Plant of the Month

 The previous post made reference to the beauty of dahlias at this time of the year. However, they will get even better as summer progresses. So I fall back on one of my all time favourite plants, the iris, for my pick this month. The picture is a dutch iris on the patio. It is hard to explain why I am drawn to the different types of iris that we have, it is certainly not because I find them easy to grow. The dutch iris is not dissimilar to the reticulata which is a staple of our spring bulb lasagnas. The delightful veined, blue petals with perfectly contrasting bright yellow patch (the signal) make for a perfect flower. However, it is much taller (at about 60 cm) and it seems to last a little bit longer. In fact I think the beauty of the iris is such that it does not really need a companion plant in its pot, I just grow it alongside some ornamental fennel, which has a rather more attractive and ethereal foliage than the long thin leaves of the iris.

While I am on the theme of ethereal effects in the garden, the lower photograph shows Mili posing in the dappled sunshine just beyond the blood grass and pony tail grass.This is, of course, the season when the ornamental grasses really start to get going, expect to see a few more pictures in the weeks ahead. I have been busying  inter planting some cornflowers, ox eye daisies and poppies, hopefully for good effect. Despite the accepted wisdom that all these flowers will happily self seed, in my experience this is not the case, with the exception of the yellow Welsh poppies which proliferate! Ah the vagaries of trying to work with nature.

The iris germanica (bearded iris) has also done quite well this year. My top tip is to be absolutely rigid in ensuring that the  top of the rhizome is left exposed above the soil. It really does need to bake over the next few months ready for next year. I have to be careful when applying a mulch, such as chipped bark, to the rest of the bed ensuring it does not cover the rhizome.

Details

This picture encapsulates so much of what makes gardening fascinating, the detail. Take a moment to look closely and it is surprising what you will notice when looking around a garden, it might be your own, a friends or a show piece stately home. I think most gardeners have an eye for the detail and we all notice different details. It is not simply what might catch our eye, but also what we look for in an outdoor space.

At first glance it might appear an ordinary photograph of the upper pond. I might examine the scene and think of the work that needs doing tomorrow. But a closer inspection might reveal something different.

In the background is a tub with one of our dahlias "Edge of Joy". A candidate for my plant of the month but there are not quite enough blooms open as yet. It is the first time I have put a tub in this part for the garden and I think I rather like it up here. But the beauty of a tub of plants , it can always be moved!

A little while later a further detail caught my eye around the edge of the pond:

the frog "picnic" in the sunshine. If you look closely you will notice an army of five frogs enjoying the summer sunshine!

Labour Saving Gardening (part 4)

In my experience planning for a less labour intensive garden needs a little forethought when in the design stage. In particular, my next top tip is choose your plants wisely.

Common sense will tell you that some plants will need so much more TLC than others. It will become an exercise in frustration if you do not have the time to tend to your chosen plants properly. This is a mistake I have learned the hard way. My first attempts at growing vegetables were always doomed to failure given that the hours I could spend in the garden were limited by the restrictions of work (and golf)! Watching the television experts makes the tending of a veg plot look so straight forward but the reality is to do it well demands the man hours! This is why I admire a well kept and productive plot.

Other plants which I have found to be particularly high maintenance are roses. The fight against disease, such as black spot requires a lot of vigilance, then when it inevitably shows up on the leaves they must be carefully removed and disposed of without contaminating other rose bushes. This entails disinfecting your secateurs and washing your hands every time before moving onto the next shrub. The next may then be a victim of aphid attack, so brushing them away with your fingers is a laborious and intricate process. Even the application of neem oil, which I do use regularly does not eradicate the problem. Roses will also be demanding when it comes to feeding, grooming and pruning. However, there are a lot of less demanding varieties of rose that can be incorporated into your designs, including the old garden roses.

The list of high maintenance plants is extensive and research will be required at the planning stage. However, two plants I would seriously advise to avoid, despite the attraction of their vigorous growth habit in a new garden are, leylandii and Russian vine both of which I have removed from our Pennine plot in the past.

By contrast what plant categories would I recommend for the Pennine garden that are not so demanding of time and effort? This basic list of my top 5 has been selected for their suitability to our soil, heavy and acid clay and our rather hostile climate (however, please feel free to disagree)
i. ornamental grasses and sedges
ii. heathers
iii. native trees, such as the rowan
iv. ferns
v. ericacious shrubs, such as rhododendron

high maintenance

lower maintenance

Our two very high maintenance features