Garden News January 17

BEAUTIFUL "I built an extension BUT DEADLY just for my ferns!"

Should you worry A small plot with big about poisonous plants? ideas for foliage plants January 17, 2015

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d blooms The best VIBURN UMS for scente IL Varieties to suit your SPACE AND SO

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Carol Klein "Banish the winter blues with easy early fowers"

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Devon-based TV presenter and author who really knows her plants!

Carol Klein This week at

GLEBE COTTAGE Carol says we need our plants to work together at this time of year

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Yellow hybrid hellebores go well with blue flowers

Pulmonaria ‘Blue Ensign’

Jonathan Buckley

Cyclamen carpet the ground in winter

CENT AND COLD seem not to go together which makes winter perfume in the garden disorientating, almost disconcerting, but such a treat.

Even on crisp, cold days, the air is softened by the sweet scent of our Viburnum bodnantense that stands close to the track. Its flowers are so tiny, held in neat bunches and hardly noticeable on the unremarkable branches of the shrub, but the perfume is

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14 Garden News / January 17 2015

anything but run-of-the-mill.

Walking along paths whose gravel is glued together with ice or pondering flower beds deep in debris or cleanly carpeted with all-obliterating snow, it is heartening to know that underneath the soil, life is happening inexorably without my intervention. Roots are growing, bulbs swelling and the greenshoot vanguard is making its earliest surge.

Evidence is all around as the first snowdrops haul themselves up through the mire, pushing stacks of heavy leaves aside to assert themselves emphatically.

Sometimes they appear in great sheets, carpeting the ground, sometimes in distinctive cameos in the nook of a moss-smothered beech bole, their straight green leaves encircled by the marbled foliage of Cyclamen hederifolium or in sunnier spots, the round

leaves of Cyclamen coum.

It is the relationship with other plants that makes or mars the pictures we create. In midsummer, there are countless plants at the pinnacle of their performance.

Choices are endless. In late winter and early spring, there is a more limited vocabulary. Juxtaposition of colour, texture and form need to combine well. The overall scene is far starker. We need our plants to work together.

Hellebores love a bit of shade and humus-rich soil that doesn’t dry out. The same sort of conditions enjoyed by so many other woodlanders. One of the classic combinations is to surround clumps of hellebores with pulmonarias. Yellowflowered forms of Helleborus hybridus, glow more brightly next to vivid blue pulmonarias. The best of all the deep blue varieties is Pulmonaria angustifolia ‘Blue Ensign’ with large flowers and rich green leaves, slightly crimson on their reverse and with an RHS Award of Garden Merit.

One of our only two native hellebores, Helleborus foetidus, looks lovely rising from clumps of pulmonaria ‘Opal’. The old variety ‘Bowles’s Blue’, now known as P. officinalis ‘Blue Mist’, makes fine, upright clumps.

Surround it with some of the lower-growing evergreen ferns, such as Polystichum setiferum with finely-cut lacy fronds or Polypodium vulgare for a more solid, upright effect. These ferns

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WHAT’S LOOKING GOOD NOW

ntial one.

Not a very glamorous job, but an esse and ce terra t fron the of job I originally made a reasonable Now y. nall essio prof one many years later it was re-d got to be one part of it has the wobbles, so it’s ath. erne und out ed Cleaning lets more light taken up and pack

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into the greenhouse

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Clusters of strongly fragrant, tiny, pale pink flowers

Thought it was a bit dark in the small greenhouse, then realised that my thorough cleaning operation had come to an abrupt halt halfway round. Buckets, squeegee and cloths out again. Good job there’s not much in there yet!

Winter viburnums assail your nose with rich and exotic scent Three or so years ago, for our first filming assignment of the year, we went to Anglesey Abbey in Cambridgeshire. It was possibly the coldest filming day I’ve ever spent.

We were there to concentrate on the beautiful winter garden.

It is essentially a long, narrow garden with a meandering path that helps create the illusion that the garden is bigger and broader.

Before you take in the picture though, rather than sights to greet your eyes it’s your nose that is assailed by rich and exotic fragrance and one of the prime contributors to this perfume fest is a series of Viburnum bodnantense ‘Dawn’,

Wednesday

Dividing a few ls and replanting nnia pere clumps of en where there are gard veg the them in flowers for cutting. of bers num ng easi incr will be annuals, Although there are bulbs and there will keep on getting that ls nnia it’s good to have a few pere better and give us more stems to cut.

used in small groups rising from joyfully informal clumps of a silvery-edged elaeagnus.

Though there was treat after wintry treat throughout the garden – cornus with crimson bark, pollarded willows with orange stems and delectable berries – it’s the fragrance of those viburnums that sticks in my memory.

There are several viburnums that open their flowers during the darkest days of winter. All are easy to grow and a boon to solitary insects looking for a quick nectar fix. Most are perfumed and Viburnum carlesii is especially so. ‘Aurora’ and ‘Diana’ have pink flowers opening from crimson buds.

Thursday

As our coming into are s drop snow flower, I’m making careful notes about which one is where and which need dividing .

Although we split up a few clumps last year and replanted them, too many were left to their own devices and can’t possibly be as good as they

Dividing snowdrops is a must-do job

should be. contrast wonderfully with big clumps of any of the more brightly-coloured hellebores or the pure white forms.

This combination makes a clean and simple duo or the two can be combined with clumps of Arum italicum ‘Marmoratum’.

Closely related to cuckoo pint or lords and ladies, this European plant has the added attraction of distinctive white midribs and veins on its prominent, arrowshaped leaves. Winter and spring are its seasons. It looks equally well with snowdrops as

with hellebores, in fact all three often overlap.

Bulbs are ideal companions to hellebores too. Many of the darkflowered hellebore selections arrive early in the season and their intense, saturated colour is underlined when they are planted among sheets of white snowdrops. Eranthis, winter aconites, provide glowing basal colour around hellebores, the bright yellow flowers with their green ruffs adding detail and an extra layer of interest. Who says winter is dull?

am is already a The area at the foot of our little stre nised. We need to take bog garden, but it could be more orga and out a few of the unsuccessful plants know we ts plan with replace them Cerinthe seed has will thrive. For now, it’s just been saved doing away with things – there are a couple of hydrangeas that hardly ever flower.

Friday

Satu rday

Though I’d meant to plant them up earlier, the two planters at the front of the house are still full of cerinthe ‘Purpurascens’. It is well past its best now, but I’ve been saving seed from it and was loath to pull it out. Now it has to make room for lilies.

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Winter aconites bring a bright burst of colour

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Arum italicum leaves dazzle in winter

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Those cerinthe seeds are into packets and being cleaned, dried, sorted and put seeds we’ve saved this year. envelopes, along with all the other as usual, there are still far Though there haven’t been as many to be discriminating. have we too many for us to sow. In 2015,

January 17 2015 / Garden News 15

Weekly reminders and advice from the GN team 5 quick jobs to do right now 1

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Plant up a pot

Patio lacking a bit of colour? Treat yourself to some cheerful bedding to pot up and create a colourful display that will look good for the rest of winter. Berrying skimmia, glossy scarlet-tinged leucothoe, golden variegated osmanthus, as well as container stalwarts such as ivy and heathers will soon cheer up a cold, dank January day.

Harvest kale

This leafy green is as tough as old boots and will sit on the veg patch staying nutritious all winter, no matter what the weather throws at it. You can just cut leaves from your plants as and when you need them. If you harvest the main crown, sideshoots further down will develop more leafy growth ready to harvest in a month or two.

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Stop leaf spot spreading Cold soggy weather can soon bring out fungal leaf spot diseases on your winter pansies. Before the disease has a chance to spread through all your plants, pick any spotted leaves off and dispose of them rather that compost them.

Nip away any fading flowers and forming seedheads while you’re at it too.

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Weed around onions

Clare Foggett

Greg Loades

Ian Hodgson

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

Rose specialist and horticulturist with a large allotment that includes lots of roses as well as fruit and veg.

Kew-trained horticulturist and garden designer, who previously worked for the RHS.

Autumn-planted onions won’t appreciate competition from other plants, so use a hoe to sweep annual weeds away from them. Or you could use a hand fork to gently remove larger intruders from around the young plants. Take care not disturb their roots or damage the onion leaves and bin or burn perennial weeds so they don’t get the chance to re-root themselves somewhere else.

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Check on hardy fuchsias

s of While hardy varietie y happy ctl rfe pe are ias hs fuc r, that’s outside during winte fully e y’r the en wh only plants r ge established. Youn tion tec pro le need a litt nter or wi st fir ir the g rin du ts are two, until their roo lch of mu A . wn do t well pu straw t, well-rotted compos se of ba the d un or bark aro tect pro lps he nt pla the ularly them. Check on it reg ll in sti it’s re su to make eye out an ing ep ke , ion sit po ile you’re for lurking slugs wh wth of gro top e av Le there. ce until pla hardy fuchsias in ar pe ap ts oo new sh in spring and then you can cut it back.

January 17 2015 / Garden News 17

Iconic garden: Glamis Castle, childhood home of the Queen Mother

ories this week The big gardeningEditst ge ed by IAN HODGSON Editor-at-lar

Dramatic coastal scenery at Durnamuck, Wester Ross

New gardens open for charity Over 60 first-time Sco ish venues to visit

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ARDENS THROUGHOUT SCOTLAND will open for charity for the first time this year. Scotland’s Gardens has unveiled 62 new gardens and three island trails to complement the full list of 530 with a diverse range of shapes, sizes and horticultural content.

New entrants include Glamis Castle, Angus, childhood home of the late Queen Mother. The walled garden recently underwent major redevelopment with new flower beds and a spectacular fountain installed.

Three more doughty gardeners in windswept Orkney also fling open their garden gates to swell the number opening to 17. Coastal Mucklejocks in the village of Herston has beach-style planting, while Schoolquoy has a wide

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selection of shrubs in garden rooms protecting them against the elements.

Kamares, Glasgow, has been developed by an artist who uses his garden as a living canvas with a maple collection, herbaceous borders and a living sculptural arbour. Old Allangrange, near Inverness uses sculptured hedges that play with perspective to block or expose views, with planting to attract wildlife.

‘The gardens of Scotland are incredibly diverse as the landscape and climate differs dramatically from other parts of the UK,” said chief executive Paddy Scott.

The charity has raised more than £1 million in the last three years for a variety of bodies and initiatives.

• Visit www.scotlandsgardens.org

Azaleas and roses feature at Srongarbh, Peebleshire