Issue 1 - January 2007

Offering you a little help

And, don’t worry if you are reading this and have a large garden - even the biggest stately home grounds benefit from, and actually need, smaller cosy areas to add effectiveness.

Over the next 12 months, we will be examining a variety of plots, including: gravel gardens and rockeries, patios, verandas, balconies, courtyards, small beds, mini-veg plots, conservatories, window boxes, baskets, side passageways, open porches and much, much more.

We will be bringing you a multitude of ideas for your garden and you will then be able to cherry-pick the ones which best suit you and your plot so you really will be able to have the garden you’ve always wanted, regardless of space.

Here’s one for Ewe

CAMELLIA St Ewe displays it’s vibrant single pink blooms over a long period from January to April. This is an easy-to-grow evergreen shrub which will last for years on end in a nice teracotta or stone container.

Be sure to use ericaceous compost with added John Innes. Also, take extra care to ensure this plant is kept moist throughout summer to help with the production of flowerbuds.

During the growing season (April to September), liquid-feed weekly - alternating between ericaceous food and tomato food. In late winter, top-dress the plant with compost, keeping it away from the woody stem.

After flowering in late April, the shrub maybe lightly pruned to induce bushiness and control the overall height and shape. Under-plant it with Snowdrops for extra colour.

Potfuls of fun for you and your plot

THIS MONTH, there are plenty of small potfuls of Primroses, Snowdrops and Crocus for sale and a nice chocolate box selection of these will soon readily help to make up containers of vibrant colour for a patio or other small area during the late winter and into early spring.

PRIMROSES are freely available in bud and flower and will easily fill pots of all sizes with masses of colour until around April. These undemanding plants just need to be dead-headed occasionally.

SNOWDROPS are very accommodating bulbs and can be squeezed into almost any situation, providing the soil stays moist throughout the year. A shady rockery or a moisture-loving pot plant suits them.

CROCUS combine beautifully with snowdrops, although their satiny goblets will open better in full sun. Also, these bulbs prefer generally drier soil than Snowdrops so if mixing them, ensure you keep both happy.

DWARF-conifers, if the right ones are purchased, can work extremely well in any area. The danger is, that most varieties tend to grow considerably larger than expected, and, often, larger than the ultimate height suggested on the label.

These plants are extremely useful in containers for not only providing winter colour, but also a sense of shape and structure to the garden or patio. The golden rules to follow with these are:

1. Never let them dry out - during hot spells, move them into shade and thoroughly soak the foliage - they absolutely love it!

2. Give them a regular liquid feed during the growing season, which may (in a mild year) extend from late March right into December.

3. Conifers like a generally open and fairly sunny position where the wind can blow freely around them, which (along with 1 & 2) will help to keep them fresh. If you follow these three points, your dwarf conifers will look good in whatever container or area you put them in!

Little blooms for a ‘little room’

IT IS GENERALLY too late to plant dry bulbs for spring colour, but garden centres offer potfuls of sprouting bulbs ready to plant out this month. Our choice is based on small bulbs for small rockeries or other areas.

Muscari, otherwise known as Grape Hyacinths will flower from late January onwards in mild weather, peaking in March and April by providing masses of beady bright blue blooms.

Narcissi ‘February Gold’ only grow to around 20cm in height and these brilliant yellow dwarf daffodils will flower happily for weeks on end between late February and early April.

Tulip ‘Red Riding Hood’ speaks for itself with its bright scarlet blooms. This dwarf bulb is an early bloomer, flowering in March and early April - it’s perfect for the small Rockery or a pot.

Alliums are extremely versatile as they can be planted into pots or rockeries and then overplanted with bedding plants or a small herbaceous perennial in late spring, as the foliage dies down. And the firework style globes of purple stars rise above the decaying foliage at the same time.

We love a good shrub tub

PITTOSPORUM is an invaluable shrub, not just for a winter container but all year round. Its thin deep purple stems produce many small ovular leaves of pale silvery green (pictured above) and these leaves also turn to a deep purple during the winter months.

In spring, the effect is even more dramatic as the bright silvery green new growth contrasts with the old deep coloured leaces. This shrub will thrive for many years in a container of John Innes in a fully sunlit position.

Look at your garden through rose-tinted spectacles

ROSES can be planted this month, both in the garden and in containers. Virtually all types of rose are suitable for confined spaces and many varieties are suitable for large pots. Their other big advantage is that they can be under-planted with bulbs, bedding plants and herbs.

For container planting, be sure to use a really rich compost such as John Innes no. 3 and be sure that the graft union on the plant is firmly buried just below the surface of the compost.

A new specimen may need its top stems pruned back to a couple of buds and the roots may need trimming too. Once every two to three years, container roses benefit from being tipped out of their pots, their roots and stems severely pruned, and replanted in completely fresh compost - preferably around November and December.

For borders, once roses are in, they just need normal attention, such as late-winter pruning, feeding and mulching and summer dead-heading and liquid-feeding.

On reflection, these plants are definitely a class act

GROWING under glass, whether that be in a conservatory, cold frame, greenhouse or on your windowsill, is a great way to produce some winter colour.

It is great fun to either raise these displays from seeds, cuttings or bulbs - or, simply purchase plants in bud from a fruit shop or garden centre and watch them burst into cheerful bloom!

Most winter-flowering plants prefer cool conditions with night-time temperatures as low as possible so heating generally is not all that necessary.

They need good light to retain their colour and to stop them from becoming stringy. Good ones to try are Cineraria, Cyclamen, Primroses, Camellias, Narcissi, Hyacinths, Tulips, Grape Hyacinths, Coleus, Alliums and Amaryllis. Most - except for the first two and last one - can be planted out in spring, although the Coleus are better planted out in June. Why not take photographs and email them to us: bloomingreat@postmaster.co.uk.