G&K's Rose Progress

Just a quick update on the blooming progress of Arthur Bell, clambering over the entrance to the kitchen garden. Lots of flowers in full bloom now with a beautiful scent as I deadhead for continued blooms from the precarious position on the ladder. The flowers start as deep yellow streaked with red buds, maturing to softer yellow and then lemon as the flowers open. I love the variation in flower colour and the proliferation of this sunny rose. Lifts the spirits even on the wettest June day...

Seedheads

I've recently bought a new gardening book, Carol Klein's Grow Your Own Garden, and I've found it inspiring! Beautifully photographed, well illustrated, clearly described techniques for propagating all types of plants with many types of propagation methods.

It's been my morning reading for the past week. Carol takes the mystery out of plant production, but not the magic. Written with enthusiam and passion for her subject, it quickly becomes infectious. I find myself wandering the garden looking out for suitable candidates for trying out the various techniques. I'm going to start by capturing seeds for sowing.










Some plants showing signs of developing seeds at HG are pulsatilla, with its fluffy seedheads, geranium Rozanne, aquilegia and a small geum. The aquilegia will happily selfseed all over the border which makes it ideal for an amateur as, hopefully, seeds sown and nurtured will take off easily.










I have taken divisions from geraniums previously with success but I've never tried growing from seed.

The book is full of other techniques that I'd like to try over the coming weeks and months. Updates to follow on what I learn from my attempts.

Garden Companions

As I make my morning walk in the garden I frequently have one, if not two, companions. Our cats, Toots and Bobby Bobbins, often join me on my early morning strolls. Though I'd like to believe that they join me for the company and peace and quiet of a wakening up time, I think their real motivation is to remind me that they need their breakfast!










PS Bobby is the camera-shy one.

Poppy Power

It's a fantastic month for poppies in all their guises. They love the soil here at Holly Grove, light and free-draining and seem happy to settle in any position from full sun to partial shade. Some I have grown from seed, others have been bought as plants, however the majority have blown in on the wind and self-seeded.










The Oriental poppies were for the most part raised from seed, though a couple of plants were bought in and what a show they put on...


Not all success though, one of the purchased plants was Patty's Plum and this has been the least successful to date. Last year only one flower was carried and this year the plant produced a few buds and then promptly dried up and died - it was watered with the rest of the border and still failed. I've cut it back and fed and watered it and now we'll wait and see what happens.

Next up are all the gifted plants, some are large, almost succulent, glaucious leaved plants with bright red flowers whilst others hold tissue paper flowers on wiry stems in pastel shades. The wiry plants are covering a neglected piece of rough gravel and provide a welcome touch of colour. The red petalled poppies are to be found standing erect in any bare soil in the flower border on the edge of the large lawn, they are rather majestic and stand very straight and proud.










A short burst of flower from the poppy but always beautiful and surprising, and all those seeds to gather or allow to self-seed for next year's surprise plants.

Unwelcome Visitors

The sight of pretty, fluttering butterflies caught my eye yesterday, then I realised that the dancing wings were white - the dreaded Cabbage White - well dreaded to all who grow brassicas and especially dreaded to me as I've lost all cabbage type crops over the past two seasons to these pretty pests.

But not this year! I've invested in several types of frame and some butterfly proof netting. I'm going to rate the various support frameworks for ease of construction, ease of access (for weeding and harvesting) and effectiveness.

I've incorporated three types of support: cane net supports from Plant Supports - easy to use website and excellent ordering and delivery process; a metal frame construction; and plastic hoop supports from our local garden centre.













The easiest to assemble was a tie between the cane net support (above left at front of picture) and the hoops (right). Simply push into the ground and, in the case of the cane supports, add bamboo canes of the length required.

The metal cage support (above left at back of picture) was marginally more awkward to assemble though more rigid/sturdy than the others and more flexible in height. The netting proved difficult to apply in all instances; especially if you are trying to do this on your own; I'd recommend a second pair of hands.

So much for structure, lets's see how they fair on access (for me) and effectiveness (keeping out the Cabbage White) as the season progresses.

Other unwelcome visitors to the garden are the wasps; they have built a nest in the outside eaves of the little blue playhouse where we store our garden games and cushions...time to contact the local pest control man.

Along with all the joys of gardening come the challenges!

Clambering Clematis

A number of clematis planted over the past three years are beginning to put on a bit of a show. Height in the garden was limited in the early days and some clematis were started in the circle borders on tripods of canes. The canes have been removed over the years as the clematis have found more natural supports to clamber through.

Clematis Piilu is making its way through a multi-stemmed silver birch, though it has taken a bit of coaching to begin its journey. Miss Bateman (pictured above) adapted more easily to the natural life and scrambles through a small shrubby tree that was a legacy from a previous owner of HG. Whilst Dr Ruppel (pictured below) is making progress through small and ancient apple tree.

Other clematis coming into flower on the more traditional trellis support include Crystal Fountain (below right), The President (below left) and the lovely pink Hagley Hybrid (below centre).

Postponing and Potting

My intention to complete the greenhouse was good, however my effort was meagre. I managed two panels before I gave up for the day, my excuse being that I had some fuchsias and pelargoniums that needed potting up in their final position.

To be honest I needed a day without the frustration of construction, the weather was warm and balmy and to ease my conscience I first cut the grass on the circle lawns and front garden. Now it was time to treat myself to some creative fun assembling the soon to be (hopefully) sun-baked pots on the terrace. Every year I create large and small pots of pelargonium for the Handyman's pleasure, he especially loves the brightest red. This year I have the usual bright red, but also a delicate pink, called Appleblossom.

The red geraniums I have teamed with deep blue lobelia in black pots whilst apple blossom is matched with a soft blue lobelia (Cambridge Blue?) in blue glazed pots. I started to pot up the bush fuchsias and some coral pink Busy Lizzies (Impatiens) at the back of the house where they will live mostly in the shade, then I ran out of time and daylight and i still had the baskets to water...watering by moonlight, a sight often seen at HG.

I'm hoping to finish off the pots today and maybe add a panel or two to the greenhouse, but at the moment it's raining steadily, so the Handyman and I are going out to search for some new garden furniture to dress the party patio - now a six or eight seater, teak or metal, round or oval...hmm?

Bank Holiday Fun?

Yesterday I continued with the greenhouse construction even though I should have put it off due to the very windy conditions. I really just want to get it finished, rehouse the peppers, cucumbers and tomatoes and get back to some gardening.

Fixing the polycarbonate panels is enough to try the patience of a saint and after spending about 6 hours on the remaining construction and glazing I still have 2-3 panels on the bottom and all of the roof panels to fit - so very slow progress.

I'm determined to get it finished today as quickly as possible and with the wind factor much reduced perhaps I'll have more luck with the panels today.

On the garden front, the wind has blown one of the stands of oriental poppies about, due to lack of plant supports and the number of full blooms balanced on long stems. One day I'll learn that time spent fixing supports in the early spring pays dividends. I did add supports to the poppies in the circle beds and they seem to have done the job. These have yet to produce their lovely blowsy flowers but there are plenty of buds.

And a poppy I had forgotten is blooming under the small and ancient apple tree in the swingseat garden, a lovely pale pink confection, it's name long forgotten, but delicious none the less.

I've quite a few recent purchases awaiting planting, so my incentive to finish the greenhouse is redoubled as the reward of planting awaits...hiho, hiho it's off to work I go...

Hosta Glory

I have a passion for hostas. The first one was given to me by my sister, JA, following a visit to Southport Show in 1995 where I saw a wonderful display of these foliage plants and was smitten. This plant (Aureomarginata, if my memory serves me well) established so well in a previous garden that I had to leave it behind. Since then I have been virtually unable to resist a 'new' hosta for the garden, though I am not especially taken with the yellow forms.The largest and oldest hosta we have resides in a half barrel against the east-facing wall of the house, Frances Williams is blue-green with soft lime green edges and very resistant to slugs and snails as the foliage is quite tough.
Other favourites in pots on the east of the house include Francee (above left) and Aureomarginata (above right). The morning sun and shade from about 11.30 seem to suit these hostas and sitting in the middle of a gravel path, these pots suffer little pest damage.

On the terrace and party patio are more potted examples including Twightlight (above), Great Expectations (not pictured), Patriot and Guacamole.

And this year I'm even trying young Fire and Ice in hanging baskets, again on the east of the house. At the moment they are looking well with the trailing yellow flowering basket plants, I'll post photos of their progress later in the season.In the woodland borders under the apple trees lives a selection of hostas - another Aureomarginata, Halcyon, with its blue leaves and hosta undulata (all pictured above) with its swirling leaf form. The colours of these hostas are richer than those by the east of the house, this may be due to them receiving no direct sunlight, but living in softly dappled shade or full shade for the whole day. Also in the woodland borders are Sum and Substance, Sharmon and Pacific Blue - quite a miniature with closely packed leaves, very appealing at the edge of the border.Other hostas are planted in a border in full sun with young grasses - this is a fairly new border and I've yet to see how the hostas fair in this position, at the moment they are suffering more slug and snail damage than those in other positions.

Maytime Showers of Golden Blooms

Wandering around the garden in between rain showers this late afternoon, my attention was drawn to Rosa Arthur Bell climbing over the arbour at the entrance to the kitchen garden. This rose was a present from G&K, arriving at Holly Grove during Easter 2008.














Now, I would not have chosen a yellow climbing rose for this spot but as it was the only structure in the garden in those early days that would support a rose, there it was planted.














Oh, and what serendipity, it has thrived and looks better and better each year. I must walk under this rose dozens of times in a weekend and pass it every day on my way to the car and when its in full bloom the sight and scent of it is glorious.














This year it is again covered in flower buds, some of which are just beginning to open and the leaf is so green and healthy; and yet we do nothing with this rose other than an annual feed of blood, fish and bonemeal and deadheading and tidying up any weak or straggly branches. So much pleasure for so little effort.

So here's to fate, chance and a lovely gift: to Arthur Bell, better known at Holly Grove as G&K's rose.