An Autumn visit – 16th October

by Pat Hunter

This is a garden I regularly visited up to my teenage years as my Mother loved a visit and the May plant sale was a definite date on the calendar.

The setting is superb, a sloping site looking down to Lake Windermere and across to the Lakeland Hills; put the Autumn tree colours in the foreground and the views are stunning.

A visit usually starts by going into the walled garden next to the car park. This is full of Autumn classics, Rudbekias, Dahlias, Hesperantha, Leucanthemella serotina, Symphyotricums in abundance as the herbaceous perennials.

There is a display greenhouse now against one wall, this has not been there that long in the great scheme of things. It contained a cacti/succulent display, a beautiful Lapageria rosea on the back wall and an A4 piece on the problems that the Lakeland horticultural society has had with whitefly control in the display house and how they have changed the plants and the whitefly regimes to cope.

After the walled garden, a walk through the alpine and Tufa houses to the superb limestone rockery area. I couldn’t help but take some pictures of superb Saxifraga fortunei, as Sue Gray had been talking about these the night before.

After a couple of circuits of this side of the garden, it was down past the ponds to the woodland walk, which takes you down the drive to the Lakeland collection of Hydrangeas.

This is the best time to visit. I was blown away by the superb row of Hydrangea paniculata.

And finally, the seat – how many seats do you see where the arms are snakes, not just any snakes but snakes with ‘pucker up’ lips!!!!

Pat Hunter

October 16th, 2020

Gardening in the 21st Century – a zoom talk by Timothy Walker

a review by Carine Carson

Well, if it was a Monday or Tuesday and one of my ‘Grandma Carine’ days, it would be to the moon!  However, in this instance it is to the bijou study in my bijou bungalow in Wetherby to hear Timothy Walker, our first Zoom speaker for WYHPS during this time of the Covid pandemic and various social distancing and lockdown measures.

Before I get to Tim’s talk it seems appropriate to say something briefly about Zoom.  I think that, in common with the rest of the population, almost none of us had heard of Zoom before lockdown 2020.However, thanks to the younger members of our families wanting to maintain visual contact and setting up family quizzes etc, we were forced to take the plunge.  It has been a steep learning curve for us all, but, as with the other evening, people are prepared to have a go and those of us who are just one step ahead are happy to chip in with the odd bit of knowledge we have. I feel we all managed incredibly well and I’m confident we will soon be telling other members how straightforward it is to negotiate zoom.

I also thought that Zoom worked really well in the context of a WYHPS evening meeting.  No one had to negotiate the Leeds traffic, come out in the cold and dark (if that is your issue) and some members even managed to make the whole event even more enjoyable with their favourite tipple to hand!  I for one enjoyed being able to sit at the desk in my study and make notes instead of scribbling in the darkness of Paxton Hall.

I was one of the really lucky people who had never heard Tim speak before and so the evening was a wonderful revelation to me and an introduction to a truly inspirational speaker who delivered his talk in an extremely entertaining manner (never known a garden speaker to squeeze in so many naughty words and phrases – more below) and Tim was certainly someone who wore his knowledge lightly.   As most of you know, I am the ELC (early learning centre) branch of the HPS so forgive me if I have missed important technical details of Tim’s talk and I can hear you all saying -we are all learners – well can I just say, some of us have more to learn than others.  Here goes anyway.

Tim led us through his ten pieces of advice for gardening in the 21^st Century.  He started with our soil, about which he warned us, although we can improve it, we cannot change it!  He advised on how you might improve the soil, for a herbaceous border this is done in February, and in various ways – notably by adding nutrients such as a general organic NPK fertiliser, such as Growmore.  Tim told us of an infamous border in which he had employed the extreme measure of double digging (historically known as b**tard-trenching) and from the morning after was henceforth known as the b**tard border!

Tim’s second point was to choose plants that like your soil and his motto now is ‘if at first you don’t succeed, sod it!’ There speaks a man of experience. However, Tim did point out that we shouldn’t be too quick to dismiss plants that wouldn’t appear to be able to thrive on our soil – the acid/alkaline issue.  Here he spoke most lovingly of the winter-flowing shrub, Hamamelis mollis, whose perfume apparently makes Chanel no 5 smell like Dettol. Also on plants, Tim’s next point was to make use of native plants like Honeysuckle which is great for supporting moths.  He waxed lyrical about Viburnum opulus var. americanum ‘Compactum’ which has gorgeous flowers and the bonus of beautiful berries in winter.   Two further points on plants encouraged us to grow fruit and veg and to raise new plants in loam-based compost.

Tim then addressed his concern about watering and informed us he aims never to water except when planting.  His recipe here is to dig the hole and half fill with soil, firming it well around the roots of the plant and then topping up to the brim with water, which you allow to sink in before back-filling with the rest of the soil but not firming this in as much, to encourage the roots. Some call this puddling!

Tim’s next piece of advice was not surprisingly to avoid using pesticides, favouring alternative means of control – with his Hostas, for example, he goes for copper tape collars on his pots.  As I have no water feature in my garden to help with the slugs, I keep all mine in pots and use sharp grit.  I also use nematodes in the soil in spring but if some of you are feeling really brave you might go for the ‘Scandinavian cannibal slug method’ as recommended in the current issue of Cornucopia.

There were three further pieces of advice from Tim.

First,  that climate and weather is just a great unknown – thank goodness for a clear piece of advice at last!  Whilst he recommends Sir David King’s book: A Hot Topic, Tim’s conclusion, as a respected scientist is that it is impossible to know what will happen and what will grow. Don’t you just love someone who gives an honest answer!

Meanwhile we should join our local Wildlife Trusts and Plant Heritage to support conservation.  Tim suggested we also get involved in planting hedges in our own garden, in a community garden or on our estate (I don’t think he meant the variety that runs to our own personal hundred or so acres!).The best thing we can do is to get young children involved – they are our gardeners of the future.  Although, for those of us who are grandparents, we might want to practise a little more health and safety than Tim apparently did with his children – and I was certainly reassured that he was speaking about them all in the present tense – so ultimately the gardening bug has done them no long lasting harm!

And finally, who didn’t laugh when Tim put up a couple of photos of combinations of rhododendrons in flower and uttered that memorable quote – ‘people who grow rhododendrons are colour blind’! He did qualify this slightly but it did make me laugh.  So, all in all, if the looks on people’s faces and the comments people made at the end of the talk are anything to go by, we all thoroughly enjoyed our first zoom speaker and Tim will be a hard act to follow.

A great start to our Zoom future – hope to see more of you next time with or without the wine!

Carine Carson

October 2020

by Carine Carson and Pat Hunter

Although the weather was far from perfect, Thursday 15th October was just the sort of day to attract WYHPS members to Harlow Carr in their droves – well, at least two!

Carine and Pat were kind enough to send some pictures of the day for the website.

Carine first – she says:

“Harlow Carr was just magical today – a real profusion of stunning autumn colours and textures. The Acers and Euonymous Alatus stole the show.

I didn’t get long to enjoy the garden before the heavens opened. It was just lovely for the hour I had to wonder through the winter garden and the improved and extended rock garden.”

Pat Hunter was also very taken with an Acer, preferring the back view to the front!

Pat was also intrigued by the Flouroselect trials of one of her favourite plants, Rudbeckia hirta. Here are two of them:

Pat commented: “My all time favourite is Rudbekia triloba ‘Prairie Glow’ but I grow this one, so no picture!”

And finally, it was good to see that not only WYHPS members were braving the weather. Pat spotted this Comma butterfly on a single Dahlia

by Brian Denison

The garden has satisfied my needs during lockdown both mentally and physically. I completed a number of projects, the first of which was to build a Hosta display on the trunk of a chopped down.

The second was to rejuvenate a very shady bed.  The Sasa bamboo is well established but the area now features a new plant arrangement including Campanula glomerata, Kirengeshoma, Pleioblastus viridistriatus, Pulmonaria ‘Diana Clare’, Saxafraga ‘Rubrifolia’, Persicaria virginiana ‘Painter’s Palette’, Dryopteris wallichiana and Hostas. I am particularly pleased with the Hosta ‘Elvis Lives’ and Hakonechloa combo in the hanging bowl to the right.

My next project was to make use of some large rocks recently excavated from the soil. I used small plants so that the rocks were not obscured, primarily Hosta ‘Blue Mouse Ears’, Hosta ‘Cracker Crumbs’, Bugle and Lamium.

The bed is East-facing, so also somewhat shady. The rocks form part of the border shown in the picture below.

To the right of the rocks is a combination of Ligularia ‘Britt Marie Crawford’ and newly acquired Peucedanum ostruthium ‘Daphnis’.

Just behind the rocks is the new to me plant, Filipendula purpurea on the right.

The picture below is taken from the rock display looking west and features Helenium ‘Moerheim Beauty’ in full bloom in early August.

The small bed to the right is nearer the house and features a newly acquired Crocosmia ‘Severn Sunrise’ with Solidago ‘Golden Dwarf’ and Astilbe.

Rocks were also used in the front garden as shown in the next picture which features a Rudbeckia hirta ‘Rustic Dwarfs’ plant grown from seed. A free packet of the half hardy annual came with Gardeners’ World Magazine.      

The rocks are sited in the corner of the wider view shown here, and you may have noticed the Cornus controversa ‘Variegata’ in the large pot.

This is the main border in the front garden in July, but it is soon to be decimated because some plants are in desperate need of division and a couple are smothering more choice plants.

5 October – Work has just begun:

Sadly summer is all too short but I am still hanging on to one or two displays, such as a pot of Euphorbia characias ‘Tasmanian Tiger’ with Aeonium ‘Zwartkop’, Bush rose ‘Darcey Bussell’, Dahlia ‘Orange Turmoil’ and another Rudbeckia hirta ‘Rustic Dwarf’ with Phormium cookianum subsp. hookeri Cream Delight.

Hope to see you all next year, Brian

Allium cernuum – to buy or not to buy? That is the question.

by Sue Gray

I expect that, over the years, all of us have bought, or been given, plants that we have later regretted.  In my case the regret is usually associated with the performance of the plant, and how keen it is on world domination!  I think I am fortunate in having good loamy soil; I can claim no credit for this – it is what I inherited, which is as well as I am very bad at preparing soil for planting.  If there were an Olympic games for plants, I could nominate several plants for inclusion in a sprint relay, Silene fimbriata, Adenophora, Centaurea and some Phlox to name but a few, but in the main these can be controlled (with the exception of Japanese anemones!) by judicious digging out or, as a last resort, spraying with weed killer, but the ‘self-seeders’ are a totally different matter.

The plant that has been causing me particular anguish in recent years is Allium cernuum.  I know it is very attractive but it has got everywhere since I acquired it at a garden on one of our Group holidays some years ago.  I had decided that I would try and use as many bulbous plants as possible in one particular bed and, as they were so pretty, I think I might have even bought two pots.  First mistake.  I should have been ‘put on enquiry’ (as we used to say in my former working life as a bank clerk) by the fact that the garden owners had so many pots of it for sale; it has taught me ever since to be extremely wary of any amateur gardener with a lot of one particular plant for sale!  I brought them home, planted them, and over the years they have cropped up throughout the bed and in the gaps between the paving surrounding the bed.  Of course, they are no respecter of space and quite likely to appear in the middle of other established plants, as they have done in some clumps of, what I believe to be, Allium senescens.

These alliums are much better behaved; they do not seed around but form clumps of semi-evergreen foliage about 25cms tall with slightly taller mauve flowerheads in mid/late summer.  As they bulk up so well, over the years I have split them and formed four good sized clumps, two in the front garden and two in the back, all of which had A. cernuum growing up through them.

I decided that the time had come to deal with the interlopers, but realised that to do so I was going to have lift all the clumps and try and identify which bulbs belonged to which allium.  As a first step, when the flowers of A. cernuum appeared, I cut the head off, thus hoping to prevent further seeding around, but leaving the stem which I should be able to trace back to the offending bulb.

This actually proved to be easier than I could have dreamt, for when I lifted the clumps I discovered that A. senescens – if that is what they are – as opposed to A. cernuum, actually do not remain as individual bulbs, but join together, forming woody, root-like, structures below the bulb.  The clumps were so tight knit that they took some prising apart, but I hope I have managed to remove all the offending A. cernuum bulbs, many of which had already started sprouting in readiness for next year.  This image shows the individual bulbs of A. cernuum on the left and a section of one of the lifted clumps on the right.

An added bonus of this operation is that I was able to identify, and remove, a number of triteleia which, in my book, fall in to the same category as A. cernuum!

My only problem, now, is that as they were such good clumps, and I have only replanted a small portion of each, I have about 20 pots available for sale.  So, if you see me with them, please ignore my comments about amateur gardeners with lots of the same plants for sale, and relieve me of some.  I promise that they are very well behaved, and lovely additions to the mid/late summer border.

Hydrangeas

by Kate van Heel

Throughout history the hydrangea has been especially significant in Japan, where many believe the flower originated. According to a Japanese legend, the hydrangea became associated with heartfelt emotion, gratitude for understanding, and apology after a Japanese emperor gave them to the family of the girl he loved to make up for neglecting her in favour of business and show how much he cared about her. Pink hydrangeas are especially associated with genuine emotion because their shape resembles a beating heart.

The genus Hydrangea contains about 75 species of shrubs, trees and woody vines, along with hundreds of named cultivars. Hydrangeas are grown primarily for their large flower clusters that vary in shape from flat lacecaps, to long panicles, and large, round mopheads. 

The colour of hydrangeas, except for white hydrangeas, depends on the acidity of the soil. You can make pink hydrangeas turn blue by increasing the acidity of your soil. Apparently you can increase the acidity by adding coffee grounds, citrus peels, and crushed egg shells, although I have never tried it.

One of the most popular hydrangeas is Hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’ .

Hydrangea arborescens is a large bushy North American shrub bearing a mixture of tiny fertile florets and larger more showy sterile ones, which in fact have coloured bracts in place of petals. Hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’ has only sterile florets, which makes the flower heads much larger, like spectacular white balls up to 30cm across. The Royal Horticultural Society has given it an Award of Garden Merit (AGM). However, its only failing, I think, is that the flower heads are so heavy that after a downpour the whole shrub flops over and never really recovers its former glory. I have tried both cutting the shrub back very hard in Spring to 30cm, and also pruning less severely but to no avail. However, Sarah Raven recommends Hydrangea ‘Incrediball’, a new variety of Annabelle type Hydrangea from the USA, that boasts giant flowers on very strong stems. It apparently produces strong, sturdy stems which support giant, football-sized blooms – hence the name ‘Incrediball’. They are meant to be tolerant of all the wind and rain that a British summer can throw at them, so perhaps it is a better option.

Another of my favourites is Hydrangea paniculata ‘Limelight’. It opens a  bright acid-green then the flowers fully flatten and turn pure ivory, before being washed with rich pink.

It likes a cool, semi shaded part of the garden where its flowers will stand out and doesn’t flop after rain. Although the only essential work is to remove dead wood in spring, it will flower more prolifically when pruned back annually to a framework of branches. Each spring, cut back last year’s stems to a pair of healthy buds to maintain a permanent framework.

My third choice is Hydrangea aspera. H. aspera is an erect deciduous shrub to 3m tall, with softly hairy, lance-shaped leaves to 25cm long and flat flowering heads with purple fertile flowers and showy white, pink or purple outer sterile flowers in late summer, which are attractive to bees and butterflies. Like Hydrangea quercifolia, this needs only minimal pruning in spring to remove dead and over-long stems. A new addition to my garden is Hydrangea aspera ‘Hot Chocolate’. The underside of the leaf is striking burgundy, whilst the top is chocolate brown, fading to deep green later in the season. The flower colour is pale peach/pink which contrasts well with the leaves. This is planned to replace a pink Annabelle which has decided to flop unacceptably.

These are my three choices but there are so many beautiful hydrangeas to choose from.  Most hydrangeas will remain in flower well into September, so there is a generous selection of stunning varieties to choose from. Also the final flowerheads of the year can be left on the plant to provide winter interest.

Images

Hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’ and H. aspera Villosa Group by permission of HPS Image Library

Hydrangea paniculata ‘Limelight’ copyright Kate van Heel

Dierama – one gardener’s experience

by Pat Hunter

Dierama are evergreen perennials which grow from corms and belong to the Iris family. They originate from southern Africa, there are 45 species and are  commonly known as Angel’s fishing rods or wand flowers. Dierama are flowering in my garden in early July.

I had tried growing these from plants bought at nurseries for several years with no success. I had tried several different situations in the garden but come the following year no Dierama could be found.

I changed tack and decided to try growing from seed. I bought seed from Plantworld seeds (a true sweetie shop for seeds). This was a great success. I had a great germination rate and decided to plant them out in the vegetable plot. As these were increasing in size well, I decided to get some seeds of other varieties, these also germinated and grew.

After having several years of a fantastic display on the edge of the veg plot I decided to move a clump to the front edge of the border, a larger variety over the pond and a clump over the rill. There were still a lot left over, I have brought some to HPS auction in the past. This year, the clump at the front of the border I decided to reduce in size (too much time on my hands). Dieramas are not quick to recover, I was told by fellow hardy planters.

The corms lay down a new corm on top of the last one, year on year. I stripped down all the growth in the first picture to 3 or 4 clumps and replanted on the 10^th April.

I presumed I would lose any flowers this year, and on June 10^th (one month on) this is the result.

Dieramas in the garden now are so numerous that they decide where they will grow as can be seen below

Finally on the subject of the clump that was split and replanted, on the 11^th July I have 2 flower stalks with plenty of flowers.

A few pictures of the varieties around the garden now

Most are seedling crosses now, hence no species given.

This picture shows the variety of heights of the seedlings left in the vegetable plot

And finally, for the observant, the seedling that decided where it wants to grow is now flowering.

The conclusion, then, is to grow from seed and let them get on with it.

by Judith Ladley

York Gate garden, our well-known local visitor attraction, is once again open to the public following its winter closure and subsequent enforced shut down due to Covid 19.   A great deal of work has been carried out during the closure, mainly on the adjacent property which is now owned by Perennial.  A larger refreshment area has been added, with indoor and outdoor seating; the plant sales section has been moved and is well stocked with a good selection and visitor parking is now available on site, plus an overflow across the road from York Gate.  The original layout of York Gate remains the same, with the exception of a re-vamp of Sybil’s garden which now holds an interesting selection of exotics.

Currently on-line booking is required as visitor numbers are limited due to social distancing.  There is a one-way route around the garden, well marked with red wooden arrows.  Booking can be accessed from the York Gate Garden website.  The garden and shop open at 11am and close at 4.30pm.  Openings are from Wednesday through to Sunday, with the garden closing on 1^st November, but apart from Christmas the café and shop and open all year.

Judith Ladley

by Judith Ladley

Some HPS members be may be aware that the Friday Forum Group which meets at Paxton Hall twice a month is currently holding a Zoom meeting in place of our usual entertainment, initiated by our champion blogger  Mrs Linda Casper.   Last week members were asked to show a small bunch (or tussie mussie) comprising 3-5 flowers.   I chose the following (which is where the people enter this article).

Linaria purpurea in 3 shades: pale pink, bluey purple and an attractive cerise specimen, not often seen, originally bought from Maureen Iddon.  Many of you will know Jackie, her daughter, but I wonder whether you remember Maureen – a lovely lady and a great nurserywoman.

Euphorbia stricta an attractive small growing lime green plant with red stems.  This plant was a favourite of Eleanor Fisher, a very knowledgeable plant lady and a super lecturer.

Galactites tomentosa an annual thistle with variegated foliage, originally purchased on my first visit to Beth Chatto’s nursery but I rather think it came from the nursery of Mrs Desmond Underwood (an impressive name from the past).

An Ammi that self-seeded in my greenhouse.

Sadly my arrangement did not appear on the Zoom screen – I couldn’t get the camera to work!

Judith Ladley

Image courtesy of Judith Ladley

We had to cancel our evening visit to the Boston Spa Gardens of Liz Hall and Rosemary Rogers. To make up for it, they invited me to make this short film, showing what you might have seen!