January by Joe Burns

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The Best Double Cosmos from Seed-Ever!

ooking out from the warmth and comfort of indoors, I daydream and plan forward, imagining the garden as it might be during the months ahead. Ideas stolen from summer gardens suddenly ﬁll my mind and I visualise how the garden might look with a little bit of Catherine’s garden here, a bit or Brian’s over there, or a portion of Neil’s outside the back door. Those grasses I saw in The Bay Garden, Camolin, Co. Wexford, would also look very nice near the decking or indeed ﬁlling that small gap in the winter border which is annoyingly visible from a comfortable late afternoon sofa. How much of my gardening is done in the mind! What we get from other gardens, of course, are ideas about layout, design, and what plants to choose for particular tricky areas. No one Californian poppy (Eschscholzia) Summer Sorbet

Cosmos Bipinnatus Double Click Snow Puff invites us in to see how they undertake regular maintenance, how they clean out the fish pool, or to compare notes on how best to incorporate manure into the soil. That would be like having someone in to watch how you load the washing machine, do the housework, even traipse around after you as you vacuum the bedrooms. No, we plan our gardens from what we have seen elsewhere but we like to make the changes, (plus the mistakes and the untidy mess) behind the privacy of boundary walls or tall hedges. We only ever want others to see our successes. You could surely be successful this year in seed sowing, and in creating a mouth-watering summer display with a fairly new strain of Californian poppy (Eschscholzia) ‘Summer Sorbet‘, Cosmos ‘Double Click’ or Scent-sational Sweet Peas ‘Pink Cupid’, all from the Thompson and Morgan seed company. See these and hundreds more in a free catalogue from Mr Middleton Garden Shop, Mary Street, Dublin 1. Be sure to send a large envelope containing you full name and address and two first class stamps to cover postage. The Californian poppy I particularly fancy, for its delicate, ruffled, rose pink outer petals have a delicious creamy-white centre-just like a mouth-watering summer sorbet. Unlike the traditional single-flowered Californian poppy, this stunning new variety has fluted, semi-double, bi-colour blooms in shades rarely seen in Eschscholzia. Ideal for creating large or small

drifts of summer colour in full sun and soil that needs no fertilisers or added humus. Cosmos have always been the unsung heroes of the annual border being easy to grow and guaranteed to create an effortless and long-lasting summer display. However, the new Cosmos ‘Double Click’ is already a winner of a Fleuroselect quality mark following a sowing a year or two ago. Flowering commences in mid-July and continues to late autumn. It’s stunning, bright blooms with an exciting double row of unusual fluted petals, range in colour from rosy red, to white and pink shades. This three foot annual is best planted in small drifts from the middle to the back of the border where it will add height and colour. Very suitable also as a cut flower but all the cosmos are good for this kind of work. No summer garden can be without the sweet fragrance of Sweet Peas. T&M has gone back to basics with the reintroduction of two Victorian varieties. Although smaller flowered than the modern Spencer-types, the colour range of the heirloom varieties are just as attractive, however it is the intensity of fragrance which is their most outstanding quality. Sweet Pea ‘Pink Cupid’ is worth trying I feel for it is a single colour form of the same habit as the hanging basket Sweet Pea ‘Sugar and Spice’. This modern day variety has been bred for its unique dwarf habit and delicious fragrance. Ideal for those who want a pot-full of scent or a hanging display which also smells delicious. If you are into salad and vegetable, why not grow your own bag of salad leaves? In recent years, the production of leaves for freshly prepared ready washed salads has been one of the biggest growth sectors for fresh produce. Home gardeners now have at their disposal a wide range which can be grown at home all year round if successional sowings are made. Not only can salad leaves be grown at home at a fraction of the cost of the bags from supermarkets, customers can also be sure they are eating the freshest of leaves raised by their own hands. And here’s the best news of all for home producers; T&M’s Salad Leaves Niche Oriental Mixed, an exclusive and innovative blend to add oriental flavours, colours and textures to your salads, can be had in only 25 days from sowing to harvest in the summer! The mixture includes a unique golden mustard, Skyrocket, Pak Choi plus other oriental leaves. Try these stains this year and delight in what you can harvest.

Tips&Advice Most gardeners will have, over time, acquired tips and advice. Here we ask that these are shared with other members. Please send your tips to corkgardenclub2013@gmail.com

THE GREENHOUSE Insulation and heating are keys to success in the greenhouse. Keeping plants alive and protected from frost won’t take a lot of heating as our winters seem to get milder and a stretch Modern Phoenix greenhouse heater of several days below freezing point are getting rarer. To save on heating group your plants in a small area of the greenhouse and then build around them another plastic shelter. You can also help to store the heat generated by the sun if you install a black water butt inside the greenhouse and ﬁll with water. This will absorb and store a certain amount of heat during the day that is gradually released at night. This really does work. Smaller heat providers include nightlights placed beneath upturned clay pots, three or four to a small glasshouse will taking the worst edge from crippling frosts. If you are using a heater make sure that it has a proper thermostat, not just a dial, but a digital one. I recently found one in Lidl which is working ﬁne. If you want to germinate seeds in the greenhouse then you need a heated propagator that will maintain the correct temperature. Remember the earlier you start the more your heating bill will be so do not be in a rush to get started. Late January (at the earliest) will be time enough to begin those needing a The old Parwin now much sought after! long period of growth.

Clivia miniata When severe frosts are forecast cover tender plants with matting, newspaper or fleece to ensure their safety. HOUSEPLANTS This time of the year fresh green foliage and bright sunny flowers are what every garden lover needs to see. For most of us that means attending to our long-term houseplant collection and the temporary visitors that brighten our homes in winter. Mixed bowls of houseplants that have been received as presents should be watered whenever the surface of the compost dries out. As most of these bowls will have been planted in containers without drainage holes, there is always a danger of waterlogging the compost and drowning the roots. Some people find maintaining these decorative bowls very difficult over the long term and prefer to re-pot the plants individually into traditional pots using a good compost. Grouping the plants together can give as good a display as the original bowl. Many people will have decorated their homes with Poinsettias for the festive season and would like to keep them going for a few more weeks. The trick here is to keep the plants at room temperature, watering occasionally and feeding with MiracleGro Houseplant Food every week to encourage the plant to continue its spectacular display for months instead of weeks. Azaleas are more difficult to keep going. They need a cool spot in the house in good light and need soft rain water rather than hard tap water. Because these plants are ericaceous they are grown in a peat based acid compost that unless watered regularly will soon dry out. When first purchased you should find that the stem of the plant is wet for about 2cm above the level of the compost. If you can maintain this level and feed every couple of weeks with the likes of tomato food, then your plant should continue to flower for several more weeks.

Gardener’sDiary

It happened so easily. A bright crisp Saturday morning some weeks before Christmas gave me the inclination to set up my log cutting work station and chop some wood for the winter fires. From the photo you can seen that this Swedish designed log horse is simple, but very robust. Having put several large logs into its jaws that morning, and being cutting away merrily, I came an awkward shaped log that, when putting downward pressure to stabilise it in the horse, it wobbled and yours truly went flying forward, hitting my unprotected head off an old stone ditch. Just ten minutes earlier in my workshop the recently purchased safety helmet was staring me in the face! After saying ‘hello’ to the ditch I fell to the ground badly dazed, but finally gathered my thoughts and checked myself over. ‘I’m alright’ I utter to myself, knowing full well that I needed assistance. But my head gardener had gone for a coffee with our neighbour. I rang her mobile, no reply; I called my neighbour’s mobile, no reply. Eventually I call the cafe of the garden centre where they both were happily in conversation, and I make contact. The angels of mercy were shortly on their way home. Not long after they arrived home I passed out cold and the HSE taxi was summoned. Two of the kindest and most efficient paramedics helped me to the waiting ambulance and brought me to the Cork University Hospital where I spent a very worried night being scanned and poked to make sure that this embarrassed gardener was in good shape to continue the general winter clear-up and maintenance in his Monkstown garden.

The lesson from this is that I had not paid sufficient attention to some basic safety rules of work in the garden. One wonders do we know the dangers that lurk within our four boundaries. GARDENING INJURIES Available Irish statistics for garden accidents are scant, but some 300,000 individuals in the UK attended Accident & Emergency after having an accident in the garden in 2004. Some 87,000 people were actually injured while gardening. That figure is ten years out of date. Has it increased? The lawnmower tops the list of the most dangerous pieces of equipment, with 6,500 lawnmower related accidents reported each year. Suprisingly the innocuous flowerpot is the second most dangerous tool, causing 5,300 accidents, with falls, cuts and lifting injuries some of the most common types of accident recorded. Many of the following points might sound like common sense, but it’s incredible how many people end up in hospital because they haven’t taken basic safety precautions in the garden. WHY ACCIDENTS HAPPEN y people take shortcuts, we all do! y lack of skill or training to ensure that the job is done safely y ignorance of potential risks, read the manual! y lack of planning and preparation y and, of course, bad luck; being in the wrong place at the wrong time MAKING YOUR GARDEN SAFER y Avoid trip hazards such as loose paving slabs, hosepipes left unravelled or uneven surfaces. y Use surfaces that provide a good grip underfoot. y Avoid the garden if possible when conditions are icy and slippery. y Do not leave sharp tools lying around. Lock them away from children. y Empty paddling pools after children have finished playing in them. y Learn which plants are poisonous and ensure children and pets stay away from them.

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Electrical equipment should never be used in wet weather. Use an RCD (residual current device) to prevent electric shocks. It cuts out the flow of electricity when a cable or flex is cut through. Lock away chemicals such as weedkillers and insecticides. Just because they have the words ‘organic’ or ‘bio’ on them, does not make them safe for children to touch. Wear safety equipment—such as goggles, hard hats, gloves and steel toecapped boots—when using machinery. Tuck in loose items of clothing. y Never leave a barbecue unattended and make sure the flames are extinguished before going to bed. With a gas barbecue, turn off the gas at the bottle first and leave the gas in the lines burn out. y If you have large heavy objects to move around the garden spend €100 and purchase a trolley with pneumatic wheels. I guarantee it will be one of the very best purchases you will have made for the garden. y If you are in the least bit unsure about the safety of tackling a job, call in professionals.

POND SAFETY The main risk with ponds is that children will fall in and drown. It is best to avoid building a pond until a child is at least ﬁve years old. If you do have a pond, then ﬁll it in. If you must have a pond in the garden, follow these tips to minimise the risks: y Position the pond where it can be seen from the house. y Design the pond with gently sloping edges—this is safer than a sudden drop into deep water. y Cover small ponds with a combination of heavy-duty wooden trellis and wire mesh. Safety grids that sit just below the surface of the water are also available from a number of retailers, or can be easily made..

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Put a fence around large ponds to ensure children cannot access them. Grow plants around the deeper side of a pond to stop children getting near the edge.

USING A STEP LADDER y Never work sideways. Directly face your work. y Don’t overstretch yourself. Ensure the ladder gives you enough height for the job. y Never leave tools on the platform at the top of the ladder. y Ensure the ladder’s rungs are structurally sound and not damaged, rusty or dented. y Check the ladder has rubber feet to prevent it slipping. y Make sure the ladder’s feet are on solid, even ground. y Keep the steps clean and dry. y Keep one hand ﬁrmly on the ladder when working. y Do not leave prunings on the rungs of the ladder. They could become slippery and create a trip hazard. PERSONAL SAFETY EQUIPMENT Make sure that you are wearing the correct Personal Protective Equipment to avoid a serious injury. This is particularly important when operating machinery such as mowers, strimmers, chainsaws and hedge-trimmers. Protective equipment includes steel-toe caped boots, goggles, eardefenders etc. But equally important would be face masks when using any spray, or in a dusty environment, and of course safety gloves. Garden centres may not have the required equipment, so consult an expert if you are unsure what you should be wearing for a job by paying a visit to a safety equipment shop where you will ﬁnd good advice freely available. I use my local one M. A. Healy & Co. in Passage West, Co. Cork.

MonthlyWork General duties HELLEBORES The first of some delectable hellebores are flowering in a cool, shady area between some deciduous trees and evergreen shrubs, and between now and late March they’re going to be a star attraction. The pleasing features of hellebore flowers, which are most conspicuous before fertilisation, is their colour, anything from almost pure white to raven’s wing black, and soft blush pink to port-wine purple. Every now and again of course I’ll be tempted to shy away from these hellebores and share my affection with early shade-loving bulbs such as snowdrops, snowflakes (leucojum), winter aconites, and scillas, but the distraction will only be temporary.

gear but how do you persuade six year old twins to go the long way round on hard landscaping? The consolation, however, is that nobody is six for long. IVY If you lived in any other age but this, you would view ivy with a mixture of awe and terror, because for generations it was relied upon as a cure to many ailments including drunkenness. More believed that bringing holly and ivy indoors was a way to subdue mischievous house goblins. But for all the bad publicity it got in the past (and continues to gets in the modern press) ivy does not damage sound brickwork or house walls and neither is it a parasitic plant. The stem rootlets are certainly excellent at supporting the plant but those little suckers are not

FROST Avoid walking on the lawn or utility grass areas when they are stiff and white with frost. If you persist, or if you forget, the lawn will suffer disfiguring black footprints and while no harm will be done long term, they will remain quite nasty looking for a goodly number of weeks. Children are probably the greatest offenders as they short-cut to the shed for bicycles and sports capable of penetrating good concrete or sound stonework. Ivy actually helps old buildings remain dry and warm. The cloak of evergreen leaves will act much like an umbrella shedding rain as fast as it falls, thus keeping the wall dry. The roots of ivy, those that seek moisture and nourishment in the soil are neither dangerous nor destructive for they travel far and wide through the ground and not concentrate near to foundations. They keep the foundations dry in this respect and can be an advantage where an old building has no proper damp-proof course. The only real problem with ivy is where it covers an old, diseased tree. Its ‘sail’ area when mature may cause the tree to topple or to lose large branches. Just make sure that where ivy is growing on a building that the fabric of the building is sound

as it does tend to make its way through small holes or under lead ﬂashings. WATERING Occasionally water plants held in pots and containers around the garden and also in the greenhouse. Cold winds, prolonged and biting at this time of the year can sap the moisture and energy from even the hardiest plants (especially evergreens) so check on a regular basis and give a drink where necessary. Be sure to take the sting and shock from cold water by adding a little hot before application. Sow ripened seed of hawthorns, cotoneaster, mountain ash and pyracantha. Squash the berries to extract the seeds which should be cleaned of pulp before sowing. Sow in small pots outdoors or in a well-ventilated cold frame. ROSE PRUNING Prune roses if this job has not been attended to by now. As no two rose bushes look alike, those lovely step-by-step guides in books about pruning rarely make any sense. Instead, follow the instructions listed and see how they behave this year; 3 Inspect each bush and prune out any dead shoots you ﬁnd. 3 Remove any crossing stems next and aim for an open centred bush with well-spaced branches. 3 Shorten all growths by at least two thirds their length. Don’t be nervous about going back hard. 3 Cut back to a bud which faces upwards and outwards. They grow in the direction they face. Cuts should be no more than 5mm (1⁄4 in) above a bud and should slope away from it, so that water does not collect on the bud. This applies to all cuts, whether removing dead wood, deadheading or annual pruning.

3 On very old bushes it helps if one or more of the oldest

shoots are removed at the base every few years. You may need a small pruning saw or heavy duty loppers to do this.

GRAVEL Old gravel paths will be greatly improved by the addition of a little fresh, quality gravel. I stress the word ‘quality’. It doesn’t cost the world (delivery is the most expensive factor) it needs no maintenance apart from occasional raking, and it can act as a kind of crunchy advance warning system of welcome and sometimes unwelcome visitors.

Get the correct grade and colour for the area in question bearing in mind that there are now over forty types of ornamental aggregates available to gardeners. The days of just one grade in one miserable colour are long gone! Finally, before laying a path with ornamental gravel cover the area with the likes of Mypex or Shamrock Weedblock. These lightweight, black, elastic-type membranes will not show under the gravel, will smother weeds, allow rain to percolate through and save years of labour and gallons of weed-killer. It will also stop the gravel from sinking down into the soil and disappearing. You may also consider using a gravel stabliser, like Nida or CoreGravel (picture above) which helps stop the gravel from moving about.

GardenNotes

Snowdrop Gala & Other Spring Treasures

Venue BALLYKEALEY MANOR (near Altamont, County Carlow) Date Saturday, February 1, 2014 Programme Richard Hobbs 9.30am: Registration, tea/coﬀee, biscuits. 10.00am–11.00am: RICHARD HOBBS Tales About Snowdrops…The people, the plants, the past & the future 11.30am–12.30pm: JOHN MASSEY Winter into Spring John Massey, Ashwood Nurseries, will give a lecture which follows his garden at Ashwood from mid winter into the unfolding of spring and looks at all the treasures in his garden from snowdrops to hellebores and many more. John Massey

Club Agenda

Thursday, 9 January, 2014

AGM Shane Lehane: Beekeeping & What it Entails Tip of the Month, Garden forum, Raﬄe, Refreshments, No Competition, No Plant Sale

Cork Garden Club meet on the second Thursday of every month (except July and August) in Ashton School, Blackrock Road, at 8.00pm. Membership €30.00, Partners €50.00, Visitors €5.00 per lecture.

12.45pm–1.45pm: Lunch at Ballykealey Visit to Altamont 2.00pm: Bulb Sale 3.30pm: Guided Tour of gardens with Paul Cutler 4.30pm: Refreshments. NURSERIES Avon Bulbs (snowdrops), Paul Cutler Richard Hobbs (snowdrops), hellebores supplied from Ashwood Nurseries and Harvington. Also many more specialist nurseries Cost €70 (ﬁnal booking date January 17, 2014) includes lectures, lunch, refreshments, admission to bulb sale, guided tour. Early booking advisable. No refunds. Ticket event, limited number. For further information and bookings forms please contact Hester Forde (Coosheen Garden) 086 8654972 Robert Miller (Altamont Plant Sales) 087 9822135 BOOKINGS can also be made in writing by advising on the number of tickets required, and enclosing names, addresses, telephone numbers, together with cheque (€70 per person) made out to Robert Miller, Altamont Plants, and posting to Hester Forde at 15 Johnstown Park, Glounthaune, Co Cork, by January 17, 2014.

Gardening Adverts

WANTED Pulmonaria ‘Diana Clare’. Please contact Eileen Lalor, telephone 021 4293336, or email, eileenlalor6@gmail.com Cyprius x Cyprius. Joe Burns, mobile 0879882858, or email jmburns@eircom.net Any member who may have plants, or garden related items, FOR SALE to submit advertisements (their free!). Indeed, also we would very much like to see members who have speciﬁc WANTS to submit adverts. Please remember this Newsletter is for you, the members of the Cork Garden Club. Please use it to its fullest, and enjoy. Comments, articles, notes, photographs, and advertisements greatly received by the Editor, Cork Garden Magazine. Please email to corkgardenclub2013@gmail.com