This week in propagation
with Rob
What a sensational week down here in the Growing Department!
It kicked off with a fabulous weekend at the BBC Gardners' World Fair at Audley End. Emily, Annie and Jess created a gorgeous show garden for the event, with the rest of the team working in shifts, meeting so many wonderful plant lovers, selling plants and giving seedling demonstrations. It was super!
Back at the Beth's we were very lucky to have Talfan spend a couple of days with us. Talfan is an apprentice over at Waterperry Gardens and brought with him a wealth of enthusiasm! We also had the pleasure of the return of Jana, who has the unofficial title of 'Best Earrings in Horticulture'. With Emily, Talfan and Jana spent time seed collecting, before seeing the benefits of our bulb chipping operations. Just look at those Narcissus 'Cedric Morris'. I know you want them, I want them too... but we're all going to have to wait a little longer as our stock replenishes. Still, it's nice to have things to look forward to.
Talfan and Jana also spent some time in the Debs Domain, also known as the cuttings bench. Santolina chamaecyparissus was on the chopping block. This gorgeous shrubby evergreen loves the full sun and a light, well-drained soil. It will form a round, dense bush of silver-grey foliage, and come the summer dots of yellow button flowers will pebbledash the dome.
Pete spent an interesting afternoon, casting a loose sort of Robinson Crusoe aesthetic as he took to the ponds taking silt measurements.
Brilliant work, Pete!
The rest of the team have been in the trenches, the recent rainfall nudging those weeds into life with the incredible sort of rate a vat of toxic waste might gift someone who fell over an industrial compound railing in a comic book. As we proudly do not use herbicides, that means listening to Olivia Newton-John... and getting physical. Something I'm always up for.
Until next time.
Rob
This week in the Garden
with Cathy
As we move towards autumn now is the perfect time to plant for a great display next year. We have been making the most of the recent rain and continuing our development of plantings along the path from Andrew’s bench, which we planted up last week. A section of the border had bindweed running through it and now is the perfect time to dig it out and develop this area further. We began by lifting all the perennials we wanted to save and removing the soil off the roots to ensure they didn’t have bindweed tangled within them.
It’s a good task to identify plants that may be dormant now, but we want to put back for spring interest. Polygonatum and disporum grow from rhizomes which look a bit like strange wobbly sticks. They had disappeared underneath a large clump of symphytum so we placed them in crates to be replanted. All the perennials we lifted were stored in crates and covered with a layer of compost to stop them drying out. After the area was cleared, we dug through thoroughly to remove as much bindweed as possible before we replant next week with some new additions alongside the plants we kept.
Scott and Åsa gave tours of the Gravel Garden and Nursery to a group from Essex Community Rail Partnership. They were interested in developing more drought tolerant plantings for planters at the railway stations that they look after.
A new plant identification was made for the visitor centre, with the shift towards autumn all the ornamental grasses are looking at their best, just as the asters start to flower alongside cyclamen and colchicum.
This weekend we welcome our interns from this year and previous years back to the garden for a day of working together, networking and enjoying some lovely food. We’ve been gathering all the tools up, preparing some treats and getting ready to enjoy a day together!
COMMENTS