Weekly catch up with garden and propagation

This week in propagation

Hola, ha sido una semana calurosa aquí en Beth Chatto's, so hot in fact I've experienced rapid evolution and have started speaking Spanish.

Unfortunately, there's no time for siestas at this time of year, so here's what we've been up to in the Growing Department!

Working in polytunnels can be a difficult affair when outside temperatures rise, and we have to limit what time we spend within them to the cooler parts of the day. Because of this we have to hit them hard and fast, so a new super team, including Callum, Jack, Pete and Seth, joined myself, Kirsten and Mel under the plastic. Dozens of varieties were tended to, cut back, and moved outside to continue their growing journey. It's tough work, but the lads were incredible and made a real difference.

Emily and Jess have been seed collecting, utilising techniques similar to those you might find on the wrestling circuit. Em suplexed bundles of Digitalis purpurea f. albiflora into a wheelbarrow, giving them a good shake before they tapped out, leaving a glorious amount of seed within.

Likewise, Papaver somniferum met its match, with Jess harvesting a huge amount of seed, which I find reminiscent of volcanic sand. Seed from both these beauties are available to buy in our shop!

 

 

The potting benches have been like Piccadilly Circus of late, with a vast array of cuttings and seedlings coming through. Kathy did an amazing job getting our vitis varieties tucked into their new 2 litre homes. We are lucky to have three striking varieties of vitis: V. coignetiae, V. vinifera 'Spetchley Red' and V. 'Fragola'. The latter grows up against a wall by the nursery office, where Debs takes her cuttings from. You might know it as a strawberry vine, and we encourage you all to taste these (when ripe) for its particularly fruity deliciousness. If you're interested in our vines then take a look on our website, where you choose to be notified once they're fully rooted.

Elsewhere, Sean has been lifting and splitting. He also propagated some Bergenia 'Beethoven', a hugely popular Eric Smith hybrid. Tina has been like Wonder Woman nurturing and lending her expertise to pruning our host of established sale plants.

Until next time.

This week in the Garden

with Mattie

It's been another scorcher of a week, so we've been adapting our schedule to keep our bodies cool with early starts, ice cream breaks and finding shady spots!

The garden is deep into its summer bloom with echinacea, eryngiums, echinops flowering alongside feathery grasses. We've been editing out the long gone signs of spring and early summer with foxgloves and poppies cut to the ground rather than pulled out to avoid disturbing the soil structure. 

We've ventured down to the ponds in waders in the cool morning to reduce the Butomus umbellatus and water lillies, to encourage water flow and loosen out the duck weed. Other tasks have included weeding paths, cutting edges, deadheading hemerocallis and pulling out the last of the arums.

We've had two wonderful interns with us, Caroline (here last week) and Dylan, who is here from Inner Temple Gardens, who've been a massive and enthusiastic help to the team in the heat! Caroline did an expert job pruning the Physocarpus opulifolius 'Angel Gold' and Dylan has beautifully opened up the stream by cutting back Houttuynia cordata and overgrown vegetation. 

I've been getting ready for my border at the RHS Sandringam Flower Show where I've been growing, selecting and laying out plants at Beth Chatto's. There's been lots of watering to make sure the plants are in great shape and I've been experimenting with habitat stakes to include in my display. 

We hope you've stayed cool this week and have a lovely weekend!