"The end of September is the end of the gardening year"!!!
Tuesday, November 1, 2016
Regarding the headline to this month's News, I ought to clarify
straight away that it is not my view, but that of the well known
presenter of "Gardeners World", expressed on a programme at
the end of last month. To say I was gobsmacked is an
understatement!
There is so much to excite us in October especially when the
weather is as kind as it has been this year. In fact it was a
replica of October 2015. Like many other gardeners, by careful
plant selection, it is possible to get the most out of our
gardens throughout the year, with December being the only month
when this is not possible. Even then there are things to do and a
few plants to admire in the garden in a mild winter, and in
greenhouses and tunnels especially if they can be heated.
I have taken more pics than ever in a single month and the
following give just a flavour (lots more to come!) of what a
wonderful month it has been and I hope it has been the same for
you.
Sorbus "Olympic Flame"
Gentiana "Eugen's Allerbaster" a long flowering double form in
a trough at the garden of friends Liz and Paul. More of them
later.
Weather
Apart from a couple of days of very prolonged, heavy rain, the
month was benign with a spell of cold nights in the third
week, but often sunny days. Some great cloud formations and
with lower light levels and shortening day lengths, some stunning
and unique effects.
19 nights with temperatures under 10C. Min 1C on 2 occasions and
a max of 17.1C on 31st. 22 rain free days. Many still and
wind free days.
Garden update
My first priorities in October are always to cut all hedges and
the large yew which over 30 years I have transformed from a spindly
weakling, originally hemmed in between 2 large cherry trees,
to a major garden feature. All from just one clipping a year in
late September or early October. At a guess it is already 50 years
old.
Scarifying and top dressing of the lawn followed by an
application of a winter lawn feed is an essential task to ensure
that the lawn comes through most winters in good heart. Without any
visitors the lawns have had it easy this year!
Looks a mess I know but wait until you see the pics next
month!
I am pleased with our vegetables this year all of which have
cropped well, the long established pattern of succession planting
ensuring that we had no gluts and a long season of cropping, in
particular peas, beans of all kinds and superb sweetcorn- 65 cobs
from 60 plants. Carrots have been the cleanest for many years with
no fly and a good crop to store over winter. Similarly with
celeriac and beetroot. As usual I planted out garlic cloves at the
end of September but just a week after doing so some of them were
pulled up and eaten, the remains evident on the soil surface. We
obviously have gourmet vermin!
We have not missed our third veg bed which was turned into lawn
in early summer. It meant sacrificing main crop potatoes, which I
thought would be easy, but the quality of some of the
potatoes we have bought in has been exceptionally poor even with
varieties like "Desiree" which are an all time favourite.
The nursery has been run down this year to reduce the amount of
work we have to do to look after it in the winter but there are
still plenty of plants in the polytunnels which at present I can't
bear to part with. My gardening life and routines have been turned
upside down by my condition but I am learning to adapt to it.
I did however covet this sign at the entrance to Bob
Brown's wholesale outlet of Cotswold Garden Flowers in
Evesham.
We have 2 large Bramley apple trees that we inherited with the
Lodge which every now and again, as is their want, produce a good
crop, at intervals of a couple of years. This year we have
harvested some really large aples for storing and many windfalls to
share with friends and neighbours. Bramleys are tip bearers which
are really difficult to harvest even with a long handled
picker.
The best cooking apple started life as a pip sown in a
Nottinghamshire cottage garden two centuries ago and all the
Bramley trees around the world started life as grafts from that one
tree. What a lagacy, but it is sad that the original tree has
recently fallen prey to the dreaded honey fungus. For more info. go
to
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-36826038
What's looking good?
In such a fantastic autumn it impossible to do justice to
all the plants that are making a contribution to a spine tingling
show. I started trying to count them all but it proved impossible
so if I tell you that almost every one the 80 roses we have
in the garden are in flower, as are 40+salvias, a variety of
asters, sedums, dahlias, hesperantha (Kaffir lilies), hardy
chrysanths. aconitums, grasses and a whole host of other unsung
heroes you will get the idea.
Rose "Munstead Wood"
Rose "Gentle Hermione"
Aster "Star of Chesters" in perfect harmony with
aconitum carmichaelii
And if you like a more subdued shade of blue what about
aconitum carmichaelii Wilsonii Group?
A magnificent stand of hardy chrysanthemum
rubellum no. 5 in a private garden in Herefordshire
Without doubt the stars of the show are the trees and
shrubs, not just at Cilgwyn but in all the gardens we have visited
this month and the surrounding countryside.
Sit back and enjoy the show and judge for yourself whether
the end of September really is the end of the gardening
year
Neoshirakia japonica at Hergest Croft a rare and
beautiful shrub
Euonymus alatus at Cilgwyn - a great choice for
shrub colour in a smaller garden
Acers in a glade at Llwyn Garreg,
Pembrokeshire
Crab apples and a late Red Admiral feasting on the
juice - headache tomorrow!
Ripening medlars and good autumn colour at Llwyn
Garreg
At Cilgwyn there are numerous shrubs which
generally don't colour up well, but like kolkwitzia anabalis have
excelled this year
And aesculus parviflora has turned a delightul
butter yellow
Some herbaceous perennials also contribute to leaf
colour show ,like this stand of hostas by the Paddock
pond.
Hosta "Night before Christmas" (don't ask!) gives
great value over a long season when most are long past their
best.
Exquisite colour on the faded bracts of euphorbia
schillingii
The last rudbeckia flower of the year and the long
lived spent flower cones add structure and value to the border well
into November
Of all the many pics in this News item this is my absolute
favourite - seed heads of a dreamy pennisetum and a lone scarlet
poppy in the wildflower walk at Cilgwyn,
It is easy to overlook smaller flowers in such a
full on colour show but keen observation is rewarded when you look
closer into the borders. This tiny bulbous plant is acis autumnalis
and the coin I am holding up is a 5p piece. Charming flowers Sept -
Nov if you are lucky,
A smaller form of autumn crocus is colchicum
aggripinum
And if there is one plant in the garden to create
interest continuously from May until November it is the viola which
here is represented by v. cornuta alba. Lovely scented flowers that
weave their way through border companions to about 3
feet
We already have a small collection of saxifraga
fortuneii cultivars in the shady areas of the garden and recently
have started to acquire more. In particularly these rare forms from
Japan- not to be found on the Internet or in The Plant
Finder.
Wildlife and countryside
Last month it was the fate of the ash trees that took centre
stage, but this month it is all about birds.
The most significant event was of a sparrowhawk, carrying a song
thrush it had just caught, smashing into the conservatory. If you
have ever seen the speed of a sparrowhawk in flight you will know
what an incredible impact that must have been - Moira heard it from
3 rooms away and rushed to see what had happened. The poor thrush
was dead and in modern parlance the hawk was "spark out"!
A unique photo opportunity presented itself so I settled myself
in a chair just 2 feet away from the casualty scene.
For 15 minutes I watched the developments unfold as the
sparrowhawk slowly recovered it's senses, then without warning, it
suddenly took off, nearly taking my cap with it and I felt its
primary feathers brush my ear as it flashed past landing in a shrub
just behind me.
And if we hadn't had enough excitement for one day Kit the Kat
suddenly appeared on the scene hell for leather after the
"bird in the bush". As Kit made a huge leap into the bush the
sparrowhawk took off just in time - minus the songthrush prey it
had caught earlier. A cup of strong coffee was called for.
Over the last couple of weeks huge flocks of noisy
jackdaws flying down our valley have become a regular occurrence at
dusk, which is strange as we rarely ever see them around the
gardens. More recently,starlings to have started to form their
"murmurations"earlier than normal - is this the sign of the winter
to come?
Jackdaws on the telephone wires in a scene reminiscent
of an Alfred Hitchcock film
To complete the final episode of the bird trilogy after years of
trying, I managed to capture on camera a heron at the edge of the
Paddock Pond, but a picture of a kingfisher still eludes me!
This frog was lucky it wan't around when the heron came
to call!
Visits
We have had so many outings to gardens this month
that I have begun to lose track, recently visiting 3 gardens in one
day! All across mid and west Wales the autumn colour has been
outstanding, the more so as the month progressed.
A special event was held at Penpont a large estate
15 miles from us to celebrate its 350th Anniversary being in the
same family all that time
There was some garden interest with a huge
productive walled organic garden
And this unbelievable yew hedge cut into the shape
of a herd of elephants.
Hergest Croft, Herefordshire is one of our all time
favourites now in its 6th generation of ownership. Like all
the older gardens under this heading it is so comfortable in its
own skin. www.hergest.co.uk
And the oldest of them all at nearly 1,000 years
is Picton Castle in Pembrokeshire our favourite garden in Wales
which just gets better and better. It respects the tradition and
spirit of the place, but is not afraid to introduce up to date and
highly effective new planting schemes.
www.pictoncastle.co.uk
Two new, relaxed borders featuring grasses and
later flowering perennials were looking at their best
The stunning flowers of canna x ehemanii on 8 feet
tall plants
The tropical garden is just 4 years old but already
looks magnificent
And in halloween week just to show how unstuffy it
is, some props to add a frison to the visit. They're behind you!!!
Moira with friends Peter and Carole looking less than
scared!
And finally just a few miles from Picton is the
outstanding 20 year old garden of friends Liz and Paul. A large
garden at 3 and a half acres it is a plantsman's delight and has
tremendous impact. For more info go to
www.llwyngarreg.co.uk
Fine stands of salvias are just one testament to their
plantsmanship
And they particularly major on trees and
shrubs
And the latest project from these 2 workaholics is
a new sunken bed, dug out and built by them hopefully to be ready
for visitors next year.
Do visit these gardens next year if you can, and thanks
for reading and staying with me.