Jack Frost and Callum Storm
Wednesday, October 31, 2018
Reading through my October 2017 web site news, I was amazed at
the similarity with this October. I had already decided on the
headline for this month's News and it was uncanny that even the
title is similar to last years :- the names of 2 storms entitled
Ophelia and Brian.This- year Storm Callum teamed up with an early
Jack Frost on 7th to set back the more tender plants.
Always the first to be affected by an early frost is impatiens
tinctoria. From central Africa it is not really a surprise, in what
has been a bad year for it from a number of perspectives. You smell
the blackened foliage from a distance away before you see the
damage.
And another susceptible herbaceous plant is always
kirengeshoma palmata. All the other many suspect plants like
dahlias and salvias came through unscathed
The tremendous storm, Callum, created havoc over 3 days with
howling gales and torrential rain.
The bottom of the garden by the polytunnels which
fortunately weren't affected.
The little stream that feeds the Paddock Pond in
spate
A new stream being formed - the road alongside the
Lodge!
The River Bran, one of the 2 rivers along with the
Towy that flow through Llandovery and surrounding
countryside.
Across the river but not affected by it thanks to
flood prevention schemes over the years, are some of the
houses on the eastern side of the town
Elsewhere across Carmarthenshire there were
considerable flooding, and in one case a fatality due to a
landslide, the worst floods for 30 years.
The dishevelled Paddock Pond in a rather bizarre light
during the storm.
Fortunately this year there was no serious damage to our tunnels
and greenhouses or anywhere else, although we did have floods in
the adjoining fields when our small river the Ydw overflowed its
banks by a long way, some of which entered the garden at the back
of the Paddock pond.
Unlike last year we had a fabulous summer still fresh in our
minds and an amazing colour show all around us, one of the best
ever in the garden, as did many of our gardening friends.
Other news points were Moira's continuing recovery which was
sadly slowed by an infection in her knee which is very painful for
her but she is having antibiotics for it. She has a consultant
appointment next week, and hopes to be given the all clear for
driving again and by that time, the infection will have cleared
up.
On a more mundane level I had to purchase a replacement camera
as my 3 year old Nikkon just gave up the ghost, with several
frustrating imperfections. I managed to obtain from my local
camera shop, second hand,in very good condition, a Panasonic Lumix
bridge camera DMC -FZ72 with similar specs to the old Nikkon.
It complements my Lumix "Point and shoot" pocket sized camera
DMC-TZ57 which I have had for 5 months. So far all is well with
both and the pics are very encouraging. Judge for yourself because
there are more pictures this month than I believe I have ever
previously published, so keen have I been to try them out!!
Weather
Events like the very early frost this month, shortly followed by
the three day storm, lead you to the conclusion that it was a
disappointing month weatherwise. The stats however do not support
support this view.
There were 16 sunny days, 6 more than rain days, and 10
changeable days. Towards the month end there was a relatively
prolonged cold snap over 6 nights with a maximum of -6C on the
30th
Another sunny day looking across to the larch trees in
Cilgwyn Forest
The gardening year has definitely ended now! Earlier in
contrast there were some warm days for the time of year, many in
the mid teens, max 20.3C on the first day of storm
Callum!
A proper frost the day before Halloween. The ghost like
structure is my attempt with masses of horti fleece to protect a 6
foot salvia confertiflora. Eventually it will overwinter in the big
tunnel if it has come through the frosts.
These skyscapes show the changing nature of the weather this
month
Garden update
The garden was everything you would expect it to be in the
first month of autumn, although Callum and Jack changed the
complexion in the space of a week. Some tree damage and leaves of
all manner of plants shredded like paper so plenty of tidying up to
do alongside all the usual seasonal tasks. More frost damage later
in the month on the most of the tender plants especially in the
Paddock garden
A pleasing autumn combination is aconitum carmichaelii
and aster "Star of Chester"
!n some ways the storm was a blessing bringing down wheelbarrow
loads of apples whichwere out of reach from my fruit picker.
Most of them have gone to good homes although those windfalls that
were too badly damaged sadly ended up being dumped.
There is an average of 300 windfall aples in each
barrow load. I wished I had counted the number of each one I
carted.
The biggest apples were all those I could not
reach with the pole so they came as windfalls and went to good
homes!
Sorbus "Olympic Flame" which took the brunt of the storm and
lost 3 large braches. It was almost uprooted but I have managed to
make it secure - I hope.
Another tree that suffered in the storm losing 3
large main branches was a 20 year old liquidamber. With some
tidying up, I was assured by a tree surgeon it may eventually come
back for someone else to enjoy. This reminds me of a poem I read a
long time ago which suggests that our forebears planted well so
that we may do better. A nice epitaph.
Also in the picture on the left acer "Sango Kaku"
commonly known as the coral bark maple, and in the foreground a
superb aconitum Wilsonii group in a delicate shade of pale blue,
and still in flower after the frosts
In the Paddock Garden shade border a charming pairing of
strobilanthes rankanensis in blue and tricyrtis hirta, sometimes
called the toad lily. Where on earth do all these acquired names
come from?
It's not only trees and shrubs that have good
autumn leaf colour but many herbaceous plants too, particularly
hostas
Amsonia tabernaemontana turns a rich yellow which
deepens as the autumn pogresses, as do some heucheras and
persicarias, examples of each in pots alongside.
In the last week of the month all the root crops save parsnips,
which I always overwinter, were harvested and have now been stored
in dry peat. Dry sand is a suitable alternative. After having
avoided carrot fly for several years thanks to horti. fleece there
were the tell tale signs of attack on a number of carrots.
Fortunately not so bad that they can't be used which is a blessing
given that carrots are forecast to be in short supply following the
dry summer.
It is appropriate, I always think,, that celeriac is
harvested around Halloween, as it is I am sure, a vegetable
alternative to rival pumpkins which have had it their own way for
ages!. In the right hands it offers the possibilty of making
something really spooky with all that mass of roots. Fanciful to
think they look like a witches hair?
My constant companion in the garden is Kit Kat who takes
a keen interest in what I am doing and was clearly transfixed by
the celeriac. I was disappointed that he was not allowed to appear
on Gardeners World with me a few months ago. About time cats
got a look in and he is after all very photogenic and well behaved.
I am of course biased!!
Brasicas have improved following the onslaught by cabbage white
butterflies and we now have some very large specimens of late
summer savoys.In addition there are a few culiflowers and some
broccoli too. Even sprouts which are a pale imitation of what I can
usually grow have picked up but I won't expect a bumper crop.Red
cabbage have done well having avoided the caterpillars. This is
usually the case in most years. Could it be that being red they are
not attractive to butterflies?
After all the summer pests, we are now troubled by
rabbits which have had a go at the remaining brassicas and some of
the large beetroot. They also enjoyed the apple harvest leaving
trails of droppings as evidence.
In mid month I treated the lawns with autumn /winter fertiliser
but unfortunately the forecast rain did not materialise so there
are some scorch marks which hopefully may grow out if there is
time.
I have started taking salvia cuttings and will shortly be
digging up the more susceptible salvia forms for storing in the big
tunnel, which by the end of November will be bursting at the
seams!
Salvia "Hot Lips" is the hardiest we grow, forming a
good sized shrub in time, the woodiness adds to its robust
constitution.
And gathering seed is an essential autumn task to submit for the
Hardy Plant Society Seed Exchange, one of the abiding benefits of
this excellent plant charity.
Seed of lunaria alba variegata (honesty) takes a lot of cleaning
but leaves behing the decorative dried stems to last all
winter.
Whats looking good?
Still plenty of lovely plants doing their thing in spite of some
challenging weather. As usual the pics show off the best of them.
Probably the last of the best in this gardening year and sad as I
always am to see it slowly fading away, and the dark nights coming
with the turning back of the clocks.
For the first time in the 10 years we have had it
this agave variegata threw up a flower spike which has failed
to open but it does nevertheless appear to have so far survived the
frosts. Not sadly the -6C a couple of nights ago. It is
backed up by the autumn colour of a Witch hazel which
contrasts pleasingly with the flower buds. Like all the best
combinations a chance coincidence!
Hydrangea "Preziosa" and if you can spot it amidst the
dark hydrangea foliage, late flowers of clematis "Blue
Belle"
Showing the versatility of the genus is astrantia "Moira
Reid", several flushes from late spring until autumn. For obvious
reasons this is one of my favourites and is a particularly fine and
tall form.
Senecio "Angels wings" and Nerine bowdenii before
the frosts
Single dahlias and the late kniphofia "Rooperi"
surprisingly resistant to the frosts until we had the
-6C
A large drift of kalimeris var. unknown, an aster
relative that deserves its place because of the long season of
flowering from early July onwards and needing no
attention.
Impatiens scabrida, an annual form that flowers
for ages, seeding around, often in the right places, but it is easy
to pull up if it becomes troublesome.
Saxifraga fortunei "Gokka" new to me this year and
really choice. Listed only by 3 nurseries in the RHS 2018
Plant Finder"
Even when the flowers have gone, after a frost,
their framework is a picture when covered in frost. Selinum
wallichianum like all umbellifers looks wonderful.
And symphiotricum (aster) even when still in
flower, benefits from a dusting of frost, one of the few left in
the garden to still have flowers, which make a lovely cut spray for
the house.
Wildlife and Countryside
Two bird events were a highlight. Moira counted (she thinks!)
what were in the region of 50 Red Kites over the adjoining
fields following a late grass harvest. We have seen sights like
this at the Red Kite Feeding Centre 5 miles away from us but never
on this scale here. It was at this moment that my Nikkon camera
with a 60x zoom lens decided it would play up!! and it was then I
resolved to get rid of it! What a memorable picture that would have
been to treasure.
On a totally different scale we had another bird collision with
the conservatory; surprising really given the number of birds there
are here, that we have not had more but fortunately they often
survive the impact. especially the smaller, lighter birds. This
time it was a nuthatch that was the victim but as I always do, I
picked it up and settled it down as it was clearly just concussed.
What stunning markings when seen close up, and it was easy to see,
as it hung on to my fingers, how effective the claws are when
climbing trees. Nothing painful just what I would call a velcro
effect. I was happy when it recovered and glad to have shared such
a moment.
With turning out the ewes and rams into the local fields,
late calving and hedges to trash, farmers are busy at this time of
year. To add to their workload, in a window of fine weather, there
was a golden opportunity to get in a grass harvest from a number of
fields that had been set aside for a late harvest, to make up for
what had been lost during the drought this summer and a good crop
they had too - silage mostly as the nights were too wet to dry it
for hay. What a bonus this is. I remember when I first came to live
here it was nearly all hay in small bales, and wet summers, and
there were a few in the late 70's, which could mean the loss
of a substantial harvest. Reflecting back on those early years, I
have reason to be grateful that small bale harvests need a lot of
man (and woman) power to get it in and this presented me with the
perfect opportunity to get to know many of my neighbours and
build up relationships with them in this most wonderful
community.
On my late garden rounds the same day, I thought that
aliens had landed but it turned out to be our neighbours gathering
the hard won harvest before a forecast of heavy rain.
Visits
Only one visit this month, probably one of the last this year,
to a favourite event in one of our best loved gardens,
Hergest Croft in Kington, Herefordshire for the annual Autumn Plant
Fair. Good to see the garden going from strength to strength
and plans for next year already in hand.
Just two days after Callum Storm the fields were very wet, and
although some of the exhibitors called off, there was still a good
number in attendance and fortunately at lunchtime the sun came out
and the marvellous arboretum, one of the garden's highlights,
invited me to see the autumn tree and shrub colour which was some
of the best I have ever seen there in the 20 or so years I have
been going there.
Long term friends Sylvia and Tony with Moira. They do a large
number of Plant Fairs during the year across much of England and
Wales. Look out for Shady Plants. com at a Plant Hunters or Rare
Plant Fairs. Both have very good nurseries attending with genuinely
unusual or rare plants for sale, and always a nice garden or other
visitor attraction to enjoy.
The arboretum
Tony walking through the national collections of birches
and rowans.
A choice and rare shrub which I have watched grow over
the years into the fine specimen it now is. I give you Neoshirakia
japonica.
There is always a guided tour of the arboretum during
the Autumn Fair and this was not a posed picture although it looks
like one!
This outstanding autumn colour was on a small
shrub which unusually did not appear to be labelled as most
specimens are.
Outsde the tea rooms on the terrace overlooking
the main lawn there is a long border with a range of herbaceous
plants including salvias and dahlias, edged with liriope muscari in
full sun and well drained soil, just the conditions the text books
would never recommend. It shows that it pays never to rely on them
and as Tony always says, anyway plants can't read
books!!
Unfortunately Moira was not up to the tour of the arboretum
which is on a slope and covers a good few acres.
With all good wishes to friends and fellow gardeners and thanks
for continuing to read our News. A marathon this month!!
Keith and Moira X
s