A Contrary Gardener - That was gardening in 2002!
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Referenced Seed Suppliers
Gardening Diary 2003
I am
writing this compilation of monthly web diary entries for 2002 in February
2003. Looking back on the gardening year overall, in many ways last year
was frustrating.
I recently read coments from both Robin Lane-Fox in the UK's Financial
Times and Christopher Lloyd in 'Country Life' saying what a good gardening
year it was all told in 2002. I couldn't agree! A whole raft of different
annuals were sown, partly beguiled by Alan Titchmarshs' latest ouevre
'How to be a Gardener'. Whether it was the weather e.g. bad germination
or marauding slugs and snails, Centaurea moschata, ratibida and
mignonette all failed completely. Nigella orientalis 'Transformer'
however did sterling service, Eschscholzia californica 'Inferno'
and Linaria reticulata 'Flamenco' flowered, if a little fitfully.
Later on the rain came down in June and spoiled the old roses [OK once
flowering roses are a bit masochistic]. Later on in the year we had little
rain so the late flowerers in the red bed never made it to their full
potential before the first frosts, the planned volley of dahlias in particular
turned into shrunken sulkers.
On the allotment for the first time I had enough strawberries and blackcurrants for jam owing to better netting to keep the birds off and the council's elimination of the local rat colony [temporarily]. Potatoes and sweetcorn were OK, the bean and pea crop so-so. Yet again the tomatoes went down with blight, not even enough for green tomato chutney this year! The other big failures were the squashes, cucumbers and courgettes, they withered and died despite being re-sown a couple of times. One problem last year was a larger population than normal of red ant nests which didn't help!
If you feel this was one long moan, please read on, you will find the joys as well as the annoyances and let downs of gardening 2002.
Late Winter and early Spring : Spring : Summer : Autumn : Winter
Late
Winter and Early Spring
The weather is vacillating between hard frost and dull dankness. At this
time of year I get impatient and want everything to start hurrying up
and the first sure signs of new growth to show themselves. In my garden
in Bath the only new growth to be seen at the moment are the small white
points of emerging Iris reticulata
in pots which I planted-up in October, and the first signs of snowdrop
'Lady Elphinstone' [a double with pale green/yellow markings].
I like the french name for snowdrop, Perce neige. The flower is gradually
released from the protective capsule that has enfolded it to 'pierce'
through the cold earth. In the village garden I am working on, the eagerly
anticipated harbinger of 'spring', the 'Christmas
Rose' [Helleborus niger], has been destroyed by a series of
holes bored right through the buds by field slugs, only another 12 months
to wait for the next flowering!
[14th January 2002]
Wet and windy but mild. The magenta propeller petals of Cyclamen coum
have lifted their heads off the ground in the last few days and are
now providing a patch of colour to draw the eye. The Iris reticulata
in pots have been slowed-up by the recent frosts and have made little
progress over the last few weeks. However the Sarcocca
hookeriana var. digyna [Christmas Box], has been tempted to open
it's odd little white flower tufts and the scent is wafting round the
room here as I write. In the village garden the snowdrops are starting
to show, coming up in odd places, having been scattered by the planting
of a new hornbeam hedge in October 2001. Some shrubs and twiners are already
starting to show greening buds. In the hedgerows a number of the hazel
[Corylus] trees have well advanced yellow catkins.
[25th January 2002]
Having complained about the grey murky weather, we are now experiencing
some 'interesting' and very wet weather to make up for one of the driest
autumn's on record in 2001! The warmer weather is bringing on the bulbs
now, one pot of the Iris reticulata [or are they histriodes?] is
well ahead of the other, the deep purple buds are just about to burst.
Three yellow crocuses have appeared in the tulip pots. In the local park
the pale lilac 'hattifatner' [see Tales from Moomin Valley!] fingers of
C. tommasinianus are already up and blooming in the sparse grass
under the trees. More signs of movement in the woodland bed, three bumps
of Helleborus purpurascens
are emerging through the leafmould looking a little worse for wear at
the moment.
On the allotment the pigeons are having a good go at the Purple Sprouting
Broccoli and are just starting on the 'Cavolo Nero' kale which they normally
leave. The first few spears of the garlic planted last autumn are emerging,
but the broad beans [fava] under mesh have put on little new growth.
[28th January 2002]
The weather remains wet and windy, hail and thunder have also added to
the excitement. The winds have been mainly south westerly so it feels
comparatively warm, especially when we see the sun. I have sown seeds
over the past few weeks indoors in a heated propagator. The first up have
been some pomegranate seedlings which were taken from a fruit bought at
a local supermarket. The pomegranate [Punica granatum] will survive
a certain amount of frost but I will have to find a warm spot if I want
to see the flashy orange-red flowers eventually. There is a large specimen
in the local Botanic Garden which seems to be perfectly happy outside.
Potatoes have been put out to 'chit' [sprout a bit] in trays in a cool
room. I am growing 'Ratte', 'Pink Fir Apple', 'Arran Victory' and 'BF15'
on the allotment this year. The ground is too wet to work at the moment,
ideally I want to sow the 'Crimson Flowered' broad bean [fava] and put
in some onion sets soon. Weekend work will include planting some seedlings
of the grass Stipa arundincea, in the village garden red bed and
an oriental poppy 'Orange Beauty'. I will also dig out the dead lepechinia
[a chilean shrub] and replace it with a bargain Buddleja 'Nanho
Blue' which is a lower growing sprawly buddleja with smallish spikes of
dark violet purple.
[1st February
2002]
Warmer winds, but lots of rain and flooding. The warmer weather is bringing
the blossoms out and the first signs of new shoots heaving and unfurling
from the ground, buds plumping up and bursting on branches. In the park
the pink and white single flowered early prunus have started to open on
bare black stems. Last year I watched the pigeons feasting on the buds.
The daffodils are starting to show the first flowers. In the village garden
the Wild Daffodil Narcissus
obvallaris that we planted in October 2001 at the lawn margins
have all emerged but are not anywhere near to flowering yet. Narcissus
'February Gold' is also up, but will they make it into flower by the
end of February? The Tulips 'Queen of the Night' and 'Orange Emperor'
are also pushing up 3 inch spikes. In the unheated propagator after a
week, Galega orientalis, Gaillardia 'Burgundy' and Snapdragon
'Black Prince' are all making an appearance. One kniphofia from an
earlier sowing is also emerging in the heated propagator.
[15th February 2002]
February went out with high winds, rain and snow showers. The much anticipated
snowdrops have been quickly superceded by the daffodils which will soon
make way for the spring rush. The scented white violets [just a hint of
lilac colouring] seem to have increased and I can see them from my window,
a scattering around the bases of the trees in the park opposite. In the
Bath woodland bed the colder weather seems to have halted the emerging
shoots. Erythroniums I planted two years ago are just appearing as are
the leaves of 'Snake's Head Fritillary'. Tulipa sprengeri [late
flowering, luscious lipstick red] have re-appeared in the gravel area.
Azara microphylla 'Variegata'
is in flower but I can't seem to smell the chocolatey/vanilla
scent yet.
Things have been very quiet in the propagators, although today I can see
the first signs of Laserpitium siler [a cow parsley/umbellifer!].
Some of the early emergers like the snapdragons will need potting-on soon
as they are crowding the pots. On the allotment broad bean [fava] 'Crimson
Flowered' were planted last week. I have started clearing the ground for
the first potatoes to go in. Arran Victory and BF15 in particular have
sprouted very strongly. Leek 'St Victor' has made good eating, it is quite
ornamental as it has attractive purple tinged outer leaves, but will be
over soon as the renewing energy is diverted to send up flowerheads.
[2nd March 2002]
March came in like the lion, high winds and rain. Last weekend however
was warm and dry and I saw the first overwintered tortoiseshell butterfly
and fat bumbling bee. The cat has been bringing poor mangled 'solitary
bees' into the house on dry days for the last few weeks. In the garden
things carry on apace. Lots of shoots and emerging foliage in the woodland
bed. My pots of daffodils are in full flower, the tulips are waiting in
the wings.
The climber and scrambler Akebia quinata has started putting out
its bunches of chocolate green buds. In the village garden the wild daffodils
we planted in the grass have been buffeted by the strong winds but cheer
up the nascent shrubbery at this time of year. The Amelanchier lamarckii
is getting ready for it's gentle early show of white flowers and bronzed
leaves. In the Bath Botanic Garden the 'Snake's
Head Fritillaries' [Fritillaria meleagris] are well in flower
under the skeletons of the maples. Also in the Botanic Garden the Magnolias
are out. Magnolia dawsoniana is already nearly over. A great primadonna,
huge dark sugar pink sprawly petals, not the seemly cups of other types.
On the allotment mice have dug neat circles around the emerging broad
beans taking the middle of the stem and discarding the green growing tips!
The potatoes are all in now apart from 'Pink Fir Apple' and the first
seeds sown of chervil, salad crops, spinach and early carrots.
[20th March 2002]
Spring and Early Summer
The first day of april, blustery and grey. March did go out like a lamb,
on Friday and Saturday we had beautiful warm sunny spring days. The difference
in the garden is very noticeable, flowers have come out and leaves grown,
some at least 2 - 3 inches. I travelled to the Lake District in NW England
for a few days, spring is at least a week behind us here in the south
west of England. The daffodils were still fresh, great drifts in gardens
and along hedgerows. Visited a National Trust Garden, Acorn
Bank. The garden itself is very small, it claims to have the largest
collection of herbs in the North. The orchard area was planted with daffodils
and Snake's Head Fritillaries all dancing in the brisk breeze back-lit
by the sun. I managed to visit only one nursery, Hartside in Alston. They
were still getting ready for the season, mainly alpines. I was tempted
to buy some striped auriculas to join my decimated
collection.
Today I have potted-on seedlings of Gaillardia 'Burgundy', Snapdragon
'Black Prince, Galega Orientalis and pomegranate. On the allotment
the autumn sown broad beans, 'Aquadulce Claudia', [fava] were flowering
under enviro-netting. I have released them for pollination. I notice that
on neighbouring plots the beans that have been uncovered all winter are
actually further ahead than mine. The flowers are gorgeous, black velvety
splotches and fine veining on an off-white ground.
[1st April 2002]
Nearly mid April. I have come across an interesting web site, www.phenology.org.uk.
Over 13,000 people around the UK record natural events, so for example
you can see where the first swallows and cuckoos have been arriving in
the UK, [Swallows seem to have arrived here too]. The weather has been
mainly sunny but with a cool nipping breeze. Outlying villages have had
frosts but not noticeably here in Bath. The soil is still damp underneath
but is baked hard on the surface in the village garden making it difficult
to work and sow seeds. The daffodils are spent and the tulips are now
taking over with early Iris germanica and sploshes of aubretia
and 'snow-in-summer' [cerastium] in front gardens. The lilacs and the
pink noses of apple blossom are starting to show.
Last weekend I went to the Bath Rare Plant Sale, lots of spring things
to buy as you might expect. I bought another wood anemone, Anenome
nemorosa 'Bracteata' for my new collection. Also bought an agapanthus
with golden edged foliage 'Golden Rule' and Thalictrum uchiyamae [no
clue as to how this will flower! NB: tall purple airy sprays and little
flecks of yellow stamens in the downward facing small 'bells'].
From the allotment I had my one and only meal of Purple Sprouting Broccoli,
the pigeons had savaged the rest and kept this plant cropped short too.
The potatoes are showing already, the last to be planted will be 'Pink
Fir Apple' this weekend. A few spears of asparagus are also manifesting
themselves.
[13th April 2002]
After a number of days of cloud, heavy wind and rain, May Day for the
most part was warm and dry. I came home to evening sunshine and tied up
a climbing rose, 'Souvenir de Madame Léonie Viennot' and Solanum crispum
'Glasnevin' which had become detached from their respective moorings.
My anonymous tree paeony bought from a local supermarket three years ago
is in full flower, 3 huge white
buds have opened, with their odd not quite pleasant scent.
My Old English Tulips in pots are now at their
peak, striped 'Roses' and 'Bybloemen'. In the kitchen a 'branch' of gently
'triste' Iris florentina
is giving off it's odd green violet scent. In the living room a bunch
of flowers from my mother's garden includes lilac, lily of the valley
and Rosa 'Maigold'.
The candles on the Horse Chestnut trees [Aesculus] are nearly open - I
see on the news in Paris they are fully open and probably in London too.
Happy May Day!
[1st May 2002]
Recent heavy rain brought drifts of blossom down from the Chestnut trees,
an early summer snow, now dried up and gone. We are being promised a heatwave
over the next few days - good growing weather! Some of the ceanothus [Californian
Lilac] are stunning at the moment, my favourites being the very deep intense
blues which positively zing! The swifts returned to us from Africa on
their usual weekend in early May, their screeching calls and aerial shows
suddenly upon you and then gone.
Paid a visit to Hunts
Court in Gloucestershire, they have a good selection of roses. Last
June the plant sales area was awash with colour and fragrance, at the
moment most remain tightly budded, just a few to be savoured. In the village
garden Rosa 'Ispahan' [sugar
pink] is the first to flower, closely followed by the 'Threepenny Bit'
rose [tiny single pink flowers and tiny hips] some way ahead of the rest.
In my own garden the first deep red-black buds on Rosa
'Louis XIV' that looked so promising have all spoiled and browned,
new buds are already coming on though.
On the allotment pole beans and sweetcorn are ready to go in, and the
second sowing of salads, carrots and beetroot are up.
[21st May 2002]
The lightness is going out of the woods as the fresh green leaves mature
and the bluebells and ramsons [wild garlic] fade, the rush of May slows
into the summer. We have had rain and blustery wind on and off for a few
weeks now which is holding back some plants. Rosa 'Gardenia' is just coming
out in my garden, [a climber with deep cream very doubled smallish quite
scented flowers]. Lonicera periclymenum 'Graham Thomas' and
L. japonica 'Halliana'' are also just on the verge of flowering,
elsewhere great swathes of honeysuckle are already in flower.
On the allotment the bindweed and grass have swamped strawberries and
raspberry canes, some concentrated weeding is called for. Pole beans,
courgette, squash, sweetcorn and cucumber have all recently been planted
out.
[1st June 2002]
Summer
Blustery grey weather has meant that the beans, courgettes and squash
have all been battered and bashed on the allotment. I have had my first
meal of new potatoes [either Ratte or BF 15, I can't remember which was
which] and broad beans, very satisfying. Yesterday for the first time
ever, I picked redcurrants before the birds got to them, enough for a
couple of pots of jelly. The strawberry plot continues to frustrate -
one cup of strawberries to date. Clearing the autumn raspberry patch of
bindweed I found a stash of plump, ripe, half-eaten strawberries, no wonder
there is never enough for me!
In the garden the Lilium regale
in pots are starting to open and pump out their perfume alongside
the honeysuckle. On a recent visit to Kiftsgate
Court Gardens in Gloucestershire the air was heavy with the scent
of old roses and mock orange [philadelphus], however the Kiftsgate rose
was still firmly shut! Today the sun is out so maybe summer is here -
the longest day falls soon.
[18th June 2002]
How time flies! Driving through the Herefordshire countryside in sunshine
last week the hay was being cut and the hedgerows were smothered in honeysuckle.
The lime [tilia] are in full flower and the sticky drip of honeydew greets
me as I walk underneath. On the local road verges the Geranium
pratense rings out it's true blue flowers and on escarpments and
roadsides spotted and pyramidal orchids are in bloom. I think I have also
found some 'Bath Asparagus' in a hedgebank.
The allotment has yielded 4.5lbs of Strawberries, a record for me and
it is all now made into jam. The sweetcorn have started to grow and the
second try at cucumber and courgette sowings seems to be OK.
Visited 'Slipps',
a local nursery in Frome, they have a wide selection of hybrid achillea
which are just starting to peak. These hybrids are related to the native
Achillea millefolium [Yarrow]. We came away with 'Faust' the deepest
red I have seen and 'Marmalade' a delicious tawny orange and gold/yellow.
They have been planted in the village garden and join 'Fanal' [lighter
reddy/orange] and 'Terracotta', tawny fading to biscuit beige.
[1st July 2002]
August has been ushered in with thundery downpours and sunshine. Last
night hay lay in puddles in the fields and the slugs and snails breathed
a sigh of relief and converged on any greenery with alacrity. This evening
it is warm and sunny, what a difference! In my garden the late plants
are starting to kick-in, Persicaria amplexicaulis 'Alba', dock
like leaves and tall wispy pointed white flower spikes. Crocosmia
'Star of the East' [very large flowered and dramatic] is emerging
from pleated leaves. Passiflora 'Constance Elliot' [icy greeney white
flowers] is scenting the air and heavily wreathing the fence.
Visited the late Rosemary Verey's gardens, soon to be sold and developed
as a hotel. Much as I remembered from years ago, but this time I warmed
to the potager which is now tall growing, partitioned and intimate.
On the allotment the sweetcorn is coming on. I have had my first pole
beans which are at least a month later than last year and some 'Chioggia'
beetroot which is ringed with white and red and less strongly earthy beetrooty,
rather a good.
[3rd August 2002]
Autumn
Dry, dry, dry, I am impatient for rain! I am sorry to say that, having
enjoyed an afternoon sitting contemplating the village garden today in
gentle warmth and golden sunshine. Trees are dropping their leaves and
turning already, plants feel dry and stressed. The red bed is not as lush
as last year, the dahlias and other late starters are just not expanding,
and even the 'rock solid' nasturtiums are having a hard time. Harvested
the crab apples from Malus 'John Downie' to make jelly. In a way a shame
as the orange-red apples made a great counterpoint towards the end of
the red bed echoed by Crocosmia 'Culzean Peach'. But nature is coming
to it's high point of fruition and 'John Downie' obviously decided it
was time to shed it's load of fruit. It must vary by cultivar though,
as some crab apples in the local hedgerows seem to hold onto their fruit
for much longer, you also see some in gardens that are still on the tree
feeding the birds in midwinter.
Harvested [a little early, the fluid not quite milky enough when a kernel
was squeezed], my first sweetcorn almost a month later than last year,
although this was supposed to be an earlier variety - 'Jubilee', [I grew
'Earlivee' for a couple of years which was reliable, but it wasn't listed
in the main catalogues this year]. NB: Last year I also planted 'Tuxedo'
which has paler kernels and matures slightly later and I have just re-read
the description for 'Jubliee' which has it listed as a later maturing
variety.
The Cyclamen hederifolium are flowering, now it is Autumn, and
I for one am glad!
[1st September 2002]
What you wish for sometimes you get! I wanted rain and it has arrived
in buckets, now it feels like November, grey and drizzly, but the temperature
is relatively warm. Last weekend [October] we had gales, a great wind
blew from clear blue skies. The trees in the park united into a mighty
heaving ocean, almost painful to listen to. Thankfully little damage was
sustained, mainly branches down. The leaves ripped from the trees having
hung on in the long autumn we have had are heaped and banked in sheltered
corners. Garden scragginess has been compounded by two frosts that pounced
out of nowhere only to retreat back into warm muggy weather. The dahlias
and other tenders that had been waiting for some rain for a last show
all succumbed and the gardens suddenly look drab. On a grey day like today,
pink roses hanging from leafless foliage look out of place, the party
has moved on. Now is the time for some judicious tidying.
I am again behind on all my tasks. I did get the more tender plants under
cover snugged against the house wall. Today I re-potted this spring's
daffodil and Iris danfordiae bulbs and re-homed the Lilium
regale in fresh compost. Always looking forward to the turn of
the year again!
[3rd November 2002]
Winter
A damp and wet November was had by all. In the last few days a brisk breeze
has been drying things out a little. I finally repotted all my Old
English tulip bulbs, lilies and assorted daffodils. The pointed noses
of Muscari 'Valerie Finnis' in a pot are already showing. In the park
the leaf blowers have been busy and revealed the blanched tips of emerging
daffodil leaves. The first touch of prolonged cold will stop everything
in it's tracks.
In the Bath Botanic Garden, the Glastonbury Thorn is carrying both flower
buds and berries. Legend has it that the Glastonbury Thorn [Crataegus
monogyna 'Biflora'] sprang from Joseph of Arimathea's staff when he
stuck it into the ground on a visit to Glastonbury centuries ago. The
thorn flowers around Christmas and then again at the more 'normal' hawthorn
flowering time, making it a little bit special.
Now is the season of seed lists and plant catalogues. The Hardy
Plant Society and the Cottage
Garden Society seed lists are waiting to be pored over. OK sometimes
you don't get the plants from seed that you bargained for but you never
know what you might get.
In the village garden in turf we have planted Narcissus
obvallaris [Tenby Daffodil]
and this year Narcissus pseudonarcissus 'Lobularis' [Lent Lily]
two native daffodils, both small, one all yellow the other with paler
outer petals. A slate purple Helleborus orientalis bought late
in the season is already carrying flower buds. Coronilla Glauca
'Citrina' is merrily flowering away having shrugged off the first frosts
[NB: the flowers succumb to prolonged frosty weather].
Now where did I put that Cally
catalogue?
[3rd December 2002]
Chiltern Seeds - dense picture free catalogue but lot's of unusual seeds [and old favourites] to choose from [Galega orientalis, Nigella orientalis 'Transformer', Linaria reticulata 'Flamenco', Laserpitium siler]
HDRA - free seed distribution of heirloom varieties of vegetable [you have to join to participate] Broad Bean 'Crimson Flowered', Peas including 'Telephone' and 'Purple Podded', Beans including 'Cherokee Vale of Tears' and 'Coco Bicolour'].
The Organic Gardening Catalogue - can be expensive on some things but a good choice of seeds organic and otherwise [Leek 'St Victor', Sweetcorn 'Jubilee', Morelle de Balbis]
Seeds
of Italy - Great value seeds, lot's of different and usual and unusual
vegetable varieties [Beetroot 'Chioggia', Misticanza, Kale 'Cavolo Nero']
Thompson
& Morgan [UK and Europe site] - what can I say? Lot's of pictures
so cross reference with other catalogues when choosing [Snapdragon 'Black
Prince', Potatoes, Eschscholtzia californica 'Inferno' ]
[All work on this site appears in draft. Revisions and additions are continually being made]
@Kari's garden 2003 - 2004 Updated Januray 2004