December 2014 News from the Nursery

Yesterday the last day of November, I had a wander around the garden and jotted down all the plants in flower. I finished my list on a grand total of 43. These included hardy Fuchsias which go on flowering until the weather goes wintry, for example F. glazioviana and F.hatschbachii. The same goes with Salvias, shrubby and herbaceous. Lavender stoechas Papillon was a surprise, but I suspect the four flowers just coming out will get damaged by the cold weather forecast later this week. Several Rosemarys were looking good like Rosmarinus officinalis Prostratus and in flower, as were the Vincas (good for winter tubs) and Coronilla valentina glauca.The lemon in a pot will have to go into a tunnel now and be fleeced when the cold snap arrives - no doubt some of the flowers it has now will be lost.
When fleecing plants like the evergreen citrus don't forget to remove it in the daytime if it warms up, to stop any mildew forming. This also saves the plant being starved of light and so weakening it. Do not over water.

The weekend weather here was amazingly mild 15ºc on both days and no wind. I did some tidying and dug out a couple of plants, because it was so mild. I was surprised to find many active ladybirds which I found a new sheltered home for. It just goes to show that the tangley plant which we think is unsightly is just the job for beneficial insects.
We have a large Myrtus communis (Myrtle) in the garden and it is heavily laden with its wonderful black berries. I have cut some for the house. I am not the only one who likes them – the Blackbirds and a shyer Song Thrush are also enthusiastic! Nearby a large red leaved Berberis has been stripped of its berries in the last week by the birds, including our Blackcaps.
We thank you for your custom in 2014 and wish you a good Christmas, New Year and 2015. Do not forget our Gift Vouchers for gardening friends – something to spend in the new year when things start to look up again.

April 2014 News from the Nursery

If your soil has dried out after the prolonged wet weather it is now a good time to lift any grasses that need splitting and replanting sections with lots of new shoots.

We have had several conversations with people who have lost Lavenders that were newly planted late last year. We always think it is best to plant early in the season, so that they are well rooted in and settled before autumn and winter wet and cold weather.

The sales of hedging plants have been very good this spring. Many people are not replacing fencing panels, as they were being blown over the following week!

In this business we are always looking to have plants ready for the coming season, so at the
moment, before they are potted on we have in 9cm diameter pots :Sedums for late summer / autumn.
Penstemons for summer and autumn.
Geraniums
In 2 litre pots we have Libertia ixioides Tricolor, which has fabulous dark foliage and white flowers which are just in bud.

March 2014 News From The Nursery

The sun is now beginning to have some strength and quickly warms up greenhouses and tunnels. To stop plants undercover getting soft and drawn up, make sure to have plenty of ventilation during the day. The newly emerging growth will be susceptible to frost damage, so keep some fleece handy if a frost is forecast.

Some plants seem to have come through all that the winter weather can throw at them without turning a leaf. One such plant that always catches my eye in the winter garden is Euphorbia mellifera. This large Euphorbia needs a protected position out of cold winds, except in mild areas. The leaves are unscathed and lustrous green. In May the reddish brown flowers smell deliciously of honey.

Another shrub that tolerates everything, including gardens by the sea is the double flowering gorse (Ulex europaeus Flore-Pleno) they have are just coming into flower and will soon be scenting the air with their coconut fragrance.

Many evergreen plants in our area are showing signs of wind burn and salt damage. The large Luma apiculata Glanleam Gold in the garden is looking very scorched on the west facing branches. This is damage which we get when the wind is fierce off the sea, it looks pretty terrible until the damaged leaves fall off and new ones come through. Don't think you have to remove branches or shoots as it is unlikely to have killed anything into the mature wood – just be patient and look the other way for a few weeks!

February 2014 News from the Nursery

There is no disguising the reality of our prolonged wet and windy spell of weather. Due to the mildness of this winter, we have not had to take plants in because of the cold freezing the compost solid, but more to dry them out and reduce root death from waterlogging.
Thankfully unless a garden is flooded, once in the ground the roots cope well with wet spells. When exposed to extreme windy conditions and wet soil, shrubs and trees can be blown over and need straightening up, firming in and re-staking where needed. Cover any exposed roots and its a good idea to check tree ties.

Any herbaceous and grasses not pruned down are now looking rather the worse for wear and need cutting down before the new shoots emerge and get damaged in the process.
Some plants like Helleborus orientalis, Pulmonaria Blue Ensign and Sissinghurst White are coming into flower, what a welcome sight they are.

I can't wait to start splitting things up and getting on with potting, but I must confess the miserable weather puts a damper on things.

There are plants that bring scent as well as colour into the garden at this time of year like Coronilla valentina glauca, with its deep yellow clusters of flowers, flowering for months and giving wafts of its fruity scent. Planted in a sunny position it really performs.

My clump of Iris unguicularis has been good this year and due to the battering weather I have been picking the flowers. They last well in water and can be picked in bud and then they unfurl indoors.

I have been writing these notes to the background noise of a chainsaw, as another casualty of the weather is dealt with. A large Hawthorn, which made a bushy tree prized by us as part of the sheltering boundary on the windy westerly side of the nursery. We now have a gaping hole in our defences and a favourite nesting site for our birds is no more. We do fortunately have an inner defence of some Griselinia littoralis, which we will allow to grow up higher in front of the gap.
In coastal areas Griselinia is much used as it is tolerant of salt air and windy conditions. Its smooth, glossy lightish green leaves always look good. Another storm proof hedging plant for coastal and other areas is Elaeagnus x ebbingei, which has a darker leaf – silvery underneath and small highly scented flowers in late summer.
The large growing Fuchsia riccartonii is also very tolerant of coastal and other windy conditions and although not evergreen gives good shelter as it filters and slows the wind down as well as flowering for months.