My Garden

Is it possible that the trends for a so called ‘staycation’ has survived the wash out in 2009 and Britons in their hordes will be visiting Devon to appreciate some of the uniquely beautiful scenery on offer and maybe even sample some of the local delicacies, (to be honest that’s just cider!) ?

Certainly Rosemoor House Apartments have been doing a roaring trade these last few weeks and with over 30 per cent of 2010 booked already, it seems like we could be in for a busy summer.

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Please note that the Barn Restaurant will be closed Monday 8 - Wednesday 10 February for essential maintenance.

However, the Field Cafe will be open as normal for drinks, cakes, Paninis, sandwiches, jacket potatoes & soup

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Due to problems we are experiencing in the Tropical Zone of the Glasshouse there is only a limited number of butterflies to see over the next few days (8-10 February). But the numbers are steadily improving and these creatures really are fascinating to see close up on the feeding stations, hanging from branches, or flitting around the house.

Outside there is still plenty to see around the Garden. This is a magical time of year, with the snowdrops slightly delayed by the cold weather. We usually see plenty in January, but February is set to provide us with a beautiful carpet of white. See them up close in the Alpine areas, and in woodland settings of the Wild Garden. Battleston Hill is very special at this time of year too. Fragrant winter-flowering plants take your nose by surprise, and the witch hazels (Hamamelis), daphnes, and winter-flowering honeysuckles smell gorgeous. More unusual shrubs like Edgeworthia chrysantha 'Red Dragon' are about to burst forth into flower too. Hellebores are starting to perform at their best all over the garden, with an assortment of flower colours and patterns, and it fills me with excitement just watching the small signs of spring as everyday more bulbs start to emerge and every day we get a little extra light in the evening. That gives us all more time to enjoy gardening

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Last weekend frost hardened the soil; this is ideal for fruit pruning.  Soft fruit pruning was finished with the winter trimming of gooseberries and the cutting back to ground level of the autumn fruiting raspberries.  Last year crops were enormous – the productive potential of soft fruit is amazing.  I have a gap for another hybrid berry – I find these so easy to grow compared to raspberries.

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The sweet pea trial at Wisley is always a big attraction to visitors – and the fragrance is often as powerful as the colour is enticing. But it’s not just an attractive display, it’s a serious trial with the expert sweet pea judges assessing the entries for both use in the garden and for exhibition.

Just one new variety was considered of sufficiently high standard to be awarded an Award of Garden Merit this year - ‘John Gray’ (left, click top enlarge). Raised by Roger Parsons, holder of the National Collection of Sweet Peas, its large, boldly waved flowers are pale pink shading to white at the base.

Roger told me about his new award-winning sweet pea: “'John Gray' is remarkable in being exceptionally good both for garden decoration and for cut flowers. Growth is vigorous and it flowers prolifically so that a clump of plants in the garden is covered in blooms. It has exceptionally large flowers and long stems for cutting.

“Larger petals are generally more prone to weather damage,’ he added, “but 'John Gray' has good petal texture to resist this.”

Named for the father of a Roger Parsons customer, who simply loved gardening, not only did ‘John Gray’ receive an AGM last year, but it also received an Award of Merit for Exhibition following the trial at Wisley in 2007.

The panel of judges also assessed sweet peas given an AGM in earlier years to be sure that they continued to perform at AGM standard. For one variety, the news was not good. ‘Florencecourt’, given an AGM in 1997, was disappointing. Not only was there noticeable variation in the colour of the flowers on display but it was known that a completely incorrect variety was being sold under this name. So it was recommended that its AGM be withdrawn.

Four other older varieties were also checked carefully but these were considered to still be of AGM standard. These were ‘Evening Glow’, the very popular ‘Gwendoline’ (left), 'Toby Robinson’ and ‘White Supreme’ – which gained its AGM as long ago as 1994.

Seed of sweet pea ‘John Gray is available only from Roger Parsons.

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I used to have issues with alpines.  Not the plants you understand, but more the world they appeared to inhabit.  It seemed you couldn't grow these little gems unless you were called Geoff or Derek, had plenty of time on your hands and owned an old Belfast sink, a rockery or a scree bed (which quite frankly sounds like some sort of futon from the latest Ikea catalogue)

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Helen raking out the bark on the paths Read More...

In recent years there’s been a flood of new echinaceas, mainly from specialist breeders in North America and Europe. First it was all the new yellow and orange and red shades, now it’s double flowered varieties. Like the single flowered varieties, the first doubles that were available came in pink and white – now we have the ‘Fruity Doubles’ (click the picture to enlarge it).

This collection is made up of four of the best varieties from master Dutch echinacea breeder Arie Blom. Specialising in double echinaceas propagated vegetatively so they’re all identical, and never from seed, these are so superior to the original double, ‘Razzmatazz’, which I found to be a poor plant. The colours are better, they don’t produce single flowers, and they support themselves much more effectively.

This collection includes: ‘Coconut Lime’, white rays with a fluffy creamy lime cone; ‘Pink Double Delight’, in bright pink and like a more stable, self supporting version of ‘Razzmatazz’; and last year’s hot newcomer ‘Hot Papaya’, the first red double.

Completing the collection is the latest of Arie Blom’s new doubles – ‘Double Marmalade’, a fiery orange double which is also available separately.

Impressive in the garden and long lasting as cut flowers, give them plenty of sun and fertile soil which is well-drained in winter and they’ll thrive.

You can order the Echinacea Fruity Doubles Collection of plants from Thompson & Morgan.

You can also order Echinacea 'Double Marmalade', individually, from Thompson & Morgan and also from Mr Fothergill’s.

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Less than a year ago Neasden Primary in Hull who are one of our partner schools created an allotment and started growing vegetables, the school  involved parents with the ‘Get Your Grown Ups Growing’ event in September and since then they have been involved in looking at ways they can cook the produce they grow. As a development of their gardening and cooking activities the school organised a 'Food and Farming Day' in which the children could learn about the methods growers and farmers use to produce food locally.

I was involved with this event last Friday and would recommend the concept to other schools. The children were delighted to see lambs, feed chickens and to learn about the different crops that were grown in the countryside as well as the different mammals that they might find. The children were excited by the event. I overheard one child asking a farmer, Read More...