Innholdsfortegnelse for 25-Jan-2020 i Amateur Gardening

GROWING plants from seed is one of the most satisfying things about gardening, which is why the free seeds that come with Amateur Gardening are such a success. Once again we have teamed up with Mr Fothergill’s to bring colour to your patios and gardens. This year’s selection is bigger and brighter than ever before and includes some Sarah Raven seeds: clary ‘Blue Denim’, cleome ‘Violet Queen’, Mina lobata and larkspur ‘Giant Imperial’. The rest are a carefully curated mixture of hardy annuals, half-hardy annuals and perennials, as well as specially adapted mixtures for shady areas, and to attract pollinators and wildlife into your garden. The easiest way to grow plants from seed is not to worry about them. Of course they need care, but consider the plants you see…

We all have leftover seeds from years past and while some remain viable (able to germinate) for several years after ripening, others only last a season or two. There are a couple of things you can do to check if your seeds are fresh enough to germinate. Try sowing a few to see how many germinate and then either grow them on or discard the rest of the packet, according to results. Alternatively, sprinkle a few seeds onto dampened kitchen paper and place them somewhere light and warm for a few days. If they sprout, they are sound. The third test, which is useful for larger seeds such as sweet peas, is to pop them in a bowl of water. Discard any floaters and keep those that sink for sowing.…

KEEPING chickens has long been an integral part of cottage gardening and smallholding and now it’s even easier thanks to the launch of the first ever hen welfare centre. The British Hen Welfare Trust is behind the new centre in Rose Ash, north Devon, which is designed to be a halfway house for hens moving from commercial laying farms to happier homes. The bespoke new centre includes a hen hospital and plenty of outside space where the birds can scratch for bugs and slugs and enjoy a spot of sunbathing. Founded in 2005 by Jane Howorth MBE, the Trust has so far rehomed more than 730,000 hens. The charity works closely with commercial laying farms and has a network of more than 800 volunteers who collect caged hens deemed no…

Led by the Land By Kim Wilkie (Pimpernel Press, £35) LANDSCAPE architect Kim Wilkie grew up living in the Malaysian jungle and deserts of Iraq, before his family relocated to south England. His delightful book celebrates mankind’s relationships with the land, our place in it and how we have shaped it across the globe, from Russia to New York, Romania to the UK. It takes the reader from the bucolic beauty of a Hampshire farm to the macabre majesty of the City of London Cemetery, the arid wadis of the Middle East to Neolithic tumuli and the way many UK cities use the local landscape, its stone and natural features, to carve out their identity and style. The book is a lovely combination of fascinating facts (did you know that…

A NATIONAL newspaper gardening correspondent recently stated, “You do not need a polytunnel or greenhouse”. He must be a much younger man, with thicker blood that does not run cold in wintery conditions. My mistake was to have waited so long before constructing a polytunnel in our (it should be said) slightly larger-than-average garden. Even so, greenhouses and polythene clad structures come in sizes from 6ft (1.8m) square, and most home plots will have this much space. It does need to be large enough for you to get in, out of the wind, and you need to be able to close the door. “Plants start to grow earlier and crop for longer” When I step into my polytunnel on a cold day, it is like stepping into the South of…

1 While the raspberry is standing in water, dig a hole as deep as and slightly wider than the potted rootball and fork in some well-rotted compost or manure. 2 Carefully ease the dampened rootball from its pot and gently tease out any congested and circling roots. 3 Settle the rootball in the hole and backfill with soil and compost, firming it down well to support the plant. 4 Water well, and make sure the soil stays damp until the plant is established. Mulch around the root area with well-rotted manure.…

WE all want to grow more (and better) crops: the problem is that we often just do not have enough time to do the proper job. After all, how many runner bean growers do dig and fill a trench for them full of wet newspaper, muck and compost? In practice, we find the difficulty with runners is in getting germination and that first foot of growth – after that, crops are almost guaranteed, whether or not a trench was dug and filled. Sure, you will get a larger yield if you do dig that trench, but it might have been easier to put another yard on the row instead. “Books seldom tell you how to cut corners” This is the trouble: most books tell you how to do the job…

DO you own a tiny garden yet still dream of growing trugfuls of veg in 2020? Well, with a few well-chosen crops, you can! Being challenged by space encourages you to hone your thoughts, but don’t think you need to adopt the mindset of quality over quantity: some veg crop their socks off for weeks in the tiniest spaces. Maximum yield from one sowing “You don’t need to think quality over quantity” Give small-space plots a re-think: it’s not just about growing compact crops, but those that give you the greatest yield for the longest time from a small space. All three veg that I’ve listed in the panel on page 20 will crop from early summer through into autumn – that’s 20 weeks worth of harvests from just one…

1 Now is an ideal time to force early rhubarb. Pot a few crown sections up and move them to a shed or garage , covering to ex clude light. 2 If you are growing grapes in your greenhouse , untie and lower the stems into a horizontal position temporarily to ensure even bud burst. 3 Fruit trees, canes and bushes thrive when given potassium, so a top dressing of sulphate of potash applied now will go down a treat. 4 Not made your seed order yet? S tep to it! The propagation season is just around the corner and prime varieties may be selling out. 5 If you plan to grow tomatoes in a heated greenhouse , you can risk making sowings now to give yourself super-early harvests.…

COMMONLY known as the strawberry tree, this slow-growing evergreen shrub has bagfuls of ornamental value. Flowering in late autumn and winter, the white bell-shaped blooms are a useful nectar source for bees yet to hibernate, and with the fruits taking roughly one year to mature, shrubs are often draped in flowers and fruits simultaneously; only one plant is needed to obtain a harvest. Hardy in all but the most severe winters, Arbutus unedo prefers a moist, acidic soil. To achieve this, add sulphur chips to the plot regularly or grow compact varieties (like ‘Elfin King’) in large tubs of ericaceous compost. The shrub yields spherical, rough-skinned fruits that turn from yellow to red once they are ripe. The sweetest flavour is experienced when eating fully mature fruits, so be patient…

Containers Inca Husky Bred to be short and compact, with flowers made up of three pretty salmon-peach petals and three yellow petals that are highly-marked. They appear en masse above a mound of green, lance-shaped leaves. H&S: 1ft (30cm). Princess Diana Flowering from June to the first frosts, this short cultivar is great value for money and an excellent addition to summer containers. It has fabulous fiery-coloured flowers in orange, golden yellow and red. H&S: 8in-1ft (20-30cm). ‘Natalie’ (Little Miss Series) A very free-flowering dwarf hybrid with exquisite creamy-white blooms featuring a delicate pink blush and deeper pink markings. Makes a round clump of leaves, and flowers from early summer to mid-autumn. HxS: 6x8in (15x20cm). Hot borders ‘Pandora’ The magenta pink blooms will add a punch of colour. A tall…

Gladiolus ‘Ruby’ (papilio hybrid ) With a sophistication lacked by its more commonplace cousins, this hybrid of species gladiolus G. papilio has sword-shaped leaves and arching stems populated by hooded flowers in a beautiful jewel red. Likes a sheltered spot. HxS: 2½ftx20in (75x50cm). Crocosmia x crocosmiiflora ‘Star of the East’ AGM Tall stems, studded with large, star-like orange flowers in late summer, make it a good partner for grasses and perennials. They’re followed by attractive knobbly seed pods. Plant in moist but well-drained soil, in full sun. HxS: 39x20in (1mx50cm). Cosmos atrosanguineus Remarkable for its chocolate scent and sumptuous, velvety, deep maroon blooms, which emerge from almost black buds. A tender plant, this cosmos grows from tubers…

Roscoea purpurea A member of the ginger family from the Himalayas, featuring showy orchid-like purple blooms from July to September. Will survive temperatures down to -10C. Needs fertile, moist but free-draining soil; happy in part shade. H&S: 20in (50cm). Tritonia disticha subsp. rubrolucens Delicate, papery and bell-shaped, the pale pink blooms, similar to those of angel’s fishing rods, are held on wiry stems among slender, grass-like leaves. Mulch corms in borders, or grow in pots and bring under cover in winter. HxS: 2ftx8in (60x20cm).…

Why are my bougainvilleas out of sync? Q I have potted bougainvilleas on my terrace. I bring them inside for winter, but they have started flowering when they are indoors, rather than in the garden. What can I do? Pat Bowering, Stevenage, Herts A I suspect the problem with your bougainvilleas is that they are not being allowed to have a dormant season during the winter months. There are two main species, B. glabra and B. spectabilis), that need slightly different care. Hopefully, the label will tell you which yours are. Both should be watered frequently during the summer, and fed weekly with a balanced liquid feed. B. glabra flowers pretty much all year round and should be fed and watered all year, though less in the winter. B. spectabilis…

IF I had to grow shrubs from just one plant family, I’d choose viburnums. It is such a diverse group: different forms give autumn and winter berries, or winter flowers, or autumn leaf tints, or summer flowers – and around half of the 150 or so species are evergreen, so they give valuable winter foliage colour, too. Even better, viburnums are some of the easiest of shrubs to grow. All of them grow on any soil; they succeed in sun or partial shade; they are frost-hardy; they make excellent structure plants; and there are few pests or diseases to cause them problems. Let’s look at some of the best, and the stories surrounding them. Boring or brilliant? VIBURNUM tinus, also known as Laurustinus, came to Britain in the 16th century…

Miracle-Gro is giving AG readers the chance to win two gardening bundles, each worth £16.97, to ensure your garden is fully prepared for spring and summer 2020. This is the perfect bundle for keen gardeners and includes essentials such as the Miracle-Gro Growmore Garden Plant Food, which contains an essential mix of nutrients for all plants, and Miracle-Gro Compost Maker, which speeds up the composting process of kitchen vegetable waste. Eco-friendly gardeners will also love the Miracle-Gro Bone Meal Root Builder, which is a 100% organic fertiliser and naturally releases nutrients to build stronger roots and guarantees greener, healthier trees and shrubs. We have two bundles to give away, each worth £16.97. How to enter Send your name and address on the back of a postcard to Miracle-Gro Draw (25…

For more than 100 years, viburnums were related to honeysuckles and weigelas, in the Caprifoliaceae plant family. But botanists have changed things, and viburnums now sit within a small plant family called Adoxaceae, with elderflower (sambucus). V. tinus is probably the best viburnum for making into an informal hedge – or even trained as a standard, or as topiary-like cones or balls (a softer and prettier alternative to the more traditional bay or box).…

Large Digital Max Min Thermometer £10 rrp (offer price £6.95) (+ £2.93 delivery) ✆ 01946 816615 thermometerworld.co.uk Features Electronic digital thermometer in plastic case with large triple display showing max, min and current temperature. Temperature range -10º to +50ºC and °F. Requires 1x AA battery (supplied). Push-button Centigrade/Fahrenheit switch, and separate button for max/min reset. Hanging hole at top. Dimensions: 6x3x1in (16x8x3cm). Performance Robust plastic case with big, clear digital display 3x2 1/4in (8x6cm) constantly showing current temperature in centre, max temp at top and min temp at bottom. Reset and ºC/ºF buttons need a firm push but work reliably. The battery is easy to fit and to replace. Value Very good price in comparison with others and big, clear display is best of those on test. Simple to operate.…

HERE’S a photo of my mum’s Fuchsia ‘Dollar Princess’ on Boxing Day. It is a hardy type, but we were surprised to see so many flowers this late. Gemma Atkins, Bridport, Dorset THIS Japenese anemone obviously missed the cull, but cheered my heart on a cold Monday morning! Steve Barrett, Beckenham, Kent JUST wanted to share a picture of my foxglove, still in flower on 10th December. Here’s hoping it will last until Christmas Day. Paul Burchell, Pontypool, Gwent…

IT’S not every day that I’m accused of being profligate – especially by a teenager – but today my middle tween was aghast that I had paid £15 for ‘a stick’. To be fair, the two-foot potted twig did resemble something a dog might chase, but what his untrained eye couldn’t see was its potential. We were visiting a National Trust garden when I spotted the fabulously named Catalpa bignonioides ‘Purpurea’ in the plant sale. At 50% off, it was literally cheap at half the price. And although it had more label than leaves, I snapped one up. The Indian Bean Tree (as it’s commonly known) was a favourite of my late mum, who loved the roof-topping domed canopy, soft heart-shaped leaves, and hundreds of lengthy bean-like pods that would…

1 Use new equipment or, to be green as well as clean, wash pre-used pots and trays well before sowing. 2 Always use fresh tap water when damping sowing compost as it’s more likely to be free of contaminants than harvested rainwater. 3 Very tiny seeds can be difficult to sow, so mix them with a little horticultural sand for easier scattering. 4 Alternatively, pick up a few at a time on a dampened fingertip or matchstick and tap them onto the compost.…

1 Sieve fresh compost to remove unwanted debris and give smaller seeds a better chance of germination. 2 Tamp the compost flat so the seed sits securely and isn’t at risk of rolling to the side or falling into fissures. 3 Dampen the compost well with fresh tap water, using a clean watering can fitted with a fine rose. 4 Scatter the seeds thinly so that each seedling has plenty of room to grow healthily. 5 Cover the seeds with a thin layer of compost, the mineral vermiculite or a mixture of the two. 6 Label, cover the tray with a lid or secure it in a plastic bag and place in light and gentle warmth.…

IT may not seem especially springlike right now, but trees and plants will have set their alarm clocks and it won’t be long until they go off –a reminder that it’s time to wake up and get going. This means that the window for tackling any outstanding pruning is starting to close, as trees and shrubs come out of dormancy. If you leave any pruning for much longer, the sap will be flowing again and plants will ‘bleed’ after cutting, making them more vulnerable to pests and diseases. I am spending this weekend checking the garden to assess what still needs a seasonal trim and making note of any that need particular care due to dead or damaged wood. I am also going to go through my pruning tools –…

1 Either a soil floor or border is the easy way to grow protected crops, starting now with broad beans, hardier round-seeded peas, lettuce and carrots. 2 Semi-leafless peas, with extra tendrils to hold each other up, can be grown in a block and just netted down the sides. 3 Dwarf broad beans and peas, sown in pots in October, can be planted where the turnips and leafy greens are harvested. This second crop is cleared in time for tomatoes. 4 Salad leaves sown in succession can have later sowings taken under cover to extend their season.…

1 Spread garden compost around fruit trees and bushes in thick doughnut-shaped rings to weather and break down more slowly. 2 Check you have seeds, sets and bulbs ready, or at least on order, and enough labels, markers, ties, canes, trays and compost. 3 You can plant ornamental and fruit trees and bushes all through winter, as long as the soil is not frozen or waterlogged. 4 Lay bits of wood, hollowed-out roots and potatoes in your greenhouse and coldframe to trap woodlice and similar pests.…

Embrace your microclimate – small, sheltered courtyards and balconies offer sun for chillies and tomatoes, and shade for leaf crops. Maximise walls, fences and other vertical surfaces. Pots and windowboxes secured to them can be ideal for herbs. Choose climbing and trailing varieties. These produce maximum yield while using up minimum floor space. Transplant seedlings or buy plug plants on your plot to bypass germination and give harvestable plants more quickly. Choose veg that crop over a long period (tomatoes and climbing beans) or mature rapidly, like salads and baby roots. Underplant beneath lofty crops like sweetcorn, and interplant quick growers between widely spaced veg like cabbage.…

ARE your fingers itching to tear open some seed packets? While it’s still too early to sow the vast majority of veg grown to maturity, microleaves break the rules. These diminutive crops can be sown year-round indoors, but I wait until daylength is on the increase. Your choices are endless – any edible crop will work but those with a stronger flavour are especially enjoyable; I grow celery, basil, shiso, coriander, rocket, dill and onion. Sowing is a doddle. Moisten a double layer of kitchen paper, laid into a small seed tray, pour off any excess water and sow directly onto that (space seeds ½cm apart). Cover over seeds with a clear lid (buy purpose-made mini propagators with lids, or upcycle supermarket veg punnets), position on a well-lit windowsill and…

DON’T panic – I’m not suggesting that you take a scrubbing brush to the contents of your fruit cage! For some reason, spraying your fruit trees, bushes and canes in winter is always referred to as washing – don’t ask me why, when the action is no different to spraying plants at any other time of year. Anyway, rants aside, this task is important if your trees are suffering regular and heavy attacks from fruit aphids such as currant blister aphid, cherry blackfly, plum leaf-curling aphid and rosy apple aphid. Their eggs will now have been laid to overwinter within the nooks and crannies among your fruit’s stems, trunks and branches, so it’s the perfect opportunity to target them. These days, winter fruit washes are organic, being based on plant…

A. ‘Roma’ With A. maxima as a parent, flowers open from May to September. Enjoy the contrast of deeper pink flowers and paler bracts. Sterile, so doesn’t seed. A. major ‘Sunningdale Variegated’ Dazzling creamy-yellow leaf margins almost distract from the sparse show of pale pink flowers. This one needs a sunny position to do the foliage justice. A. major ‘Abbey Road’ The dark reddish-purple flowers have contrasting white bases on dark stems. Deadheading can encourage flowers from June to October. A. ‘Buckland’ A strong grower, loved for the beauty of its pink flowers poised over green-tipped white bracts. An unusual combination, flowering freely from June to August. Sterile, so won’t seed.…

How do I grow bigger celeriac? Q We grew celeriac for the first time, and have found them a good, tasty and useful winter veg. The problem is that the roots (or stems?) are very small, especially after all the knobbly rooty bits have been pared off. How can we get bigger ones next year? Beverley Pinkhurst, Cambridge AI find celeriac easier to grow and use than celery. The swollen stems are good raw in coleslaw, cook well into stews and soups, and make a great addition to mashed potato. In the improved clay soil of our kitchen garden, well enriched with some organic matter, they flourish – but only swell to half the size of the monsters you see in shops. So a well-tended, homegrown celeriac relying just on…

SOME of the best-known members of the viburnum family are winter bloomers. Take V. x bodnantense, for instance. It is a medium-sized shrub, and in November it drops its leaves. But as this happens it starts to throw out clusters of sweetly scented pink flowers, which carry on through winter. There are three forms which are all worth garden space: ‘Charles Lamont’ is rich pink. ‘Dawn’ is rose-pink gradually darkening as the flowers age. ‘Deben’ has pink buds opening to white.…

THE so-called Guelder rose (which is not in any way a rose) is V. opulus, grown for its flowers and bright-red autumn berries. The common name relates to the Dutch province of Gelderland, where a popular cultivar, the common snowball tree (V. opulus ‘Roseum’), is supposed to have originated. Other common names for it include European cranberry bush (neither is it in any way a cranberry), as well as cramp bark. This latter name comes from the fact that properties within the bark can reduce muscle tightness. The famous Russian song Kalinka comes from the Russian word Kalina, the common name for V. opulus.…

From AG 28 April 1906 A novel ball dress We have published many examples of the uses to which our coloured plates are put by readers, but that of utilising them for making a fancy ball dress is undoubtedly the most novel and unique. One of our enthusiastic lady readers conceived the idea of embellishing her ball dress with 72 plates cut out and pasted on black muslin. The dress, pictured right, was trimmed with green peas, and still further adorned with a pink silk sash on which the words ‘Amateur Gardening’ were written with chopped grass. Slung across the lady’s left shoulder was a ‘hank’ of raffia, bearing four tools – a trowel, a fork, a rake with gilded handles, and a watering can. Across the lady’s back was…

Watch out for the spines I SO enjoyed reading Hazel Sillver’s article on the gorgeous mahonias ( AG , 23 November). We had the most super one at a previous garden, and the fragrance at Christmas and after was so lovely, a time when there is not much to cheer you in the garden; it was a perfect winter shrub. Just one thing to beware of if you have pets or even young children: the shards on the leaves are lethal. My dog got one stuck in his paw and really hurt him. So I was delighted to see there is a variety called ‘Soft Caress’ and it has spine-free leaves – what a brilliant find. So thank you, Hazel, for spreading the word, and I no longer have to…

LIKE Catalpa, Cotinus, Tree of Heaven, Paulownia and Liriodendron tulipifera (tulip tree) can all be coppiced for larger leaves. Late winter is best, just as the sap is rising. Cut just above a bud, 1ft (30cm) above soil level, and where there was one stem the plant quickly grows back two. In year one these can be pruned again, a foot or so higher up from the original cut, to create a bushy top with four or more stems. In subsequent years, after manuring, cut back to just 6in (15cm) above soil level for lots of stems that grow from the base.…

TWO weeks ago we ran an article about how the charity Garden Organic is imploring gardeners to only buy peat-free compost to help save the planet. Now Ireland’s major gardening brand, Bord Na Móna, has given its own verdict on the debate about peat extraction. The company, which has long been a champion of peat-based gardening, stopped peat extraction from 17 bogs in 2018, with chief executive Tom Donnellan saying that decarbonisation ‘is the biggest challenge’ to the planet’. Bord Na Móna has also launched a ‘Brown to Green’ strategy to support the national climate and energy policy by speeding up the development of renewable energy assets, as well as accelerating investment in higher-value recycling and resource recovery. Peatlands, formed by the accumulation of decayed vegetation, help regulate the climate…

THE Aquilegia and Cerinthe major seeds I sowed earlier germinated robustly – almost too robustly in the case of the cerinthe! These determined honeywort plants burst forth and soon outstripped their pots, quickly becoming long and ‘leggy’. This is not uncommon when you sow seeds in the depths of winter. Seedlings need warmth and light to develop strongly, and if there is a shortage of either they become spindly and weak in their quest to find it. So even though my seedlings were growing in a relatively bright spare room, the conditions weren’t good enough, so I have potted them on into larger containers and they will hopefully soon recover. This is a relatively simple skill, but an important one. Seedlings are moved on, or ‘pricked out’ once they have…

SOFT fruits – raspberries, strawberries, currants and gooseberries – are a joy to grow. Relatively easy to cultivate, they deliver months of summer and autumn berries and are low-maintenance for most of the year. Deep winter is when most need to be cut back to increase productivity and keep plants healthy and in good shape, the exception being summer-fruiting raspberries that are reduced as soon as they have been harvested. Here’s what you need to do with yours now, before they start back into growth. Blackcurrants: These zingy berries fruit best on new wood, so remove older branches to make room for new growth. For the first four years, concentrate on removing weak and spindly stems, retaining a structure of six to ten robust branches. In year four, cut out…

25-2 Feb Heralding Spring: Chelsea Physic Garden, 66 Royal Hospital Road, Chelsea, London SW3 4HS. ✆ 020 7352 5646, or visit chelseaphysicgarden.co.uk. 26 RSPB Big Garden Birdwalk: RHS Wisley, Wisley Lane, Woking, Surrey GU23 6QB. ✆ 0203 176 5830, rhs.org.uk/gardens/wisley 27 RHS Members’ Gardening Advice: RHS Harlow Carr, Crag Lane, Harrogate, North Yorks HG3 1QB. ✆ 0203 176 5830, rhs.org.uk/gardens/harlow-carr 28 Glasshouse Tour with Jess Snowball: Chelsea Physic Garden 30 Getting The Best from Your Roses: RHS Garden Hyde Hall, Creephedge Lane, Rettendon, Chelmsford, Essex CM3 8ET. ✆ 0203 176 5830, rhs.org.uk/gardens/hyde-hall 30 Pruning and Training Climbers: RHS Garden Rosemoor, Great Torrington, Rosemoor, Torrington, Devon EX38 8PH. ✆ 0203 176 5830, rhs.org.uk/gardens/rosemoor 31 Understanding Your Soil: RHS Garden Wisley 31 RHS Members’ Gardening Advice: RHS Garden Harlow Carr February 1-2…

ONE of the best things you can do for wildlife is to plant a hedge, and now is the best time of year to get digging because you can buy small bare-root whips in a dormant state and – as my Yorkshire side surfaces again – these are cheaper to post. Use a hedging specialist, such as the long-established Buckingham Nurseries (hedging. co.uk). This company has a brilliant website for calculating how many hedge plants you will need, and they can send them out by mail order or you can visit them to see their range. “Hedges are good for wildlife and the environment” It’s surprising how quickly these small whips grow when the soil is well prepared, but the key thing is choosing the right plant. And hedges are…

1 Courgette ‘Syros’: A spine-free F1 compact bush courgette, with strong powdery mildew resistance. No scratched arms, dwarf enough to be grown in a tub, and healthy enough to fend off a major disease – this certainly gets my vote! 2 Tomato ‘Koralik’: This Polish bush F1 cherry tom performs well, even in poor summers. It may take a while to bulk up, but it’s early to mature, it’s high yielding, it has strong blight tolerance, and it works brilliantly in a hanging basket. 3 French bean ‘Cobra’: This climbing French bean has phenomenal cropping ability. If you keep harvesting the green pods while they are pencil-thick, then it will yield heavily from July right through until November. My benchmark bean.…

1 If you are growing free-standing bushes, simply remove congested main stems as a priority. Fans and cordons should be assessed for shape, with new stems being tied in or congested ones being removed initially. 2 Look to remove any dead, diseased or damaged growth, cutting well back into healthy wood. When tying in new stems of fans, ensure that they are evenly spaced out against their wall, fence or wire supports. 3 Finally, cut back the sideshoots to encourage fruiting spurs to form. Identify the main stems, then cut all growth (sideshoots) arising from them back to 1in (2-3cm) in length. This aids airflow and gives sizeable berries.…

Lilium ‘Casa Blanca’ AGM This elegant oriental lily has tall stems with showy trumpet-like blooms – pure white, they give off a heady perfume. Prefers garden soil that is neutral-to-acid, but grows happily in pots filled with ericaceous compost. HxS: 39x15in (1mx15cm). Gladiolus murielae AGM Also known as acidanthera, the white handkerchief-like flowers feature maroon centres and exude a delicious sweet scent. Frost hardy; lift corms, or move pot-grown plants somewhere for winter. Flowers: Aug-Oct. HxS: 32x4in (80x10cm). Freesias The array of colours and citrus-spicy scent of freesias makes them popular with the cut-flower market; but they can also be grown in the garden and in pots. Look for heat-treated corms that will bloom in summer, and plant in well-drained soil. HxS: 20x6in (50x15cm). Polianthes tuberosa…

1 Sow thinly and evenly over prepared seed compost in a pot or seed tray. After germination, transplant each individually to 3½in (9cm) pots. 2 Young plants grown under glass are placed outdoors to adjust to weather prior to planting. 3 Celeriac plants are set a good 15-18in (37-45cm) apart (usually in May) so they don’t compete for water and nutrients. 4 Lifting can begin in October and continue through winter. Fork up the swollen stem, then shave off roots before washing and bringing to the kitchen.…

GERMAN chemist Felix Hoffmann was born on this day. He was a researcher for Bayer (still a garden chemicals producer today) when his father developed chronic rheumatism. Keen to find a better pain reliever than salicylic acid (derived from salix, or willow) which tasted awful and caused stomach upsets, Felix conducted a number of experiments. He took spiraea (a close relation to the willow), and mixed together some of the acidic derivatives from the two plants. Testing showed that one of the compounds was a safe and effective drug for pain relief, lowering fever, and as an anti-inflammatory. Since 1899 it has been marketed as… aspirin (with part of its name paying homage to spiraea). Hoffman is named on the patent, but he received no financial share of the drug’s…

IF you have wondered whether the hybrid V. x bodnantense has anything to do with the fabulous Bodnant Garden in North Wales, it does! This plant is a cross of V. farreri and V. grandiflorum. The most popular cultivar of this crossing is ‘Dawn’ which, in the mid-1930s, was selected from many seedlings grown by Charles Puddle, head gardener to Lord Aberconway at Bodnant Gardens. In winter, V. farreri produces clusters of little tubular flowers that are pink in bud, opening to white. Their strong perfume is reminiscent, some say, of almonds.…

A GREENHOUSE max/min thermometer will alert you to low temperatures in winter so you can adjust heating or add fleece protection to plants in unheated greenhouses. It will also help you with ventilation needs in summer when the glasshouse gets really hot during the day. Max/min models usually show the current temperature, and also the highest and lowest temperatures reached since the thermometer was last reset. If you reset the thermometer each morning and evening you can respond to temperature shifts quickly. A good max/min thermometer should offer clear, easy-to-read information, and it should be easy to reset the max/min function. There are three types in this trial: electronic devices with digital displays; traditional tube thermometers; and mechanical thermometers using bimetallic elements (the benefit of these is that they don’t…