Spring Flowers in our Front Garden
March 17, 2011
Of the three hellebore plants planted two years ago one is growing well with the most beautiful white blooms.
Because hellebores are a very important pollen and nectar source in early spring bees and other pollinating insects are attracted to them in large numbers. Cross pollination occurs and the resulting seed can often produce really unappealing colours, from a dirty grey to a dirty green. So the best plan for propagation is to split the plants.
Looking up how to do that on the web it seems that dividing the plants once the flowers have been pollinated is the best time. However as our plant has only been in the ground for two years we’ll not divide it for another year or two. Maybe we’ll look for another plant/s in the meantime. The other point to consider is to remove the seed pods before they ripen so you avoid any unwanted plants from germinating. Some people like to sow some of the seed just to discover what cross they do get, sometimes with interesting results. It is of course possible to purchase seed and/or buy plants from growers. We might just get some seed – Thompson & Morgan are selling 40 seeds for 66p! Or 5 bare root plants at £9.99.
Some of the buds on the magnolia stellata were encouraged to emerge in the recent warm day/s. Now we’re fearful of a hard frost damaging them – you can see some flowers were caught lightly a few days ago. I think it was 2005 when the whole tree was frosted one night and it was heartbreaking to see next day the glorious display of blossom all tinged with brown. So we will just have to keep our fingers crossed, or make the decision to put a covering on if we get a forecast of frost.
We really would love some snowdrops next year and have found a website that sells bulbs ‘in the green’, that is bulbs that are dug up after flowering, sorted and sent out. This happens in February and March so if you would like some this is a good time to get in touch. Here are the details of Tweedbank Bulbs It’s a very interesting website explaining lots about planting and the quality of the bulbs.
At the moment you can buy 100 bulbs for £12.50, inc p&p, with 50 extra for free. This super offer really is likely to finish TODAY 17 March 2011, but do go to the website – they may well have extended the date.
Please do mention you found their website through In Balance Magazine – every little bit of publicity helps!
You might also find our other website of interest www.ourfrontgarden.com
Victorian Rosebud Lobelia for that Wow Factor!
Our front garden has a most ad hoc group of plants with no semblance of tidiness or order. Although in my defence I have to say there is an element of careful selection! Up to now bedding plants haven’t played a part in the scheme of things.
However, just what do you think this plant is? Double click to see larger image.
It is Lobelia erinus ‘Kathleen Mallard’, an old fashioned double rosebud flower grown by the Victorians, ideal for hanging baskets, patio containers, window boxes and front bedding as it has a close knit habit and forms a perfect ball. Its height and spread is 15cm/6 inches. I fell in love with it instantly, picturing it sitting on the outside edge of the front garden.
We reckon this plant will be very popular, it is so beautiful. Should add quite a wow factor! We’re impressed, so much so we are ordering ten plants for bedding and another ten for our hanging baskets and bedding in the back garden from Thompson & Morgan who are offering them at a really good price.
Suitable for sun or semi shade 5 jumbo plugs cost of £3.49, or 10 jumbo plugs £5.99 and will be despatched by end of April 2011.
To order some now go to the Thompson & Morgan website where you will find all the growing and other information you may need. It’s not a difficult plant to grow.
GIVEAWAYS
Lobelia erinus ‘Kathleen Mallard’
We have FIVE Thompson & Morgan sets of 10 jumbo plugs to give away to In Balance readers. To enter the draw send an email with Kathleen Mallard in the subject box to: editorinbalance@me.com with all your contact details by latest 31 March 2011. One entry per household.
You might also find our other website of interest www.ourfrontgarden.com
Secateurs – searching for a good pair
Over the past couple of years I have tried out several pairs of secateurs, here they are:
The first pair was so designed that when I was cutting a particularly thick stem it somehow managed to nip the space between my thumb and first finger. Very painful.
The second one had a very simple closing device with no special features. I like this one but would like one with a larger blade.
The third one had a ratchet system that fell apart within a couple of months, and the last one has a yellow closing device that is loose and when I am cutting it in a downward direction the yellow tab falls down and locks the blades. There is no way of tightening the yellow tab. So really that latest pair is totally useless, unless I unscrew the yellow tab or tape it into the open position. However, this was the only pair I could attach a coloured tape to in an attempt to avoid leaving them in the garden to rust.
I’m sorry to say none of them had all the features I wanted and I’m now looking for one that will give a good strong cut, reliable, a long life and simple to operate with a hole in one of the arms to thread through a brightly coloured tape. Do you have any suggestions?
You might also find our other website of interest www.ourfrontgarden.com
Our Front Garden now has its own website
Last year we added Our Front Garden as a new feature in In Balance Magazine. As interest has since grown significantly we have now created its own website.
We will be providing monthly tips from experts and the opportunity for readers to send in their queries and problems.
We will continue to write about our front garden, how our plants are faring, raising plants from seed and our push for a no-dig plot as well as comment on weather and growing conditions.
We really enjoy receiving your emails so do keep sending them to ourfrontgarden@me.com or editorinbalance@me.com.
Val & John Reynolds
Signs of spring
A short sortie into the countryside showed plants are on the move!
Eranthis, winter aconite
Eranthis, a member of the buttercup family, known as winter aconite, were well out in a friend’s garden.
I rather like them and will get some for next year. They are available from Thompson & Morgan, my favourite plant and seed supplier.
The catkins were shaking their tails in the wind
Catkins
and the snowdrops are more advanced than a couple of weeks ago.
Snowdrops
Plants Galore!
Lemon Basil
Some years ago I came across a packet of Lemon Basil seeds from Thompson and Morgan – my favourite seed supplier since 1970! – that I have to confess had been ‘loitering’ in my seed box for some time, four years in fact! As I had a bit of space in my tiny greenhouse, I thought I would see if they germinated, expecting a few to come up which would be very useful for salads. To my great surprise the whole seed tray bounced into life and I had so much basil I had to give much of it away! Recipes and more information is here.
With that experience in mind I decided to go through the T&M catalogue looking for herbs that I could grow to add to salads, even if they didn’t grow to full size they would add a variety of flavours. Most herbs are available at very reasonable prices and with germination rates generally pretty high it’s a win win situation!
Most recently I have successfuly sown
Basil
Outdoor Basil This gave an excellent germination and again found I had so much I had to give many plants away. I kept some indoors and others in the kitchen garden. I love picking a leaf or two and eating it when I’m wandering around looking for weeds to pull up.
Borage, the young leaves have a cucumber taste and widely used in salads and the bright blue flowers look wonderful in drinks, or salads. At the end of the season the plant can be added to your compost. It does get a bit untidy but I can forgive that characteristic as it attracts so many bees and other insects, it is a joy to see it thriving.
Coriander This can be sown direct in the ground. However it is useful to sow some in pots to keep indoors for year round fresh leaves to add to salads, salsas and Asian cuisine. Another flavour indispensable TO the adventurous cook.
Chervil
Chervil Used in French cooking to flavour fish dishes, sauces and soups, is a familiar taste of France. Can be grown in pot on the windowsill for all year fresh leaves.
Summer Savory this comes highly recommended from Bob Flowerdew who waxes lyrical about its effect on broad beans! Try it chopped and mixed with melted butter. Thompson & Morgan suggest adding it to breadcrumbs to coat fish, added to soups and stew – said to be magnificent!
Endive not often found on sale here in the UK, is easy to grow from seed. Easy too to grow it as salad leaves.
Other seeds I have successfully grown for the kitchen garden this year are globe artichokes, beetroot, parsnips, carrots, lettuce, sugar snaps, french beans, courgettes, leeks, pumpkin, outdoor melons – the jury is out on these they are not growing very quickly and I wonder whether they will flower and produce mature fruit, they are protected by a cloche to keep the heat in and the wind out.
I have grown many plants to attract insects. French marigolds, calendula, I have allowed the parsley to go to seed for insects to feed on, poached egg plant, nigella, and alfalfa to dig in as a green manure. Red clover has been sown for the same reason.
I have also used odd spaces to grow flowering plants for the main garden, for instance escholtzia, chrysanthemum daisies, scabious, sweet peas and I have experimented with unusual plants, for instance cucumelon.
It will be some weeks before I know which plants are worth keeping and which seeds are worth sowing next year. As always the gardener in me is constantly adding, subtracting and repeating plants, always aiming at perfection. Ever hopeful!
Val Reynolds, Editor In Balance Magazine
In Balance 