Garden News May 9

W !

N E OK LO

FRthE£E SEEDS

May 9, 2015

Wor

B rit a in'sed st m o st t ru in vo ice g a rd e n in g

7

No-prune, easy shrubs you can plant this week!

3.29!

“Enjoy glorious roses with my planting tips” says Chris Beardshaw

S D E E S E FRE 3.29!

Worth

£

TAKE CUTTINGS NOW! Grab your chance to propagate lupins!

TRY HARDY FUCHSIAS Year after year colour with no winter fuss!

3 steps

to aromatic, favourful herbs

Carol Klein “Let the fower show season fll you full of ideas!”

Spring

superstars!

Start growing auriculas – they're hard to resist!

GASTRO-PUB

VEG PATCH!

n Ideas from a pub with a home grow

menu

AboutNOW ‘Winston Churchill’ launches the show

iticultural Society North of England Hort

Harrogate salutes ‘Victory in Europe’ Atmosphere of pure theatre as impressive Dig for Victory plot takes centre stage Words Ian Hodgson

C

Neil Hepworth

The allotment displayed more than 30 varieties of heritage veg

locks were rewound to May 8 1945 when exhibitors at Yorkshire’s Harrogate Spring Flower Show celebrated the 70th anniversary of Victory in Europe (VE) Day. Centrepiece of the event, an impressive Dig for Victory allotment staged by Leeds and District Allotment Society, stole the hearts of visitors of all ages.

More than 30 heritage vegetable varieties filled the plot, complete with pens of live hens and rabbits. Facsimile certificates from the 1940s, congratulating adults and school children involved in the Dig for Victory campaign, helped create an atmosphere of pure theatre.

Visitors to the floral halls were greeted by an outsize picture of Churchill crafted from carnations by florists Lucy Hutton and Libby Rowley, the pair taking eight hours to position the 1,400 blooms.

Nursery owners joined in the fun with festoons of patriotic bunting and creative staging of vintage household and garden paraphernalia.

Early estimates indicate more than 57,000 visitors attended the four day event. ● We’ve specially selected a patriotic mix of red, white and blue bedding verbenas for your free seeds this week.

Flowers celebrate liberation

B

Lincoln Cathedral’s giant mosaic Dutch people send a message using food bags in 1945

Photos: International Bomber Command Centre

ulbs from Holland have been used to depict the liberation of the Netherlands by allied forces in May 1945. Mosaics of blossoms planted last autumn burst into bloom outside Lincoln Cathedral and at Kew Gardens under the banner of Tulips for Liberators.

Lincoln’s 40,000 tulip and hyacinth bulbs show a Lancaster bomber dropping parcels of food.

Designed by noted artist Jan Guldemond it commemorates Operation Manna, the world’s first humanitarian mission, where 7,000 tons of food was dropped over 10 days saving the lives of thousands of starving Dutch people. Kew’s Flags of Liberty depict both Dutch and British flags (visit www. internationalbomber commandcentre.com). ● Other UK celebrations include the glorious azalea bowl at Hampshire’s Exbury Gardens.

Wartime prisoner Freddie Wynniatt, who worked in an Austrian salt mine, helped create the famous spectacle after the

war (visit www.exbury.co.uk).

A liberation day-style street party will be staged at The National Memorial Arboretum

on Sunday May 10 with vintage catering, music and themed events. Entry is free. Visit www. thenma.org.uk.

UK digital readers tel: 01733 395076 or email gn.le ers@bauermedia.co.uk to claim your free seeds

4 Garden News / May 9 2015

Plant

OF THE WEEK

Six types of auricula to try Shuterstock

I

Alpine

Two-colour petals can be green-edged or grey, like ‘Ben Wyves’, pictured.

The tube and eye of alpine types are the same colour.

Blooms are farina-free.

Self

Double

Self have petals of one colour outside the central circle of white farina.

Intricate flowers composed of many petals such as vigorous wine red ‘Camelot’.

Keep them happy

Originally cultivated by Huguenot weavers fleeing persecution, auriculas were grown by weavers and miners from Lancashire and Yorkshire to the east end of London.

Subscribe now for £1 an issue! Go to www.greatmagazines.co.uk/gn

Garden World Images

Wherever you grow them, all auriculas need excellent drainage. Shield plants from summer sun and winter rain, to mimic their natural habitat.

If you’re growing auriculas in pots use a loam-based, gritty compost and choose terracotta – not just because it looks so good, but because it aids drainage too.

Repot auriculas into new compost every year, water daily and feed weekly in the growing season. After flowering, keep plants dry and cool over the summer, ready to start back into growth in early spring.

Garden World Images

Fa ct

well-drained soils in the garden where they can make large clumps.

Edged

Garden World Images

n bloom from March until late May, auriculas come in a vast array of colours, shapes and patterns. From velvety single shades, to those variously referred to as edged, selfs and stripes whose petals or leaves are covered in a mealy dusting known as farina, auriculas have a charm that’s all their own.

Alpine, show and fancy auriculas are perfect to grow in pots to exhibit in an auricula ‘theatre’. Arranging auriculas on covered staging or in outdoor theatres shows off each unique flower to perfection, and also makes them easier to tend, as well as sheltering plants from excess wet and sun.

Border auriculas are easier to grow and thrive in cool,

Shuterstock

They steal the show staged in theatres or grown in gardens

Garden World Images

Auriculas!

Striped

Border

Petals are striped from the centre outwards. ‘Ruddy Duck’ is crimson.

Border auriculas are sturdy so can be planted outside.

This is ‘Greenfinch’.

May 9 2015 / Garden News 5

WHAT TO DO Meet the tea m

Clare Foggett

Ian Hodgson

Horticulturist Clare’s 50m (165ft) garden is home to fruit, cut flowers and ornamental borders.

Kew-trained horticulturist and garden designer. Previously with the RHS, Ian is interested in all aspects of gardening.

THIS WEEK

Victoria Williams A keen new gardener who is hoping to get her first allotment soon.

If y o u d o ju st o n e jo b...

Start to harden of young plants As the danger of frost passes, it’s time to get plants ready to go outside

A

t this time of year our greenhouses and windowsills are often full to bursting with young plants straining to get out into the garden. But beware, these treasured youngsters need a bit of acclimatising to help them get used to the cooler conditions outdoors. If you plant them straight out they can go into shock and take a while to recover.

The process of acclimatisation is known to gardeners as ‘hardening off’ and is particularly important for seedlings of tender plants such as tomatoes, squashes and bedding plug plants.

Place them outdoors in a sheltered, part-shaded spot during the day for at least 10 days, preferably a fortnight. If you have lots of small pots and modules, putting them on a tray can be helpful to make them quicker to move about.

Neil Hepworth

Even hardy plants need time to get accustomed to being outside

Don’t forget to protect your plants from slugs and other pests, which will love to feast on the tender, sweet shoots. Remember also to keep an eagle eye on the watering as small pots dry out incredibly quickly on warm breezy days. You should be able to tell quite easily how dry the pots are by their weight.

Bring plants back in every night for

Subscribe now for £1 an issue! Go to www.greatmagazines.co.uk/gn

the first 10 days. If you have the patience, then plants will benefit from being left out for a few more days, but covered in fleece at night.

Alternatively, you can cheat and either put them into a cold frame or plant them straight into the garden and use cloches for the first fortnight. Then they’ll be raring to go!

May 9 2015 / Garden News 31

St e p by st e p

What to do this week

IN YOUR FLOWER GARDEN

Basal cuttings

1

Use an open, free-draining compost. You can make this by mixing some Vermiculite, Perlite or fine grit into multi-purpose compost, before filling pots with the rooting mixture.

2

Select new shoots that are suitable for cu ings.

Use a sharp knife and cut the stem approximately 2.5-5cm (1-2in) below soil level, where the stem is white due to lack of light.

Photos: Neil Hepworth, unless stated

Take basal cuttings now!

3

Remove lower leaves and if cu ings are more than 10cm (4in) tall, pinch out the growing point. Insert cu ings around edge of the pot, water and cover with polythene to prevent water loss.

It’s a good way to increase stocks of delphiniums and lupins, says Victoria, but you’ve only a few weeks to do it

B

asal cuttings are taken from the new shoots that have just started to grow from the main clump and are just a couple of inches tall.

It’s a very good way of increasing your stock of plants such as delphiniums and lupins.

Both of these plants don’t root easily from cuttings taken later in the growing season because they develop hollow stems, which are virtually impossible to root.

Although new plants can be raised from seed there is often seedling variation, so by growing more plants from basal cuttings new plants will be identical. It’s also a great way of propagating plants that were originally grown from a mixed batch of seed. Often one has an unusual colour that won’t come true from

32 Garden News / May 9 2015

seed, so by taking basal cuttings you can grow more of it.

Now’s the ideal time to take these cuttings, while the shoots are still short and compact and before the stems become hollow. The aim is to cut the shoot below soil level as close to the root as possible. If a small piece of root tissue is attached to the base of the cutting it will help it to root.

Outer shoots tend to be the best. Remove them evenly from around the plants to balance out the remaining growth. Usually you can take four or five cuttings from an Take basal established clump without affecting it. cu ings of The cuttings usually root fairly quickly lupins... in a greenhouse and grow on to make good-sized plants by the end of the summer.

... and delphiniums before stems turn hollow