Innholdsfortegnelse for 25-Jun-2022 i Amateur Gardening

“Our report on the RHS plant of the year from the Chelsea Flower Show is on page 9 and you can also read about the memorial at Chelsea created to celebrate the life and work of our former columnist Peter Seabrook. Peter’s contribution to gardening cannot be understated. “As a grower, writer and TV presenter he worked unstintingly to promote the benefits of gardening. Peter exhibited at Chelsea for 50 years, creating displays that showcased new plants in a way all gardeners could enjoy and benefit from. The Queen was a regular visitor to Peter’s stand at Chelsea and this year was no exception — he would have been proud of that. We all miss him”. Contact us: ■ Subscriptions: 0330 333 1113 ■ Editorial: 0330 3903732 ■ Email: amateurgardening@futurenet.com…

MOST years Team AG approaches the RHS Chelsea Flower Show with slight trepidation because many of the gardens verge on the pretentious and show nothing that our loyal readers would consider adding to their patch. This year, however, our fears were unfounded as plants were back in their rightful place at the forefront of the displays, not overshadowed by strange concrete blocks or rusty American prairie grain silos. While there was nothing on show to scare the horses or make you scratch your head, there were plenty of inspirational and very eye-catching ideas to take home and try yourself. A rare exception was the Plantsman’s Ice Garden, John Warland’s chilly monolith representing the threat of global warming. AG editor Garry Coward Williams said: “At previous shows the ugliness was ignored…

I CHOSE the Armeria pseudarmeria ‘Dreamland’. I’m a fan of what I call sea thrift, (it has many common names including cliff rose and lady’s pincushion) and I have several. Armeria pseudarmeria is a larger, taller variety that got my attention. The plant is available from several suppliers including the plant shop at RHS Wisley, and Bodmin Nursery, Laveddon Mill, Laninval Hill, Bodmin, Cornwall, PL30 5JU (& 01208 72837, bodminnursery.co.uk Garry Coward-Williams THIS floribunda rose ‘Loyal Companion’ bred by Peter Beales Roses has delicate pink, semi double cup-shaped flowers that open wide to reveal prominent stamens – an ideal landing pad for bees! Perfect for the smaller garden at 3ft x 2ft (90 x 60cm), and ideal for pots. One striking feature is the changing colours at every stage of…

How can I protect my box from blight? Q What are the symptoms of box blight and how can I protect my plants? Patricia Holden, Taunton, Somerset A Box blight first appeared in the UK in 1998 and has been causing gardeners problems ever since. The key symptom to look for is signs of fungal growth or spores, particularly on the underside of the leaves. They should be apparent at this time of year and will help to confirm the presence of one or other of the two fungi responsible for box blight. When the disease is present, the leaves develop dark-brown spots that affect all growth, making black streaks on stem bark, followed by patches of greyish fungal growth on the underside of foliage. Treatment needs to start early…

DRIVES, patios, paths and larger areas of paving can soon look untidy if weeds begin to take hold. Even worse, large weeds can erode concrete edges, break up tarmac and lift brick paviors. Also, a build-up of algae on a hard surface in the shade of trees can soon become unsafe to walk on in wet weather. The main problem is usually an accumulation of dirt and grime in the joints of the hard surface, where moss and weed seeds collect and germinate, and liverwort can thrive in the damp conditions. There are different ways of keeping these places weed and dirt free, according to your preference, mobility and the time you have to spend on it. There are chemicals that will clear the area, but they may affect plants…

Thank you for all your gardening poems, keep them coming! Martin Wiles wrote to us and said: “My mother, Pat Wiles, who resides in a nursing home and is a regular reader of Amateur Gardening has asked that I send you my latest poem” My secret place, my fragrantjoy, where the world of chaosbarred,lifts and truly feeds my souland for a time I can disregard.I turn my head and there atortoiseshell plays on mylaburnum tree,I watch entranced at nature’sdance and feel a moment, ayearning to be free.With a more settled mind Iseek my friend of late and lookto see, my robin,keeping guard and watchingover the rusting garden gate.I smile, he is such a fine littlefellow, with ever watchingeyes,a flit, a hop, a skyward dash tothe sunflower hearts, a regularlunchtime prize.Then…

WHILE I love growing native flowers and filling the garden with pastel hues and delicate grasses, I can’t resist the exotic allure of dahlias and cannas. I’m obviously not alone in this as they are two of the most popular summer varieties, and with good reason. Dahlias are loved for their infinite variety of heights, shapes and colours, while cannas add height to the centre of borders, their colourful broad leaves as much a talking point as their sturdy stems holding fiery red, yellow and orange blooms. Despite their exotic appearance, canna lilies are fairly problem-free, though they do suffer from slug and snail attacks so protect them with wool pellets. They can also contract a virus that is incurable, meaning plants should be removed and destroyed. Cannas thrive in…

OUR Deutzia and weigela are still just about flowering so I’m not quite ready to prune them, and the forsythia is growing well so I won’t trim that or I’ll lose next year’s flowering stems. However, this point of the summer is the perfect time to prune early-flowering clematis such as C. montana, winter-flowering varieties and C. armandii. It is easy to do, just trim away dead flowers and any long, straggly stems that are outgrowing their allotted space. We have a montana and an armandii that need cutting back. I hard pruned the armandii three years ago and this is the first year since that it has really flowered profusely. It is the montana’s turn for a hard chop this autumn as it has outgrown its space and is…

I’M in heaven! It’s rose time and I have a large collection at Spring Cottage. My rose, peony and phlox borders are close to the cottage. There’s a cutting garden, although I can’t bear to cut the roses in it! There are roses up my garden path and there are billowing roses spilling over the low stone walls. I have never counted them in and out, but I continue to plant more of them because they do so well in the wonderfully named village of Cold Aston. The sheer number of roses I grow here always comes as a surprise, or should that be a shock to new garden visitors, because many gardeners still believe that roses need a chemical regime to treat blackspot and aphids. The blue tits and…

WHILE we’re busy catering to the every need of our beds, borders, pots and baskets, let’s not forget that our lawns need looking after too. It’s often the largest single area in the garden and the UK’s usual warm, damp early summer is perfect growing conditions for grass so you may find yourself needing to mow once a week at the moment. Keep the blade on a fairly high setting as this ensures the lawn will stay looking lush even through dry spells. Cut too short and the parched soil below will start to show through. Unless you are planning a garden event, it isn’t worth watering if your lawn starts to go brown during dry weeks, as it will green up again when it rains. Keep up with edging…

THIS week’s free seeds are for Bellis perennis ‘Goliath Mixed’, a pretty biennial with pom-pom heads in white and pink… These delicious daisies are perfect for edging borders and adding to pots in spring and if you get them started now, they will flower early. Biennials produce a rosette of leaves in their first year, then flower, set seed and die the following year. Sow your ‘Goliath MIxed’ seeds as thinly as possible in trays of fresh seed compost that have been tamped flat. After sowing, place the seed tray or pot somewhere cool and light and remove the lid once seedlings appear. The seeds will germinate in 2-4 weeks and can be potted into individual pots or modules when they are large enough and hardened off gradually before being…

WITH nearly 16,000 different iris varieties that have been given names over the centuries, it is obvious they cannot all be discussed here. They need dividing up to make them easier to understand. All irises have basically similar flowers, with three broad lower petals that stand out horizontally or hang down. Each flower also has three more upright inner petals to create a flower that is always recognisable as an iris. The flowers are carried on upright stems, either with one on each stem or on stems that branch towards the top. Irises can be divided into two main groups: with and without beards. So, what are the beards? On bearded irises, at the base of each of the three outer petals there is a cluster of fine furry hairs,…

This week it’s: Appraising agapanthus Stories behind this native of South Africa ON the roadsides and verges of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly in midsummer, you’ll see agapanthus in all their flowering glory. In such milder parts of the country the plant has become naturalised and, in some places, it even grows like a weed. But what a weed! Sadly, gardeners further north in the UK mistakenly consider these bold perennials to be ‘exotic’ and therefore unlikely to survive a British winter unless given protection. Not so! Yes – some will need mollycoddling, but with the onset of milder winters and new varieties bred for hardiness, the chance of success has never been better. Let’s take a look! ■ Agapanthus are known as the African lily, Blue African lily…

I WOKE up, hung-over, to the sound of my neighbour mowing his lawn. He’ll have to mow around me’cause I’m not moving – ba-dumtish! I was drinking because my other neighbour ran off with my wife… I really miss him. Boom, boom! I don’t care what anyone says – the old ones are the best. Say the word ‘neighbour’ and often it’s the Joneses next door whose paint has dribbled through the larch lap that spring to mind. But I’m not talking about them (although I could): I’m talking about our gardens, which are neighbourhoods in their own right, with plants living both next door and one on top of the other. Just like people, plants like company and when their shoulders – make that leaves and roots – rub…