Utterly reliable, totally floriferous, and as much a sign of autumn as the sad song of the geese overhead.
The only problem with our tall Michaelmas Daisies is that they're so top heavy that they tend to flop forward.
To see what's in the gardens of other garden bloggers, visit May Dreams Gardens.
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OK, so Platycodon grandiflorus doesn't look the most exciting of blooms, but I just love it every time the tiny balloon-like buds burst out into a star, like a mini explosion. Ladies and gentlemen, the Balloon Flower -
Join Carol for more bloggers' blooms this month at May Dreams Gardens.
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Is it because Morning Glory's flowers last such a short time that they seem so beautiful?
May Dreams Gardens hosts GBBD. Visit to see what's blooming in other bloggers' gardens around the world.
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This combination of Johnson's Blue geranium and a venerable double-flowered pink peony (unknown) look stunning in the sunlight. Can't really do them justice.
To see who else is enjoying what, visit May Dreams Gardens for this month's round-up of Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day.
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I've never seen another lungwort (Pulmonaria) that I've thought more beautiful than this one. The two-tone flowers, the not overly spotty leaves, the fact that bumble bees adore them - my heart sings every year when they break out into colour. They bloom for over a month but unfortunately I have no idea which cultivar this is.
This year has provided a particularly fine display, which I put down to one of the (very) few benefits of last year's rain. Our clay soil didn't really dry out and the pulmonarias didn't succumb to their usual annual dose of mildewed leaves.
See what other blooms are being blogged about at May Dreams Gardens.
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Do squirrels eat begonia tubers?
A glance into a pot revealed a tuber somewhat less rounded than it had been. Toothmarks are visible.
For anyone who hasn't grown begonias, the reason why this onslaught was so visible was that the tubers are nestled into the top of, rather than buried under, the soil. Thompson and Morgan, who handed them out at the Garden Press Event this year, have a helpful video showing how to plant begonias. Squirrels aren't mentioned.
As pests go, this isn't exactly a catastrophe. I rejoice that I haven't had the badger problem that destroyed most of the The Patient Gardener's tulips, but still, something had to be done.
I was about to arrange a square of netting, tied on jam-pot style, when Husband pointed out that the solution was sitting on a shelf. Not so long ago, Gardenskill sent me one of their pop-up fruit and veg cages. I have to admit that I really like it, but I hadn't found a use for it. It 's around 20 inches high and 18 x 18 inches square (51 x 46 x 46 cms) and as I tend to grow rows of veg in the raised beds there were always some that didn't fit under and so I used fleece or netting instead. Here it answers perfectly.
An inappropriate shape for my needs was really the only reason I hadn't used it before. Using tent technology, the frame is made of carbon-fibre rods - very strong and light. So light, that the cages have loops attached where you insert tent pegs to hold them down. And they're very easy to put up. So easy that it made me squeal with laughter when I first took it out of its bag. Raring to go, it leapt out of my hands and stood to attention.
Various sizes and shapes are available, and if I were to get another, I'd choose the Giant Fruit Cage which would fit well on the raised bed. At £39.99 + £5.49 p&p, though, it's not cheap compared with, say, netting. On the other hand it's incredibly easy to put up and therefore you're far more likely to put it up immediately you need to, rather than aiming to sort out netting as soon as you've got a moment.
It's almost as easy to put away. Twisting it back into the tiny size that fits in the bag takes a knack which I manage to master after a couple of goes. Gardenskill have put a video on their website to show how to do it. One reviewer on the site has added, "The key is not to get angry. If it doesn't work, just leave it and come back later for another try."
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Good. A yellow crocus that hasn't had a bite taken out of it.
See how others are faring at May Dream Gardens.
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After reading that the winter aconite was already blooming as far north as Berwickshire at the beginning of January, I was beginning to fear that mine had succumbed to the winter wet. But no, at last they've appeared. Thank goodness, Spring is really on its way.
GBBD is run by May Dream Gardens. Why not pop along and see what else is out?
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Needing to ferret out some garden history books was the ideal excuse to visit Wisley last week (before The Snow).
In case you've missed it on your stampede to the cafe, the library is a calm oasis on the right where the charming assistants are extremely helpful and you can browse the latest gardening magazines and immerse yourself in books.
They're keen for more people to use it, though I must admit I think that would be a shame. Always nice to have the place (almost) to yourself.
Before I bore home a cache of literature that would challenge a weightlifter, we had a mooch round. Currently starring in the glasshouse are exotic butterflies (there till 24th February).
There's a fascinating emergence case, which displays hundreds of pupae, suspended in rows from dowels (I can only assume they glued them on. The caterpillers can't be that well trained). Some butterflies had just emerged and were thinking about their next move. Others had just begun the sustained fight out of their case.
Outside, Wisley looked lovely in a serene, pared-down manner which really emphasised shape and colour. The lake was partially frozen, but this didn't deter one duck, which paddled breast-on against the ice, gradually breaking itself a path.
On the bank dogwood features strongly and, combined with salix and the ghostly white thorny canes of the Two-Flowered Raspberry (Rubus Biflorus), created a muted flame effect.
Dogwood had also been artistically employed elsewhere, as branches pruned from some out-of-the-way bushes made decorative screens to enliven the beds by the rectangular pond. It's a little early to cut dogwood down, but it's hardy and a passing Wisley gardener said it would survive. Yellow and red had also been combined in a display in one of the urns. It created a lovely sinuous line and combined well with the daisy cultivar, Bellis perennis 'Pomponette' at its feet.
Incidentally, if you plant Bellis next to a lawn, it's likely to cross-pollinate with the lawn daisies and you'll get pink variations. That's tempting.
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Something that may have escaped your attention is that this is National Conifer Week - yup, till 7th October. It's been going for seven years and its aim, according to an article in Hort Week last year, is:
to showcase the modern-day conifer, highlighting the structures, styles and colours available and the suitability for conifers in all types of garden.
"It's time to challenge the view that conifers are old-fashioned," say the organisers.
For those of us who remember 1970s gardens, this is the horticultural equivalent of the return of flares. You saw them everywhere, and were glad when they'd gone. As I recall, they were particularly present in the gardens of boxy new-builds with no chimneys (hmm, a physical expression of a subconscious loss?).
Still, I suspect, however groan-worthy some of us find them, we do recognise their usefulness in creating structure in a winter garden, and punctuation in a summer bed. Go and get one and you'll be bang on trend. Conifers are making a comeback.
Continue reading "Conifer comeback - good evergreens for the small garden?" »
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