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Grow a shrub that’s
ON FIRE! Masses of berries make pyracantha unmissable at this time of year
a gardener to associate the word PYRACANTHAS pyracantha with vicious thorns, ARE OFTEN given but neither do you have to be the label ‘security’ green-fingered to know what plants, but this is unmissable plants they can be at doing them a this time of year and into winter. disservice – they Greg The berries will start to colour are much more Loades up in August and can still be than a living form GARDENING looking good at Christmas. You of barbed wire! EDITOR can plant a new pyracantha A large shrub in a mixed now, in sun or shade border will stand out although you may like a beacon in not get as many autumn as the flowers or berries berries appear. in the shade. Grown together This thorny they can make a Pyracantha are in shrub makes a dense hedge the same plant happy hunting and they’re also family as apple trees ground for all very useful as a and roses sorts of wildlife. wall shrub, Blackcaps, song creating an thrushes and incredibly colourful waxwings are known to covering for your house. eat the berries in winter and in The name derives from the really cold weather they can mean Greek words for fire and thorn and the difference between life and the common name is firethorn death. In spring, established too, although it’s one of those plants make good nesting sites for plants where the Latin name small birds and the flowers attract has stuck. You don’t have to be
FACTFILE
PYRACANTHA
Thorny shrub
Full sun or part shade Hardy Any soil that drains well Flowers: Spring and sum mer, berries in autumn and win ter Height: up to 4m (13ft)
DID YOU KNOW ?
Pyracantha ‘Orange Charmer’ makes an autumnal picture with Gaura lindheimeri and Stipa calamagrostis adult butterflies, bumblebees and hoverflies in early summer. The most widely-grown forms are plain-leaved, but there are also some variegated pyracanthas to add extra interest through the
How to care for your pyracantha As with most plants, pyracanthas do have an Achilles heel, namely the diseases fireblight and scab, but some simple steps can keep these at bay. Fireblight is a disease that can enter the plant through wounds on young stems. A bacterial disease native to North America,
Cracking, blackening fruit are a sign of scab
4 Garden News / October 18 2014
fireblight was introduced to the UK in the 1950s and symptoms include flowers wilting and dieback of stems and leaves. Help avoid it by using sharp blades when you prune, making clean cuts. If you see signs of dieback, prune the stems back into clean, healthy wood but wipe the blades of your secateurs with disinfectant between cuts to avoid transferring the disease from stem to stem. Bacteria can enter the plant via the blossom too if spring temperatures are high. Pyracanthas can also be prone to scab (a different fungus to the scab you get on apples). Tell-tale signs are black spots on the leaves, flowers not forming fruit, fruits cracking and going black and young stems wilting. Scab overwinters on affected leaves so now is a good time to clear up debris from the base of the plant. Use a cane or rake to sweep them out if you can’t access the soil without ge ing prickled.
year. ‘Sparkler’ has leaves mottled with white, which often develop a pink tinge now, as the weather gets colder and into winter, in a similar way to some variegated varieties of euonymus.
Also remove damaged fruits from the plant so they don’t fall and spread the infection. To make life easier, the Saphyr range of pyracanthas show resistance to both scab and fireblight.
Why doesn’t my pyracantha have any berries? Pyracanthas produce flowers (which become fruits) on shoots that were grown the previous year so the more older wood you can keep on the plant, the more berry-filled it will be. If you give the plant an annual chop, cu ing the whole plant back, then you’ll never have mature wood that can produce berries. Newly-planted pyracanthas need to be allowed to grow unpruned to build up a good framework of mature branches. You can prune established pyracanthas at the end of summer, shortening sideshoots that have grown from the main stem this year but not cu ing into the older growth that carries the berries.
Four eye-catching varieties
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Burncoose Nurseries
‘Saphyr Cadaune’
‘Harlequin’
Bright yellow berries are usually left by birds for longer so this variety’s a good choice if you want your display to last. Height: 3m (10ft).
Leaves are edged with creamy-white and have a pink flush when young. Orangey-red berries. Height: 1.5m (5ft).
Burncoose Nurseries
Burncoose Nurseries
‘Saphyr Cadrou’
‘Saphyr Cadange’
A good disease-resistant type with strong red berries, which gradually fade to orange as they age. Height: 3m (10ft).
Compact and healthy producing large amounts of light orange berries from mid October. Height: 2.5m (8ft).
GAP
Try training them as a wall shrub Pyracanthas grown against a wall always have the most impact. The extra warmth the wall radiates helps boost berry colour and numbers. To create an even more impressive show, these shrubs produce long, vigorous shoots that are easily trained, so you can stretch them out to cover the area you’d like, or create intricate pa erns such as espaliers,
Alamy
with layers of horizontal branches. Plant at least 50cm (20in) away from the base of the wall to allow air to circulate and so you aren’t planting into dry, hard-to-dig soil that will be prone to drying out. Tie the main stem to a cane after planting to keep the plant straight and upright. Then tie the sideshoots that will spring from it to supporting wires or trellis to form the backbone of your shape. If you grow these shrubs against a wall, they will need a bit more looking after than those growing out in the open. A good watering and mulching every spring and autumn is a must, and a regular soak during the summer will help ensure that the end product of the spring blossom is a good crop of vibrant berries. You’ll also need to prune off any branches that grow outwards or that spoil your shape and carry out a regular trim to keep the plant neat and flush.
Suppliers ● Golden Hill Plants, tel: 01622 833218; www.goldenhillplants.com ● Burncoose Nurseries, tel: 01209 860316; www.burncoose.co.uk ● Hillier Garden Centres; www.hillier.co.uk
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Elaborate espaliers look impressive but are easy and quick to achieve
Alamy
One plant can easily clothe a whole wall
October 18 2014 / Garden News 5
Clear away old sweet peas
2014 SeeD collec
tion
Your sweet peas will have had a good innings if you’ve still got them in the ground now. Pull up the plants as soon as flowers are sparse and the plants look tired. If you’ve left some pods on the plant, you can save the seed, but don’t forget that results can be variable. If your plants have powdery mildew you can still compost them. Chop the plants up with shears so that they will break down quicker and make sure you re-cover the heap after adding the material to keep it as warm as possible.
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Rudbeckia e’ ‘Chocolate Orang colate-coloured Sumptuous, cho ting orange tips tras Ōowers with con
Sow rudbeckia ‘Chocolate Orange’ seeds
Photos: Neil Hepworth
This annual rudbeckia is just the job for cramming extra colour into borders next year. Once it starts to flower in July, it can keep going until the frosts as long as you keep deadheading. The best time to sow is between February and April. Sow a couple of batches, so you have some back ups in case of emergencies! Sow the seed in clean trays or pots of multi-purpose compost and cover the seeds with a layer of sieved compost. Keep in a propagator or cover the pot or tray with a cut off bo le or a clear plastic bag. A temperature of 15-20C (59-68F) is ideal for germination which should occur in two or three weeks.
Prevent rose diseases Clear fallen leaves from the base of rose bushes now to help prevent disease next year. Also snip off any leaves still on the plant showing signs of disease and bin or burn them. This will prevent fungal diseases such as blackspot from overwintering. If spoilt leaves are allowed to stay on the plant or overwinter in the soil, they can re-infect new growth very early next year and you’ll have to put up with scruff y-looking rose bushes for most of the growing season. Also have a look at the plant and cut away any parts of stems that are dying back. Stems turning brown or black is a clear sign. Cut affected stems back into firm, clean growth. The wound at the top of the stem should be solid and pale coloured all the way through.
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October 18 2014 / Garden News 21