April 22, 2011

The right tool makes all the difference

Posted by Barhi under Gardeners Diary | Tags: |
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Last winter certainly took its toll on Phormiums.  I have a large one in the front of the house, which by this spring was certainly looking the worse for wear.

I was getting ready to send it to the great garden in the sky, when a friend recommended a tool to tidy it up.  I have previously used secateurs to tidy New Zealnad flaxes, but they are not the ideal tool for this job.  They are meant for woody material and really don’t cope well with the sinewy leaves of a phormium. 

The tool she recommended was Jakoti shears, so I decided to invest in a pair.  Within a couple of days my new shears arrived in the post and I set to tidying the plant.  What a wonderful job they did too.  Secateurs had made me feel that I was fighting the plant, but these shears just sliced through the old dead and dying leaves like butter.  They are very sharp, so you have to be careful not to cut yourself. 

So, I now have a lovely tidy phormium and I will never again dread having to give one a serious haircut.

 

April 9, 2011

Brunnera Jack Frost

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One plant that is looking really good at the moment is Brunnera ‘Jack Frost’.

Those delicate “forget me not” blue flowers are a joy, particularly against the older leaves which have the typical silvered leaves that gives the variety its name.  The younger leaves take a while to develop the hue, but are just as good a foil for the flowers.

This particular plant is in the front garden, so the dogs don’t get too close to it.  The brunneras in the back garden are not as robust as this plant, but they do get a lot more sun.  I have the feeling that it is the growing conditions in the front that enable the plant to grow so well, rather than the impact of the dogs.

 

April 5, 2011

Early Spring?

Posted by Barhi under Gardeners Diary | Tags: , , |
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For some time now I have felt that Spring was early this year – I suppose it makes sense as we had our snow two months earlier than we would normally expect, and there was much more of it this year, so the plants really believe that they have had a winter.

Amelanchier - Apr 2011

I now have my confirmation that Spring is earlier this time around.  Last year the Amelanchier (Snowy Mespilus) was in flower in May – over a month later than in 2011.  It only flowers very fleetingly – within a week, those beautiful snowy white flowers drop to the ground to allow the wonderful bronzy leaves to take over the show.

Magnolia - Apr 2011

The Magnolia isn’t quite into full flower yet, but the Garden Introductory video taken almost exactly the same day a year ago showed absolutely no sign of flower then, and just look at it now.  In fact the whole garden is so much further ahead than it was when I made that video. 

The interesting thing will be what is in flower when we open under the NGS in early June.  Luckily the garden is designed to have a succession of plants in flower rather than peaking at one particular moment, so there is bound to be loads looking really wonderful when the weekend arrives.

 

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