My Herb Garden

Herbs

This is my herb garden I have 2 pots of Mint which have 3 types of mint in them. Apple mint, Spear mint and a Lemon mint (or lemon balm).

Lemon balm

Lemon balm, also known as balm or balm mint and not to be confused with bee balm, is a perennial herb in the mint family Lamiaceae, native to center-southern Europe and the Mediterranean region. It grows to 70–150 cm tall. Wikipedia

Scientific name: Melissa officinalis

Higher classification: Melissa

Rank: Species

Apple Mint

Mentha suaveolens, apple mint, woolly mint or round-leafed mint is a member of the mint genus Mentha that ranges through southern and western Europe and the western Mediterranean region. Wikipedia

Scientific name: Mentha suaveolens

Higher classification: Mentha

Rank: Species

Spearmint

Spearmint or spear mint is a species of mint native to much of Europe and southwest Asia, though its exact natural range is uncertain due to extensive early cultivation

Scientific name: Mentha spicata

Higher classification: Mentha

Rank: Species

I have just invested in some curley parsley, rosemary, thyme and lemon thyme.

Parsley or garden parsley (Petroselinum crispum) is a species of Petroselinum in the family Apiaceae, native to the central Mediterranean region (southern Italy, Algeria, andTunisia), naturalized elsewhere in Europe, and widely cultivated as a herb, a spice, and avegetable.

Rosmarinus officinalis, commonly known as rosemary, is a woody, perennial herb with fragrant, evergreen, needle-like leaves and white, pink, purple, or blue flowers, native to the Mediterranean region. It is a member of the mint family Lamiaceae, which includes many other herbs.

Thymus citriodorus (Lemon thyme or Citrus thyme) is a lemon-scented evergreen mat-forming perennial. There has been a great deal of confusion over the plant's correct name and origin. Recent DNA analysis suggests that it is not a hybrid or cross, but a distinct species as it was first described in 1811

Thymus vulgaris (common thyme, garden thyme or just thyme) is a species of flowering plant in the mint family Lamiaceae, native to southern Europe from the western Mediterranean to southern Italy. Growing to 15–30 cm (6–12 in) tall by 40 cm (16 in) wide, it is a bushy, woody-based evergreen subshrub with small, highly aromatic, grey-green leaves and clusters of purple or pink flowers in early summer.^[1]It is useful in the garden as groundcover, where it can be short-lived, but is easily propagated from cuttings.^[1] It is also the main source of thyme as an ingredient in cooking and as an herbal medicine.

Clematis Update

I said in a previous post that i thought the big petaled Clematis was a Viticella 'Venosa Violacea' but I managed to find a sliver of the label 

So here is an update about this plant it turns out that this one is a group 2 plant originated in Japan c1980 it is a hybrid cross of 'Star of India' and 'Crimson King' it grows to between 2.5 - 3 meters so the extra wire mesh that I have put up for it is not needed.

I have found lots of information about it here and on the same web site I have found some more information about the Montana Elisabeth here This site has links for just about every Clematis so it is well worth a visit also they have a lot of information about the nurseries or botanists who raised the hybrids. I have found that people can get very passionate about Clematis and i can really understand why.

Clematis

Clematis

In My garden there are 2 types of Clematis. This one with large flowers is my favorite I took this picture on the 8th of June last year. I have forgotten the name of this one I think that it might be a Viticella 'Venosa Violacea' The petals are such a vivid colour 

The other type that I have in the Garden is Montana Elizabeth. I will put up some photos of this one when it flowers this year. We have had these plants for a few years and they are well established the labels have got so brittle that as you can see from the Montana Elizabeth it cracked just from turning it over.

Clematis come in 3 Groups based on flowering time and habit.

Group 1:  Early Flowering species and their cultivars, including the Montana groups. These flower from last seasons ripened stems.

Group 2:  Early Large flowered Cultivars Bloom on short current seasons stems 

Group 1 and 2 are sometime known as 'Old Wood' flowering Clematis. 

Group 3 Late flowering large flowered species that flower on current seasons growth

If you grow Clematis you will need to know which Group yours fall into when it comes to pruning. 

Prune at the following times;

• Pruning Group 1: Prune mid- to late spring, after flowering and once the risk of frost has passed
• Pruning Group 2: Prune in February and after the first flush of flowers in early summer
• Pruning Group 3: Prune in February

http://apps.rhs.org.uk/advicesearch/profile.aspx?pid=109

It is possible to raise new plants from seeds. I am trying this at the moment with no success at this time but I will keep you informed if this changes. or by Layering this involves taking an active stem. cutting half way into it and holding the wound open then leaving this compost until the wood roots. when this happens you can remove the cutting from the main plant as an established new plant.

https://apps.rhs.org.uk/advicesearch/Profile.aspx?pid=97

Strawberry Planter

Strawberry Planter

I mentioned in a recent post that I was planning to use an old pipe that I found as a strawberry planter. Someone I know who is a bit of a mentor to me said that the pipe would be to thick so it wouldn't allow the soil to heat up quickly enough and he said that he had an old strawberry planter that I could have. 

It took a fair while to fill the planter and nearly all my compost but I am so happy with the results and so too are my strawberries. This also means that the area of the garden where the strawberries were is now available for planting.

When I moved the strawberries from the bed I ended up with more than I was able to use in the planter so  I was able to plant them around the base of the planter next to the new Herb bed that I will talk about in another Post.

Iris Harmony

Iris harmony

So excited just been out into the garden and my first Iris Harmony has just flowered. Didn't it look beautiful. Just 2 days ago it was just a few leaves sticking out of the ground. 

I should have made more notes about where they were planted. I planted 10 in the back garden which means there should be 10 in the front garden planted by the chrocus but nothing has come up on that side of the house.

Planting schedule

Just finished my planting schedule. Really excited

Striking Red (40 Bulb collection)

Striking Red (40 Bulb collection)

Picked up these bulbs the other day. I have placed them in a corner of the front garden. I think they are going to be rather striking. They are going to provide some nice color from May till the first First Frosts. I'll Provide pictures later in the year. I am really looking forward to seeing the freesias as I used to work in a greenhouse farming these for Export to England the smell was awesome. I hope that I can get some cut flowers from these as well.

Common Name:	Garden anemone 'Hollandia', Anemone coronaria (De Caen Group) 'His Excellency'
Botanical Name:	Anemone coronaria (De Caen Group) 'Hollandia'
Exposure:	Full sun and shelter
Hardiness:	Zones 8-10
Height:	Full grown height 25 - 50 cm
Color:	Red
Bloom Season:	May to June
Bulb/Plant Size:	Bulb size 3/4 cm
Number:	26

Common Name:	Freesia
Botanical Name:	Freesia
Exposure:	Full sun
Hardiness:	Zones 4-8, elsewhere lift in fall and store indoors
Height:	Full grown height 25 - 50 cm
Color:	Red
Bloom Season:	July - August 3 - 4 months after planting
Bulb/Plant Size:	Bulb size 4/5
Number:	6

Common Name:	Gladiolus Traderhorn
Botanical Name:	Gladiolus Traderhoen
Exposure:	Full sun
Hardiness:	Zones 8-10, elsewhere lift in fall and store indoors
Height:	48-60" tall
Color:	Brilliant scarlet with a white center
Bloom Season:	July - September averages 75-80 days from planting
Bulb/Plant Size:	14+cm, exceptionally large
Number:	8

summer time bulbs 75 pack

Summer time Bulbs 75 pack for £1. 

Picked up 75 Bulbs for £1 Still not sure if this is a bargin or not. let me explain the  pack contain.

12 * Peacock Orchid Acididerthera Flowers July - October
8 * Gladiolus "Priscilla" Flowers Flowers July - October
25 * Liatris Spicata Flowers August - October
30 * Oxalis Dappei Flowers July to September

Nearly half the pack is 4 leaf clover. Wood Sorrel, and Sorrel can bolt and take over your whole garden so i will have to keep my eye on it. The pack comes with nearly no information so bellow is a summery of the information i have managed to glean from the net. I am excited about some of these plants

Common Name:	Acidanthera murielae, Abyssinian gladiolus
Botanical Name:	Gladiolus callianthus
Exposure:	Full sun and shelter
Hardiness:	Zones 8-10, elsewhere lift in fall and store indoors
Height:	12" To 24"
Color:	White, Purple
Bloom Season:	Mid Summer, Late Summer
Bulb/Plant Size:	14+cm, exceptionally large
Number:	12

Common Name:	Gladiolus Priscilla
Botanical Name:	Gladiolus Priscilla
Exposure:	Full sun
Hardiness:	Zones 8-10, elsewhere lift in fall and store indoors
Height:	45-60"
Color:	Flowers have a flush of bright rose over white and creamy highlights
Bloom Season:	Mid to late summer, averages 70-75 days from planting
Bulb/Plant Size:	16+cm, exceptionally large
Number:	8 huge bulbs

Common Name:	Dense Blazing Star, Kansas Gay Feather
Botanical Name:	Liatris Spicata
Exposure:	Full sun
Hardiness:	Zones 4-0,
Height:	2 foot
Color:	Purple/ Lavender Flower
Bloom Season:	Early Fall; Fall; Late Summer; Summer
Bulb/Plant Size:	12-12cm
Number:	25 bulbs

Common Name:	Oxalis Iron Cross, Good Luck Plant
Botanical Name:	Oxalis deppei
Exposure:	Full sun to light shade
Hardiness:	Zones 8-10
Height:	10"-12"
Color:	Rosy pink flowers and foliage with purple cross-shaped markings
Bloom Season:	Flowers in 10-12 weeks from planting
Bulb/Plant Size:	4/5 cm bulbs
Number:	30 bulbs

Time for an update as we are nearly at the end of September. The Oxalis was the first to come out and has been fairly constant throughout the summer. The display in the front garden was far better than the one in the back garden. but under the porch didnt start off too well see the note at the end of the page

the Liatris Spicata has just finished flowering. It didn't start until late in the season but did look fantastic. I will try to add some photos when I get the opportunity at a later date. 

Gladiolus Priscilla only a few came up but they did look fantastic. 

and finely Gladiolus callianthus. I think that they made a mistake in packaging as I had Red Gladioli come up where I thought that the Gladiolus callianthus had been planted. and a few of those came up then dissapeared in a matter of days. still not sure why. I think that the front garden under the porch might have been a bit too dry. I might have to reduce the bed that side next year but maybe make it wider as it was so narrow everything seemed squashed in there this year

My Spring Bulb collection is starting to come up

Spring Bulbs

Spring Bulbs are an easy way to get colour into the garden. I picked up a whole load of Crocus plants at the end of the planting season for only a few pounds. These are all starting to come through now. I would say that the new bulbs are about 4 weeks behind some of the more established bulbs. I hope to get some pictures when the rest of them have come up.

45 bulbs to start the season off.

16 * Crocus Vernus "Flower Record" 8-12cm tall

20 * Iris Reticulate "Harmony" 10-15cm tall

10 * Chrocus  Golden Bunch 8-10 cm tall

All of these flower Febuary to March but are running about 4 weeks late due to late planting

and to accompany them Tulips and Daffodil's 

8 * Tulip Late Mixed 40cm tall
8 * Daffodil Cheerfulness 40cm tall
Both of these flower April to May and although they were planted at the end of December I think that they will come up on time.

on top of these new purchases there are a lot of bulbs already in the ground from previous years which have already started to put on a good show

Edging the beds

Edging the beds

Yesterday I had a great day off I was able to get out into the garden and edge my beds. I think that they look so much better now. I have used boards from an old pallet. These are untreated boards so I'm expecting them to only last a couple of years

I have used them to join 3 beds together which I think is going to work a lot better. Anyway time to leave for work.

More Info on Planting Zones UK

I found a really interesting page about Planting Zones in the UK. Definitely worth a look

http://www.gardeningzone.org/content/content.php/hardiness-zones-uk/

Beds

Beds

I have several beds this one is the front Garden. Last week I removed 2 Lavander bushes from this bed to the back garden.

Here are the 2 lavender bushes on the right of the picture. This is a very shaded area but it is too dry to support most plants. The Lavender plants suffered in the front garden getting too wet (not surprising with this year being the wettest on record) so I am hoping that they will thrive here.

This is the new bed that I have just dug. Not a lot to look at at the moment but this is the part of the garden with the most direct sun so I am hoping that the bed is going to be spectacular this summer. When you dig a new bed you disturb the seeds that are in the ground so You find that you have a flush of weeds that will all come up.

I have planted bulbs in this bed ready to flower between May to October but I wont plant anything else here for a few weeks until the weeds have been dealt with. When all the weeds have germinated I will remove them in one go.

This is my fruit patch. There would normally be a rhubarb plant on the left (Please come back in the summer). Then Strawberries and in the cold frame are 2 fuchsias. I am considering removing the Strawberries at the moment. I feel that this would be a good bed to plant some flowers maybe a wild flower mix. I have been thinking about moving the strawberries into so large pipe I've found cutting holes in it and standing it vertically

This is the west wall so will receive a lot of summer sun. 

Seedlings

Seedlings

So In December I received the challenge from my Wife to transform the garden. I do have experience of growing things from having an allotment. I have another Blog about that at the following address http://allotment-news.blogspot.co.uk/ but being completely honest my father-in-law is the person who raises all the seedlings and chits the potatoes etc. So the first thing that I did was to go out and purchase a whole load of Seeds and dig up some old seeds from the back of the shed.

Its amazing how little seeds can cost. I have managed to pick seeds up for as little as 49p for 100, even if only 40 of those germinate I am going to be really happy. In a later post I will cover the seeds that I purchased and give a bit more information about them.

Not having planted seeds before (Successfully) The first thing that I did was find out what seeds could be planted in January and about the 5th of January I planted up the first seeds. Now just because the packet says "can be planted indoors between January and March" doesn't mean plant them all up.....!

Having now researched planting times etc. I have found out that the way to work out when to plant, is to find out when the last frost day is for your area and to plan for the seedlings  to be planted out after that day. In my case here in Milton Keynes that would be around the 15th of May. Doing a little bit more research you can find out how long it will take for your seedlings to germinate and be big enough to fend for themselves.

There is a lot of information on the internet related to American planting Zones. Most of England would be classed as Zone 7 Scotland and the Lake District would be Zone 6 and the Highlands would be Zone 5.

The Plants that I had that where able to be planted in January were Sweet Pea, Geranium F2, Aquilegia and Lobelia. These plants are fairly hardy. The Aquilegia plants where planted outside in a Cold Frame. all the other plants germinated very quickly but the temperature in the cold was too cold so they only came up last week. These wont flower this year they are for next year so I'm not too bothered about that. All the other plants were started in small containers in a plastic bag to keep drafts out and the temperature steady. Bellow are pictures of how they are doing now

Sweet Peas
When the plant has developed 3 leaves pinch off just above the 3rd leaf. This causes the plant to fill out and to put out another set of shoots. We have just been away and these plants dried out a bit and so they lost a lot of leaves. In the Bigger pot I planted 5 seeds 3 developed and in the smaller pot I planted 4 seeds only 2 survived. These can start to be moved out at the end of march. They will need to be acclimatized I'll cover that in a later post.

Geranium

These Geraniums are F2 which means 

Web definitions

1. The progeny resulting from self hybridization or inbreeding of F1 individuals is called Second Filial or F2 generation.
   http://www.pinkmonkey.com/studyguides/subjects/biology-edited/chap7/b0707301.asp

F1 plants would produce the best flowers but through breading the plants can be made more resistant to the things that effect F1 plants for example more drought resistant. I planted 6 seeds 5 developed 3 of which i moved to the cold frame unfortunately those 3 died as you can see these 2 are doing quite well. My plan is to move these into a hanging basket. one of my neighbors has some of these in stone pots on his drive I liked them so that's why I bought these.

 

Lobelia (Trailing Color Cascade)

These are for the hanging basket as well. I intend to plant these out through slits in the hanging basket liner. I moved these into these pot today. they started off in a Chinese takeaway plastic tub I had intended to only put a few seeds in to see how they would grow but then I realized that I had put them all in... and they all seem to have germinated.

Challenge and garden layout

Time to start a new Blog I guess so I have decided to create one about my Garden in Newport Pagnell.

In December my wife turned to me and said “We have lived in this house for 5 Years and you have done virtually nothing with the garden don’t you think its about time you did something with it…”

CHALLENGE EXCEPTED and why stop at the front garden?

OK Step 1 planning

My Garden Layout

Here is the layout of the Front and Back Garden. The house is on a north South Access but unfortunately the back garden is facing away from the sun. On the plus side the front Garden and the far wall that is visible from the lounge is going to look amazing.

First step so far. Last year I planted 2 Lavender plants and a whole load of perennial plants in a bed in the front Garden. so I have moved the Lavender to the back garden they have suffered this winter with too much water the area I have moved them to tends to be very dry as the overhang of the garage roof is very close.

Clear the front garden making space for bulbs create a new flower bed on the back 11M wall