuous Release Plant Food jar. The unique coating enables the feed to be continuously released when plants are actively growing, meaning that just one application will last for six months. Miracle-Gro Rose & Shrub Continuous Release Plant Food is suitable for all varieties of roses, from Bourbons to Hybrid Teas, and can be used in pots, beds and containers. We have seven Miracle-Gro Rose & Shrub Continuous Release Plant Food jars to give away, each worth £4.50. See below for more details. How to enter Send…

CERTAIN rare, endangered or wild species of erysimum are from quite specific areas of the world, as indicated by their Latin names. For example: Mount Etna, Sicily – the Etna wallflower (E. aetnense) is a small yellow-flowering wild plant found growing only among broom on the slopes of this volcano. The Californian coastline – the San Francisco wallflower (E. franciscanum, above) is a small cream-flowering plant found only on a tract of land in California, between Sonoma and Santa Cruz Counties. The Spanish Sierra Nevada – E. nevadense is a deep-yellow wallflower found growing 5,577-8,858ft (1,700-2,700m) above sea level, in this mountain range in southern Spain.…

“Red kites are wimps” I DO wish people would stop giving kites a bad name [regarding a reader’s letter about kites killing chickens in AG , 16 Feb]. I have been feeding kites near my bird table for years now. They recognise my whistle and also my red coat – one even followed me to the blood donor centre, waited outside, and then followed me home! They can hardly lift a whole chicken leg or wing, let alone a chicken. I also have hens: the kites have never landed near them, although they are free range, and the birds are not disturbed by them flying over. In fact, jackdaws will mob kites and send them packing. The kites are real wimps. I would ask reader Chris Turner to look more…

THIS first May holiday isn’t as long as Easter, but it still gives you plenty of time to get out into the garden. This month contains some of the busiest weeks of the year, when everything in the garden really gets into its stride. The soil is warming up and is still dampened by showers, making now the perfect opportunity to sow hardy annuals directly where you want them to grow. Rake and clear the soil and protect seeds with a pet-deterrent spray or a lattice of twigs, then keep the site weeded and watch your plants flourish. Birds are busy raising their young now, so don’t forget to provide clean water and nutrient-rich food, including sunflower hearts and mealworms. Don’t, however, leave out mealworms for hedgehogs as they offer…

Take softwood cuttings of perennials now and they may even give you a second flush of colour later in the summer. Pelargoniums and penstemons are both suitable plants. Simply remove 4in (10cm) of healthy new growth using sharp, clean secateurs. Strip off the lower leaves and dip the cut ends in rooting compound. Insert cuttings around the edge of 4in (10cm) pots containing dampened cuttings compost and perlite. Seal inside a plastic bag and place somewhere light and warm and the cuttings should soon root and grow.…

AS an added bank holiday bonanza this weekend, check out Toby Buckland’s Garden Festival at majestic Powderham Castle in Devon. This is the sixth year of the AG writer’s popular spring event, and for the first time dogs are allowed to attend as long as they are kept on a short lead. Highlights of the two-day festival, which takes place on Friday and Saturday, 3 and 4 May, include the chance to make yourself (or your dog!) a floral crown for free to take home. Other delights include demonstrations by Devon master-florists in Powderham’s Dining Hall and a fabulous programme of talks over both days. This will feature appearances by BBC gardening presenters Joe Swift and Frances Tophill, and actor and keen gardener John Challis, best known for playing Boycie…

1 Always use fresh seed and cuttings compost, filling the tray or pot and crumbling any lumps between your fingers. 2 Tamp the compost flat, then damp it with fresh tap water that is free of contaminants that could spread diseases and easily kill off seedlings. 3 Sow the seeds thinly so there is better ventilation between each seedling and they have plenty of room for healthy germination. 4 Label your seeds and cover the pot or tray. Place it somewhere light and warm and remove the lid after germination.…

1 Stocks are gross feeders, as are all of the brassica family, and need plenty of high-nitrogen fertiliser. 2 While the European market requires 100% double flowers, in North America a mixture of single and double flowering strains is accepted. 3 Sowing biennial stock seeds in the open ground at this time will require protection from flea beetle attack and other brassica pests. 4 Change the water regularly for cut stocks to prevent the buildup of bacteria and unpleasant smell. This also considerably extends cut flower life.…

THERE are few vegetables tastier than fresh sweetcorn. And if you want the very best then it needs be really fresh, which means homegrown – as only then can it be cooked within minutes of being picked. Sweetcorn starts to lose sweetness the moment it is plucked, so for the perfect cobs you really must grow your own. It takes about three months from sowing to harvest, so if you want the cobs to ripen in the hottest, sunniest days of summer then you had better start the seed off right away! “It takes three months from sowing to harvest” The best plants are grown in situ, sown where they are to grow. I reckon almost everyone sows the plants too close together – this creates plenty of cobs, but…

NOBODY likes harming insects unnecessarily, but if you leave a population of pests unchecked on the veggie plot you’ll soon regret it. It’s sad but true that the rapid breeding rate and sneaky success tactics of many insect pests mean that encouraging beneficial creatures (ladybirds and lacewings) isn’t enough to thwart problem residents on their own. But understanding each pest species’ tactics and then taking quick, appropriate action will be successful, so you need to get to know your enemies. Pest strategies Quickly bearing hundreds of offspring is a key strategy for many pests (for instance, a single snail can lay 400 eggs per year). Reaching sexual maturity quickly (like the glasshouse red spider mite), having more than one generation per year (such as whitefly), and reproducing without fertilisation (aphids)…

MANY of us grow fruit in large tubs – it’s attractive, space-saving and gives us delicious harvests to boot! Remember, then, that this time of year is crucial to success. Fruitlets have set and are now rapidly swelling, so it’s important to give pots and containers a regular drink. That’s the thing with containers: the root system is concentrated into a smaller area than if in the ground, so watering is a job you must get right, because they are more vulnerable to drying out. Grouping pots so they shade each other, choosing thick-walled containers, lining the insides with polythene when potting up – all these actions help make the job simple. Then just be sure to water slowly, so the moisture soaks instead of running off the top.…

1 With the warmer nights, asparagus growth will be in full swing. Cut over beds daily . Store your harvest in a jug 2 of water in the fridge to keep it fresh. Garden pests such as greenfly and sawfly will be eyeing up outdoor plants as spring advances. Carry out patrols every few days to spot and counter any attacks. 3 If your peas are in full flower , give them a thorough soaking. They’re very responsive to irrigation now , ensuring bumper pod numbers. 4 Nip out the growing point of broad bean plants. This helps to deter blackfly attacks, and provides you with a delicious spinach alternative! 5 If you like your gooseberries large and plump , thin out the developing fruitlets now . Leaving one every…

Carry out a soil pH test. Brassicas grow best at a pH of 6.5-7. If it’s lower (and therefore more acidic), then you definitely need to add lime at least six weeks before planting. Adding copious quantities of well-rotted organic matter (at a separate time to the lime) improves soil aeration and adds many beneficial microorganisms. Breeding work is bringing us an ever-expanding range of brassica cultivars with resistance to clubroot (see the panel below) for better crops and less infection. Give plants a head start by sowing or buying in young plants and potting them up before planting out.…

For winter and spring crops, sow seeds of curly and black Tuscan kales now in modules; plant out in June or July. For summer picking or as summer ornamentals, sow seeds in March, in modules, and plant out in May. If you want mini kales, sow now in rows outside, thinning to 6-8in (15-20cm). Cut entire plants when about 6in (15cm) tall; alternatively, pick a few leaves from each plant regularly. Sow brightly coloured ornamental cut-leaf kales in summer, for winter displays and cropping. Pick the colourful and tender central leaves for salads.…

AS I write this, I’ve just returned indoors after carrying out a quick stocktake to see how many ferns are flourishing in the shadier parts of my plot. The audit reveals there are actually nine different ones spread across my tiny garden, although the number of plants is much greater as most are planted in groups. On the face of it, there’s nothing out of the ordinary in my disclosure. After all, I’ve been a professional gardener since I was 18 years old and a plantaholic since taking on my first garden. However, people who have known me for a long time would be surprised to learn that I have even one fern in my garden. Let me explain. For much of my adult life I had a deep, irrational…

Violas Tender bedding plants tend to look tired by autumn, but dainty violas in a vast array of colours will happily take the flowering baton and run with it. Plant with small evergreen shrubs and grasses for an attractive autumn/winter display. Ivy If you want year-round basket interest then ivy’s trailing evergreen stems are ideal. Combine variegated options with blue fescue grass and white ornamental cabbage for frost-themed planting; or try dark green ivies with yellow violas. Heather Winter-flowering heathers are a reliable choice, with long-lasting blooms in tones of pink or white. They need ericaceous compost, so are best planted with fellow acid-lovers like Gaultheria procumbens and evergreen ferns such as Polystichum. Carex Whether you choose variegated leaves with cream or yellow stripes (such as ‘Evergold’, above), zingy lime…

Strelitzia reginae The bird of paradise flower delights with its eye-catching orange blooms. Frost tender, it needs a sunny, well-ventilated conservatory or greenhouse, but can go outside when temperatures top 20°C. H: 39in-5ft (1-1½m). Protea cynaroides Generally viewed as a conservatory or greenhouse plant, Cape artichoke flower can be grown outside but it will need to be kept scrupulously dry. Nutrient-poor, neutral to slightly acidic soil gives the best results. H: 39in-5ft (1-1½m). Drosera capensis Get conditions just right and carnivorous Cape sundew is easy to grow (more so than Venus flytrap). A sub-tropical plant, it prefers moist soils but will tolerate drier ones, and doesn’t need too much humidity. Low-growing. H: 6in (15cm). Aloe polyphylla AGM The many-leaved aloe has foliage arranged in a curious spiral pattern.…

FOR many years, gardeners and farmers have depended on pellets and other products containing the chemical metaldehyde to control slugs and snails. From spring 2020, that will stop because the UK government has decided that metaldehyde pellets pose a risk to birds and mammals. So what can we use instead? There are several off-the-shelf products available to keep slugs and snails off plants. These are: barriers to reduce the risk of slugs and snails reaching plants; pellets containing ferric phosphate, a naturally occurring compound which kills slugs and snails, and is not banned; repellents which will make plants unpalatable to slugs and snails; and for slugs only, nematodes – microscopic bugs that infect and kill. To be effective, these must all be used according to the manufacturer’s recommendations. from Harrod…

Barriers: Spread a broad, continuous layer of grit, sharp sand, gravel, crushed egg shells or coffee grounds around susceptible plants. It must extend beyond the edge of foliage on or near the ground. Pellets: Sprinkle salt directly onto the soft body of slugs and snails, but not onto the soil. Repellents: Make a strong solution containing crushed garlic or lawn camomile and spray foliage, tie chives around the stems of affected plants, or spread seaweed around plants. Nematodes: No alternative . Slug pubs and traps: Sink a jam jar or old margarine tub into the soil so its lip is ¼in (½cm) above the surface, then half-fill with beer, which will attract slugs and drown them. Leave large pieces of orange peel downturned on the soil overnight, and pick slugs and snails…

AS gardeners know, May can produce a cold spell more akin to winter, sometimes even with snow. On 6 May 1997, after an almost summer-like period, a sudden change took place. A cold front swept south, bringing cold air from the Arctic. Temperatures struggled to get into double figures, and snow fell across North Wales and the Midlands. Flowering fruit trees were badly hit, and some reports claimed that 80% of certain fruit crops were wiped out in south-east England. The cold snap also affected the wine-growing regions of France. Temperatures across France fell to -7°C. Growers said they had seen nothing like it in 50 years, and as many as six million bottles of wine were lost.…

Why, during autumn, are bedding wallflowers usually sold bare-root, in bunches wrapped in wet newspaper, and not like other bedding in trays or strips? These bare-root plants were dug up from the ground in nurseries; growing this way they tend to grow into stronger plants, flowering earlier and for longer. Wallflowers are generally pollinated by many different insects (butterflies, bees, hoverflies, ants, beetles, and so on). But one erysimum species found only in the Canary Islands – the Teide wallflower (E. scoparium, right), named after Mount Teide on Tenerife – is pollinated almost exclusively by a single species of anthophora bee.…

I WONDER how many readers have fed plants with tea? I know many who, like myself, are using tea entirely for houseplants, including those such as tradescantia. My own successful experience with tomatoes may be of interest. Last year, I had a magnificent crop of tomatoes grow outside (I do not own a greenhouse), raised from seed, entirely on tea. Even the plants I popped into place where I never expected them to grow, let alone bear fruit, grew to 5ft (1.5m) in height – a bumper crop! The method: one packet of any seeds sown in a pot. Keep them continuously moist. When the first two leaves appear, dry them out slightly. Water with cold liquid tea only. Up to 100% successful growth will result. This works for all…

Q My potted ginger lily is breaking the sides of its pot. Is this a good time of year to pot it on, and how? Marcella Langford, Braintree, Essex A Ginger lilies are a showy bunch from the same plant family (Zingiberaceae) as commercial ginger. As yours lives in a pot, I’m going to assume it is the Kahili ginger (Hedychium gardnerianum). This beauty from the forests of the Himalayas and Northern India will reach 6ft (1.8m), topped in late summer and early autumn by showy racemes of yellow flowers with bright red stamens. Exquisitely scented, they are perfect for a greenhouse, conservatory or porch where the fragrance is held captive. Growth arises from stout, fleshy rhizomes, and after several years they behave like giant herbaceous perennials, with all the…

ONE of my neighbours has a pond so noisy, it disturbs the birds in the next postcode! The din is from the gush of an oversized cascade, pummelling the water like a perpetual belly flop. Whenever I walk by, I can’t help wondering if the owners were rock-drummers in a previous life… they’re certainly stone-deaf in this one! To be fair, there’s good reason for the cacophony. The pond contains fish, and disturbing the surface is a sure-fire way of injecting air into the water and mixing it up. In lakes – where the surface area in contact with the atmosphere is large – oxygen enters and gases that cause harm (such as CO2 ) escape naturally. But in smaller garden ponds that are almost as deep as they are…

1 Use a lawn edger to cut the turf and weeds around the tree and remove them, taking care not to disturb or damage tree roots. 2 Once the grass is cleared and the weeds removed, replenish the soil with multi-purpose or homemade compost or leafmould. 3 Fork in a general-purpose feed, such as blood, fish and bone mix, Growmore or chicken manure pellets. 4 Water well and keep the area around the trunk free from compost, which can dampen the bark and cause it to rot.…

SOME fantastic new plants are arriving at garden centres and online retailers over the next few weeks, just in time for this year’s planting. Hereford-based Wyevale Nurseries, the Garden Beauty website and Wyevale Garden Centres, which have no connection with the nurseries of the same name, have all launched new varieties for 2019. Wyevale Nurseries, a family-owned retail business and one of the UK’s leading commercial nurseries, has unveiled a new agapanthus and several other new plants for 2019. These new additions will be available from garden centres nationwide in time for summer. Garden Beauty has launched two new hebes and Wyevale Garden Centres has released two new dahlias. Colin Stanley, retail sales manager at Wyevale Nurseries, said: “Agapanthus ‘Fireworks’ is a brand-new agapanthus with glorious bicolour blue and white…

MONSANTO, the company behind Roundup, the world’s most popular glyphosate weedkiller, has been stung with another multimillion dollar payout. The company has been ordered to pay $80million to Edwin Hardeman from California, USA, who was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2015 after using the weedkiller for 26 years to control the weeds and poison oak growing around his property. The following year, when the World Health authority declared glyphosate a carcinogen, he sued Monsanto on health grounds. In Mr Hardeman’s case, the court found that Monsanto had been ‘negligent by not using reasonable care’ to warn of the herbicide’s cancer risk on product packaging. This case comes after courts awarded groundsman Dewayne Johnson $289 million in a similar case. The amount was later cut to $78 million. Monsanto, which is…

2-6: Spring Craft Fair: RHS Garden Wisley, Wisley Lane, Woking, Surrey GU23 6QB. ✆ 0203 176 5830, rhs.org.uk/gardens/wisley 3-6: Spring Craft Fair: RHS Garden Hyde Hall, Creephedge Lane, Rettendon, Chelmsford, Essex CM3 8ET. ✆ 0203 176 5830, rhs.org.uk/ gardens/hyde-hall 4: Hyde Hall Awakes: RHS Hyde Hall 4: Plant Hunters’ Fair, Donington Le Heath 1620s house and garden, Leicetershire. ✆ 01455 290429, doningtonleheath.com 4-5: Spring Gardening Weekend: RHS Garden Harlow Carr, Crag Lane, Harrogate, North Yorks HG3 1QB. ✆ 0203 176 5830, rhs.org.uk/ gardens/harlow-carr 5: Mammillaria Show: RHS Wisley 5: Spring Plant Fair: RHS Harlow Carr 7: Garden Tours: RHS Harlow Carr 9: Herbalicious – Women’s Herbs for Health and Happiness: RHS Harlow Carr 10: What Now? Your Garden in Summer: RHS Garden Rosemoor, Great Torrington, Rosemoor, Torrington, Devon EX38 8PH.…

WALLFLOWERS, honesty, sea holly, sweet rocket, foxgloves – these brilliant biennials are some of my favourite plants. They are easy to grow and often ready to produce a flush of flowers in the dull gap between spring bulbs and summer’s flamboyance. Biennials are plants that produce foliage and strong roots one year, sit dormant through winter, then flower the next spring before setting seed and dying. Sown now, they will grow enough to be pricked out and finally planted in the garden this autumn for next year’s display. Alternatively, they can be kept in pots over winter and potted out in spring. Each autumn, we find a welcome glut of self-seeded foxgloves appearing in our free-draining chalky soil. Some we leave where they are, and others we pot up for…

1 Pot up, top-dress, water and feed your houseplants, which may get forgotten in the rush at this time of year. 2 Look over gooseberry plants three times a week for any tiny sawfly caterpillars eating holes in the leaves – remove immediately. 3 Crush comfrey and borage leaves in a bucket of water, then add weight with a brick, for concentrated liquid feed to dilute for tomatoes. 4 Sow your runner beans (above), courgettes, squashes, pumpkins, gherkins and gourds where they are to grow, preferably under a cloche or similar.…

✓ Learn when and where pests are likely to strike, such as greenfly on strawberry growing points, gooseberry sawfly in mid-spring, and slugs in warm, wet weather. ✓Use fatty acid-based sprays (Doff Universal Bug Killer) to target soft-bodied insects such as caterpillars and aphids that don’t fly away. ✓ Enlist the help of biological controls – natural predators and parasites that target pests while leaving harmless creatures alone. ✓ Use systemic insecticides that travel inside plant sap (like Bug Clear Ultra) to target pests such as whitefly that fly into the air when sprayed. ✓ Set pheromone traps to attract and kill male adult insects before they mate with females – raspberry beetles, codling moths, plum moths and leek moths are suitable targets. ✓ Create an environment that is unpleasant…

BASIL, shiso (perilla), borage, dill, fenugreek, red orache, Vietnamese coriander, pipicha, nasturtium, arugula, stridolo… Scratch the surface and there’s a host of herbs that, sown now, will quickly provide soft, tender foliage to enliven all manner of cuisines. Most are annuals, a few are tender perennials – but all thrive in warmth (20ºC/68ºF) to rapidly germinate and produce their leafy harvests. Fill a modular tray with compost, water well, then sow three or four seeds per cell. After being placed in a propagator, germination will generally be swift. Once emerged, grow on at 16ºC/60ºF or above. Then, either plant into open ground in a warm, sunny spot or grow in a polytunnel or greenhouse border. Either way, your tastebuds are in for a treat.…

HAVING migrated from health food stores to the supermarket shelves, quinoa is now a familiar product to all food-loving gardeners. Pronounced ‘keen-wah’, this gluten-free source of protein makes an excellent base for salad, tabbouleh, pilaf and porridge. It originates from South America, yet it’s possible to grow this quick-growing annual in the UK by sowing seeds directly into the soil now. Being tender, you’ll want to choose a sunny, sheltered spot, so that it can romp away once germinated. The plants quickly throw up flower spikes, which evolve into grains come late September. At that point, pull whole plants and hang by their roots in a warm, airy place. The grains are dry once they separate from the plants. At that point, thrash out all you can, then store in…

Brussels Sprout ‘Crispus’ A mid-season variety with dark green buttons that stand well on the stem for several weeks. Plant late spring to harvest from August to December. Cabbage ‘Lodero’ Good flavour and rich colour. Plant in May, then harvest this rounded red cabbage from September to December. Heads store well after picking. Cabbage ‘Cordesa’ This Savoy cabbage produces compact, heavy heads of crinkled leaves. Sow in spring, plant early summer, and harvest from September to December. Calabrese ‘Komodo’ Sow through May for compact plants producing dense green heads from summer into autumn. Don’t forget to harvest the sideshoots, too.…

THERE are four problems that can trouble your kales: Pigeons: Although they love kale, pigeons are more trouble in large and rural gardens and allotments than in small, urban spaces. Black netting is the only answer. White fly: Less of a worry than they look, these overwinter on the plants, then multiply in spring; many gardeners just live with them. Removing older leaves at the base can help. Clubroot: Soil-borne, occurs if you grow kale (and other brassicas including wallflowers) in the same place each year. Often arrives on plants given by friends or bought at roadside stalls. Beware! Root fly: Grubs munch the roots, so use collars to stop the adult flies laying their eggs near the stems.…

Asplenium scolopendrium AGM This evergreen hart’s tongue fern forms dense clumps of leathery, upright fronds with wavy edges. Forming 2ft (60cm)-tall clumps, it’s valuable for winter interest. Dicksonia antarctica AGM This tree fern has a textured trunk and huge fronds. It is slow growing (1in/2½cm a year) so choose one whose length of trunk suits your planting scheme. Athyrium niponicum var. pictum ‘Ursula’s Red’ The young triangular fronds of this fern are wine-red with silver tips. Leaves fade to a silvery-green as the 12in (30cm)-tall clump matures. Dryopteris dilatata ‘Crispa Whiteside’ AGM Discovered by Robert Whiteside, founder of the British Pteridological Society in the 19th century, this deciduous gem makes a 3ft (90cm)-tall clump of light-green fronds. Woodwardia…

Traditional Petunia Surfinia Lime Bred to be free-flowering and to perform regardless of the vagaries of a typical British summer, this cultivar has ivory white trumpets with lime green throats that will cascade over the side of your basket. Fine in light shade. Trails: 16in (40cm); S: 1ft (30cm). Helichrysum ‘Silver Mist’ Foliage plants provide the perfect backdrop to flowers in a basket display and this helichrysum is no exception. The attractive trailing stems of small silvery-grey leaves work equally well with blooms in pastel shades and vibrant colours. HxS: 6inx1½ft (15x45cm). Nemesia ‘Wisley Vanilla’ Masses of dainty flowers – in white with hints of pale pink and bright yellow centres – are produced from May until the first frosts. These pretty blooms come with the…

Please help with some biblical plants Q I would like to grow some of the plants mentioned in the Bible. Is there a book or leaflet that names them? Mrs Elliw Pierce, Corwen, Denbighshire A I am delighted you would like to grow Biblical plants. Many, of course, such as frankincense and myrrh, need a frost-free greenhouse or conservatory. Others, especially herbs, will thrive outside as they are frost-hardy. Here is a possible selection that will look lovely in a border: What is this sweet-scented invader? Q This picture is of an unknown plant growing all over my garden. What is it? Tracy Stevens, London A The interloper appears to be lily of the valley (Convallaria majalis). A splendid and scented carpeter for lightly shaded ‘wild areas’ and other parts…

Barriers: Products that slugs and snails do not like crawling over, laid around plants to create a physical barrier. Look for Slug Less 4 in 1, Slug Gone natural wool pellets, and Slugwall Copper Slug Barrier. Organic Pellets: Containing ferric phosphate to scatter thinly around plants. Slugs and snails eat pellets and are killed. This then breaks down into harmless compounds. Try Neudorff Sluggo or Sluggo Ultra, Doff Super Slug Killer, Eraza Zero and others. Repellents: Dissolved in water and sprayed onto plant foliage. Makes the leaves unpalatable for slugs and snails, boosts plant growth, and is harmless to wildlife and pets. Look for Grazers G2 Slugs & Snails, or Envii Feed & Protect slug and snail repellent. Nematodes: Microscopic predators or parasites watered onto the soil. Infects slugs and…

WHEN I was a student gardener, the Latin name for the wallflower was Cheiranthus cheiri. The ‘cheir’ bit was a corruption of an old Persian word for the gillyflower (which is a completely different flower, although in many parts of the world wallflowers are also referred to as these). Partly because of this confusion, about 40 years ago botanists changed the botanical name of the wallflower to Erysimum cheiri. They’ve changed the names of hundreds of plants over the years, so trained gardeners like me have had to learn practically all over again! However, wallflowers are definitely worth learning about. They’re in flower now, so let’s look at some of the stories surrounding them. Elizabethan enlightenment MOST non-native garden plants in Elizabethan Britain were introduced from Europe, with relatively few…

THE shrubby purple perennial wallflower, Erysimum ‘Bowles’ Mauve’ (right), is spectacularly different from any other form. It blooms from February through to autumn. It was among ‘200 plants for 200 years’, chosen by the RHS to mark its bicentenary in 2004. Also, it was shortlisted by the RHS as one of 10 top ‘plants of the [20th] century’. Yet, curiously, the man after whom it is named, plantsman E.A. (Edward Augustus) Bowles (1865-1954), almost certainly never grew it. It was never mentioned in any of the books he wrote about his garden, and none of his gardeners, after his death, could recall seeing it. The plant’s origin, and why his name is linked to it, is a mystery.…

BEAUTIFUL, modest and fragrant as the old-time wallflowers were, they are entirely eclipsed by the subtle and dainty tinted present-day varieties, one of which is portrayed in this coloured plate. Messrs Sutton and Sons, of Reading in Berkshire [now in Devon], have given to the floral world many charming strains of popular garden flowers, but none to surpass their Queen strain of wallflowers, known as ‘Purple Queen’, ‘Faerie Queen’ and ‘Eastern Queen’. The rich purple or ruby tints of ‘Purple Queen’; the delicate pale citron of ‘Faerie Queen’; and the delightful shades of apricot and creamy-white in ‘Eastern Queen’ form the most exquisite confection of dainty colouring that mortal man ever saw in the wallflower family. This photograph of a colour plate from AG 10 September 1904 shows the wallflower…

FOR exotic borders, hardy ginger lilies such as white-flowered H. coronarium can live out permanently in warm, sheltered spots, such as beds running along south- or west-facing house walls. Deep, dry winter mulches of bark will protect the rhizomes from the cold, yet are easily removed in spring. Hedychium such as H. ‘Tara’, which reaches 6ft (1.8m) and is topped by fragrant orange flowers, also thrive in a large container on a sunny patio, overwintered indoors.…

PLANTS absorb excess nutrients, which would otherwise fuel green algae. In small ponds, choose less vigorous varieties like corkscrew rush, water forget-me-nots and dwarf water lilies as opposed to their big and choking cousins. For under the water, stay clear of the well-known Canadian pondweed and plump for its mini-me cousins Elodea crispa and E. densa. Invest in a pump that’s large enough to sit on bricks just above the bottom of the pond, so water is drawn from the deep and circulates. At the pond’s surface, beneficial bacteria will break it down and remove the sulphurous smell.…