tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25681141048222074842024-02-02T02:32:48.483-08:00Pots and PolytunnelsPots and Polytunnelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06382052816348799966noreply@blogger.comBlogger96125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2568114104822207484.post-45866684366147669962017-07-11T13:32:00.002-07:002017-07-11T13:32:24.418-07:00The Plant Messiah
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
When I heard that Kew's
'Plant Messiah', Carlos Magdalena, had just brought out his first
book I was intrigued. Carlos is a 'Botanical Horticulturist' at
Kew, known best for his work bringing critically endangered plants
back from the edge of extinction, and his nickname of 'The Plant
Messiah' was bestowed on him by none other than legendary naturalist
Sir David Attenborough, so a book seemed quite promising...</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I've read many things
written by people involved heavily in conservation and materials tend
to fall into two camps; 'the world is going to die and this is why
it's your fault' or 'this is a tree, and trees make the lovely air'.
With what I would say is a tolerable understanding of the troubles
facing our planet in times to come, and how plants contribute to our
world, I really didn't want to read yet another book along these
lines.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZHJJS5lPRBqQIYtXXxvWx-OLe_QFfXg9i0hlAAo2rzOiyCl6B4HGzIthttlGtmpKVYhNeMjANWykMwW2N7WMsk54n3YsvtX4kFb1vMV_fFKc08EAI4NmXvgZBlQs4aYhlp9fpGRQakdM/s1600/Carlos.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZHJJS5lPRBqQIYtXXxvWx-OLe_QFfXg9i0hlAAo2rzOiyCl6B4HGzIthttlGtmpKVYhNeMjANWykMwW2N7WMsk54n3YsvtX4kFb1vMV_fFKc08EAI4NmXvgZBlQs4aYhlp9fpGRQakdM/s400/Carlos.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I was more than a
little surprised by this book; part autobiography, part account of
real work carried out by the author, this is what the world of plant
conservation has needed for some time- a good natured insight into
the world of plant conservation that is gripping and thought
provoking.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Magdalena's style of
writing and his interesting stories of his work in far flung places
(as well as 'back at base' behind the scenes at Kew) makes this book
a bit of a page turner. Personally I devoured it over the course of
two days, and it's currently on loan to a friend who is finding it
similarly gripping. The language is straightforward; there's no
attempt to force in technical language to make the author look
clever, but neither is there an assumption that the reader can't
understand technical detail if explained coherently. In fact, the
book starts with a brief glossary so all readers get the opportunity
to brush up on a few terms before starting the book if they so wish!</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
This is one of the very
few books I own that has moved me to review it; whatever your level
of technical expertise this book is fascinating and will renew your
interest in safeguarding plant species for the future.</div>
Pots and Polytunnelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06382052816348799966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2568114104822207484.post-59641228975893478882017-04-09T12:08:00.001-07:002017-04-09T12:08:22.103-07:00My Life With Plants, a review
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Old wisdom says that
you should never meet your heroes, but I've met my gardening hero
three times now and it's done me no harm! If you had to write a list
of 'great heroes of gardening' then the late and very great
Christopher Lloyd would certainly be on the list, as would the very
influential Beth Chatto, but I would hope that most lists would
included Roy Lancaster.
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
For me, Roy Lancaster
is the very epitome of what a plantsman (or indeed plantswoman)
should be; friendly, warm, enthusiastic, knowledgeable, informative.
There are those who think that plantsmanship is about men in corduroy
trousers or women in floral dresses and big hats professing that a
plant merrily living its life in a border should be ripped out in
favour of some obscure plant (nearly always something the
'plantsperson' grows themselves), while gaggles of 'lesser gardeners'
frantically try to make notes and capture this great 'wisdom'. In
truth I find this to be an abhorrent definition of plantsmanship, and
I would dearly like to see these 'ships in full sail' barred from
gardens nationwide. For me 'plantsmanship' isn't about collecting
rare and obscure plants to try and show off to other gardeners and
make them feel inferior, plantsmanship is about understanding plants,
their diversity and their needs, to make the best selections. You can
be a plantsperson using Photinia 'Red Robin' or Potentilla fruticosa
'Abbotswood' (a favourite of mine)- it's not the obscurity of the
plant that makes a scheme work, it's the suitability of the plant for
the purpose.
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Anyone who has heard
Roy Lancaster give lectures, been with him on garden tours or come
across him in the media will know that he has an infectious way of
getting everyone interested in plants; it was Ian Hodgson (former
editor of the RHS magazine 'The Garden') who once said “he could
make the most nondescript, green looking plant the most interesting
thing on the planet just by the very words and passion he conveys”.
This is what I believe plantspeople should be like, not bogged down
in pointless hierarchies and one-upmanship!
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Roy has written several
books over the years, ranging from fairly easy going general books
about trees and shrubs right through to 'My Travels In China', an
impressive and possibly sometimes daunting book about, not
surprisingly, his travels in China and the plants he saw there. Roy
was also a critical part of the creation of arguably the most
influential reference books for serious gardeners, 'The Hillier
Manual of Trees and Shrubs', the latest edition of which (with Roy
Lancaster and John Hillier as consultant editors) describes over
13,000 woody plants without any pictures whatsoever! It's very easy
to enjoy the fruits of Roy's research yourself- every gardener should
own a copy of The Hillier Manual!
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Roy's latest book is
very much the odd one out in that it focuses very much on him. 'My
Life With Plants' is a very enjoyable and fascinating autobiography
which takes us on the journey of his life, from his early days in his
native Bolton to his national service in Malaya and up to recent
times, and talks with great fondness of the people who influenced him
and got him into the world of plants. Of course there are plants
mentioned on nearly every page, plus birds and other wildlife found
along the way, so even here the reader is being fired up with
enthusiasm for plants!</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
The style of the book
is very light and easy, and you quickly finding your mind reading the
words with a Bolton accent! Some stories will be familiar to anyone
who has been to Roy's lectures while others are probably less well
known. I found the chapter on Roy's garden particularly interesting;
I've long wondered what his garden is like but don't really have the
connections to wangle a visit, so reading about it was the next best
thing. Finding out that Roy's garden is around 1/3 of an acre but
contains around 1,000 species further cemented one of my beliefs of
plantsmanship and that is that you don't need to have a huge space to
have an excellent collection of plants!
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
There are parts of the
book that I suspect have been edited back pretty hard, particularly
stories of plants he's seen in the days since leaving the Hillier
Arboretum, but I daresay those stories would make up another book on
their own. In fact I really hope they do make another book on their
own; while 'Travels in China' is an astonishing in-depth story of
Roys various trips to that seemingly never ending botanical paradise
it would also be nice to have a book more centred around Roy's more
recent experiences in gardens and wild places around the world, trips
where he has had first hand experience of some of the most remarkable
plants in the world? Either way, this book is sure to delight fans of arguably Britain's most enthusiastic plantsman!</div>
Pots and Polytunnelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06382052816348799966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2568114104822207484.post-14622958347679674052016-10-26T12:35:00.001-07:002016-10-26T12:35:22.482-07:00Michael Wickenden
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Today I was saddened to
hear that Michael Wickenden, plantsman, explorer and owner of Cally
Gardens in Scotland, has passed away.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Although I've never met
Michael in person the Cally Gardens catalogue has been a highlight of
my gardening year for some time now; every autumn (then latterly
spring) the catalogue stuffed with rare and interesting plants from
around the world dropped through my letter box, and was always the
first piece of post to be opened. The biggest challenge with the
Cally Catalogue has always been whittling down the desirable list to
things I can afford and grow...!
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyryN4i76acs-KAS4FPEwbF2kgQF7exmeE8Axoa0ifMs5wS0ApCtEQxiLnIzD6tkkhu7K5ZJMpJhty3MQHfWWqZ-EjsLvdiEmE78ovFzXOMK4GfFVVvoYtfCCuj4UqJNh0TwMO_GY1GaU/s1600/Impatiens+rothii.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyryN4i76acs-KAS4FPEwbF2kgQF7exmeE8Axoa0ifMs5wS0ApCtEQxiLnIzD6tkkhu7K5ZJMpJhty3MQHfWWqZ-EjsLvdiEmE78ovFzXOMK4GfFVVvoYtfCCuj4UqJNh0TwMO_GY1GaU/s400/Impatiens+rothii.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Impatiens rothii- huge tuber from Cally!</i></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
From what I've heard so
far, Michael died doing what he loved, travelling, exploring and
collecting seed of interesting new plants to introduce to his
nursery. At this point I gather that there is an intention to
continue the nursery at Cally Gardens, a fitting tribute to the work
of a real plantsman.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
(Unfortunately I can't find my picture of Rheum 'Cally Giant', a whopper of a species. Well worth looking for online, and if you're into big leaves you'll need to grow it!) </div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
Pots and Polytunnelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06382052816348799966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2568114104822207484.post-31483979386058098392016-06-26T05:35:00.001-07:002016-06-26T10:38:06.531-07:00Coombe Sculpture Garden; a reviewI'm sure I'm not the only one who travels great distances to see gardens yet always manages to miss a garden on my doorstep. I've been aware of the existence of Coombe Sculpture Garden in Bradstone, Devon, for several years thanks to conversations with other gardeners and occasionally driving past signs pointing up one of Devon's charming country lanes, but it was only this year that I finally took the plunge and visited.<br />
Nestled in a secluded valley, Coombe House would be idyllic without a garden. Here lush, burgeoning hedgerows create a patchwork of fields on rolling Devon hills, and almost secret country lanes take you to beautiful sleepy hamlets with beautiful houses. This is a place off the beaten track, and is all the better for it.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3kl5zxLC7dT9VqGhuA9tRuzmuosj3Fue0SJtQz1qFznQGFuTsweQusxFhKAqpUxn_qYRE_L95Gg7aoE8Dgc4KxpwQbggSMTXooGFWw3vP_2ALbRoTl2ykTyZI9StNPtGFMH7i_c8ukok/s1600/10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3kl5zxLC7dT9VqGhuA9tRuzmuosj3Fue0SJtQz1qFznQGFuTsweQusxFhKAqpUxn_qYRE_L95Gg7aoE8Dgc4KxpwQbggSMTXooGFWw3vP_2ALbRoTl2ykTyZI9StNPtGFMH7i_c8ukok/s400/10.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
Nonetheless there is a garden here, a superb garden. While so many of us dream of our country paradise, creating a garden that sits well in its landscape can be surprisingly difficult. With a careful guiding hand, the owners of Coombe Sculpture Garden have created a garden that is entirely comfortable with itself; there's no pretence here. All too often people who open their garden feel the need to show off and try to make their garden as high-end and aspirational as possible, but here the garden just feels right; this garden is unapologetically what it is. It's hard to put this mysterious feeling into words- you'll have to visit to see what I mean.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo16BisR5T7hPal45Du6xFE_ZIYhkyQcrGYEVD8raP6HQlIHT0tDmw0BHav_2ruauNSqKDigC3t2o35h_TxJWAINMS-7h9AG2TKYjp7bbUN1iWTdfcNDcrpUsjD-SbmzjzPPiptBym2S0/s1600/4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo16BisR5T7hPal45Du6xFE_ZIYhkyQcrGYEVD8raP6HQlIHT0tDmw0BHav_2ruauNSqKDigC3t2o35h_TxJWAINMS-7h9AG2TKYjp7bbUN1iWTdfcNDcrpUsjD-SbmzjzPPiptBym2S0/s400/4.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfb7J0AlWuATIghHotKjIYV0iNv8mb6XWM_SAinILeUW8oTlc6SMIFiXghxQTkMLhmTaCQbaGssMf5pXF_ImP8tLdyXGSR5pY9fUfo2Gf8zc_L2l7P45DQ14Nqp5SEqMVBKwVnLFkaB2k/s1600/9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfb7J0AlWuATIghHotKjIYV0iNv8mb6XWM_SAinILeUW8oTlc6SMIFiXghxQTkMLhmTaCQbaGssMf5pXF_ImP8tLdyXGSR5pY9fUfo2Gf8zc_L2l7P45DQ14Nqp5SEqMVBKwVnLFkaB2k/s400/9.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
The garden only runs to 1.5 acres in all, but this doesn't feel like a small garden; the layout and planting has a similar quality to Knoll Garden in Dorset which also manages to trick you into thinking you're in a garden much bigger than its four acres. You will find a small orchard, a mill pond, a stream, several ornamental ponds, borders, interesting plants, and of course sculptures. I'm reluctant to go into too much detail about the garden itself for fear of spoiling the surprise!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHouYsPYYc7o9LaX05WBjw2cQMuGYCOIKJ2QEaoBHNewCECQsc9xApNUHtVPkUA9LCTg-LFZzGh011gNxzRI85B1HB_aULELbsxjRRFnixKmBOe-wSuwLpQprUBnDwDetXWd2W_WK0ZlU/s1600/5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHouYsPYYc7o9LaX05WBjw2cQMuGYCOIKJ2QEaoBHNewCECQsc9xApNUHtVPkUA9LCTg-LFZzGh011gNxzRI85B1HB_aULELbsxjRRFnixKmBOe-wSuwLpQprUBnDwDetXWd2W_WK0ZlU/s400/5.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
This is overwhelmingly a private garden, although the owners are justifiably proud of it and are pleased to welcome people to the garden during its all-too-short opening season in summer. Would I recommend this garden? Yes and no; my reluctance to heartily recommend this piece of heaven is simply because I love that it's still a bit of a treasured secret in the gardening world. If you just happen to find yourself here then you're in for a treat.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifHxY90wH0Ft7O0UXJsJJqH53hGVJIB5d9vgmKLgP4mEYHp_tqFNHuPF4Gnc6aWao8eezagOBzGGMPhcD_HpxgvuIKYQDqEUNFGwX4zQZU2uhzTsfCbfHPbrNFg-WjhKcFD3uWGlqQLA8/s1600/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifHxY90wH0Ft7O0UXJsJJqH53hGVJIB5d9vgmKLgP4mEYHp_tqFNHuPF4Gnc6aWao8eezagOBzGGMPhcD_HpxgvuIKYQDqEUNFGwX4zQZU2uhzTsfCbfHPbrNFg-WjhKcFD3uWGlqQLA8/s400/3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr0SNKbqsm3xPIOJnHuO5uN31RieQPiSlU3KSnrwnKxvylRQI_CNplbqLLOe8lQmnRTOtqjV1Xc-iq1bRo8jXxysaas1uM86N6Dx89kmvIZoz2Xqde-dCBfw1wQS8Rohskv8l92ZvLcEg/s1600/8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="305" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr0SNKbqsm3xPIOJnHuO5uN31RieQPiSlU3KSnrwnKxvylRQI_CNplbqLLOe8lQmnRTOtqjV1Xc-iq1bRo8jXxysaas1uM86N6Dx89kmvIZoz2Xqde-dCBfw1wQS8Rohskv8l92ZvLcEg/s400/8.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
Coombe Sculpture Garden is at Bradstone, a tiny hamlet between Launceston and Milton Abbot on the Devon/Cornwall border. It has very limited opening times, being open for just a few weekends during the summer. Be sure to enjoy a light lunch or delicious piece of cake while you're there!Pots and Polytunnelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06382052816348799966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2568114104822207484.post-10882198818230868862016-06-20T12:18:00.000-07:002016-06-20T12:18:35.047-07:00My favourite rose<i>It's strange to think that I've actually been working in horticulture for a good 15 years now! Anyway...</i><br />
<br />
Over the years I've seen a lot of roses. I've seen them at flower shows, I've seen them in gardens, I've seen them in nurseries... I've potted them, I've planted them, I've pruned them, and I've taken pictures of them.<br />
<br />
I'm really not all that fussed on roses.<br />
<br />
There, I said it! I'm not a big fan of roses. I don't go all gooey at the latest introduction, I don't feel a sentimental attachment to an old fashioned rose, I get neither attracted to nor repulsed by a hybrid-T. I'll grow them, I'll care for them, I'll even evaluate them for my customers, but I am in no way a big fan of roses. I do grow a few but these are species roses grown as shrubs with flowers rather than being held in high praise because they're roses!<br />
<br />
There is one rose that I will always hold in high praise though; one rose that I make sure I sniff whenever I see one in flower. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfn0funS-GYADl9sVJte0j4bL05LB75BZPD0FH0w-5wmrlu8nq0-d0fG-aPOSQ2BTXMb_a8PnkfyHvOfKu1HWK5uhTpGZa8YiYwr_9BzQnU5acVfgUIosWZ0oT8CYQ5n_7865fceC1ls8/s1600/rugosa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfn0funS-GYADl9sVJte0j4bL05LB75BZPD0FH0w-5wmrlu8nq0-d0fG-aPOSQ2BTXMb_a8PnkfyHvOfKu1HWK5uhTpGZa8YiYwr_9BzQnU5acVfgUIosWZ0oT8CYQ5n_7865fceC1ls8/s640/rugosa.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
Yes, it's Rosa rugosa! Now I know that to sensible gardeners this species is a bit of a thug, but when have I ever been sensible? For me the thuggish thick stems of Rosa rugosa are the perfect structures to hold large, tissue-paper like blooms in pink or white. Add to this that Rosa rugosa is tough, vigorous and free-flowering (when big), and you've got a winner. Large bright orange hips in autumn are just the icing on the cake.Pots and Polytunnelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06382052816348799966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2568114104822207484.post-9783935423299639492016-03-27T02:01:00.003-07:002016-03-27T02:01:32.120-07:00Why I do what I doPeople pick careers for many reasons; job security, money, interest, challenge, opportunity to make a difference.... I'm a gardener, and I get enormous amounts of happiness from the work I do.<br />
<br />
But Ben, you might ask, what about all the cold and wet days, don't they get you down? Cold and wet days are a physical and mental challenge, an endurance test I suppose, but they are an important part of my personal well-being; think about it this way, if every day was hot and sunny you would simply take hot and sunny weather for granted. By enduring the discomfort of cold and wet days you quickly learn to appreciate the warm and sunny days!<br />
<br />
The other thing that contributes massively to my happiness is that every day I see something AMAZING! Yes, 99% of the planet don't share my wonder at the natural world but that's their problem, not mine. To see beauty in the buds on a bare stem, to enjoy the high drama of mist rolling in, or maybe just the sound of birds chirping away while you work... these are the things that make life rich.<br />
<br />
Take this flower bud; this is Rhododendron sinogrande, one of the large-leaved tree species. It's a magnificent shrub/tree for a special spot in the gardens of the more discerning gardeners, and it takes several years to get to flowering size. Once it starts to flower the trusses appear each year and are eagerly anticipated; even though the flowering season isn't very long the period of excitement and eager anticipation as the buds swell lasts for several weeks before a single flower opens.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-eAqxBuAFv8Gm8nzFqJ58MmQTXsG2I2JVHjPxVmko26dt4EBT1Fk5CI7rYNfyovlCnarR88vGDuivYDoX3CqYlsjM5t7y9ntWLaxuhFt4fzf0BADeUb63fYm9aLeZN2YtZV_2scre0ac/s1600/Rhodo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-eAqxBuAFv8Gm8nzFqJ58MmQTXsG2I2JVHjPxVmko26dt4EBT1Fk5CI7rYNfyovlCnarR88vGDuivYDoX3CqYlsjM5t7y9ntWLaxuhFt4fzf0BADeUb63fYm9aLeZN2YtZV_2scre0ac/s400/Rhodo.jpg" width="400" /> </a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
This is why I really love what I do! Every garden I visit has something happening, something to anticipate. I get in my van each morning wondering what I'll see during the day that will make life better. Pots and Polytunnelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06382052816348799966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2568114104822207484.post-44336542519790270912016-03-20T23:57:00.002-07:002016-03-21T00:05:54.987-07:00Out with the old, in with the new<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
After 10 years of
abuse, neglect, rain, mud, strong horticultural disinfectants, opening
packaging, fires (well, two bonfires specifically) and plant sap I decided
it's time my Felco No. 2s enjoyed an honourable retirement! While my new secateurs might be shiny and sharp they lack the character of my old ones...</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoTIzzTq6Fy2D9vR3YbvVJfvfGBh3omPaHHvNYManEM67fTqjL4EvQAcrpLNJXmUmSdtqT8s2mwOmUjQiN7KMivpBYqWgwizNeOTYdOLq_0ktY5zJ2_SImtLG0mQIBSFAbLsWhtoEOyHw/s1600/Felcos.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="322" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoTIzzTq6Fy2D9vR3YbvVJfvfGBh3omPaHHvNYManEM67fTqjL4EvQAcrpLNJXmUmSdtqT8s2mwOmUjQiN7KMivpBYqWgwizNeOTYdOLq_0ktY5zJ2_SImtLG0mQIBSFAbLsWhtoEOyHw/s400/Felcos.jpg" width="400" /> </a></span></div>
<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
Pots and Polytunnelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06382052816348799966noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2568114104822207484.post-63731659587285114232015-12-31T10:57:00.001-08:002015-12-31T10:57:26.086-08:00That New Year Blog Post...With constant news of war, famine, flooding, greed, corruption, abuse and scandal being drip-fed to us all day every day the need for gardening has never been so great.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9Q-kWh3nn7YF5wXTPMdqxcXUhTqk6tARRAsY5HvvtQs_T2H-OQB2Rw3OfK90zHQ1W492LKY1tR-uO1VplUZHuEIPLBlE8Pz7fGVK-moIG2VctHO5MNKG_8rq4i5ePh2wuwPZwivJGc5U/s1600/Alstroemeria+%2527Sweet+Laura%2527closeup.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9Q-kWh3nn7YF5wXTPMdqxcXUhTqk6tARRAsY5HvvtQs_T2H-OQB2Rw3OfK90zHQ1W492LKY1tR-uO1VplUZHuEIPLBlE8Pz7fGVK-moIG2VctHO5MNKG_8rq4i5ePh2wuwPZwivJGc5U/s400/Alstroemeria+%2527Sweet+Laura%2527closeup.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Happy New Year.Pots and Polytunnelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06382052816348799966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2568114104822207484.post-45748916494810918802015-12-22T01:52:00.001-08:002015-12-22T13:31:15.094-08:00Book Review: The RHS Encyclopaedia Of Conifers<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
It's easy to imagine some raised
eyebrows when the RHS considered publishing an encyclopaedia of
conifers; conifers have been out of fashion in the UK since the
1980s, so it would stand that any book about them, let alone a two
volume set, wouldn't have the potential to be a best seller.
Thankfully the RHS, along with Kingsblue Publishing, saw the
importance of giving this unloved but diverse group its due, and the
result is spectacular.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
The RHS Encyclopaedia Of Conifers is a
two volume set, 1506 pages in total, covering all 615 currently
recognised conifer species and describing an impressive 8,000
cultivars. The set is lavishly illustrated with over 5,000 pictures,
many of which were taken specifically for this encyclopaedia. Given
the widely held view that conifers are “all the same” you could
be forgiven for expecting page after page of nearly identical
pictures or nearly identical plants, but you would be wrong; the
pictures have been chosen and arranged in such a way that each page
shows the diversity of cultivars, and even where the cultivars of a
species can be fairly similar (as with some species of Abies, Picea
and Pinus) the pictures may highlight a different characteristic such
as needle shape or cone. This is hard to explain, so let me give you
an example: within Abies koreana ('Korean Fir') there are a group
named for the silvering of their needles, but rather than show
photographs of each cultivar with its silver needles the publisher
has chosen to focus on the habit of the illustrated cultivars while
showing in a few spectacular images what the effect of the colouring
is. This certainly cuts down on repetition in the pictures, as does
the careful choice of cultivars illustrated at all. Some of the full
page pictures used to punctuate these books are breathtaking!</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5bFmEkAHErRHlQugcleEEJix1NDs1hzasFse-NvkgiptCn6fjNt7KjexEgZshxaIt4wW8De-IPR1iAcdZuwaPaO8mAXp_8z6HpP2cNmiR8wG8_yORHbiTRsjwi2BsvZRrBkGjXmJAC8E/s1600/Image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5bFmEkAHErRHlQugcleEEJix1NDs1hzasFse-NvkgiptCn6fjNt7KjexEgZshxaIt4wW8De-IPR1iAcdZuwaPaO8mAXp_8z6HpP2cNmiR8wG8_yORHbiTRsjwi2BsvZRrBkGjXmJAC8E/s400/Image.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Just one image of so many</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
The descriptions are concise but not
without charm; each described cultivar is briefly covered, explaining
habit, colouring (where necessary), origins and distinguishing
features, but [crucially] also giving an expected height and spread
in 10 years. Conifer growth rates can vary wildly according to
climate, and my dwarf conifers grow much more quickly here in mild
Cornwall than they do in drier and colder areas, but an idea of the
height and spread is still very useful. So far I've not come across
any ultimate heights and spreads in the cultivars, but such details
are given in the descriptions of the individual species. Many of the
ultimate heights given in horticultural books are nothing more than
educated guesswork so the growth after 10 years is of more use to a
gardener than a guessed figure, especially given that many dwarf
conifers (take for example the tiny cultivars of Abies koreana)
originate from much faster and larger growing trees, while some other
cultivars (such as Chamaecyparis lawsoniana 'Little Spire') can grow
considerably larger than expected! The species are covered in more
depth than the cultivars, but descriptions stay away from being
overly botanical. Species are described concisely, but also some
interesting information is given about their habitats and
preferences, their use as timber crops, and in some cases their
relevance to local culture.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
The RHS Encyclopaedia Of Conifers has
been a labour of love for its authors, Aris Auders and Derek Spicer.
I don't know much about Mr Auders, except that he was considered a
leading expert on conifers and sadly passed away before this
encyclopaedia was published. I have had the pleasure of meeting Derek
Spicer on several occasions (he owns a conifer wholesale nursery,
Kilworth Conifers, here in the UK), and I can personally vouch for
his love of conifers; his enthusiasm for them, despite their fall
from fashion, comes across in conversation. Derek has introduced
several cultivars into cultivation, including the awesome Podocarpus
'Kilworth Cream', a beautifully variegated shrubby Podocarpus with a
nice bushy habit (I would strongly recommend gardeners get to grips
with Podocarpus, many are useful shrubs for colour and shape).
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
There can be no doubt that this work
will remain unbeaten for many years to come. The sheer scale of the
work, as well as the care taken to produce an encyclopaedia of such
immense quality, makes this the definitive work for anyone who needs
a broad understanding of conifer species and cultivars. My only
criticism of this work is that it would be nice to have some pictures
of the really rare and obscure genera that appear, if only for the
sake of completion. Even a good picture of a pressed specimen in a
botanical collection would be interesting, but at least by giving
obscure taxa such as Retrophyllum a decent write-up anyone interested
in learning more can go online for more information. This is a very
minor fault with an otherwise perfect encyclopaedia.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Sadly I don't think the publication of
the RHS Encyclopaedia Of Conifers has made, or will ever make, a
difference to how ordinary gardeners perceive conifers. To change
perception will need a radical overhaul of how gardeners value
plants, and while herbaceous plants and growing food remain dominant
trends the poor conifer is shunned. It's a shame really; to shun
conifers is to ignore an enormous family of plants purely based on
their methods of reproduction. Nonetheless this is where we are for
now, and conifers will remain the interest of a minority of more
experienced gardeners. For those gardeners, the RHS Encyclopaedia Of
Conifers is a must-have book, and in addition to being a reference
source it will also bring hours of pleasure just flicking through the
pages. Will there be a second edition? Probably not.</div>
Pots and Polytunnelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06382052816348799966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2568114104822207484.post-29161941677501504602015-12-05T02:16:00.001-08:002015-12-05T02:18:01.439-08:00Your nursery needs YOU!<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
This is an appeal on behalf of your
local plant nursery...</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
A combination of recent bad weather and
unforeseeable economic pressures have left small nurseries suddenly
rather quiet. The stock is there, the bare rooted plant season is
well <span lang="en-GB">under way</span>, and the mild (if wet)
weather recently has extended the autumn planting weather well into
December. Despite so many reasons to buy plants, nurseries across the
UK (and I've heard also around Europe) are missing trade.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
There are many reasons for this; often
wet and windy weather puts people off doing any gardening, stories of
terrorism and war in the news generally lead to slower sales
generally (presumably fear of what is to come makes people think
twice about spending?), and the run-up to Christmas tends to favour
shops rather than nurseries.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
So why should we care? Businesses
always have peaks and troughs in their incomes, so this is just
another trough? I think there is a big concern because this has been
a difficult year, with unpredictable weather and concern about how
Government cutbacks will affect us all meaning that we reconsider our
spending, and to end on a low note does not bode well for smaller
businesses. January is nearly always a quiet month, and if February
is cold then often this can add extra strain onto a small business's
finances. If November and December remain this quiet then many
(most?) small nurseries will face at least a third of the financial
year unable to meet their costs. This could very easily be the end
for some.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
So yes, why should we care? Your local
nursery is where you often find the better advice, the more
interesting plants and the better prices and value for money. These
are the places that focus of producing and selling plants, and are a
very important part of our enjoyment of gardening. Would you really
want to rely on your local garden centre for all of your plants, or
have to send off to a nursery somewhere else in the UK or Europe
every time you want to grow something different? I enjoy trips to my
local garden centre for sundries etc., but my local nursery is where
I find the better and more interesting range of plants!</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
What can be done?
</div>
<ol>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Don't delay your planned
purchases. Yes, family might put pressure on you to go here, there
and everywhere in the run-up to Christmas, but try to make some time
to visit your nursery.
</div>
</li>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Send plants as gifts! If you know
a friend or family member well then you could choose a plant as a
Christmas present. Do they have a tree in mind? What about a
perennial for their border? Have they been coveting something in
your garden?
</div>
</li>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
If you can't give them a plant, or
you're not sure what they might like, why not send vouchers? There
is a downside to this; the National Garden Gift Vouchers can be
redeemed in hundreds of garden centres and nurseries across the UK,
so you might have to stipulate that you would appreciate the
recipient spending their voucher(s) in an independent nursery. Also
the nursery has to pay to redeem the vouchers...</div>
</li>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Does your friend or family member
have a good nursery locally to them? Why not contact the nursery and
see if they would allow a credit note? You pay them X amount and
then tell the recipient that they have an amount to spend at that
nursery... Although a little more complicated, and not all nurseries
will be able to do this, it would at least mean all of the money
goes to that nursery.</div>
</li>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Be sure to raise the profile of
your local nursery with gardening friends! It's the easiest thing to
do... you get talking about gardening and just mention that your
local nursery has the new season's fruit or bare rooted plants in
stock. You might fancy a trip out yourself so you could make a day
out of it with your friend(s)! My local nursery, <a href="http://www.endsleigh-gardens.com/index.php" target="_blank">Endsleigh Gardens Nursery</a> in Devon, has new stocks of fruit, trees, roses and bare
rooted hedging in stock now, and your local nursery is likely to be
the same. Now is a great time to buy roses so they establish well in
spring, and most come with pictures on their labels so you don't
have to shop entirely by the description.</div>
</li>
</ol>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Although the nursery trade has been
tough for several years it would seem that this autumn and winter is
proving particularly tough for small independents. If they go, just
imagine the world of homogenised garden centres, all selling the same
plants at the same prices, that would be left. What gets planted in
your garden will be decided by people in boardrooms, and over time
gardens will all become clones of each other. All that's needed to
stop this is a conscious decision to support independent nurseries,
and not leave them fighting for their existence this winter.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Best of all your efforts are rewarded
with plants!</div>
Pots and Polytunnelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06382052816348799966noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2568114104822207484.post-14008873369187922162015-11-26T10:12:00.000-08:002015-11-27T09:44:06.834-08:00Ever decreasing circles<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
As popular gardening becomes more and
more limited in its outlook it's rare to come across anyone daring to
go against the flow. Gardening is directed by its fashions, with
knowledge and practice of horticultural disciplines giving way to
image-rich celebrities, heavily filtered 'vintage' Instagram
nostalgia and pithy comments about vegetables and bees. Gardening is
no longer about people making their own choices; gardeners are pushed
and pulled by marketing campaigns and media stories into thinking
that the only way to garden is to buy this product or that, and that
anything that doesn't make out that it single-handedly saves the
world is of no value.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
It's a wonder that some plants manage
to hold on against this relentless current. Modern gardening culture
teaches us that ponds are dangerous to kids who are certain to drown
in them (except for wildlife ponds of course, which must be
surrounded by long grass and strictly wild plants but are otherwise
OK), that native plants are <i>always</i> better for wildlife than
non-native (even though there's increasing evidence that this isn't
true), and that any plant that grows quickly is a thug that will
destroy your whole garden.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrrAzHhs3pJ4c6SNu_KfTpbUsLRd6FVc6uysmFXHOl-z9gU9k7vcS2VDVEBq_235qiMmNwa0-T4rfYiPB0uOLPf3u42dM2pNKVcXMizg3FTbiXoU3_xgd6e1P-_ABvl9U0vZ5wVBxAJ30/s1600/Euphorbia+%2527Fen%2527s+Ruby%25272.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrrAzHhs3pJ4c6SNu_KfTpbUsLRd6FVc6uysmFXHOl-z9gU9k7vcS2VDVEBq_235qiMmNwa0-T4rfYiPB0uOLPf3u42dM2pNKVcXMizg3FTbiXoU3_xgd6e1P-_ABvl9U0vZ5wVBxAJ30/s400/Euphorbia+%2527Fen%2527s+Ruby%25272.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>You just don't see Euphorbia 'Fens Ruby' any more</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
With this blogger/media/retail
constriction the diversity of our gardens is sure to suffer.
Similarly our ability to express ourselves as anything other than
lovers of dreamy 'naturalistic' Oudolf-inspired borders, rolling
wildlife meadows or organic food factories is being eroded. Although
it's not openly said, it's not really 'allowed' to be different any
more. Those who pioneered or found their horticultural home in
formerly popular trends like the hardy exotics movement or the whole
'prairie/grasses' thing risk being labelled unfairly as being
unfashionable, despite the fact that these gardeners have continued
to develop their style even though their own discipline is no longer
<i>de rigueur.</i><i><span style="font-style: normal;"> </span></i>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i><span style="font-style: normal;">For
the hardcore enthusiasts being fashionable isn't important, the issue
really comes when new gardeners are pushed into particular styles of
gardening because they aren't allowed by the garden influencers to be
different. Open any of the glossy garden magazines and you will see
the same formula time and time again; big [expensive] house with a
garden filled with drifts of fashionable perennials, a few from a
shortlist of popular/commonly found shrubs, and decorative pieces
from their pet sculptor. It's not that these gardens aren't </span></i><i><i>nice</i></i><i><span style="font-style: normal;">,
they just become rather repetitive. Editors would argue that they are
simply giving people what they want, while in truth they're helping
to strangle the ingenuity and individuality out of horticulture.
Whole areas of horticulture are sidelined not because they are
unpopular </span></i><i><i>per se</i></i><i><span style="font-style: normal;">,
but because they never see the light of day. The result? Gardeners
are being denied inspiration to make their own way in the world
because they aren't being exposed to new and different ideas. </span></i>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA6S8soNbacoyNZ3wf5_yP0yhxbkIpNQ_e833F2jaYB-Lneq49MyWaFK1sMHr_yMpoyn1m5NS6zZQLeSVisHqbWyRrWTUGOdmUgrtJWlTFihVQD4J7n1BY6B7B__NiOsCvivP1WQqss5c/s1600/New+Camera+Pics+140.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA6S8soNbacoyNZ3wf5_yP0yhxbkIpNQ_e833F2jaYB-Lneq49MyWaFK1sMHr_yMpoyn1m5NS6zZQLeSVisHqbWyRrWTUGOdmUgrtJWlTFihVQD4J7n1BY6B7B__NiOsCvivP1WQqss5c/s400/New+Camera+Pics+140.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>How often do you see carnivorous plants in garden magazines?</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<i><span style="font-style: normal;">As
coincidence has it while I was writing this post Anne Wareham
published a blog post written by Noel Kingsbury about le Jardin de
Berchigranges in France. This quote from Noel illustrates exactly
what I'm getting at: “The trouble with most garden-making is that
most people care too much about what others think, as they try to
impress, or to emulate, or to, and ohmygod I hate this, make an
English garden. Why do people in France, in Germany or the USA
endlessly try to make English ****** gardens? I’m sick of them.
They all end up the same – as a pastel pastiche, while their owners
obliviously live the cliché, almost wallowing in their inability to
do anything actually creative.”</span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i><span style="font-style: normal;">As
a nation of gardeners it seems few gardeners actually relish doing
any gardening. 'Gardening' has become something of a dirty word;
while so many gardeners enjoy gardens it seems that the whole </span></i><i><i>act</i></i><i><span style="font-style: normal;">
of gardening has become something to avoid. There are exceptions,
notably with those who grow their own food, but on the whole
gardening has gone through a period of labour saving gadgets and
techniques and has now ended up as 'labour avoidance'. You can, for a
price, buy a robot lawnmower that will mow your lawn for you, and the
plants available to most gardeners have been chosen for performance
with as little maintenance as it's possible to get away with. No
wonder then that formerly common skills like pruning are becoming
rare! The modern world makes more demands on us than at any time in
the past, yet we're only able to be so busy because we don't spend
our time on 'chores' like gardening; ironic then that so many people
claim that gardening is restful, relaxing and spiritual rewarding...</span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_VHuggaSYL-2oCy3X6eIyQsSGv63Nucy7xORBNWFz2nvevIGnTAkI70iMlX9u287Kd4supWmNE2vwO_S3TGe9CDZu3yaxRScz_ppWKc1_YAd6KTHCVNDwyVb7aziQEaG661tI4xMIwdI/s1600/Picea+breweriana+%2527Fruhlingsgold%2527.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_VHuggaSYL-2oCy3X6eIyQsSGv63Nucy7xORBNWFz2nvevIGnTAkI70iMlX9u287Kd4supWmNE2vwO_S3TGe9CDZu3yaxRScz_ppWKc1_YAd6KTHCVNDwyVb7aziQEaG661tI4xMIwdI/s400/Picea+breweriana+%2527Fruhlingsgold%2527.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Conifers are about as unfashionable as you can get...!</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<i><span style="font-style: normal;">I
will fight for anyone's right to enjoy their gardening style,
regardless of whether or not I'm 'into it'. Whatever you do, from
growing wildflowers or fruit, topiary and carefully tended lawns,
lush jungles or herbaceous borders, you should be proud of what you
do in your garden. If you go against the flow then credit to you for
keeping the less fashionable horticultural disciplines alive. Whether
you're into bonsai trees, show Chrysanthemums, carnivorous plants, conifers, alpines, giant
vegetables, Fuchsias, ornamental aquatics or anything else that never seems to
make it into the public eye, you can at least enjoy what you do. I
do, however, share your frustration that the things you love are
never shared with the wider gardening community.</span></i></div>
<br />
<i><i><span style="font-style: normal;">You can read the full review of </span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><i><span style="font-style: normal;">le Jardin de
Berchigranges</span> </i></span></i><span style="font-style: normal;">here</span><i><span style="font-style: normal;"><i>: http://thinkingardens.co.uk/reviews/berchigranges-garden-reviewed-by-noel-kingsbury/ </i></span></i><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i><span style="font-style: normal;"><i></i><br /></span></i></div>
Pots and Polytunnelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06382052816348799966noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2568114104822207484.post-8365796522830128022015-10-17T12:59:00.003-07:002015-10-17T12:59:48.967-07:00Saving Horticulture
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
As certainly as spring follows winter,
the question of how to recruit more (preferably young) people into
horticulture is certain to appear in horticultural discussions.
Horticulture is widely believed to be facing a 'people crisis', and
there seems to be no clear idea about what we should do about it. No
wonder then that some choose to ignore the issue until it goes
away....</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
When you see fresh-faced horticulture
students leaving college to make their way in the industry it's hard
to imagine there could be a problem; yes, there aren't as many
courses on offer as there used to be, and are there any solely
horticultural colleges left in the UK? Nonetheless there are people
leaving school, or changing professions, and heading into
horticulture. So what's the problem? It would seem that people are
retiring as quickly as new recruits are being trained... but is that
entirely true, and is it the whole story?</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I think it's actually more accurate to
say that horticulture is facing a skills shortage more than strictly
speaking a shortage of people. You don't have to go far to find
businesses finding it hard to recruit people with the necessary
skills to do a job; yes, there are plenty of people around with
general horticultural qualifications, but there are also enough jobs
around needing people with particular expertise. Skills are learned
by doing, and so it stands that someone fresh out of horticultural
college won't have as many skills as someone who has been working in
horticulture for years. The obvious thing is to offer training 'on
the job', but with so many skilled practitioners leaving the industry
there simply isn't the time to train the next generation. This is
where we have a problem.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
See the subtle change there? In the
space of a paragraph I've gone from referring to people retiring to
'leaving the industry'.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
As much as we need to recruit new
people into the industry, we also need to retain skilled
horticultural experts. There is a subtle shift as skilled horts get
tempted away by better conditions/pay in other industries, or get
pushed by the somewhat troubled state of the industry, and this
expertise is not being replaced. Decades worth of knowledge and
expertise can be lost with each person leaving horticulture; what do
we do?</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
To coax skilled people to stay in this
industry horticulture has to clean up its act. We need to act on some
poisonous cultures that exist in some (many?) nurseries, garden
centres, gardens and other horticultural businesses. We need to stamp
out sexism; in horticulture there is gender equality in that both men
and women can freely encounter sexism. Sexism is making men do all
the 'grunt work' because women automatically deserve the nicer jobs
(whatever these may be), or telling a woman that she can't use
machinery because that's 'man's work'. Sexism is paying competent
women less than incompetent men. Sexism is implying that either men
or women are naturally more competent at horticulture than their
gender opposites; it's not true, and it's a culture that must be
stamped out in the places where it's allowed to be the norm. Sadly
also homophobia can be engrained in a company's workforce; other
industries have cleaned up their act significantly, and horticulture
needs to follow suit.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Conditions also need to be addressed.
There is a degree of 'rough and tumble' in horticulture, but there
are businesses that go too far by exposing staff to pesticides (I
once worked for a company where teams of staff worked in the
greenhouses while a pesticide team in full PPE sprayed the plants they
were working on!), not providing Personal Protective Equipment or
otherwise taking measures to protect safety and well-being, or
working staff into the ground (which usually leaves businesses with
high attrition rates as those that can leave do!). Yes, we all get
cold in winter, and we get really hot in summer, but there has to be
a line drawn somewhere.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Pay is a perennial favourite for those
looking for reasons why people leave or don't join the industry. It
is possible to earn enough money to live in this industry (I live
alone and get by). If you're single and live alone you are unlikely
to be able to afford expensive holidays and luxury items, but if they
aren't important to you then you can get by comfortably. If there's
someone else to share the bills then that's brilliant, but even then
don't expect to be booking a fortnight's cruise on a horticultural
wage. Through 15 years in horticultural retail I was aware that
administration staff were often on better wages than the
horticultural staff (but then the horticultural staff often earn more
than casual staff); people are paid in line with the expectations of
their industry, but horticulture is usually fairly low. The
temptation to jump into another, better paid, industry does occur
from time to time in most horticultural workers!</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
There is also a question of image.
Horticulture is its own worst enemy here! It allows itself to be seen
as unskilled, the kind of work that anyone could do if they weren't
contributing to society in a more important way. Amateur gardeners
who join horticulture so they can earn as they pursue their hobby
often get a rude awakening; horticulture is often bloody hard work!
My frustration is that I think horticulture focusses too much on a
'nice' and 'relaxed' image. For anyone who wants to succeed in life,
and anyone who actually relishes a challenge, the sheer 'nicety' of
the image is off-putting. Where are the challenges? Where is the
career progression? Can you succeed if you're competent, or will the
good jobs just go to people who are 'nice'? The number of times
people have said to me “oh you're a nurseryman (or more recently,
gardener), that must be so relaxing/calming/spiritually uplifting”!
Excuse me? EXCUSE ME?! Potting hundreds of plants as fast as you can
isn't relaxing, and neither is mowing a lawn in the rain!
Horticulture is challenging, and those who succeed are the ones who
enjoy a mighty fine challenge. There is a therapeutic side to
horticulture, as can be seen by the various projects for people with
disabilities or learning difficulties, but believe me when I say that
while I have found professional horticulture to be interesting,
enlightening, challenging and fun, I've never found it to be
therapeutic; I would say that if you're enjoying professional
horticulture as therapy then you might need to get a shift on and
work faster before someone notices you're not breaking a sweat!</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
The new generation bring their own
challenges. Sad to say that my limited experience with horticultural
apprentices has been at best mixed. All bright people, but lacking
any personal discipline and desire to succeed. Of course there will
be diamonds in the future workforce, but there does seem to be a
problem with young people not wanting to work for their money, coming
in with interesting ideas that they are somehow above menial tasks,
and often a profound difficulty in paying attention to the extent
needed in horticulture. I wish this had only been my experience, but
sadly I hear the same thing time and time again from others in the
trade. Too many young people in horticulture expect to be entertained
constantly, and this causes friction when they find out that about
90% of horticulture is about repetition (say, weeding each pot in a
batch) or recurring cycles (such as potting each year). As I say,
some people in this new generation will be absolute diamonds and will
go far in this industry; many of today's recruits will probably drift
away from the industry in the not-too-distant future. It's sad, but
I'm afraid I think it's what will happen.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
So what do we do? My suggestions are
outlined here:</div>
<ul>
<li>Shake up the industry as it is,
removing less desirable elements that may linger in some businesses.</li>
<li>Work towards making horticulture a
more appealing industry; work to increase wages for skilled and
committed employees, and offer career progression rather than
allowing the 'next in line' culture that's been around for decades
to continue.</li>
<li>Show horticulture to be what it
really is, a challenging and rewarding industry that's perfect for
people with a wide range of skills and interests. To succeed in
horticulture isn't about being 'nice', it's about working hard to
build your skills and experience, and the rewards for that are worth having.</li>
</ul>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
So there we have it; in a nutshell
these are, I think, some fairly key issues affecting the industry.
There are others, and some may disagree with my prioritising of these
issues in particular, but I am increasingly of the opinion that it is
absolutely vital to keep existing skills in horticulture. Once the
attrition rate of skilled labour has been addressed the industry will
be in a much stronger position to recruit and then retain skilled
people in the future.
</div>
Pots and Polytunnelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06382052816348799966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2568114104822207484.post-79405510282171851022015-09-20T01:01:00.000-07:002015-09-20T01:01:04.218-07:00Stuck in a rutOnce every three months a copy of The Alpine Gardener drops through my door. This is the quarterly publication of the Alpine Garden Society, a society of gardeners who are particularly interested in alpine plants, woodlanders (things like Trilliums etc.) and an interesting selection of other bits and pieces that come under the group's remit. This is most definitely a more specialised gardening society, with no interest in fruits and vegetables, trees and shrubs, or designer gardens. The society hosts dozens of shows across the UK (to which everyone is welcome). At shows there are benches full of the many interesting plants on which the society is focussed, ranging from fairly common through to extremely rare, as well as plants for sale, cakes, books, seeds... you get the picture.<br />
<br />
The other society I'm a member of it the RHS, the Royal Horticultural Society (if you're outside the UK). The RHS is a much broader spectrum organisation, with interests in every area of horticulture. The RHS performs trials on different genera and gives best performers an Award of Garden Merit (AGM), holds big flower shows, spends bucketloads of money teaching young children to grow food, has four RHS gardens, publishes a monthly magazine....<br />
<br />
A few months ago I began to realise that I've become a little bored with the RHS. I've been a member for over 10 years, but I've come to the conclusion that I'm just not RHS material any more. Yes, I do get to visit the garden at Rosemoor free of charge (but how many times can you visit before you get too familiar with even such a lovely garden?), but the magazine feels bland and uninspiring and I haven't been to an RHS show in years. When the magazine drops through the door I open it, flop out all the advertising stuff and flick through in case there's an article that interests me. I read Roy Lancaster's articles, and sometimes something unusual like Matthew Pottage's fantastic attempt at getting gardeners to suppress their horticultural racism and look with fresh eyes at conifers, but on the whole I'm done with the magazine and pass it on to my friend after about 30 minutes of reading. It's not that the pictures aren't good, or that the magazine is in any way badly written, it's just so terribly familiar and, I've come to believe, basic.<br />
<br />
This isn't a post about being a horticultural smartarse; this is a post about learning. Gardening is a learning process. Simple. You buy your seeds, sow them, grow the seedlings on, plant them out, enjoy them, and you learn from your successes and failures. You also learn new things from TV and radio, from magazines and from other gardeners. Gardening is a process of constant learning, and even the most experienced gardeners are still learning lots of new things. This is where I've become increasingly at odds with it all; I'm starting to feel that horticulture is stagnating. I know that the garden year is a cycle, and that this cycle repeats itself each year, but there is a wealth of knowledge out there that is untouched by the horticultural mainstream.<br />
<br />
Nobody seems to want to break out of the mainstream. Every year Monty Don sows his sweet peas in the same way and at pretty much the same time, and magazine regurgitate the same tips and advice, only with slightly different wording and a few new articles dropped in to persuade people not to just reread last year's edition (good tip though!). There's a formula and those who generate media content are happy to follow it, tweaking it as they go. What happens though when you, as a gardener, want to break away from the mainstream and build on your knowledge, when you don't want to be an amateur gardener any more?<br />
<br />
There are specialist plant societies around for various parts of horticulture, and even the RHS has The Plantsman magazine for those who want more depth on the plants themselves (although you pay £29 on top of your RHS membership or pay £37 if you're not a member), and there are groups like the RHS Rhododendron, Camellia and Magnolia group you can join (again for an additional fee, and I can't work out if it's £20 a year to be member and an additional £25 if you want to receive bulletins... and I presume that the society is completely separate from the RHS membership). What we are decidedly lacking is a broad spectrum gardening organisation for gardeners who have outgrown the usual mainstream content, something that goes into more detail for those who already have the basics covered.<br />
<br />
As I say, this isn't about about being a smartarse know-it-all gardener... this is about progress. At the moment there's a yawning gap between the basic end of gardening and the specialised end, and bridging that gap is, I believe, key to helping gardeners gain more skills and knowledge. There is a thirst for knowledge in horticulture, and trapping gardeners in a perpetual state of amateur isn't helping anyone anywhere, not least the gardeners themselves.<br />
<br />
So what do we do? Is it time the RHS launched an RHS+ membership (maybe sending the quarterly editions of The Plantsman out instead of The Garden), or do we need a new broad spectrum garden society for those with enquiring minds?<br />
<br />
What do you think?Pots and Polytunnelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06382052816348799966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2568114104822207484.post-7598294680493916972015-08-10T09:01:00.002-07:002015-08-10T09:03:37.945-07:00Heritage Apples<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdKL8DAtWHs3e-8OOheEjmZJHB13N2U3paVeqtmxCN786f362fuz7lNjCFlMLN2MOz44l7PfUOflgmBU5_Kgbke1ELYnSuIP9np3B637Ffdb9jzNmXzjeAUmX_nF9jQVJ9KAOCVTQw-Sk/s1600/Apple.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdKL8DAtWHs3e-8OOheEjmZJHB13N2U3paVeqtmxCN786f362fuz7lNjCFlMLN2MOz44l7PfUOflgmBU5_Kgbke1ELYnSuIP9np3B637Ffdb9jzNmXzjeAUmX_nF9jQVJ9KAOCVTQw-Sk/s400/Apple.jpg" title="" width="265" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lovely sweet apple!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
<br />
<br />
I was brought up on heritage; National
Trust properties, steam rallies, museums, old buildings... since I
was very young I have respected old things and I've long held the
belief that it's generally a 'good thing' for us to preserve all that
is good about our heritage. In the last few years I've come to
reassess my beliefs; is a 30 year old car a classic or a rustbucket?
Is a big old cottage in the country really all that good if it's damp and the roof's
falling off?! Do we really need 'Sounds Of The '60s' on Radio 2 every
Saturday morning?!</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
It's good to challenge your ideas.
Occasionally weighing up your arguments keeps you fresh and makes
sure that you're wholly convinced by what you're arguing for. Sadly
though there are plenty of people around who won't question whether
it's time to let go of certain things. The National Trust takes on
more and more property to preserve for future generations, while
across the UK villages try to raise vast amounts of money to stop
underused churches from falling down!
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Heritage fruit is an area that seems
immune from criticism. Through the incredible work of a few hardcore
apple enthusiasts many old varieties have been saved from extinction
and are now being grown in collections around the UK. Time was when
most areas had their own local varieties, but the traditional apple
areas in the South West were particularly rich. Over the years many
of these varieties have disappeared due to lack of propagation, old
age, housing on old orchards/gardens, lack of interest... what's
missing from this list? <i>Some trees will have been rubbish!</i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
How can an apple
tree not be good? Some old varieties are less than reliable, fruiting
every two seasons rather than every year, only netting half a crop
before we've even got to the fruits. Fruits can be insipid, bland and
pithy, and can quite often be very small. Trees are often more prone
to scab and canker, and some varieties can need an absolutely perfect
season to get anything meaningful from them. Modern varieties have
been bred to provide more reliable fruiting (each year!), to provide
consistent size and flavour. Maybe they don't have the character of
the old apples, but they more than make up for it with performance
and disease resistance!
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I say 'modern
varieties' because actually some of the apples popular today aren't
exactly new; 'Bramley's Seedling' is a popular cooker from 1856! Why
has 'Bramley's Seedling' remained so popular? Because it fruits
well/reliably and is pretty disease resistant. While modern tastes
tend to lean towards dessert apples, 'Bramley's Seedling' has stood
the test of time simply because it's reliable and needs no
improvement. Will modern varieties still be popular in more than 100
years?</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCnyYVxtK8huhCxdv2anuIQBDfHeNgo84hyphenhyphenCso2fmFdmXlajetw9GdHbpeGSN2UXE_ku7uM2DtVv3rSIEm_TPmJ9J2Pux4kjHuyIV3kpa18mLQ1jKM_87xDm3vvCten1jRMyYi7-gwbBY/s1600/Apple+Pendragon+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCnyYVxtK8huhCxdv2anuIQBDfHeNgo84hyphenhyphenCso2fmFdmXlajetw9GdHbpeGSN2UXE_ku7uM2DtVv3rSIEm_TPmJ9J2Pux4kjHuyIV3kpa18mLQ1jKM_87xDm3vvCten1jRMyYi7-gwbBY/s320/Apple+Pendragon+%25282%2529.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Apple 'Pendragon'</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
The quality of the
fruit is pretty well the whole point of growing any apple variety.
While texture tends to be down to the variety, taste can vary wildly
from season to season, as well as from location to location (assuming
the same variety). Trees grown on vigorous rootstocks but on poor
soils tend to have better flavour, while those grown on small
rootstocks in good soil can be a bit lacking. Without doubt the
freshness of the apple has an enormous effect on the flavour, and
this is where I have issue with those who blindly believe that
heritage apples are inherently better than modern varieties.
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Let's take for
example, two lovely shiny apples. One is a commercial variety from a
supermarket, while the other one is a heritage variety straight from
the tree. In a blind taste test you would probably end up choosing
the heritage variety. Why? Because it's fresher! Once any apple is
picked it starts to lose its flavour. A supermarket apple will have
been picked days or even over a week earlier, all the time its sugars
breaking down, while the one fresh from the tree will be full of
sugars and flavour. The supermarket fruit will have to be in
exceptional condition to be anywhere near as sweet and juicy as the
fresh fruit (and this applies to everything- try raspberries from
your own canes as opposed to supermarket pre-frozen ones). Now let's
turn this scenario around, and take a fresh modern apple from its
tree and compare it with a heritage apple that's been stored... I
doubt anyone would want to go for the heritage one- freshness is key!
I remember, when I still worked for my former employer, a customer
coming up to me to complain about his apple tree (a 'Fiesta' if
memory serves); he'd bought this thing and by the time he and his
family had eaten their fill of apples, used them in apple sauces and
pies, juiced some and frozen some, he was sick to death of them!</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZqVEtVfbljagx8racPYW1ptZQ4XF2YcO8nbp4po0VokxFQ09K1fabxwiraKL_hBR-jj7FTs9NwC0_ZKcQsuC50l-h2k-Q8bZ1Ejzw3l7hIB6ht-7Rd6RvcWkChiFSlqUAOiBSTnWTAac/s1600/Apple+%2527Spartan%25272.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZqVEtVfbljagx8racPYW1ptZQ4XF2YcO8nbp4po0VokxFQ09K1fabxwiraKL_hBR-jj7FTs9NwC0_ZKcQsuC50l-h2k-Q8bZ1Ejzw3l7hIB6ht-7Rd6RvcWkChiFSlqUAOiBSTnWTAac/s400/Apple+%2527Spartan%25272.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Labelled 'Spartan' but isn't! </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Popular heritage
apples tend to be the more reliable varieties with fruits that store
well; most people couldn't eat the entire crop of an apple tree when
it ripens! Fruits that store well are those with more solid flesh and
more stable sugars, but these are a minority in the heritage
varieties; many stopped being grown simply because they didn't store
well, and were in sharp decline way before more modern varieties came
onto the market.
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I'm not saying that
these heritage varieties don't have a place in modern gardening. With
names like 'Pig's Nose', 'Cornish Gilliflower' and 'Catshead' who
wouldn't be sucked in by their interesting and romantic names? All I
would say with heritage apple varieties is that you should grow them
because you want to grow heritage apple varieties; if you just want a
nice big crop of apples each year then go for something more modern.
If you have a large space and want to have an orchard filled with old
varieties then go right ahead, and I hope you enjoy the fruits of
your endeavour.
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i>If you want to know more about
apples and their varieties you might enjoy this website:
<a href="http://www.orangepippin.com/">http://www.orangepippin.com/</a></i></div>
Pots and Polytunnelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06382052816348799966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2568114104822207484.post-67623882477211893912015-08-04T22:50:00.001-07:002015-08-04T22:50:10.645-07:00Another anniversaryMany of you will know the events of last year, a year that changed my career... Many would probably say (quite rightly) that I should just let things go, but I do find the anniversaries of key events to be a good time to take stock of where I am.<br />
<br />
On August the 5th 2014 my former employers called a meeting. It was to be a big meeting; the whole business closed early so that all members of staff could be spoken to about 'the direction of the business'. Although colleagues called my cynical I knew it was going to be big news and it was going to be bad news, and I was right.<br />
<br />
The company knew best. They had consulted with the best minds of British gardening (although didn't name names) and had had their beliefs confirmed; British gardening is "dead on its feet" and it is simply not viable to grow plants and sell them. Gardeners aren't interested in plants any more, and as such there is no point in the nursery (as a business) focusing on plants.<br />
<br />
To hear that so many jobs were going was terrible, knowing from day one that mine was assured (no production, no production staff!) was galling, and the fact that all bar one of the job losses was in horticulture showed absolute contempt for horticulture! During the following weeks and months we all had to go through a horrendously drawn out legal process, but soon enough all of my predictions of who they were targeting came true.<br />
<br />
A year on from that meeting and life is awesome. I'm building up my own business, still working for another nursery, and I'm back to being positive about my career. My former manager called me "boring" and had contempt for everything I did, but now my world is filled with people who appreciate my knowledge and skills. I wake up each morning knowing that I will spend my day doing what I love, without having to be immersed in what I've now realised was an unhealthy social atmosphere. I spend my time growing plants, selling plants, planting plants, caring for plants, photographing plants... As Confucius said "<i><span class="st" data-hveid="56">Choose a job <em>you love, and you will never</em> have to <em>work a day in your life</em></span></i><span class="st" data-hveid="56">"!</span><br />
<br />
<span class="st" data-hveid="56">I do miss a few things; the nursery had an extraordinary range of plants, with a huge collection of Camellias and Fuchsias as well as lots of trees, shrubs and perennials. This diversity kept me on my feet and meant that there was always something new coming into season. I also worked with a lot of really good people, most of whom we victims of the 'cull' and are now also out making their way in the world. There were also lots of polytunnels to work in when it was raining! Not a day goes by when I'm not glad to be away though...</span><br />
<br />
<span class="st" data-hveid="56">In the end I'm confident that I will be proved right; as that business has focused its efforts more and more on its cafe and giftware its core of loyal customers have gone to other nurseries and garden centres. Barely a week goes by when I don't hear at least something about bad service (one of my gardening customers was aggressively sold a dead plant!) or something to do with the place. Good nurseries are sadly thin on the ground, whereas cafes aren't; thankfully their loss has been the gain of a lot of smaller nurseries and garden centres in Devon and Cornwall, and these businesses are reaping benefits.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJAkLfgbpYaq-aFWIauktqmrE4CbDqaG10h9-_q_tutwtL3AXCodXnLgDxMBQ1-mqNlP7Xhh1s9xKyNH2s0Q8SYMCbmpY_domBmPejPVKzzZpQCHOSaYea29HZ77mgNQDMsSdWbsHKEWs/s1600/Butterfly.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJAkLfgbpYaq-aFWIauktqmrE4CbDqaG10h9-_q_tutwtL3AXCodXnLgDxMBQ1-mqNlP7Xhh1s9xKyNH2s0Q8SYMCbmpY_domBmPejPVKzzZpQCHOSaYea29HZ77mgNQDMsSdWbsHKEWs/s400/Butterfly.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span class="st" data-hveid="56">Anyway I would like to thank again everyone who's given me kind words during the last year. It hasn't been plain sailing all the way, but I know that what seemed only a year ago to be a disaster has become a great triumph. Thank you all! </span> Pots and Polytunnelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06382052816348799966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2568114104822207484.post-84072688405395662072015-07-18T23:35:00.002-07:002015-07-18T23:35:35.120-07:00Four things eco-gardeners don't want you to know
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
If you dare to mention 'chemicals' on
the internet you will very quickly attract a load of people who claim
that everything is dangerous and kills bees (it's always the bees,
never any other insect...). Speaking with these people it's all to
often the case that they are well meaning individuals who prefer to
follow their hearts than science, and while some are well informed
about the issues surrounding the use of chemicals in the garden,
others come up with some rather crazy and unorthodox 'facts' that
others then take as being total truth.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
It seems we've lost our ability to
question; we can't question studies without bias any more. The
prevailing attitude amongst a decent wedge of gardeners is that all
research carried out that doesn't support the anti-chemical viewpoint
is wrong, while research that does support the anti-chemical
viewpoint is automatically right. People blame multinational
companies for using very selective information, yet then choose to
ignore studies that go against their viewpoint....</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I'm not an organic gardener, and
neither am I pro-chemical. For me a chemical is a tool that should be
used with the same care and consideration as any other tool. In the
same way that you wouldn't use a strimmer to deadhead your roses,
neither is it necessary to dose a plant with insecticide every time
you see an aphid. Unfortunately it seems that few others seem to
think like me. Here, nonetheless, are four things the eco-gardeners
don't want you to know:</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Research done on chemicals such as
neonicotinoids and glyphosate are aimed at agricultural usage; if you
spray a neonicotinoid onto a few aphid colonies in your garden it's
incredibly unlikely that you will cause any damage to bees unless you
spray an open flower. Farmers spray vast areas of crops with
chemicals regardless of whether or not there might be beneficial
insects around. Spot treatment of isolated colonies of pests presents
a minuscule risk, and it gets even better; if bees aren't foraging on
a specific plant then the risk is even further reduced, so spraying a
patch of weeds that aren't in flower with glyphosate, or insects on a
plant that isn't in flower, simply does not pose any meaningful
danger.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Banning neonicotinoids is great, but
does anyone really think that farmers will just shrug their shoulders
and stop spraying? No they won't; the next group of chemicals they'll
turn to is the pyrethroid group which is much less selective and will
kill all bugs. Oh and for anyone who thinks that these chemicals are
dreamt up in a lab, both are based on natural plant insecticides.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
It is simply not true that a litre of
glyphosate sprayed in a garden is as dangerous as 10,000 litres
sprayed on a field; the higher the dose and the more sustained the
exposure the higher the risks. While we're on doses, there is
compelling research that shows levels of glyphosate in bread. Firstly
the doses are minuscule and you'd have to eat a lot of bread to be in
danger, but fair enough, nobody wants any type of poison in their
food. Glyphosate is sprayed directly onto grain shortly before
harvest to dry it out, hence the chemical is still present in the
grain when it's milled for flour. In your garden you would never
spray your vegetables with glyphosate, and spraying weeds elsewhere
in the garden will not magically poison your food crops.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
It's not enough the say that you feel
that chemicals are harmful. To be approved any chemical product must
be rigorously scientifically tested, while few organic treatments
have ever undergone any meaningful scientific study. Various products
are sold as 'plant invigorators' and claims have been made about
their control of certain pests but these haven't undergone trials and
they aren't licensed. Fair enough, if they don't contain harmful
ingredients then who cares? My point here isn't so much about
ingredients but impressions; a lot of anti-chemical information
around is based on selective understanding of selective studies,
along with people's impressions of what is, in their hearts, right
and wrong. In the same way that you wouldn't trust a chemical
manufacturer to release research that shows their products in a
negative light, neither can you truly trust the anti-chemical lobby.
The use of chemicals in agriculture creates polarised viewpoints, and
it seems that nobody is capable of occupying middle ground. Take for
example the point I made above about chemicals in agriculture; the
'green gardening' lobby read research on agricultural practices and
then proclaim that because widespread agricultural use of a product
may be harmful it is therefore true that small scale use of the same
products in gardens is equally harmful. This is simply not true, and
yet it's the case that people spout half-truths at every turn. What
you do in your own garden is up to you, but creating fear through
misinformation isn't acceptable whether you're a vast multinational
company or an eco gardener.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
So there you have four things that the
eco gardeners don't want you to know- I may add to this in the future
as things occur to me or crop up. Your garden is your own, and if you
fill it with flowers all year round and create a good ecosystem then
wildlife (good and bad) will come to you. Most gardens are fairly
self-perpetuating and won't need any intervention. I haven't sprayed
for pests and diseases in nearly 10 years, not because I'm
anti-chemical but because I'm just a good gardener, but if I did need
to treat a pest then I would do so by whatever means are necessary.
Similarly with glyphosate I will spray on the rare occasions that
it's necessary (paths and drives, but most of my work is on borders
and lawns where glyphosate isn't the right tool), but by using
knowledge and common sense I won't be creating the ecological
disaster the green gardeners claim I unleash every time I open the
weedkiller bottle. Careful and appropriate small-scale use of
chemical isn't the problem, it's massive use by agriculture, but that
won't stop this article (and others before it and others still to be
written) stirring up those who would prefer to follow their hearts
than their brains. Such a shame really; the organic gardening lobby
contains some incredibly good scientists and thinkers who could
really change the world, but until science and common sense are
allowed a voice....</div>
Pots and Polytunnelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06382052816348799966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2568114104822207484.post-25651974678023622432015-06-30T12:36:00.001-07:002015-07-01T13:49:13.340-07:00Book Review: Peter Korn's Garden<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
The 'right plant, right place' mantra
has been drummed into keen gardeners for so long that it has become
one of the foundations of modern horticulture. We learn the
importance of growing plants suitable for our soil and climate fairly
early in our horticultural journeys, so the prospect of yet another
book along these lines didn't exactly excite me. Even opening the
package I was expecting another book telling me yet again what I've
been doing for years already.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX-s6FuPdwdtfAf6o5t7HLAYQk00ObKh_f1YLvZ1B2M6jFxm7hWqo0lQTu1d9OcJ36fsByfHHesZ0IqhqHgQyNpnuvzmuEv4zs0Guv4P0cTX9yoCWzyo9hwPTbHDGMluIWYFbk04tI5_o/s1600/Book1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX-s6FuPdwdtfAf6o5t7HLAYQk00ObKh_f1YLvZ1B2M6jFxm7hWqo0lQTu1d9OcJ36fsByfHHesZ0IqhqHgQyNpnuvzmuEv4zs0Guv4P0cTX9yoCWzyo9hwPTbHDGMluIWYFbk04tI5_o/s400/Book1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Peter Korn is a name that is well known
in certain areas of horticulture; this Swedish gardener is bold in
his style, and has a deep understanding of ecology and the
cultivation requirements of a wide range of niche garden plants. To
say that Peter Korn gardens with nature is a bit of an
understatement; his style is centred around his understanding of the
plants he grows and an almost palpable need to recreate the growing
conditions that his plants experience in the wild. To do this in the
fairly harsh climate of Sweden would seem like an insurmountable
challenge to most gardeners, and yet the pictures of Peter Korn's
garden show that he has achieved this with style and elegance.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
The images in this book are mostly
breathtaking! A rocky ridge in Armenia, the dramatic scenery of the
Sierra Nevada in the USA, or close-ups of plants in his garden,
nearly every page has a jaw-dropping picture. This book is nothing if
not lavishly illustrated, but once you've fought the urge to skim
through the book and just look at the pictures(!) the text is full of
detailed information. Thankfully the author's friendly and open style
of writing makes the information easy to digest!
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM5fCg9Kz0fmbLKidv6tus3tJ4UbfcIC31vUBsUwiMjC9ygv9cUpIzOPMN-BsSGTGqukJyNr3Jv_TpEotJztlwt7euO3bXNRbK2K1L7uVIdxKPEK3FMP4J-bnoDJGEeHusv2uaMCA2aJQ/s1600/Book3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM5fCg9Kz0fmbLKidv6tus3tJ4UbfcIC31vUBsUwiMjC9ygv9cUpIzOPMN-BsSGTGqukJyNr3Jv_TpEotJztlwt7euO3bXNRbK2K1L7uVIdxKPEK3FMP4J-bnoDJGEeHusv2uaMCA2aJQ/s400/Book3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Peter Korn's whole horticultural ethos
will be a little unnerving to the 'old guard' of gardening. His
beautiful sand beds, wooded areas and open areas seem unorthodox in
style but when you consider that these are <i>habitats</i> and not
just borders things start to make more sense. You could even say that
this is a garden built on common sense, given that Peter Korn's whole
raison d'etre is to make his plants so comfortable in their setting
that they look after themselves. With dramatic views and beautiful
plants any maintenance must be a joy!</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
But is it a garden? That depends on how
you define a garden. If your idea of a garden is clearly defined
borders, a neat lawn and a carefully placed statue at one end then
this is not a garden that will interest you. If you define a garden
as a place where beautiful plants are tended and cultivated to
perfection then Peter Korn's garden will appeal to you even if you
don't dig up your existing garden to copy his work.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Clear and easy to follow, 'Peter Korn's
Garden' is a book that will teach gardeners a lot about ecology and
how plants grow in the wild. Although this book focusses heavily on
the smaller plants the Peter Korn grows in his garden, any self
respecting plant enthusiast will love the rare and interesting
species shown, and will easily be able to adapt Peter Korn's mantra
to the plants that they themselves are interested in. This is a book
written to educate and inspire at the same time, and believe me it's
hard to tear yourself away from!</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTiC7WmWF02V_YV2JGg7_VuKChdKZ5b1UTZLdBV8KdWYW5V59-L4HXnAUk4-KRLILXfvSHdB83X_1w1vQTQDexVm2UyLejuKLmJGHt4ON8FyEQZUOe2s4U-HK5qYL5AKd2k3Xw1m8wl08/s1600/Book2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTiC7WmWF02V_YV2JGg7_VuKChdKZ5b1UTZLdBV8KdWYW5V59-L4HXnAUk4-KRLILXfvSHdB83X_1w1vQTQDexVm2UyLejuKLmJGHt4ON8FyEQZUOe2s4U-HK5qYL5AKd2k3Xw1m8wl08/s400/Book2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
If your idea of gardening begins and ends with heavily-bred roses, Penstemons and peonies then this might not be the book for
you, but if you're into more unusual plants and want your horizons
broadened then this is a book you are sure to enjoy.<br />
<br />
You can buy a copy here in the UK: http://www.blackhalls.co.uk/shop/peter-korns-garden/ <br />
Or from Peter Korn himself here: http://peterkornstradgard.se/book.html</div>
Pots and Polytunnelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06382052816348799966noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2568114104822207484.post-62876787981562001882015-06-16T01:07:00.000-07:002015-06-16T01:07:08.481-07:00Glyphosate<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i>Given my previous post, 'Hate Mail', I appreciate the irony of getting involved with such an emotive issue. The use of glyphosate, and its links with cancer, create polarised opinions. Here is my attempt at being balanced and neutral...</i> </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
There's been a lot of chatter recently
about the decision by the French Government to ban the direct sale of
Roundup (and possibly other glyphosate products) in garden centres.
This decision, based on studies of farm workers, has been hailed by
many as a step in the right direction... but is it?</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
In small doses glyphosate isn't
particularly dangerous compared with other pesticide products. Jet5
is a disinfectant approved for organic use, but get a small drop of
it on your skin and your skin will go white and give you a very
unpleasant burning sensation for several hours, and if you breathe in
a fungicide like Roseclear (or trade versions) you can have breathing
difficulties (add this to something like even mild asthma and you're
in trouble).
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
The problems come from overuse;
glyphosate is popular because it's a convenient way to kill weeds
without resorting to physical methods like digging. Because it's easy
for people who can't be bothered to control weeds in other ways it's
become the go-to product for gardeners, but gardeners seldom fully
appreciate the importance of things like spraying intervals or dose
rates (I had a customer who used Clinic Ace (glyphosate) at 10x
dilution rate because she didn't want to wait a week for the weeds to
die!). If a home gardener doesn't see results quickly then they spray
again and again and again until they get the desired effect, but also
causing a pollution problem. Trained pesticide handlers know how to
use these products while minimising environmental damage, but the
public seem unwilling to take advice/training or even to accept that
when they reach for any pesticide product they're entering into a
legally binding agreement to use the product safely and <i>exactly</i>
how the manufacturer tells them to. This, I'm afraid, really should
be the number one reason for taking glyphosate off the shelves; not
enough gardeners can be trusted to use herbicides or any pesticide
properly at home. A dose of herbicide sprayed at the right time will
kill troublesome perennial weeds and leave you with easier to manage
seedlings to deal with, but you have to use it properly, and not just
reach for weedkiller every time you see a weed.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
In agriculture the reliance on
glyphosate is even greater; as well as controlling weeds on ground
before crops are planted, glyphosate is sprayed onto certain crops to
kill them and dry them out. In many cases these weedkilled crops are
destined for us, particularly corn and soy. How crops can be sprayed
just before harvesting but somehow supposedly not contain glyphosate
is beyond me; there is fairly conclusive evidence that glyphosate is
getting into our food via these treated crops. Given how much
agriculture relies on glyphosate it's not really a surprise that an
EU study found higher than average rates of cancer in farm workers-
even if the person spraying the crops is in a top of the range sealed
cab and is protected from the product, the minute he or she works
with the crop directly the dose rate will go straight up!
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Given how massive the use of glyphosate
is in agriculture I really doubt that normal horticultural use would
generate even remotely similar results to the EU study but, as with
so many other things like radiation or smoking, a regular large dose
of glyphosate probably will put you at higher risk of cancer. I
really doubt that horticultural contractors are particularly at risk
because the amounts we use are tiny compared to those used on farms
(it stands to reason that someone coming into contact with glyphosate
sprayed by the hectare will be at significantly higher risk than
someone who sprays a few square metres!), but I think controlling the
access that gardeners have to pesticides is probably wise, especially
while so many people remain ignorant of the dangers of misuse and
their personal responsibility to the environment. </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Contractors aren't beyond reproach; I've been surprised by how many professionals I've seen over the years spraying in windy weather, when rain is forecast (and in one case even when it was raining!); we've had our training and really should all be sticking to it! </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
In due course there will be
alternatives to glyphosate for garden use; citronella oil is
available in some cases for weed control (although Canada has banned
some citronella products so there may be problems there), and 'hot
foam' treatment of weeds looks promising, if currently expensive) for
larger areas. In the meantime it looks as though glyphosate will
remain the dominant chemical weed control, but whether or not it
remains in the public domain only time will tell.</div>
Pots and Polytunnelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06382052816348799966noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2568114104822207484.post-84142201022868504762015-06-03T22:58:00.000-07:002015-06-03T22:58:11.834-07:00Hate mail
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i>“Ben. Its time someone let you know something
important mate. All your stuff on twitter and your site makes you
look like a real prick. Great you know all your clever plant names
but you need to know that real gardeners don't care. I am sure your a
nice guy but you won't make friends here if your not in touch with
what real gardeners want. Maybe a bit less of the fancy plant stuff
and more real gardening mate.”
</i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Well that's quite an email (via my
website) to wake up to! This person seems to misunderstand my remit
here online, so let me make myself completely clear;</div>
<ol>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I love plants, rare and unusual as
well as most common plants- in fact I can't think of any plant I
actually hate! I feature the rare and unusual plants because a) they
interest me, b) writing about them helps me to learn about them (by
researching them), and c) so many other people write great stuff
about more common plants that I would just be repeating what they
say.</div>
</li>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I do use the properly recognised
botanical names. Live with it. Google Analytics shows me that my
website gets visits from all over the world, even from non-English
speaking countries. By using the botanical names I make sure that
everyone, from my friend down the road to someone I've never met in
South America, Asia or mainland Europe, knows the name of the plant
they're looking at.
</div>
</li>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Real gardeners are mostly the ones
who want to know about their subject, whether it's finding the label
of a plant they like in a garden or finding inspiration from a book,
magazine or the internet. Learning is a key part of gardening,
whether it's learning tips from your neighbour or taking a
horticultural course. Very few gardeners like to grow the same
things, year in year out, the same way forever! As I learn new
things I share them, and I love to find out new things from other
gardeners.</div>
</li>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I was brought up to regard
name-calling as a bad thing, especially with people you don't know.
In the last month I've been called a lot of things; arrogant, out of
touch, several rude things that I can't repeat... This is the
internet; you're not locked into anything, you are free to follow
and unfollow anyone who you don't agree with, and to go and find
people who see the world the same way you do. There are lots of
people who don't share my views on gardening and I'm happy to
discuss and debate things, but there's never any need to get
abusive!</div>
</li>
</ol>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I do 'Ben's Botanics' for fun; I don't
get paid for it, I don't have sponsorship. I set up the website,(then
Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest) because I like sharing information
and like to show off pictures of plants that I grow of have seen. I
also spend a lot of time reading other people's stuff, as well as
sharing ideas and inspiration. I'm not selling you anything, I'm just
here to meet other like-minded people, and I will continue to run
Ben's Botanics to the best standards I can.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I'm going to stay with proper plant
names because I find them more inclusive for my non-UK followers, and
I will continue to feature plants that interest and excite me.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Sorry if anyone if offended by this.</div>
Pots and Polytunnelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06382052816348799966noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2568114104822207484.post-55783511710871175812015-05-16T11:16:00.001-07:002015-05-17T01:35:15.300-07:00Chelsea is not the centre of the world!<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
It's that time of the year again, when
the horticultural world turns its attentions to a small patch of
London. The Chelsea Flower Show is hailed as the greatest flower show
on Earth, and is the highlight of the horticultural year. Anyone
who's anyone in gardening will be there, and if you want to call
yourself a gardener then you must be there too.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
But is this entirely true? Certainly
there is a lot of attention on Chelsea, and it's the only time the
media really makes much effort to represent gardening. Is it the
greatest flower show on Earth? Well it's certainly the most famous.
Do you need to be there? No.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
People go to Chelsea for different
reasons; nurseries go for the prestige of [hopefully] a Chelsea gold
medal, designers go because they're being paid to design and build
gardens, and a load of wealthy people with no interest in gardening
go to get trollied in the hospitality tents at a big social event, one would hope to come
home with a coveted 'I got wasted at Chelsea' t-shirt.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Why thousands upon thousands of
ordinary gardeners spend quite frankly ridiculous amounts of money (non members day tickets are £99!) to be crammed
into a small space with so many other people I simply do not know. I know lots of
people who smile and tell me they've been to Chelsea, but when you
get past their boasting they've actually seen a fraction of what
they wanted to see. Some hardcore Chelsea veterans have learnt to
barge their way through the crowds so they see everything, but most
seem to just 'soak up the atmosphere' (wander around without being
able to see anything).
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
My advice to gardeners? Avoid the crowds! Think what
you could do with the money saved by not buying an all day ticket
(yes, you can get cheaper tickets if you only want to be there for an
hour or two); you could spend the money on some new plants, and maybe
a tree for your garden? Maybe you could put the money into buying a
new piece of equipment to make life easier in the garden? Or maybe,
just maybe, you could spend that money getting inspiration from one
or more of the great gardens looking absolutely fantastic up and down
the UK right now?!</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I don't mean to belittle the hard work
that goes into making Chelsea what it is. Thousands of people are
involved in growing plants, setting up displays/gardens and taking it
all away. Many nurseries and design teams spend the rest of their
year planning (albeit at the back of their minds) what they want to
do to create the biggest spectacle and get their coveted gold medal.
What <i>you</i> mustn't do is feel inadequate because <i>you're</i>
not there. If you want to go and see some extremely expensive gardens
built by armies of people and paid for by large corporations then by
all means go for it. Failing that, save your money, enjoy your own
garden and watch Chelsea on TV!
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
True gardening neither begins, nor
ends, at Chelsea.<br />
<br />
<i>If you would like to experience the buzz of a major flower show the I would recommend the other RHS shows, including the Malvern Spring Flower Show, Hampton Court, and Tatton Park. For gardeners in London (and those who are happy to travel to London) there are well regarded flower shows held frequently at the RHS Halls. If you just want to buy plants for your garden then there are hundreds of smaller regional plant fairs across the UK, and there will certainly be one near you!</i></div>
Pots and Polytunnelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06382052816348799966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2568114104822207484.post-51989963328731678062015-05-16T01:31:00.000-07:002015-05-16T01:31:18.601-07:00A rambling guide to bedding...At this time of the year there are hundreds of different types of bedding plant available and, providing you can keep them frost free, now is the perfect time to get planting. Gone are the days of 'carpet bedding', where vast numbers of tender plants are planted in rows to make patterns. Nowadays the old popular bedding plants such as French Marigolds, Lobelia and Pansies have been joined by new strains of Verbena, Nemesia and Argyranthemum as high-impact plants for containers. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5OV-f9TcZFNSWkHXYZhdMSX4ZUoeYKJ06e_rqgaU53DvLvna9Fq2mcFXu4njUp83ncUrpe6B4FTuuQoSPAh5EprZTKDqBs1bM8tpRyLEDM8izx-1KYkqibS8kpDUC5TJ7yFoIPNrU1yo/s1600/Lotus+maculatus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5OV-f9TcZFNSWkHXYZhdMSX4ZUoeYKJ06e_rqgaU53DvLvna9Fq2mcFXu4njUp83ncUrpe6B4FTuuQoSPAh5EprZTKDqBs1bM8tpRyLEDM8izx-1KYkqibS8kpDUC5TJ7yFoIPNrU1yo/s400/Lotus+maculatus.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lotus maculatus, an exotic trailing plant!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
If you can keep them frost free, May is the perfect month to get planting your summer containers. Smaller containers can easily be moved into a greenhouse or somewhere else frost free if needed, but when you're planting larger containers it's worth bearing in mind the weight of the planted container and that you might not be able to move it at short notice; with this in mind keep a decent amount of frost fleece handy just in case!<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTE1TYueKNQNp1zJ9gXxSLcqyKVydq3FUtzZm0NR_QteueiTMAUvbcUXhwPmsWDFcqtVhSUDNIVSXmHDr7C9cMPxOVu7i-EYARtqDVXDSmn6qFKArh-Ojia0VJMCLU93Xfan6-lOK_p2o/s1600/Argyranthemum+Aramis+Series+'Fire'.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTE1TYueKNQNp1zJ9gXxSLcqyKVydq3FUtzZm0NR_QteueiTMAUvbcUXhwPmsWDFcqtVhSUDNIVSXmHDr7C9cMPxOVu7i-EYARtqDVXDSmn6qFKArh-Ojia0VJMCLU93Xfan6-lOK_p2o/s400/Argyranthemum+Aramis+Series+'Fire'.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Argyranthemum 'Aramis Fire'</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
When you're choosing your container it doesn't really matter all that much what it's made of; there are so many really great trailing plants available that there will be something to grow and hide the pot whatever colour scheme you choose! If you want to use trailing plants or you live in an area with high rainfall it would be a good idea to use a tall pot. I would naturally lean towards using larger containers myself, and would recommend filling them right up with colourful plants for a spectacular display! Remember that smaller pots will probably need very careful attention to watering, particularly once the plants have really started to grow!<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPy45jEFOvHOyPCvfSfj0LvalNLltxx-xtDIPj05ah9tPmRcTH9AaW9y5gPK7x2O-IIGsnccNQGgGaj_IpZcUXhqxL1DVDq0ColqqRSWSeAX1veWVShyphenhyphen72t5Us0d-2U8pj0go1-WjpO7k/s1600/Nemesia+'Sweet+Lady'.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPy45jEFOvHOyPCvfSfj0LvalNLltxx-xtDIPj05ah9tPmRcTH9AaW9y5gPK7x2O-IIGsnccNQGgGaj_IpZcUXhqxL1DVDq0ColqqRSWSeAX1veWVShyphenhyphen72t5Us0d-2U8pj0go1-WjpO7k/s400/Nemesia+'Sweet%2BLady'.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nemesia 'Sweet Lady'</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Site your pot sensibly! You want to see your display, so a spot near a front door, a patio or favourite seating area is perfect. You can use a pot of seasonal bedding as a feature in a border, maybe to provide colour where a spring plant has disappeared. If you want to pop your container into the border be sure to put it onto a paving slab just bigger than the base of the pot first; you don't want your pot sinking into the soil and the slab will stop the bottom of the pot getting filthy! If you don't happen to have a paving slab around then a D.I.Y. store will usually have cheap slabs for around £1- the finish isn't great, but you won't see it when your pot's on top.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcehNRN07zO6AD5oa7Zm9kBxbH___P9ByHjhx_lNG5XdCO5uCFSGZKbD_3AZCb2TnfgtRldMjt5YiaPJVLB70xse-GyF8z7QnNdOHoZKu9H0mNKlR7LVUSdYIkjenqZ7F49IbJt_XRKs0/s1600/Verbena+Lanai+'Pink+Twister'.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcehNRN07zO6AD5oa7Zm9kBxbH___P9ByHjhx_lNG5XdCO5uCFSGZKbD_3AZCb2TnfgtRldMjt5YiaPJVLB70xse-GyF8z7QnNdOHoZKu9H0mNKlR7LVUSdYIkjenqZ7F49IbJt_XRKs0/s400/Verbena+Lanai+'Pink%2BTwister'.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Verbena Lanai Series 'Pink Twister'</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
A lot of the most popular bedding plants are quite thirsty, especially later in the year when they've grown a little more; make sure your container is somewhere near a hose and/or watering can! In hot weather you may need to water your container twice a day, so choosing the best spot will save you a lot of time and effort later in the year. Although most of the plants available say they want full sun I would recommend that, if you can, you shade them from the midday sun. Some plants can wilt if they get too hot (maybe on your patio with a wall behind), and if any run even slightly dry during the day then they can go crispy; although they will usually recover I would recommend avoiding any trouble in the first place. You can add water retaining granules/gel when you plant your container... these absorb water when you water or when it rains, and then release it to the plants when the compost starts to dry out. Although they're not a cure-all for watering they can give you a little help in hot weather.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJrObPZOAWaw02WP881Zfp87bthKmdhAAc84uIfk3nLVeayj_zv849PqOABm-aX8fz-D2TcgOAjSUcOOD2K_HIn13p5HQKYk2FEHtKYFAJMSBsld8rqcOjJKdlEh2gT6kEs_4WYkUzGZo/s1600/Osteospermum+White2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJrObPZOAWaw02WP881Zfp87bthKmdhAAc84uIfk3nLVeayj_zv849PqOABm-aX8fz-D2TcgOAjSUcOOD2K_HIn13p5HQKYk2FEHtKYFAJMSBsld8rqcOjJKdlEh2gT6kEs_4WYkUzGZo/s400/Osteospermum+White2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Osteospermum </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
People ask me about compost for bedding containers; by far the best is a peat based multipurpose because although it can be difficult to re-wet if it goes dry it gets too dry it does hold a good amount of water and also drain well. Failing that, a John Innes recipe compost with a little extra perlite for drainage and aeration can work well, but John Innes composts can be heavy around delicate young root systems and are incredibly heavy if you need to move a large pot! In the peat free composts I would recommend Sylvagrow from Melcourt Composts. This peat free compost is fairly moisture retentive but also free draining (unlike so many 'greenwaste' based composts), but like so many peat free composts you need to keep a closer eye on watering, and there is some indication that water retaining granules/gel might not be quite as effective (although they will be a lot more helpful than without them altogether!).<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQGXCVh4CpyI4URzn-4RtmYwC1csy72F8bZPhJ14cA4rK8uk7g9_0G8CrmDyc5-b0BG-crHmrxCEyZZ5GtL_5k35qChAtd2-eEBy9u5Rc2rxrbA5J-odEO3RmyVJb2AH83x-I0K_RNtsw/s1600/Argyranthemum+'Crested+Merlot'.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQGXCVh4CpyI4URzn-4RtmYwC1csy72F8bZPhJ14cA4rK8uk7g9_0G8CrmDyc5-b0BG-crHmrxCEyZZ5GtL_5k35qChAtd2-eEBy9u5Rc2rxrbA5J-odEO3RmyVJb2AH83x-I0K_RNtsw/s400/Argyranthemum+'Crested%2BMerlot'.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Argyranthemum 'Crested Merlot'</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
By far the biggest secret to success with bedding plants is feed. Pretty well anything will give them a real boost, but I would recommend higher potash fertilisers (Chempak #4 or tomato food) for the best flowers. Bedding plants <i>want</i> to flower, so if you keep them well fed then you will get the best results. Controlled Release Fertilisers (or 'season long', such as Osmocote) are usually more balanced feeds, so will promote lots of growth as well as flowers. There's enough nitrogen in a high potash liquid feed to aid healthy growth, but more potash means more flowers! I would recommend using a liquid feed (where you mix up crystals in a watering can) myself; feed as instructed on the packet, except when there's heavy rain forecast- you don't want your feed to wash straight out! If there's heavy rain on its way then delay feeding until it's passed. For the best results make sure your container isn't dry when you feed; if needed give it a good water to wet the compost and then add your liquid feed on top... this makes sure your feed spreads out in the compost.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGrPAAqxLhOzSBCwIRQINghMdxvVdFKw2ww_Rh6dBdkEmji_wR43gvaYayi5LTP-kolK2UwCHIeCRXPer4jggXpAFCbavp4BkzrSbPjYP7ehD9M7mlUSWEpe1HGI5GDs8uOk_9xV_ZSi0/s1600/Nemesia+aromatica+'Sky+Blue'.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGrPAAqxLhOzSBCwIRQINghMdxvVdFKw2ww_Rh6dBdkEmji_wR43gvaYayi5LTP-kolK2UwCHIeCRXPer4jggXpAFCbavp4BkzrSbPjYP7ehD9M7mlUSWEpe1HGI5GDs8uOk_9xV_ZSi0/s400/Nemesia+aromatica+'Sky%2BBlue'.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nemesia 'Sky Blue'</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The only other maintenance to be done with bedding plants is to snip off any spent flowers or anything obviously a bit untidy. With big flowers, such as Marigolds, deadheading is important to keep them tidy and flowering, whereas smaller flowered plants like Nemesia and Verbena just need untidy bits snipped off.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoyq1gwOZWsrGgtO6vbimTa6zlsGLJTx201-wIgmkYXnb86HRQNVwHvdSodCAGe6feW7YG1jP_RLwn16V_Svc1o2kL73_0QeU_dRog9ou5U0D6DUy6uQO0iqWUh6Zb7Wj3n5SUbohj4qc/s1600/Nemesia+aromatica+'Scarlet'.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoyq1gwOZWsrGgtO6vbimTa6zlsGLJTx201-wIgmkYXnb86HRQNVwHvdSodCAGe6feW7YG1jP_RLwn16V_Svc1o2kL73_0QeU_dRog9ou5U0D6DUy6uQO0iqWUh6Zb7Wj3n5SUbohj4qc/s400/Nemesia+aromatica+'Scarlet'.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nemesia 'Scarlet'</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I've deliberately not recommended colour/plant combinations here. A seasonal container is a wonderful opportunity to play with colours in a way you just can't get away with in your borders. You can use shocking pinks, bright oranges, cool blues and vivid yellows in containers and create beautiful displays. You'll see if you don't like the colours together when you put them in your trolley, and if your container is a fairly neutral colour then that won't be a problem. Be bold and brave with your colours! The only thing I would recommend is the use of white flowers; there's something about white (or very pale pink) flowers that causes some colours to become really strong and others to calm down, so when you're choosing plants try and add some white flowers into the mix.Pots and Polytunnelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06382052816348799966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2568114104822207484.post-38032531861225949222015-05-06T13:43:00.003-07:002015-05-06T22:55:14.911-07:00+6mths<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Sometimes it can be very hard to
believe the people who mean you well. In a world chock full of
cynicism even the kindest comments are taken with a pinch of salt,
often as social pleasantries instead of solid encouragement.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Six months ago today, on the 7<sup>th</sup>
of November 2014, I was made redundant from a company I'd spent 10
years working for. During that time I had worked very hard to help
that company build and maintain its reputation for horticultural
excellence, it must be said against often considerable opposition
from some colleagues as well as the business' manager and owners.
There were a few of us 'die-hard' horticulturists there, all working
tirelessly to produce the best quality products and provide the best
possible service to the gardeners of Cornwall and further afield. In
the end it was all in vain; the owners of the business had made it
plain that they considered horticulture a second rate profession, and
so they made their decision to purge the business of meaningful
horticulture in order to focus their efforts on their foody <i>nouveau
riche </i><span style="font-style: normal;">customers, and in so doing
discarding the customers that had been loyal to them for so many
years. </span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
When I left people
told me I would have no difficulty filling my time with customers who
would appreciate my skills and knowledge, but on the whole this
hasn't been my experience. I do have customers who are absolutely
delighted with my work and are happy to have me as their gardener,
but I've also had my fair share of timewasters (people with
unrealistic expectations of what a gardener can actually achieve and
how little they can get away with paying!), as well as losing out
more 'casual' work to a couple of guys who offer an 'expert gardening
and building maintenance service' for less than the minimum wage!
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">I've
been very lucky to have a part time job at the fabulous Endsleigh
Gardens Nursery in Devon. It's a fantastic place to be; it's a small
nursery that was nearly lost to us gardeners (due to the previous owner's
retirement) but is now firmly back on the road to recovery. After my
experience with my previous company I must say it's liberating to
work for a business where horticulture is the priority, and not just
some greenery to decorate a café and shop building. I'm
indebted to this nursery not just for offering me work when I needed
it but also for opening my eyes to the fact that growing plants
actually </span><i><span style="text-decoration: none;">is</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"> still
a respectable thing to be doing! </span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">I know
I'm lucky to have been made redundant from my former employer;
although I can do garden centre work standing on my head, their
culture of 'image over substance' would drive me crazy! I started my
career in a garden centre in Cheshire and have fond memories of it;
we worked hard, had a limited budget and we had a huge garden centre
just up the road, and yet we still developed a name for ourselves
based on the quality of our advice and service. We had a crumbling
infrastructure to contend with and not-so-understanding management
team, and yet we had loyal customers because we offered </span><i>substance</i><span style="font-style: normal;">.
I don't think I could last in a business providing a thin veneer of
quality but lacking meaningful substance, and neither would I be
happy in an environment where horticulture, an industry and career I
truly love, always plays second fiddle to everything else. </span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
Horticulture is
where my heart is, and although things haven't gone quite as
expected, I do feel that things are moving in the right direction.
Here's to the future!</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpijQRSYVxJNalq_3-CwMSskWRlh1KkoBGUP3vu7n6Ox0O-E1r0BuoMGmV8ZdUj89wqjkIQ5CJ83Uo3XWodKwoyz6kngXk4v7C8hX5VhBWKySqM7OsufjZz1Kh4kLdwZvdnkSp23pO6uc/s1600/Rhododendron+'XXL'.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpijQRSYVxJNalq_3-CwMSskWRlh1KkoBGUP3vu7n6Ox0O-E1r0BuoMGmV8ZdUj89wqjkIQ5CJ83Uo3XWodKwoyz6kngXk4v7C8hX5VhBWKySqM7OsufjZz1Kh4kLdwZvdnkSp23pO6uc/s400/Rhododendron+'XXL'.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rhododendron 'XXL'- gorgeous!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
Pots and Polytunnelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06382052816348799966noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2568114104822207484.post-78836916982182552362015-04-23T11:23:00.003-07:002015-04-26T22:40:26.528-07:00Collecting Rare Plants<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
If you visit a garden centre you will
often be dazzled by the choice, particularly in spring when the sales
benches are packed with fabulous plants all ready to take their place
in your garden. Sometimes a plant range is so big and so diverse that
it all becomes a bit daunting; working your way through the A-Z
benches of a big garden centre can turn into an endurance test while
you look for plants suitable for your garden and needs. New gardeners
can find it hard to believe that there are more garden plants
actually out there, but the garden centre range is the tip of a very
large iceberg.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
To be successful in a garden centre, a
plant must meet certain criteria. Firstly it must perform really
well. Most garden centre customers, and indeed more 'casual'
gardeners, are looking for performance; the ideal plant will look
great for as long as possible, flower for as many weeks or even
months as possible, and won't grow too big or too open. The second of
the criteria is ease of propagation; large retailers and chain stores
will buy extraordinary numbers of plants to stock their shelves, so
plants must be easy to propagate and mass produce either from
cuttings or from tissue culture (micropropagation). Plants that don't
meet these two main criteria won't feature in most garden centres.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuGxDTUTdlRGt0j_DUN_WTRrvqpK-Q6w9Gq2wUmeNRyVf0xHZfQZTj755YalOdMx6tLVLft9fpzmEsK_8Prgk6ZRKhlJSfijAb0gUGC4hJ8qqCLD3ih_MDndPgQUfw3okRblkQMa0xsA0/s1600/Dionysia+'Gerben'.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuGxDTUTdlRGt0j_DUN_WTRrvqpK-Q6w9Gq2wUmeNRyVf0xHZfQZTj755YalOdMx6tLVLft9fpzmEsK_8Prgk6ZRKhlJSfijAb0gUGC4hJ8qqCLD3ih_MDndPgQUfw3okRblkQMa0xsA0/s1600/Dionysia+'Gerben'.jpg" height="275" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Coming to a garden centre near you... never! Dionysia 'Gerben'</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
There are big advantages to buying mass
produced plants. If a plant is mass produced then it will almost
certainly have gone through rigorous trials with plant experts who
will evaluate it thoroughly before it goes into production. Mass
producing plants is a risky business; given that it will usually take
several years to produce enough of a particular plant to release onto
the market, these plant experts have to be very sure that the plant
is worth the time, effort and money. Get it wrong and there will be
trouble! You should be pretty confident that if a plant is mass
produced it will have been deemed to be a very good performer, and it
should make quite a show in your garden.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkUl8El5IOjdtv3aWdEjcPLXspLFDDP6S05uHWDBAyijWK1-tnsjIfCQ5AbjjMs4INF3k52ko8TKYRozSjY5E9FEKqBa4OhwbovmWN0QTfzKdqGCHnJTgZ5FLQ_B3BrjRXbnePlEFIxEM/s1600/Geranium+'Rozanne'.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkUl8El5IOjdtv3aWdEjcPLXspLFDDP6S05uHWDBAyijWK1-tnsjIfCQ5AbjjMs4INF3k52ko8TKYRozSjY5E9FEKqBa4OhwbovmWN0QTfzKdqGCHnJTgZ5FLQ_B3BrjRXbnePlEFIxEM/s1600/Geranium+'Rozanne'.jpg" height="298" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Geranium 'Rozanne' has been a very successful introduction!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Of course sometimes it goes wrong.
Somebody fairly reliable told me that Geranium 'Bob's Blunder' came
from a mistake made by Bob Brown, owner of Cotswold Garden Flowers in
Evesham, UK. So the story goes, Bob was evaluating some of his
seedling Geraniums and had chosen the best to go to a tissue culture
lab to be mass produced. Something went wrong, however, and when the
staff member went back to the Geraniums to pick up the plant to be
sent away, he or she picked up the wrong one by mistake. This error
wasn't noticed until it was too late! I'm not 100% sure that the
story is entirely true, but don't have any real reason to doubt it.
Geranium 'Bob's Blunder' is now a fairly widely grown variety with
dark brownish leaves and charming smoky pink flowers. Maybe it wasn't
quite such a blunder?!</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
An enormous number of garden plants
will never be mass produced because they either don't meet the
criteria set by the big producers or because they haven't been
spotted by a keen-eyed product developer. Many of these plants are
propagated and sold by smaller wholesale or retail nurseries,
businesses that produce smaller batches of a wider range of plants.
Most nurseries propagate their niche plants themselves, dividing
perennials and taking cuttings the traditional way. Although this
limits the numbers of many plants, it does at least keep a broader
range available for the discerning gardener. </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
So why would a gardener want a plant
that doesn't 'perform' as well as more modern varieties? It's a
matter of how you garden. For some a garden filled with a succession
of traditional cottage garden plants is perfection itself, while for
others a diverse range of foliage is better. For more experienced
gardeners it's often a case of quality over quantity when it comes to
flowering season. Certainly for me there is a great sense of
anticipation in waiting for a plant that only flowers for a short
period and, to be honest, although I'm often sad to see the last
flower on a treasured plant fade, I think that a precious plant which
doesn't flower for very long makes you appreciate each flower more.
Nonetheless, this is a view that isn't shared by people breeding and
growing massive numbers of plants for the garden centre trade!</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Some plants are easy to grow and
propagate but remain rare simply because they're not known. I've
taken many a gamble on the word of an enthusiastic nursery owner or
gardener, and rarely has it not paid off. The RHS Plant Finder lists
thousands upon thousands of plants and nobody can know them all.
Hidden on nurseries all around the UK are hundreds if not thousands
of obscure plants that deserve to be better known. For the keen
gardener stumbling onto one of these plants is a source of real
excitement, a chance to enhance the garden and grow something new.
There is always an element of risk trying something new, but
providing we can get good advice from our nurseries we should be
fine.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA_T0FTR5nmQgnex1f-Xfwe4FIwwJ76AQdpb_WgHbvLjmNT6DLjKF17o3EZgTUuyWncxTjwlAvKRyDEIERqjAomK4INHEX1e1lV2LsUflA4bZ4-dszqaGulRYEVUuV8Tee6YjXZLXt9yM/s1600/Trochodendron+aralioides.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA_T0FTR5nmQgnex1f-Xfwe4FIwwJ76AQdpb_WgHbvLjmNT6DLjKF17o3EZgTUuyWncxTjwlAvKRyDEIERqjAomK4INHEX1e1lV2LsUflA4bZ4-dszqaGulRYEVUuV8Tee6YjXZLXt9yM/s1600/Trochodendron+aralioides.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Easy but unknown; Trochodendron arailioides.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
There are plants that are rare because
their cultivation needs means that suitable places to grow them are
rare. Half hardy or tender plants might need to live in a heated
greenhouse all year round in most parts of the UK, and for so many
gardeners that's just not affordable. Bigger tropical plants will
need vast spaces to grow so will only be grown in big old Victorian
conservatories attached to stately homes, far outside the reach of
the ordinary gardener. </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Being entirely honest here, some plants
are rare because they're rubbish! Old varieties so susceptible to
disease that they can only be kept alive with frequent chemical
intervention, fruit varieties with unreliable and insipid fruits,
plants that have always been weak and hopeless... not every rare
plant is an opportunity to grow something new and exciting! There is
a nostalgia around old varieties that, although great for raising
interest in conserving garden plants, is keeping some plants going
that shouldn't be kept. I made the mistake early on in my love affair
with rare and unusual plants of buying plants without evaluating them
properly and bought some awful plants that died pretty quickly! If
you have a passion for keeping old varieties going at any cost then
good on you, but the rest of us need to evaluate plants before they
come into our collections, simply to avoid disappointment.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I think to a degree everyone has a
slightly different take on why they collect rare and unusual plants.
Certainly the universal factor is the desire to do something
different in the garden, to grow plants that aren't the same as the
ones everyone else grows. I think once you get past the desire to be
different people factor in things such as an interest in historical
plants, interest in plants from certain parts of the world, interest
in botany, a love of plants with certain uses (there are people who
collect plants that were used to make dyes, and others that collect
traditional English herbs), and an interest in a particular genus or
plant family. There is nearly always a sense of the importance of
conserving rare and unusual plants, and the sense that we are doing
our bit for their survival if only by growing them in our gardens.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Whatever the reasons, people who
collect and grow rare plants get extraordinary amounts of pleasure
from their gardening. Yes there are bad traits around; some people
use their knowledge of plants to belittle others, while others will
steal plants or buy stolen plants. Most of the rare plant circles are
a mixing pot of friendly eccentricity. Get enthusiasts of rare and
unusual plants together and they will happily chat away about their
collections, giving each other tip-offs about cultivation techniques
or plants to look after. I have met a few rather unpleasant
characters in rare plant circles over the years, but they have always
been a very small minority. </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I've said about the sense of excitement
that's felt by most people who grow rare plants. We live lives of
perpetual delight and anguish; delight when something special is
growing rather well, and anguish when something is struggling or
facing damage from the weather (think Magnolias and frost here!).
This emotional tie with plants seems very odd to non-gardeners or
people who are new into gardening, but we are curators of living
collections, and we do care about plants more than most people do.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
This question of what to grow <i>should</i>
be straightforward; surely just grow what you like? In reality we all
face issues of climate, space, money (usually a troublesome issue for
plant enthusiasts!) and practicality.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Climate is a bit of a sod with unusual
plants as so many of the unusual plants we all love come from areas
with different climates to our own. Take, for example, Meconopsis.
Most of the Meconopsis species we admire are from a much narrower
temperature band than ours in the UK. Typically winters aren't very
cold (or snowfall protects them from damage from the cold) and the
summers don't get too warm. The winter temperatures can be controlled
with careful protection, but summer temperatures can be more tricky.
Most Meconopsis start to cook above about 20C, so a cool moist soil
in shade with good air flow is needed in most areas. Add this to
the fact that they resent disturbance, won't tolerate soils that get
too wet or too dry, and some can be monocarpic (flower once and then
die, like an annual or biennial but not necessarily in their first or
second year from seed) and you've got a plant that sounds like a real
swine to grow. They <i>are</i> real swines to grow, and this is why
gardeners who persevere with them and grow them successfully deserve
credit. </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Not all plants have to be difficult,
but many are. In my experience the pitfalls can come from not
realising that certain species might be tender even though the rest
of the genus is hardy, such as Hydrangea or Rhododendron. I've lost
plants because I've not realised the subtle nuances of their
cultivation, and these have in some cases been expensive mistakes. </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkdMAuDqiXwEXUqL2gFg4ji_HitLRUg3C3rwLS_eTkxVL4c0AmivTVdX-Nb_uT3hbtnpkLePsvYfQfcKSmz-I8yUCyHUpG-md72LB6TR09A7B-WsFDldwGGC59r2h9ZxREVg39LWIeoRs/s1600/Rhododendron+johnstoneanum.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkdMAuDqiXwEXUqL2gFg4ji_HitLRUg3C3rwLS_eTkxVL4c0AmivTVdX-Nb_uT3hbtnpkLePsvYfQfcKSmz-I8yUCyHUpG-md72LB6TR09A7B-WsFDldwGGC59r2h9ZxREVg39LWIeoRs/s1600/Rhododendron+johnstoneanum.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Worth a sheltered spot; Rhododendron johnstoneanum.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Whatever you decide to grow, if it's
'off the beaten path' it's worth doing your research before you get
stuck in to a particular thing. You might well have to come to terms
with the fact that certain desirable plants are impossible to grow
until you win the lottery! This heartache is nothing compared to
losing a whole collection to a bad winter.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
There are ways around certain problems.
Obviously cold and wet weather will warrant a greenhouse or
polytunnel for your collection, and extra water needed might require
an irrigation system. Growing things in the wrong soil type is
usually the biggest challenge that faces collectors of unusual
plants. Usually the problems come when soils are too heavy, but also
pH is a big issue if you want to grow ericaceous (acid loving
plants). Through necessity I grow all of my plants in containers, but
this has given me the advantage of a nearly infinite range of soil
types I can make. For my Hostas and Rodgersias the mix is John Innes
#3 with multipurpose compost and perlite, while my choice woodlanders
live together in big troughs with a mix of composted bark (NOT bark
chips) and perlite. Other plants just get multipurpose compost with
some perlite for air and drainage. By choosing pots that are fairly
deep I get the best drainage I can (remember that shallow pots don't
drain as well as deep pots), and the open mix in my troughs
replicates the conditions of a forest floor, or at least as close as
I can get it. The results have been great; the big Hostas and
Rodgersias do well in their bulky mix, while the woodlanders (such as
Trilliums) have a nice easy mix to bulk up into. I do have to keep an
eye on watering in dry weather, but that's not a bad thing given that
it's easier to add water than take it away!</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
A serious collector with more space
might well be advised to make their own raised bed(s) for their more
demanding plants. Providing you provide the best depth possible and
make your growing medium from the best mix of ingredients you should
be OK. As a serious plant collector you want to avoid certain
practices, such as adding things to alkaline soils to dry and make it
better for acid loving plants. Know your limits; if your soil is
wrong and you can't make a decent raised bed then you will likely be
heading for trouble.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Of course you might be lucky and have
the perfect conditions for what you want to grow, in which case get
planting! Be careful to keep plants in your collection defined when
you plant them, particularly if you collect a specific genus such as
Crocosmia. It's tempting to go for a nice drift that shows your
collection off in a more natural looking setting, but trust me you
will regret it! Even if you've become somewhat expert in identifying
your plants in flower, could you still recognise them all out of
season? I know from my experience growing Camellias commercially that
even a fairly diverse group can look very similar out of flower, and
it's usually when a plant is out of flower that you need to grab a
cutting, division or plant for someone. Take care in labeling your
collection, it really is worth the effort, even if you know all your
plants really well!</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMAnpAdafCaLNITtS4Gx4W790aYSdyetuxV263XeZzOs0RPuWUfgRk5AnLz6ubnprF6IHnjLtbuopCHqXtlHhqhRiXAXjeqjDaxig5xABivpzQk2q0hhzanmCoPqwSiIllvXdtshfAN88/s1600/'Dewatairin'.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMAnpAdafCaLNITtS4Gx4W790aYSdyetuxV263XeZzOs0RPuWUfgRk5AnLz6ubnprF6IHnjLtbuopCHqXtlHhqhRiXAXjeqjDaxig5xABivpzQk2q0hhzanmCoPqwSiIllvXdtshfAN88/s1600/'Dewatairin'.jpg" height="400" width="286" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Distinctive enough in flower; Camellia 'Dewatairin'</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I'll leave this section with an
anecdote; I worked for a while for a garden centre in Cheshire. One
day I remember a chap visiting and looking at Clematis. He told me
that he loved Clematis but couldn't grow them. On enquiring it turned
out that this customer lived in Southport, a few streets in from the
sea, on what are known as 'grey dunes'. Grey dunes are the part of a
sand dune area where there is some humus but most of the bulk is
still made of sand; not good Clematis soil! He told me that the top
inch (couple of centimetres) dried out within half an hour of heavy
rain, and that any organic matter he added just seemed to disappear.
Over the years he'd lost probably 30 Clematis he'd tried in the
garden, but a Convolvulus cneorum grow to six feet (2m) tall- a great
height, but a plant he hated with a passion!</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Sadly you will encounter other problems
when you grow rare and unusual plants. The first is getting hold of
your plants in the first place. There are some fantastic nurseries in
the UK but they do tend to be hidden away in rural areas and might
not be practical to visit. Don't get me wrong, if the plant you want
is definitely in stock and the nursery looks interesting then take a
day trip to visit- there's always the chance that you will see
something else you like the look of...! Most nurseries offer a mail
order service and have websites you can browse, but there is the
issue of cost. Sorry, but many rare and unusual plants are expensive.
It's hard to tear yourself from a plant you love but can't afford or
justify but sometimes it has to be done. Nurserymen don't charge more
for rare plants so they can afford to live a life of luxury (usually
quite the opposite!), but higher prices often reflect the extra costs
of propagating and growing a particular plant. This isn't great news
if you, like me, are on a budget, but I'm afraid it's how things are. </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
The more obscure the plant you want the
more you will have to hunt for it. To be honest I think there is a
thrill to be had in tracking down a plant that you want, especially
if it's not listed in the RHS Plant Finder! Looking at websites,
emailing people and generally asking around usually throws up leads
or results, but collecting obscure plants teaches patience. The
anticipation between finding your plant and it arriving in the post
can be unbearable! </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
There is an important skill that plant
enthusiasts have to hone; plantsmanship. Being a plantsman/plantswoman
isn't about going out and buying everything that has a different
name, it's not 'stamp collecting' with plants. Plantsmanship is the
ability to evaluate a plant according to its characteristics and
requirements. Attempts are occasionally made to teach it but I think
it's fair that it comes with experience. It is worth getting into the
habit of evaluating plants; if you're faced with two comparable
plants could you decide which one is best to have? Once you get into
the habit you will start to evaluate plants with ease- which has the
better scent, the nicer (not necessarily biggest) flowers, the best
foliage, is this plant too similar to one you have already. This
technique will help you develop a broad and interesting plant
collection and will hopefully save you money by helping you choose
plants more wisely.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4dahchWgd7-v5gJXGmDZEfJRoPAxaclk51e1xEc5Fvj4nggX-DP2r9Mx9hyzmcfVJ-kXxrHTJO7WioIVdzhPrrrw3rA9SYRT1FwZ6ZSA1ydK7-21IGWvn2y3Tmny3ri77W_UiEjrhaU0/s1600/Viburnum+'Mohawk'.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4dahchWgd7-v5gJXGmDZEfJRoPAxaclk51e1xEc5Fvj4nggX-DP2r9Mx9hyzmcfVJ-kXxrHTJO7WioIVdzhPrrrw3rA9SYRT1FwZ6ZSA1ydK7-21IGWvn2y3Tmny3ri77W_UiEjrhaU0/s1600/Viburnum+'Mohawk'.jpg" height="286" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I think Viburnum 'Mohawk' is one of the best scented shrubs around.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
By far the biggest nuisance can be
other people! I've been quite lucky in that my family and friends
know I'm into plants, but I've known enough plant enthusiasts who've
had to visit plant fairs and gardens with bored family members in
tow. The world of the rare and unusual plant enthusiast is, to
outside eyes, a strange one; seeing someone enthuse over tables of
'all the same' plants at a plant fair, only to pick up something that
hasn't got big pretty flowers is a strange thing for most people.
There is a certain nerdiness with plant lovers, and it really is
better to try and leave non-understanding people behind when you're
going to shows, fairs or open gardens. Other plant enthusiasts are
seldom a problem, although you can usually expect a degree of
competition at plant fairs!</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
For the die-hard plant enthusiast the
rewards are incredible. While other people have gardens with
overgrown lawns, kids toys and a few scruffy plants, to be able to
enjoy your own collection of plants that you enjoy is its own reward.
'Planty' circles are usually great fun to be in, and being able to
use your own knowledge and experience to contribute to plant
discussions is a great thing. So much of being a plant enthusiast is
about sharing knowledge (and often plants too!), so if you're really
passionate about plants you will find your knowledge and interest
will grow and grow.</div>
Pots and Polytunnelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06382052816348799966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2568114104822207484.post-1559576895142989532015-04-18T12:15:00.002-07:002015-04-18T12:15:30.082-07:00Breeding the excitement out of plants
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Let me introduce you to one of my
absolute favourite plants, Sanguinaria canadensis f. multiplex
'Plena'. Despite its complicated and cumbersome name, this has to be
one of the most charming and exquisite of all of my plants, although
it's also the most infuriating. Sanguinarias are gently souls, and
their flowers are easily destroyed by a gust of strong wind or a
heavy shower. Add the fact that their delicate blooms only last for a
few days anyway and you realise that to see even one pristine bloom
each spring is a treat! Suddenly the lottery we play each spring with
frost and Magnolias pales into insignificance compared with the heartache of growing
this little treasure.</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqCQz49qqQ5m1dUX9e8tWFTcfLcrXCX6tLdGO2-nq7lBobuDaXf0nZTuTqWt7YMrzUNt2V2lDUehxwXba9ROByFUCn0Opyl-i2patWWwHbIqv00nKJV4T5wuKz9hLm-x6akbV_gwu8uIo/s1600/Sanguinaria+canadensis+f.+multiplex+'Plena'.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqCQz49qqQ5m1dUX9e8tWFTcfLcrXCX6tLdGO2-nq7lBobuDaXf0nZTuTqWt7YMrzUNt2V2lDUehxwXba9ROByFUCn0Opyl-i2patWWwHbIqv00nKJV4T5wuKz9hLm-x6akbV_gwu8uIo/s1600/Sanguinaria+canadensis+f.+multiplex+'Plena'.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Charmingly ephemeral Sanguinaria canadensis 'Plena'</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Spending time appreciating this special
little flower got me wondering; is modern plant breeding robbing us
of one of gardening's most exciting things? Is the drive for ever
longer flowering seasons making our gardens more beautiful, or are we
missing out on the excitement and anticipation of rarer events, such
as the brief but spectacular flowering of Magnolias and
Rhododendrons?
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
If everything in our gardens flowered
perpetually from early summer until the first frosts I think we'd end
up with absolutely mind-numbingly boring gardens. What's the
difference between a garden filled entirely with never-changing
evergreens and a garden filled with never-changing herbaceous plants?
Sure, some plants like Geranium 'Rozanne' have become staples of the
British garden because they flower well for several months, but do we
really want all of our plants to be like that?</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPwGcGBP60HwmO7OwaJ9K8tw5HZkU-xWjEUMkykBbru5o6aONIYMbUkuDPV9Q6XYFKG4KXgh4mwUgZ8IVGZDMNUnlRU6Wqcmc84j136FHnSwZ_4-i9TN4EI1Ygdhc2s83ExMYsYehseiM/s1600/Geranium+'Rozanne'.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPwGcGBP60HwmO7OwaJ9K8tw5HZkU-xWjEUMkykBbru5o6aONIYMbUkuDPV9Q6XYFKG4KXgh4mwUgZ8IVGZDMNUnlRU6Wqcmc84j136FHnSwZ_4-i9TN4EI1Ygdhc2s83ExMYsYehseiM/s1600/Geranium+'Rozanne'.jpg" height="298" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Geranium 'Rozanne' flowers well, but where's the <i>anticipation</i>?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I'm saying no! For me anticipation is
possibly the biggest real excitement of gardening; those regular
trips to see how the buds of a favourite plant are developing and if
they're opening, the nervous crossing of fingers when bad weather is
forecast and threatens the emerging blooms, and the absolutely
irrefutable joy when everything comes together and you get to see a
favourite flower again for the first time in a year... wow! Just wow!
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Yes there's also sadness when a plant
finishes flowering, but a short flowering season surely makes you
treasure each flower more? If a plant reliably flowers for months and
months it becomes a little predictable and ceases to be quite as
special. Certainly for me a succession of plants with a shorter
flowering season is much better- keep that excitement coming!</div>
Pots and Polytunnelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06382052816348799966noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2568114104822207484.post-64247965584760349032015-04-15T23:05:00.004-07:002015-04-15T23:05:59.742-07:00Painting over rotten wood
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
So there's been another article in the
mainstream media telling us about the rising interest of young people
in gardening. Good. Very good!</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
You can read the article from the
British newspaper 'The Telegraph' here:
<a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/plants/11534912/How-hip-young-gardeners-are-bringing-horticulture-to-the-kids.html">www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/plants/11534912/How-hip-young-gardeners-are-bringing-horticulture-to-the-kids.html</a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I do take issue with a couple of
things... Firstly, the statement that “89% of 16- to 24-year-olds
say they have a garden or grow plants" sounds a little suspect
to me. When you take a moment for the statement to sink in you
actually see that there are two things here, that the age group says
that it grows plants, <i>or that they have a garden</i>. Most 16 year olds
in the UK will still live at home with their parents, and will
continue to do so until they leave for university; they will likely have access to their parent's garden, but might not
actually be gardeners themselves. Within this group there will also
be those who do gardening, but as a chore like mowing the lawn rather
than as a pleasurable activity. I think Jack Shilley and his 'Young
Horts' movement have a long way to go yet before they can achieve
statistics like this. I don't think dubious statistics really help the cause either, and can paint a misleading picture of how things are... after all, if 89% of 16-24 year olds are <i>already</i> into horticulture why should the 'Young Horts' movement spend their time trying to change perceptions?! </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
The other issue I have with these
stories is media driven ageism. I believe very strongly that the future of
horticulture won't come from luring young people into a horticultural
web, but will come from proactively working to make our industry more
user friendly for everyone, regardless of age.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I'm not in any way
suggesting that we dumb down by making sure that every plant is
completely hardy, really easy and is sold by its common name because
we think botanical names are too hard. I think we need to work to
encourage people to enjoy gardening as an activity by making access
to advice and information easier, by encouraging horticultural retail
staff to be proactive in their approach to advising customers (and
encouraging horticultural businesses to make sure their staff
actually know what they're talking about!), and simply doing whatever we can to help new gardeners understand and explore horticulture openly.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Horticulture has an image problem, but
we don't make that any better by focusing on a particular age group
while leaving issues unresolved. We need to encourage new people,
regardless of age, to pick up their trowels and join in, both as
amateur and professional gardeners.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
There's no point painting over rotten wood! </div>
Pots and Polytunnelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06382052816348799966noreply@blogger.com1