4 minute read
GARDENING
HOW PLANTS GOT THEIR NAMES . . . . . . Arthur Johnson
ARTHUR Tysilio Johnson had a feeling for nature, a discerning eye – and luck.
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Aschoolmaster in North Wales, he gardened for the first half of the 20th century on two acres beside a tumbling stream in the Conwy Valley. He chose plants to suit the conditions and, many years ahead of his time, sought outstanding ground-cover plants instead of using weedkiller.
While following his other hobby of angling, he noticed exceptional forms of wild flowers and brought them into cultivation, including several which are named after him: an unusually red strain of musk flower, Mimulus guttatus ‘A.T. Johnson’ , a ceanothus, a broom and a geranium all named ‘A.T. Johnson’ , the heather ‘Arthur Johnson’ and the famous geranium ‘Johnson’s Blue. ’
He was perpetual motion when gardening and, not long before his death in 1956, he observed: “Never an autumn passes without, on my taking away the garden seats, the Lady of the Garden (his wife), reminds me that they have never been sat on. ”
Have you got the bug . . ?
MANY people instinctively reach for a spray gun as soon as they see an insect or a creepy-crawly.
But in the garden there are many more good bugs than bad ones so it’s best to go easy on the trigger finger.
Good bugs are those that either pollinate flowers or prey on other creatures which harm plants, such as slugs, snails and aphids.Among the good guys are:
Bees – all kinds from honey bees (dark or light brown) to bumble bees (large, fat and hairy) are major pollinators of fruits and vegetables such as peas and beans.
Butterflies – colourful kinds like the peacock and red admiral are pollinators but two are not – see bad bugs below.
Ladybirds – both red and yellow kinds, which consume greenfly and other aphids.
Beetles – medium and large black beetles (including the “devil’s coach horse” with its turned-up, scorpion-like tail). They tuck into soil pests.
Lacewings – another greenfly-eater. They are an inch or so long and have large, transparent wings, a bright green body and long feelers protruding from the head. Hoverflies – also prey on aphids. Most species are striped in black, brown or yellow. They hover apparently motionless and could be mistaken for small wasps but wasps do not hover and hoverflies cannot sting.
Spiders – they may not appeal to everyone but eat a wide range of bad bugs.
Wasps – yes, wasps, which catch insect pests to feed their young in spring though can become a nuisance later in the year when they attack ripening fruit.
Bad bugs include ants, greenfly, blackfly, two butterflies, the cabbage white and the large white, whose caterpillars decimate cabbages and Brussels sprouts.
Other offenders include click beetle, a slim brown beetle (the parent of wireworms); a bad pest of root vegetables; flea beetle, a tiny black one which attacks seedlings; and a real horror, the vine weevil, a dark grey, 1cm long, leaf-eating beetle producing small white grubs with brown heads which destroy the roots of strawberry and many flowers, especially those in containers.
At ground level, black beetles are good bugs, scurrying about in search of slow weevil and flea beetle grubs. In the soil, yellow or brown centipedes prey on several root eaters, including the similar, but much slower, millipede.
The soil also contains a creature without which there would be very little else living on Earth, the earthworm.
The various species – there are 28 in Britain alone – aerate the soil and improve its texture.
BAD BUG: Brussels sprout plant eaten by cabbage white butterfly caterpillars. WEED-FREE: Geranium Johnson’s Blue makes good ground cover
GOOD BUG:Apeacock butterfly feasts on buddleia nectar
TOP PRIZE FOR BRIDGEWATER GARDEN
AMAJOR European award has been won by the Royal Horticultural Society’s Bridgewater garden at Worsley, Manchester.
The garden came first in the Design or Concept of a Contemporary Park or Garden category, beating finalists from Italy and the Czech Republic.
The 154-acre garden, completed last year, includes a restored 11-acre walled garden and a Chinese-style streamside garden.
Other plans for Bridgewater include a Blue Peter garden and an arboretum.
n Bridgewater Garden is staging a Festival of
Flavours from Friday, September 30, to Sunday, October 2.
n The weekend features a wide range of
vegetables, including many unusual ones, recipes from across the globe, live cookery demonstrations, and world food stalls.
n Mobility scooters and wheelchairs can be hired.
n Admission must be pre-booked.
