Cornus to cut or not to cut

Cornus or dogwoods can have beautiful coloured stems during winter and can look stunning when planted with plants which will set off those stems to best advantage.  However, the stems you see in the photo above have not grown tall and vibrantly coloured without pruning at the right time of year.

Although it is tempting to cut back everything to within an inch of its life in the great garden tidy up in autumn/winter, Cornus are shrubs which need leaving until the spring.  Just before the leaves appear in early spring is the right time to cut their stems almost down to the ground.  The stems will then grow quickly and leaf up during the summer.  It is only in the autumn once their leaves fall that you will be able to see the glorious, young and brightly coloured stems which have been produce by the pruning you did back in the spring.

So...DO cut Cornus, but only at the right time of year to be rewarded with a show of beautiful stems during winter.

Not too late for tulips

It's not too late to order and plant tulips.  November is a good time since the risk of tulip blight is less when the weather gets colder.  A firm favourite of mine is ‘Recreado’ which is deep purple with purplish stems and is quite perennial compared to many tulips (many are not reliably perennial, diminishing in number from year to year – planting more deeply is supposed to help).  It’s also tall and late, flowering in April to May.  Try it planted around Euphorbia polychroma - the purple tulips and acid green of the Euphorbia are a zingy combination. Last year I also used ‘Couleur Cardinal’ which has sumptuous deep red petals like the best and plushest velvet – it looks stunning with the orange leaves of Heuchera ‘Marmalade.’

Other good tulips are ‘Ballerina’ since it is a beautiful orange, tall and elegantly lily-flowered with a sweet scent.  Although it looks delicate it puts up with a lot of buffeting by wind and rain.  Try ‘Prinses Irene’ in containers.  She is short and orange but with a purplish tinge to the lower part of the petals and exquisitely scented.  ‘Spring Green’ is always on my list – it has classic ivory petals with green flares and performs well in shade, unlike many tulips.  It is also one of the most perennial tulips you can buy.

Watch out for squirrels - although they reject daffodil bulbs they are partial to tulips.  If planting in containers, use some chicken wire to put across a group of pots and anchor it down.  In the garden you could try lengths of holly laid across the soil which may deter them.

Try the following bulb suppliers:-

www.riversidebulbs.co.uk 
www.sarahraven.com 
www.peternyssen.com 

Chitting potatoes - why bother

Mid February is a good time to start chitting seed potatoes.  Put simply, chitting is the process of growing shoots (chits) to give the potatoes a headstart and crop earlier than they might otherwise do.  Put the potatoes with the end where you can see a number of 'eyes' uppermost in an eggbox on a sunny windowsill or in a sunny porch.  The shoots that grow will be knobbly and purple/green and completely unlike the long, pale shoots which grow on potatoes left in the kitchen cupboard for too long.

Once the shoots are 2 to 2.5cm (3/4 to 1") long and the risk of frost has passed, the potatoes can be planted out.  Dig shallow ridges of soil 45-60cm (18 to 24") apart and plant the seed potatoes into the ridges 12cm (5") deep and 22cm (9") apart.

Bare root rose planting

Now is the time to plant bare root roses - from November through to the end of March is the rose's dormant season.  On a chilly but sunny day it's very good exercise!  I have just planted 22 bare root Wild Edric roses from David Austin Roses to make an attractive and scented hedge in front of a post and rail fence:-

Golden crab apples of Malus 'Golden Hornet' were still hanging on and looked great against a blue sky:-

Garden fit for a Wedding

When I met my client in September 2011 she wanted her garden 'sorting out' in preparation for her daughter's wedding.  She had been tipped off that a proposal may be imminent and, sure enough, the proposal was forthcoming and the date was set for 7th July 2012.  A central timber pergola would be where the bride and groom would walk through to the marquee.

The original pergola

Pergola in March 2012 ready for planting

Pergola on the wedding day

To cut quite a long story considerably shorter, the design was drawn up, the plants were put in place in March 2012 and then it was up to the weather to do its best to ensure that everything was in perfect bloom for early July!!
 
There followed a scorching two weeks after planting, a very rainy April, hot weather in May and the wettest June on record, not to mention the wind which was detremined to bash everything down and Izzie the dog who made a path through the plants on a regular basis.

However, despite a deluge on the morning before the wedding and the radio broadcasting flood warnings all around the country, Saturday 7th July 2012 was a sunny, dry day and this is how the garden looked.

Boxford Gardens Open 2012

As Sunday 3rd June 2012 dawned it was clear that the weather forecasters had got it right and that both the Queen on her Thames barge and the hard working open gardeners of Boxford would be disappointed.  The rain which started as a dreary drizzle turned into a constant downpour by the end of the afternoon.

However, were we downhearted?  Certainly not!  Although the Union Jack bunting hung a little limply at times, the open gardens looked fresh and beautifully green, rather than sun-baked and gasping.  Many of the gardens featured stunning irises which this year seem to have benefited from the alternating weather conditions of extreme rain followed by extreme sun.  Although many roses and peonies refused to open their tightly packed buds, the aquilegias were still standing tall and resolute against the elements and hardy geraniums such as Geranium phaeum were massive specimens.  Oriental poppies dared to unfurl their papery petals and colourful lupins stood cheerfully to attention.

Visitors came from as far afield as Clacton and, in true British jubilee spirit, they were determined not to let the rain spoil their enjoyment of the gardens.  The village hall fed a constant stream of bedraggled visitors with coffee, ploughman's lunches and cream teas whilst two outlying gardens provided visiors with welcome mugs of tea and slices of cake.

All in all, the day was a great success in spite of the weather and our 24 open gardens received some well earned compliments.  We had over 250 visitors and raised over £2,600 for Boxford St Mary's Church.

Many thanks to all who opened their gardens or who helped in any way and of course to our intrepid visitors who braved the rain to view Boxford's beautiful gardens.