January Gardening News
Happy New Year! Yep, it’s the start of another one. December was a bit of a mischief wasn’t it? A few thumping cold nights and the first end of year snow for a while. Our big Christmas seller was fleece. It was at close, an interesting year. I always think January is an exciting month, a month for planning and buying in readiness for the new season. I spend hours poring over catalogues, looking for things that are new and different. As I mentioned last month most seed firms display their catalogues online, with paper copies becoming more of a rarity. The seed industry is flagging up 2018 as the Year of the Marigold for some reason, but the real growth in my eyes is with Petunias, there are an astonishing number and some really lovely varieties. If you are into your flowers check out Gaillardia Mesa too, what a delight that series is with some stunning sunshine shades. On the vegetable front, seed companies are promoting more depth in every area. One firm I looked at offers sixteen types of beetroot. Across the board, depth is the keyword, dozens of different Tomatoes, Chillis, Lettuce, wherever you look the choice is huge. Is 21 varieties of carrot in one catalogue a record? In my camp of course, the big thing is spuds and stock is arriving every day. Ok, I admit it, we get carried away with range too. This year my eyes are on ‘Kennebec’ a big potato with an interesting pedigree. The official catalogue description is ‘hefty’. The variety is favoured by giant veg growers, but don’t be put off it does have a flavour. If you want to actually plant something (weather permitting), then onion sets, shallots and garlic can all be considered as the month moves on and as always, I am playing with a pinch of lettuce on the window sill. If they are only nipped off for a sandwich, they will be appreciated. The new season is only days away. And finally, I’ve been looking at summer bulbs. We all do traditional autumn things, like daffs and crocus, but apart from Dahlias the summer bulbs are not well explored. So this year, I am going to play with some that I have never grown before and that will be wonderful, if they look half as good as the picture suggests. So Hymenocalis, Tigridia and Galtonia were all on my Christmas list. Happy Gardening. Chris Evans www.dundrynurseries.co.uk www.thebutterflygarden.org
October Gardening News
What a muddle of a month we’ve had, a few bright moments, but my goodness when it has rained, we’ve known all about it. There has been a sense of autumn for weeks and trees laden with berries from quite early. It is almost as though the seasons have slipped forward a month. Certainly there was no trace of frost as we turned into April and anyone planting early got away with it. When the sun came it came in blistering style across the middle of June and then stopped and as we entered July the muddles began. The vegetable production has been good and indeed the strong vegetation has supported lively cropping of most things. The blight did knock out the tomatoes, but most other things looked good. At the moment our winter and spring greens all look solid too. The Spring Cabbage has made good leaf and the stalky sprouts and Purples all look in good order. As always at this time, it is worth tramping the rows to firm in roots, as these taller veg are getting top heavy. If you are wanting to fill a few gaps then winter onions and shallots are there to take, there are bits of winter lettuce too. As the month closes make sure that you have your Aquadulce broad beans to hand. The seasonal flowers are all looking well bashed, with only the geraniums really holding up. Many subjects were knocked out very quickly and a lot of snapdragons took a real thump from rust. So, borders are there to liven up and autumn bedding is in plentiful supply everywhere. There are pansies, violas as well as bellis, wallflowers and Sweet William and all need to get planted. You still have time for bulbs too, so get cracking. Before we know it the leaves will be down, so you can start getting a bit of tidying up underway. Gentle pruning is good in the next couple of weeks and it is also time to plan if you are considering new trees, shrubs and fruit. New soft fruit will be on the shelf towards the middle of the month, with raspberries being offered as bare rooted. Site preparation is worthwhile, but do try to be generous with space, soft fruit does benefit from annual maintenance (raspberries can invade). And finally keep on top of the lawn and consider prodding it with a fork to get some air into it. Improving the movement of air and water will reduce moss on the lawn…………..be warned it is coming. Happy Gardening. Chris Evans www.dundrynurseries.co.uk www.thebutterflygarden.org
May Gardening News
April bounced along, in fact it flew once Easter had arrived. The late Easter was the starting pistol and we had the benefit of a few weeks of light evenings ahead of it to prepare. So many people use it as the start time for gardening, so there were many lined up for the charge and since that weekend trading has been lively. I say late Easter but in fact not as late as it can be, The date is determined by the first Full moon of the spring and in 1943 it didn’t happen until April the 25th in 1943. Anyway, it is all systems go now. The last of the spuds can go in, we can run successions of vegetables, keeping pinches of lettuce, radish, spring onion and beetroot going, pushing in summer cabbage and would you believe even planting sprouts. The real joy these days for me is that the supermarkets have introduced so many new vegetables. Well, not perhaps new but better publicised. Celeriac, Kohl Rabi and Flower Sprouts to name just a few. Celeriac is a long winded grow, but Kohl Rabi is a doddle and quick. As the month advances tomatoes, beans, marrows, courgettes and cucumber can all be put out. In the case of Tomatoes and Cucumbers watch out for late frost and be prepared to cover them with something overnight and if your garden is naturally cold then leave them in until the last week of the month. Beans and Peas in fact can be sown straight to the ground if you haven’t got plants (they germinate very quickly at this time). Try to give all plants space if you can, aphids and white fly are already busy and they are disturbed by the breeze. Of course all the bedding is about too and as with the veg, most things can be planted out. Here too there is a cautionary note, so do watch the night temperatures. Dahlias, Busy Lizzies and Marigolds don’t like frost much. I remember loosing every Marigold I had to a very late frost in the first week of June. And finally, look out for Chillis and heritage tomatoes. There are Chillis everywhere and even if you are not a fan,they are very decorative. The heritage tomatoes take you back to the ‘olden days’ when tomatoes really tasted and they certainly worth a space. Happy Gardening. Chris Evans www.dundrynurseries.co.uk www.thebutterflygarden.org
April Gardening News
Hooray, the clocks have changed and April is upon us. The last month seems to have flown and a few balmy days really brought life swiftly to the hedgerows. Catkins came from nowhere and the land was suddenly alive. The trees were full of bantering birds, of males showing off and jostling for attention and Collar Doves returned to coo into the cowl on our chimney. There is much promise in the ponds too, with frogs, toads and newts all very busy. The garden is very much in need of our attention now. The lawn grows vigorously and so does the moss. The edges will benefit from redefining. The grass is a great place to start actually, newly mown and edged it delivers a positive statement (it’s a real feel good exercise). This one commitment sets the scene and all of the other tasks seem less of a labour. From the new edge, we can start to weed and tidy borders, conquering patches and planting as the mood takes. Very quickly the spirit is lifted and the task becomes less daunting. The spaces can be plugged with early bedding and with young herbaceous and alpine plants and as we move back summer bulbs can be offered space. Lillies, Gladioli and Dahlia tubers introduced as a back drop. If we have shelter a start can be made on tubs and baskets. In a protected position they will swell and grow and be made suitable for May and full exposure. We can still sow seed too and if open space is available broadcast mixes of cottage flowers to deliver colourful drifts in July. On the window sill or in the greenhouse we can sow tomatoes and peppers, aubergines and courgettes. Started under a slip of polythene for a few days they will germinate and make growth and they too will be ready for May planting out. Out on the vegetable plot,we can finish planting potatoes and can plant more peas and broad beans. As the month advances, we can set out runner and French bean seeds. They will take two to three weeks to appear in open ground, but with kind conditions can be cropping in July. In saying kind conditions, have an eye for May frosts and just run fleece or even paper across plants if cold threatens. And finally enjoy the month, the month of April is one of dramatic change. Overnight things are revived and reborn. Happy Gardening. Chris Evans www.dundrynurseries.co.uk www.thebutterflygarden.org
December Gardening News
Intriguing, a proper month of Autumn, with sunshine, rain, deep early frosts, mist and a smell of folded vegetation surrendering to the earth. Wonderful dawns and spectacular sunsets and in the dappled sunlight of a mid afternoon the dust and spores floating, coming to rest on the fallen. It has been a beautiful month. So nature packs up for winter and we wrap up the garden. We clean and tidy, deliver debris to the compost heap, bravely trim the lawn to restore order (my goodness how defiant the rush of grass growth) and we check the things that we hope to save, to see that they are safely away from cold and wet. On fair days we might dig, or seek out some manure to heap and hold in readiness for the spring. There are still bare root bits and pieces to plant, hedging plants and soft fruit, especially raspberries. The shed, garage and greenhouse can be given the once over for rodents, there have been so many and left over seed can be collected and stored in a tin away from all marauders. Even the odd snail will find his way to lose seeds. It’s worth checking around and cleaning up tools too, getting the barrow undercover, cleaning the rubbish off the mower. We all leave something out. Then there is time for reflection, a week or two to ponder over the successes and failures and to begin our planning for the season ahead. It has been a testing year, but there have been moments of real joy and others of true frustration. I have not had such amazing cabbage for a long time, nor seen so many pigeons together in one small space. That’s how it is, the adventure, the tussle that is gardening. The hobby that is a celebration of nature’s capability and a record of our attempts at mastering it. The new seed catalogues are around and the seed potatoes will be arriving within days. New varieties appear and old favourites just vanish. There are new tomatoes, still more petunias, every list boasts something and sometimes, something old gets a makeover. I am very excited to see the arrival of some rejuvenated varieties of antirrhinums. Butterfly antirrhinums draw me back to my childhood and in 2017 will be reborn. And finally as I sit by the fire and continue with my reflections, I toast the close of a year and prepare to celebrate my families 70th year in Horticulture, I consider the new season and am still excited. Happy Gardening. Chris Evans www.dundrynurseries.co.uk www.thebutterflygarden.org
August Gardening News
So we arrive at the end of the month still puzzling over what exactly is going on. It has been a strange season (yes, another one) and how many permutations we see, with high humidity, torrential storms and heat enough to lift the tarmac, it’s been quite tropical. With high humidity has come disease unfortunately and the blight swept into July and has caused havoc in both potato and tomato crops. There has been plenty of mildew and black spot too. Once these things arrive it is really difficult to manage them, so don’t just throw money at them. Heavily infected material must be destroyed or the spores will just hang around and carrying on creating havoc. In the case of Black Spot and Mildew this means removing badly infected leaves. If it’s blight however, try to get the debris out with the bin in green waste. If your plants are clean then you can flash across with a fungicide to offer a preventative barrier, undoubtedly keeping good order until something decides to eat it. As we move into the month bulbs will start to appear in the garden centres. They create colourful displays, but there is no rush to buy unless you want Hyacinths for Christmas. If they take your fancy, make sure the label says they are ‘prepared’ and try to plant them by the middle of the month. Any other purchasing will be to do with making sure you get the varieties you want and there are as one would expected plenty of new things. Once bought pack them away somewhere cool and dark for a couple of weeks. Planted early they may decide to produce too much foliage too early. Before we know it,we will be onto winter pansies. Keep an eye open for the Wave series which are wonderful in overwintering baskets. They have a good trailing habit and will give a spectacular show if you get them planted at the turn of the month. On the vegetable front,you can still play with pinches of salad, all of the salad roots will come and given the early disasters with Radishes and the wet, I will promise late success. And finally carrots. It has been almost impossible to get a decent row of carrots this spring. So, try again. Take out a shallow drill, water it and then sow in some Burpee short or Parisienne globes. The seed is cheap,the varieites are fast and you may just pull a fast onewhilst nature looks away. Happy Gardening. Chris Evans www.dundrynurseries.co.uk www.thebutterflygarden.org
July Gardening News
Once more the corner is turned, the longest day left behind and the fruits of our labour become ever more obvious. June in it’s passing brought us mildew and black spot, quite a number of early caterpillars and the pigeons haven’t given up on anything. The humidity has been a big issue for many crops, continuing to bring along disease, (so keep an eye on the spuds and tomatoes, it’s great weather for blight). An all purpose fungicide can be applied as a preventative, if the conditions continue. It’s also been perfect for midges and mosquito. I am not sure why, but they do like me. So everything is growing, although it has been a bit of a struggle with some of the root veg, most notably the carrots, many of which have found themselves pummelled into the ground and then baked. I think that it’s going to be worth doing some late sowing and if you use early season or short varieties like Early Nantes, I think that you can still expect a result, Beetroot will still make it too. More traditionally we can be sowing Perpetual Spinach and lining up the first of the spring cabbage. It always seems crazy to be making these plantings so early, but it does pay off. Spinach will be fit for harvest by autumn and with sensible harvesting can carry on producing long into the winter. If you have started to lift any early spuds, have a go at replanting a few for Christmas. Stick them on a window sill for a week to ripen and then pot them back into a pot for harvest later. It fun and can give you a taste for Christmas. The borders and containers will all be in full bloom by now, so try to keep them dead headed and watered across the summer. If time permits apply the same commitment to shrubs and roses too (many will repeat flower). Just a little effort will pay dividends and see your investment busy until the autumn. Pansy time will be back soon enough. And finally if you can find a quiet corner, sow a few Wallflowers and sweet William, both have been beautiful this year, but they do need a long growing season, so start now straight into the ground and transplant in late September. Enjoy ! Happy Gardening. Chris Evans www.dundrynurseries.co.uk www.thebutterflygarden.org
June Gardening News
Well, it did calm down eventually, even if we did spend many nights on frost alert and had to deal with a couple of real corkers. I had minus four in a greenhouse one clear night. As a kid, I would walk the site after dark with my Dad, checking doors and windows were shut, tweaking boilers and sniffing the air. He would make a judgement on the weather and irrespective of the Met Office prediction would tailor the site protection as he thought appropriate and he was usually right. I still follow his ritual. Anyway, in theory we are clear of the cold and the gate is open for us to get on and plant what we will, so if you haven’t then get cracking. The World is your oyster and there are plenty of goodies everywhere. You can safely put tomatoes and cucumbers, as well as squash, aubergines and peppers outside. Whilst there is no getting away from the fact that these things do better under glass, pick a good bright spot and you will still be rewarded. You can still set out sweet corn and push in a few French beans. Compact varieties like The Prince will come through quickly and will produce late into the summer. You can also be repeat planting all of the salad stuff too. Obviously there is plenty of bedding about and this year there is a big range of new material. It is worth shopping about and whilst our friends at the supermarket continue to ply bread and butter, many garden centres have some interesting choices. Have a look at Bidens for example, once a buttercup yellow, vigorous basket plant, it is now offered in a range of colours and more compact form. Mini petunias are another show stopper with colours that couldn’t be mixed on any other palette than natures own. Then there are delightful double begonia semperflorens, but enough, there is a lot to see, so if you need there’s great stuff to be had. On around the garden, the roses are budding well, but there is some early evidence of Black Spot , strike now if you see it and pick off infected leaves and bin them before the condition takes a hold. If mildew arrives in the garden and the humidity suggests it might then spray quickly if you want leaves to look good. Mildew will appear on many plants, but Honeysuckle and Roses are very prone. And finally, take a tip from my old man, walk the site, sniff the air, smile and enjoy. Happy Gardening. Chris Evans www.dundrynurseries.co.uk www.thebutterflygarden.org
May Gardening News
Nature wrong foots us once more and demonstrates it’s extraordinary ability to improvise. At the start of the year, I expressed concern at the way that the daffodils had all decided to rush to flower early. The Cheltenham Festival was two months off and gardens and verges shone with banks of yellow trumpets. Now here we are three and a half months later, with that show just coming to a close. It has been a great year for them has brought cheer to the darkest of days. April has been an odd month and whilst there have been some warm, the breeze has stayed cold and every third day the rain would arrive to just top up the levels. Work on the garden has been snatched and if you have turned ground that firm breeze has allowed us to rake a tilth. Planting needs to continue at a pace now and most hardy vegetables can be in the ground. Runner bean seed can be sown outside directly or in to pots and Marrows, Tomatoes and Cucumbers can be all be on standby for planting in the third week of the month, so look out for plants or start a few seeds on the window sill or underglass. If you have already managed any tomatoes under glass, they will need to get support and do pinch side shoots whilst they are young. If the plan is to pop some outside once again hold off for a couple of weeks. Then pick a light sheltered spot to get the best of them. Of course May traditionally is the month for bedding plants and everyday more will appear on garden centre shelves. Many can be planted in the early days of the month, but take great care before rushing with Begonias and Impatiens which will melt away on a cold night. You can make up baskets and planters now but settle them in a sheltered spot. Do spend some time shopping around too, there are some delightful modern varieties to see in all categories, with Petunias once being showcased by many, with some of the mini flowering varieties being very special. And finally, I have been amused by the interest this year in Flower Sprout, offered as a new? Vegetable. It’s basically a sprout that has refused to turn in. The stalks normally festooned with tight green balls supports mini open cabbages and these you pick and cook. I recall the grumbles of many gardener over the years reporting that their sprouts weren’t blowing. Now it’s in vogue. Happy Gardening. Chris Evans www.dundrynurseries.co.uk www.thebutterflygarden.org
April Gardening News
Hooray, the clocks have changed and everywhere life is returning. The weather has continued to confuse and confound, but spring is now a reality. We have come through the winter wetter than we might have wished and there have been one or two casualties. For me, most notable was the single night of minus six, that totally wrecked the perfectly poised Magnolia buds, condemning them to blackness. The tree was covered in buds and all were wiped out. Still it wasn’t all gloom, Witch Hazel (Hammamaelis) has been beautiful. The plant has clusters of yellow, tubular flowers and performs out of winter and into early spring. The flowers are borne on naked wood and the plant can grow up to about eight feet, though they can be managed. Other colours are available, but the yellow is lovely. Enough though, no time for daydreams, there is much to do, the season is upon us. The spuds can all be in, as can all of those onions and their relatives. There are plenty of vegetable plants worthy of a space now and sowing can continue quite freely, though hold off with marrows and cucumbers and unless you have access to heat. If you have cover try your luck with tomatoes, it is too early for outside, but they will stand in cold glass and taking an early punt on a couple of plants will bring some fruit by the start of July. They will stand still if we have a block of severe cold, but nine times out of ten you will get early fruit. If you have plans for an outdoor crop and have no heat, get a pinch of seed going on the windowsill. Some early bedding is starting to appear, but do tread lightly, as always some very tender plants are available. Leave Begonias, Marigolds and Busy Lizzies well alone until May unless you plan to use them in baskets and start them undercover. If you are wanting colour, then violas and pansies are about and you can also be setting out long stay bedding like antirrhinums and dianthus. There are also some good perennials around. And finally, it’s the last call on hard pruning, so if you have anything scruffy that needs tidying get it pruned within the next week or so,new growth is coming in a hurry. Happy Gardening. Chris Evans www.dundrynurseries.co.uk www.thebutterflygarden.org