Weeding the Web

People's Choice Small Gardens at RHS Hampton Court 2014 - what did the results really show?

Last week the results for the People's Choice awards at Hampton Court Flower Show were announced. In first place in the Small Garden category was Hedgehog Street, the plot dedicated to showing how suburban gardens can support this endangered species. In second place was The NSPCC Legacy Garden, creating a pathway of its history from the 19th century to the present day.

If you really liked the gardens, then you'll think them worthy winners.

Or were they?

As the show swung into action this year, the following email arrived in my inbox from the People's Trust for Endangered Species:

If you're an email subscriber to NSPCC news, you'll know if they too sent out a similar email (do let us know if you received one).  Certainly on their website, they had the following message:

Two organisations with massive support and active social media ask for votes and - should we be surprised? -  they win. The NSPCC at least had the decency to suggest that you should only vote for them if you liked the pictures but, even if supporters stretched themselves to look at them, it's hardly a considered vote for a favourite garden if you haven't seen any of the others.

So, far from being a measure of which garden was genuinely the public's favourite design, the People's Choice appears to have been more a measure of which cause could drum up the most support.

Am I taking it too seriously? Do you even think it matters that a garden does well after a big organisation exhorts its followers to vote, even if they haven't seen the other gardens?

I think it does.

Everyone who builds a garden at Hampton Court likes to think they're in with a chance.  An enormous amount of work is put in, often freely, by family members, friends, company workers, to ensure that the gardens are ready in time and as near to doing well as they can be.  Sponsors no doubt hope for some publicity if the public particularly likes a design.

And there's the nub, of course: publicity. As PTES' follow-up email, announcing their success, says, "Thank you to all of you who voted for our garden. This will have massively helped the profile of our campaign."

I wonder how many show visitors voted for Hedgehog Street? Quite a number, I would guess, but when I spoke to a volunteer on the Flintknapper's Garden - A Story of Thetford on the Wednesday, she was bubbling with the positive remarks that visitors had made. She thought they were in with a good chance for People's Choice.

I told her about the PTES email. "So don't be disappointed if you don't win," I told her. "You can't assume it to be a true reflection of what people think of your garden." I hope she remembers that.

Social media is a wonderful thing, but let's not pretend that a vote is worth anything when someone can just press a button to swell the support of their pet cause. There's more than one way of being a bully online, and inciting your supporters to vote for you to the detriment of the spirit of the competition is one of them.

What is the answer?  One remedy would be to take votes at the show only. A system where you dropped a token, given at the gate, into the box of your favourite garden might work. Still, an online vote has the chance to involve so many more people that I doubt the RHS would be happy to drop it completely.

There should be a way, though, to distinguish between votes awarded by people who can be deemed to have looked at most of the gardens (show visitors) and to have a real opinion, and those merely voting because someone has asked them to. Results should be given of both onsite and online voters.

I think the difference would be heartening for those without a large organisation behind them, and the People's Choice could be deemed to mean something.

Water facts for gardeners

Phew! As we contemplate a bit of watering to counteract the sweltering weather, here's an infographic that tells us a bit more about our gardening habits.  I feel a drip irrigation system might be my next acquisition.

 

 Infographic supplied by Easy Watering.

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day: rambling with roses

Roses have been superb this year, everywhere I've looked. Including my garden. Actually I'm moderately chuffed as I like to think the particularly good performance of the rose featured here is down to my pruning (OK, it's probably the weather, but I can dream...).

The question is, What is it? Well, feeling suitably chastised by Helene's query as to my type of tulip, I've done a lot of ferreting.

It was originally planted by my father (who loved roses and was always rooting cuttings in jars), which means it must have arrived in the garden in the 70s or early 80s. It's a rambler, fuchsia-pink (as you can see) with clusters of smallish-sized flowers, not repeat blooming, but flowering over several weeks (it's just gone over now, but we've had at least a month of flowers). Not really very scented.

Forearmed with the information that "It looks like a David Austin rose," (thank you, Fryer's), and armed with the meagre description above, I accosted one of the men on David Austin's stand at Hampton Court Flower Show last week.

He looked resigned (how often do people ask this sort of thing over the week, I wonder) and came up with three possibilities: Alexandre Girault, American Pillar (definitely not, that's a single), Excelsa.

I thought he must mean Super Excelsa (which shows the dangers of relying on Google) and I plumped for that as it doesn't have the strong fragrance listed for Alexandre Girault. BUT a play on the  find-yourself-a-rose feature on Peter Beales's site told me that Super Excelsa' s date of birth is 1986 (too late).

A play on Ashridge Nurseries' website brought up Crimson Showers, looking perfect, EXCEPT David Austin says this flowers to September. No good.

However, Crimson Showers was born from a seed of Excelsa in 1951 (a theme has developed). And - ta rah! - more ferreting on Peter Beales reveals that Excelsa burst into the world in 1909. Which just goes to show you should trust the experts and not get confused by Google.

It never really did particularly well in its original position, on a north-facing fence that grew progressively shadier over the years, so I took a cutting (rooted in a jar of water) about four years ago and planted the result in full sun, weaving it into a flimsy support. (The rose was what kept it upright during the high winds last winter.) 

It looks great against the neighbour's pink-tinged bush behind.

I think my father would be chuffed too.

GBBD is hosted by May Dreams Gardens. Pop over and see what other gardens are doing this July around the world.

 

Plant Me Now show us the plants of 2015

"One is starved for Technicolor up there."

It's the instantly recognisable line from Powell and Pressburger's superb film, A Matter of Life and Death. Conductor 71 (Marius Goring) arrives on Earth and watches with delight as the rose in his lapel turns from the grey tones of Heaven to a delicate, earthly pink.

And I knew exactly how he felt when, last Friday, I visited Ball Colegrave at the invitation of Plant Me Now. This is the season when their grounds (they're one of the largest developers and distributors of bedding plants and perennials) are saturated with colour. The air vibrates with it.

Ball Colegrave themselves only sell to commercial growers, and Plant Me Now source a number of their plants from them, joining the throng of growers at the annual trade days to decide which fuchsia, nemesia, polyanthus or petunia is most likely to appeal to their customers. 

"We set ourselves apart from other 'plants through the post' companies," says Plant Me Now's Head of eCommerce, Tim Milward, "by offering 'ready to plant'."  This means that what they sell is grown on by them to greater maturity, so that the customer doesn't have to spend time and find space to nurture tiny plug plants early in the season.

With around twenty years in horticulture (some spent as a consultant for Gardeners' World), Tim's gained a good idea of what new plants and products are likely to appeal.

Now, I might as well admit it - I haven't really bought bedding plants up to now. Nevertheless, I found myself swept up in his 'kid in a sweetie shop' enthusiasm for the vast array of colours and textures and, let's face it, there was lots to get excited about.

A Tour Around Ball Colegrave

The first view to hit you is the experimental area - rows and rows of pots. The waves of colour and texture are spell-binding, but they're not for now and I'll tell you a bit more about them in a future post.

Further on, you find displays of petunias, hanging baskets of tomatoes, benches of zonal geraniums, banks of osteospermum. And one of my favourites, nemesia.

This is Nemesia Aromatica Lady Scented, a gentler colour combination that you sometimes find. The white at the back is Lady Vanilla (named for its particular scent).

And then you enter the greenhouses packed with the new varieties that will be available in 2015. Here's a brief flypast:

Zinnia Zahara in the new Raspberry colour

Osteospermum Blue Eyed Beauty

Oenothera Gold Dream

One plant that is very much on the ascendancy is Calibrachoa, which first burst on to the market under the brand name, Million Bells. Rather fascinatingly described as "self-cleaning", it's a mini-petunia that doesn't need deadheading as it jettisons its spent blooms all by itself. The Cabaret series have improved colours, and signage explained that Rose and Pink have improved habits (one can only imagine what filthy little beasts they were before). I can't think that these could be any more floriferous:

Calibrachoa Pink

Making a big splash, this next is one that Tim tipped as popular for next year:

Marigold Garland Orange

No, probably not something you'll see in the designer gardens at Chelsea, but "The large, hedge marigolds are coming back. It'll be really popular in people's gardens," says Tim.

I'm increasingly attracted to big, blowsy flowers, but there was one that Tim and I didn't agree on. Still, he can't always get it right. Tim really likes the sturdy-looking Geranium Horizon.

The new salmon tint on this one certainly wasn't for me. "OK, I'm rubbish," he smiled.

One we most certainly did agree on is this stunning little star. Short, compact, free-flowering, for hot, dry conditions.  I predict this might appear rather a lot next year.

Gazania Daybreak Rose Stripe

Behind the Scenes at Plant Me Now

Plant Me Now was established ten years ago. The challenge was to accustom people to buying plants later in the season, to plant immediately, rather than buying tiny plugs early to grow them on.  It's taken time but now the company grows a rather staggering hundred million plants a year.

Growing and shipping so many plants requires a great deal of thought and planning. Packaging, as you can imagine for an online company, is of primary importance. "We sent boxes out every day for a fortnight," says Tim, "when we were trialling packaging for hanging baskets." The recipient reported back and, eventually, they found one that didn't arrive upside-down with the soil spilling out. (For more on Plant Me Now's packaging, Helen Johnstone gives feedback at The Patient Gardener.)

Some perennials are sold as starter plants and sent out as 5cm plugs from March onwards. How do they make sure they'll flower in the first year? Overwinter them with an artificial dose of frost in the greenhouses.

And we can all imagine the problems of transporting free-draining potting compost.  A handy glue plug binds the compost, protecting the roots and helping to retain moisture and make transportation much less messy.

It's this sort of detail that makes, for me, the work that goes on behind the scenes every bit as fascinating as the flowers they sell.

So, I have to admit that I've rather changed my mind on bedding plants. If you, like me, had a dark feeling that using them can't be counted as proper gardening, I'd say that what they do is allow you to play with texture, colour and plant combinations in a way that's normally only possible if you have loads of space

Coleus varieties. Like patterned velvet.

to sow and grow things on.  Looking round Ball Colegrave was like being shown a great big paintbox, and Plant Me Now offers the chance to splash the colours on your canvas.

The Future

Finally, what's a view of up-and-coming flowers without a few predictions? Here are the trends that Tim has spotted from his contact with Plant Me Now customers:

1. Dahlias are going to be really big over the next few years.
2. Hedge marigolds (see above).
3. Calibrachea - so easy that there'll be plenty more of it.
4. Coleus are coming back in.
5. Majestic Begonias (which were awarded Best Annual at the Horticultural Trades Association 2014 National Plant Show) will be very popular.

Just remember, you heard it here first!

For another take on the day, keep an eye on Catherine Howard.

Tree Following: lilac puzzle time

Well, the lilac is bushing out, and the leading shoot is around three feet long now. I might even have to take the shoot nearest the wall away, as it looks set to jut over the pavement.

There are some odd things going on, though. Some of the youngest shoots have gone black and died off.

One of the larger shoots seems to be wilting.

And the lower leaves on the strongest shoots have grown enormous. The picture shows one covering my hand.

Does the tree do this to try to gain more photosynthesis?  My fear is that the root system is too great to be sustained by the current leaf area and the tree is trying to compensate (if you have an opinion on this, please feel free to chip in. I'm merely supposing here). That might explain the dead shoots, too.

So, will Husband turn out to be right - the tree will run out of energy, albeit more quickly than he supposed?  Anyway, it's engendered another experiment. Bob Flowerdew recently opined on Gardeners' Question Time that it was extremely difficult to get lilac cuttings to take. But most people aren't taking brand-new growth straight from the trunk, so I thought I'd have a go. I've got a couple going - one of the very short, new crinkly leaved shoots, and one of the slightly older, soft growth. Both I tore off at the base.

They spend most of their time under a plastic bag with holes cut in it, but I removed that for posing purposes. We'll just have to see what happens. The soft growth wilted but has now perked up, so I'm mildly hopeful that something may come of it.

This is part of Lucy's Tree Following meme at Loose and Leafy, where she's discovered that her pine "talks". Why not pop over and see what's happening around the world?

Hampton Court Flower Show 2014 (Part 1)

All sorts of photocalls go on at the Press Day for Hampton Court Flower Show. Small happenings burst into life every 15 minutes in various gardens - and always, it seems, in those furthest away from each other. Keen plantsmen wanting to see James Wong and Paul Hervey-Brookes with very rare plants in the Plant Heritage tent at 12 pm (Grow Zone) would have been hard pressed to reach the presentation for Rose of Year in the Floristry Marquee (Escape Zone) by 12.15.

When I first attended I had the tyro's feeling that I should attend as many events as possible and frequently found myself at the back of a crowd of burly photographers with very long lenses, some on stepladders, while I craned my neck, trying to remember which celebrity I was meant to be excited by.

I'm much more sanguine now. If I come across a happening, then it's generally serendipitous. Here's a view of the moments and people I chanced on yesterday.

Come with me and...

The E was decorated with a design by Orla Keily (very retro).

Shame the rest of it was the wrong colour...

He had a long way to go with that green!

All sorts of well known faces were rumoured to be attending: Christopher Biggins, Bill Bailey, John Hurt, Sir Trevor Macdonald. Personally, I can always rely on Mike Read to walk past.

  Hair a tad longer than last year, perhaps?

Meanwhile, over at The Flintknapper's Garden, A Story of Thetford, they had a real, live flintknapper!

Remember I mentioned the Floristry Tent?

Will you be mine?

Oh, no, wait... I was meant to give you this. Stick the flowers in, so I don't look completely daft! Rose expert Phil Harkness presents Chris Warner with an engraved crystal vase for winning Rose of the Year 1915 with For Your Eyes Only.

At the Quiet Mark Garden, David Domoney and helper were upstaged by basketloads of doves:

 

  If the lovely lady is someone famous, could you let me know? 

Some things were just bizarre. Here, New England cranberry farmer Adrienne Mollor stood among floating berries on the Long Water, to drip fruit through her fingers.

In A Space to Connect and Grow, they were providing more traditional entertainment in the form of music and poetry:

All in all, it was a long day, with some more rested than others:

 "Post it on Facebook!" jested a passer-by. I thought I'd put it here instead.

National Shed Week: how to preserve your garden shed

         No, it's not mine. Remember, I've never painted mine with anything!

So, after months of waiting for new fence panels, we finally have a date for their arrival. I have to say I’m sorry, as I’ve thoroughly enjoyed living with my Utopian dream of fencelessness.

It means another job to add to the list, too.  As one fencer pointed out, when he came to give an estimate on the work, painting them with wood preservative is a Good Idea. I foresee that “washed curtains” situation – you know how it is – where you look round and realise that everything else needs cleaning too.  My eyes are drawn guiltily to other neglected garden corners.

Which brings me to the shed.

I don’t remember ever having painted it with anything. 

(Hangs head in shame.)

As it happens, now is the ideal moment to turn over a new leaf (and, indeed, open a new tin).  As there’s very little point in splashing on a garden shed preservative in the cold and wet, summer is the time to do it, which may go some way to explaining why this is National Shed Week. 

Here’s how:

Preserving Your Shed

As preservatives work best when applied during dry weather, check the forecast for the promise of a run of fine days.  This is because dry weather gives the preservative the chance to form a good seal on the wood, which is what you need to protect it from moisture and UV rays.

Clean any moss or surface growth from the shed. This should be done as a matter of course, whenever it catches your eye at other times of the year too. Roots penetrating the wood open up pathways for moisture penetration and moss just sits there like a sponge, keeping the wood wetter for longer when it rains.

Now is also a good time to check for damaged slats and replace them. Like the moss-clearing, this is something to do throughout the year.  Obviously it stops things inside the shed getting wet, but it also reduces the chance of the water soaking into the slats via their ends and increasing the rate of rotting.  (Don’t forget to check the roof too and replace felt (or, in my case, corrugated plastic) if necessary.

Using sandpaper, clean as much as you can of the previous layers of preservative off the shed, especially if they’re flaky, before applying the fresh coat. This allows the new

         Now, where's the little weather man?

preservative to bond with the wood more thoroughly.

Get painting!

Once the fence is up, I think I’ll do the lot in one go.  Wielding a paintbrush is one of those soothing pastimes - makes me imagine I’m Tom Sawyer, waiting to trade the pleasure for a kite and twelve marbles.

The whole point, though, is not to leave it till you risk falling prey to the British autumn and winter, when the shed might get soaked after you’ve stripped off any old layers, and the new preservative won’t dry sufficiently to form a decent protective barrier.

It would be a shame to do all that work and not get the best effect from it.

In association with Cocklestorm, fencing and garden suppliers.