Time for bed

It's the 8th of November and so far this Winter we've been really lucky with the warm weather. Listening to the forecast this morning (as all good gardeners should) I hear there's a frost or two on the way. So, it's finally going to become a proper Winter where I have to get ready for work ten minutes earlier to allow time for scraping ice from car windows and wear extra pairs of socks to keep my footsies warm and toasty.

Looking out at the garden, I figured it would be a good day to put it to bed. My garden is fairly sheltered and so it doesn't require much work to tidy it up and protect plants from cold spells. I have a banana that's been growing happily in a pot for the past five years. To date, I have never needed to protect it any more than pulling it close to the house in the hope that the warmth from the walls will keep it alive. However this Spring it took an age for it to get going again and so I'm thinking I may have to wrap a bit of fleece around it this year for added comfort.

My biggest 'tender plant' is the Gunnera although even this requires little protection in my garden. All I do with it is cut off the abnormally oversized leaves, cut them into smaller, more manageable pieces and layer them over the top of the crown. This gives it the necessary protection and in the Spring I simply put the dead leaves in with the recycling for collection. I would compost them (before you comment) but my garden's so tiny, there isn't room for a composter unfortunately.

The only other job I've done today, in preparation for the frost is to rip out my much impressive Nasturtium. Although it is (correction: was) growing strong, it wouldn't have survived the frost and the thought of having to tidy up a mushy, black pile of rotted stems and flowers didn't really fill me with delight. On the plus side, the shrubs that were being smothered by the jungle of Nasturtium leaves can now see the light of day and may even start to grow a bit faster.

Either way, the garden is clear of fallen leaves, the tender plants are wrapped up and I'm ready for Spring. How long have I got to wait?!

It's Autumn

Autumn is, by far, my favourite season. With the smoky aroma of bonfires filling the air and colourful leaves desperately clinging to the branches of their trees before admitting defeat and fluttering to the ground, it is a great time to reflect on the nearly-through year and look forward to - dare I say it - Christmas.

In recent years the ability to kick wellie-ladened feet through piles of crispy brown, orange and red leaves whilst hoping that no dog has left any surprises underneath has come all too early in the year with strong winds and copious amounts of rain. However, this year has been slightly different. Don't get me wrong, there has been wind and there has been rain, but there has also been a rather warm temperature. It's a shame that, without a spell of really cold temperatures the colours of the leaves fail to become really vivid, but flowers that would usually have given in to the Autumn long ago are still blooming.

My front garden was intended to be a fairly minimalist affair when I redesigned it earlier this year. It seems though, that Mother Nature had other ideas (or perhaps it was a passing sparrow) and seeded a Nasturtium plant for my pleasure. When I noticed it back in June, weaving its way from behind the Photinia, I gave careful consideration to ripping it's tender roots out of the ground before it got going - that wasn't part of my plan after all! Seeing that my plan was yet to start growing, I decided there would be no harm in leaving the little fellow to do his stuff and so he graced me with a lovely display of the brightest orange flowers throughout the Summer.

Strictly speaking, being a tender little annual, he should have rotted into a mush of black pulp by now but the lack of frosts and the sunny weather has meant that he is doing better than ever. Just one plant has crept all over my front garden and is now making its way across the steps leading to the front door and into the neighbours overgrown patch.

I've missed seeing the stunning displays of crimsons and golds upon the trees this Autumn but this Nasturtium has more than made up for it.

If you fancy giving Nasturtiums a go next year then the cheapest way to grow them is by seed. Although plants can be bought in early Spring, it will only take a couple of weeks for seeds to germinate and you needn't give them any attention at all. You don't even need to use a seed tray if you don't want to. Just sprinkle the seeds in situ and let them get on with it. And you can even use the flowers in salads as they're edible - just watch out for caterpillars as they can quite often take a fancy to Nasturtiums too!

It's Springtime!

Okay, it isn't Spring for at least another six months but I've been planning ahead - for once in my life - and planting Spring flowering bulbs.

My usual attitude in Autumn is to go into hibernation, cuddling up on the sofa with the radiators frantically trying to pump through enough hot water to satisfy my thermostat setting and X factor on repeat on the TV. When spring does finally arrive and I see lovely little snowdrops, narcissus, tulips, crocus, etc, etc, popping up in everyone else's gardens, I go into sulk mode because once again I'd taken the attitude of a certain Little Britain character and stated: "Don't want to" in the depths of Winter with the result being my garden is void of pretty Spring bulbs.

Well...

Not this year! I've dragged my butt off the sofa, gone to my local garden centre and trawled through the vast array of Spring bulbs on offer. Shunning the fancier, double petaled and frilly flower types, I went for a more simple variety of good, old-fashioned (some may say 'Boring') option of Crocus species in various shades of mauve's and white. I also decided it might be nice to have something a bit later flowering to look forward to (or forget about) and bought some Allium Schubertii. This is a fantastic bulb that flowers towards the end of May and is nearly half a metre tall. Being a member of the onion family it has the same type of stunning flower and also the same type of aroma as edible onions and so it should fit in wonderfully to the planting scheme in my front garden.

Have I ever told you about my front garden? There's a story for another day then.

The Allium bulbs came pre-packed with basic planting instructions, whilst the crocus bulbs worked out more cost effective to 'cram a bag' for a set price than to buy pre-packed bags. It is always wise to look around at the different options as the same bulbs can be packaged in several ways, each with a differing price. If you know what you're looking for then you can find the cheapest option and save yourself some money. Well, Christmas is looming after all!

Whatever bulbs you choose,whether they are loose or pre-packed, make sure you give them a squeeze to check they are firm before purchasing. If they are squishy the likelihood is that they have rotted and, no matter how green-fingered you are, you won't get them to grow.

Planting bulbs isn't a scary or traumatic experience, although it isn't really my favourite job in the garden as you have to wait months before you can see the results. What can I say? I'm an impatient gardener!

Rather than plonk my purchased bulbs on a shelf in the kitchen only to be forgotten about, I immediately armed myself with a trowel and dug trenches to the required planting depths as stated on the bags. Then it was simply a matter of placing my bulbs, roots down, into their trenches and re-covering with soil.

Good job done and now, once the X factor is over for another season, I will have my Spring flowering Bulbs to look forward to.

Orchids are Easy - Honest!

Back in the Victorian days, the owning of orchids was something reserved for only the very rich who paid small fortunes to have rare specimens shipped over from far-away jungles and mountains. Because of this exclusivity, the orchid has gained an unjust reputation for being difficult to keep. Whilst this reputation is true for some more specialist orchids, of which there are estimated to be over 25,000 different species and another 50,000 of orchid hybrids, it would be unfair to accuse all orchids of this.

The most commonly available orchid nowadays is the Phalaenopsis Orchid, also known as 'Moth Orchid' due to the wing-shape that the beautiful petals make. As a result of their ease of hybridising it is impossible to know how many different varieties there are of Phalaenopsis Orchids and unfortunately very few are given their full variety names when sold in garden centres and nurseries which makes it a tad bit annoying for serious orchid growers.

However, not knowing the name of an orchid should not deter you from having a go at keeping one. From my days working at the local garden centre, I constantly heard customers oohing and aahing over the stunning flowers but following it with a "I couldn't possibly keep one of those. They're so exotic looking." Whilst the later of those sentences is true - they are indeed 'so exotic looking' - they are probably the easiest houseplant to grow and keep.

You don't need any fancy glasshouses or propagators to keep a Phalaenopsis happy. All it requires is a bright (but not in direct sunlight) position and to be watered about - and this is usually the bit that scares people - once every three to four weeks. To be honest mine are lucky if they get water once every six to eight weeks!

Most orchids sold in garden centres are grown in clear pots. This is to allow maximum light to reach the roots to enable faster growth. Some 'experts' exclaim that the clear pots must always be visible to ensure a healthy orchid but as far as I'm concerned, so long as the orchid has had a good start to life (and by that I mean if it's already flowering when you get it) then the root system is established enough and the clear pot can be disguised by a more attractive pot cover that fits with your decor more tastefully. Lets face it, the roots of an orchid aren't really it's most attractive attribute. Always make sure though that your orchid has excellent drainage as they HATE sitting in water.

Common concerns that orchid owners would approach me with were:

" the leaves are going yellow" =solution: you're giving it too much water. Allow it to dry out and new leaves should grow through lush and dark green. The existing yellow leaves won't recover so don't expect miracles.

"the roots are sticking out of the pot. Can I cut them off?" =solution: Phalaenopsis roots are aerial which means they do not need soil or growing medium in order to grow. In their natural habit of tropical rainforests, orchids grow high up in the branches of trees, clinging to mosses or other plant types. The roots can, and will, get moisture and nutrients from the air around them and so whilst roots sticking out of pots can be unsightly it is best to leave them to do their thing. If you really don't like them though, and there are enough healthy roots in the pot, then by all means, cut them off - you cruel, heartless person, you!

"there's sticky, cotton-wool-like stuff in the base of the leaves" =solution: What you have there, my friend, is an annoying pest referred to as 'woolly aphid' or 'mealy bug'. It particularly likes a warm, moist environment which means that if you're keeping your orchid in its most favourite conditions, you're most likely to come across these little fellas. Treatment is simple though as a mild infestation can be wiped off with a damp cloth, making certain to get deep into the base of the leaves or for more severe cases, a systemic insecticide can be used. If the orchid is in flower when you spray, trey not to get the insecticide onto the petals. It won't harm the plant but may mottle the flowers and ruin your lovely display.

"the flowers have finished. Now what do I do with it?" =solution: okay, this one is never easy to explain without an actual example to hand to show you but I'll give it a go anyway. If you look closely at the stem that has been flowering you will see 'nodes' (lumpy bits) at intervals up the stem. Got them? Right... now tracking from the top of the stem try to find the 'node' that is directly below where the very first flower was and cut the stem just above that. If you can't work that out, then you can also work up the stem and cut above either the 3rd or 4th 'node'. Once you've cut the stem you then have to practice some patience and, what should happen is, the stem will branch out with a new flower spike from the node below where you cut. Fantastic, huh? More flowers!

Alternatively, if all that care just seems like way too much hard work (and basically if it does -shame on you!) then you can buy a plant just as it is breaking into bloom for usually about £10-£15, depending on the number of branches it has, and just enjoy the flowers while they last. Normally the flowers will last for a minimum of eight weeks (given no care) and more often than not will last for several months at a time. Fantastic value for money if you ask me. Think about it...How much would you spend on a bunch of cut flowers only to have them last for about three weeks if you were lucky?

There's no competition for me. Phalaenopsis orchids everytime please.

The weirdest thing happened last week!

With the sudden dehydration of my plants last week, I began looking into possible reasons for their sorry-looking state and after ruling out the possibility that someone had deliberately poisoned them (why would they anyway? I'm a lovely person!) I settled for the fact that the large trees that the council planted behind my garden for privacy are having a last minute binge-drinking session before the autumn really kicks in and are taking all of the moisture from the ground. Combined with the fact that it hasn't actually rained for nearly four weeks now and the ending result is the smaller plants suffer!

Whilst out there examining my poorly plants and pleading with them to fight for survival, I got whacked on the head by a ridiculously large branch that was overhanging my garden. Not content with killing my plants, the trees were starting on me now!

Well, I wasn't having any of this and so - armed with my Felco secateurs - I promptly chopped off the offending limb and a few others for good measure. As I hacked away at the tree it attempted to fight back by launching large chunks of dead branches down at me. If anyone had walked by at that moment I'm not sure if I'd have been reported for cruelty to trees but it wasn't a pretty fight, all-in-all.

Standing back and admiring my handiwork, I started to take pity on the tree. It is full of dead wood and just looks in a sorry state. despite it only being 20 years old - a mere baby in the tree world.

I decided that I'd contact the council and ask them to have a little look at it and maybe give it some much needed TLC. I penned a letter, sent it off, and three days later received a reply that somebody would come out the following day and that all of the trees (six in total) were scheduled for pruning this Autumn anyway.

Shock Horror!! A prompt reply from the council! What's going on? It's unheard of!

Anyway, the next day came and, sure enough, so did three men armed with chainsaws.

Within an hour they had chopped down the neighbouring tree to mine. I'm hoping that they'd planned to do that and that they got the right tree, but either way, it has made such a difference to my garden - I now have sunlight after 1pm in the afternoon and I have a view.

As for 'my' tree? It's still exactly the same! Oh well, can't expect the council to get it right everytime, can you?!

It's all just a big mess!

Well, the summer has pretty much been and gone (although the lovely sunshine today is very welcome) and my garden is really punishing me for neglecting it over the past few months. As a result, the slugs have moved in and devoured all of my new plants. That Cosmos atrosanguinea that I planted in June? Now just a few woody sticks that I'm hoping and praying will return bigger and stronger next Spring.

Despite the copious amounts of rain that has fallen from the sky recently, it appears that the top of my garden didn't get any and to my dismay, established plants (Hydrangea, Leycesteria and an Asplenium among others) are all heavily wilting though drought. I could've cried when I noticed their shrivelled, dehydrated leaves and immediately ran out with a watering can. Only now, three days on, are they starting to bounce back to life.

I can't wait to let myself loose out there with a pair of secateurs to regain control. It's an absolute mess but I'm determined to leave the last of the flowerheads this year to let them set seed and hopefully get lots more little seedlings in Spring.

Until then, it's off to the local garden centre to search out the latest Spring-Flowering Bulbs that are in store now.

It's not safe to let me out!

Having come back from the Gardeners World Live show brimming with ideas and inspiration last week, I decided that I should get back out in the garden and do a spot of post-spring tidying.

The first victim to be tackled was the Ceanothus 'Blue Mound' that gave me such a wonderful display last month (see 'Feeling Blue' post) and I stealthily approached it, armed with my felco secateurs and the intention to chop off the dead blooms. Once I'd started though, I took a closer look and decided that it needed reducing in size as it was beginning to outgrow its position and by the time it flowers again next year it would be too large. Choosing the branches that needed removing, I carefully pruned away, leaving a growing tip just below my cut so that the shrub would grow away again and fill out. Standing back and admiring my handy work, I noticed that it now had seriously bald patches and so there was nothing left for it but to chop it right back!

Like I say; 'It's not safe to let me out!'

I'm now left with a six-inch stump where there was once a beautiful, evergreen shrub and I'm now struggling to decide what to fill the gap with.

Moving on from that disaster, I decided that my Centaura (cornflower) would look better tucked into the Geranium 'Blue Skies' that is currently rambling its way through my Alchemilla mollis and is looking fantastic. So, defying all the rule books, I dug it up on a hot, sunny day, complete with masses of azure blue blooms and moved it - along with the dozen bees enjoying it - about two feet to the left. It will look better there once its forgiven me for the transplant. At the moment, its sulking and punishing me by wilting despite the copious amounts of water that I'm providing it with.

In it's old home I've already filled the gap with a dark maroon coloured Cosmos atrosanguineus, a chocolate scented perennial that will provide me with some much needed late summer colour and a contrast to all of the blue flowers I seem to have. In front of the Cosmos I've planted Nemesia Confetti, a versatile plant with masses of pale pink flowers that have a long blooming season and will look great at the front of the border where it will be able to gently cascade over the edge.

Hopefully, the garden will forgive me for once again having a move around. It's good to have a change about now and again. Don't you think?