yardz

POWER PLANT

The Power Plant is a great indoor soiless gardening system that enables you to grow herbs, salads etc. indoors all the year round.

Plants are not grown in soil instead a nutrient rich solution is sprayed directly onto their root system which allows the plants to grow more efficiently than seeking those nutrients in soil.

It works on any type of seed, fits on a windowsill and only takes minutes to set up. It also looks very stylish.

www.oakthrift.com  from around £15 

It's just a pity that nobody has designed a larger version for using on balconies, patios,etc to grow salad crops through out the year.

DRUMSTICKS AND TULIPS

 

Still time to plant up containers for spring. A stunning mix that will be a real wow factor in any small area is using Primula denticulata, the 'drumstick primrose' under-planted with the bright red tulip Apeldorn.

The primulas will give a long flowering period in spring giving a cover ofround mauve drumstick shaped flowers at a height of around 15cm/6". The tulips will flower mid-spring giving a levell red sheet over the mauve primroses - very effective.

COLOURFUL COCONUT DUET

  

Summer arrived this weekend with stunning blue skys and blazing sun, so it seemed odd to be turfing out the last of the summer bedding and replanting the baskets for winter.

Devon is a windy place and even in my well enclosed yard it can be quite blustery. I have to take this into account when choosing winter and spring bedding. Violas are perfect. They are hardy, fragrant and long lasting. They flower almost continuously and are very fragrant. I've chosen Viola Coconut Duet which is purple/blue and white and will under plant with the deep purple dwarf Iris Pauline. 

BLOOMIN' MIRACLE

 

Miracle cyclamen are available everywhere to buy to brighten winter and spring yards. They are hardy and flower for yonks! Great for baskets but best massed as single colours in containers.

Cost around £1.99 per 9cm pot

AUTUMN CONES

 

We've gone from summer to autumn in one jump this week with the clear blue skys and sun changing to our more seasonal wind and rain.

The summer planting in the cone baskets have now had their day and are ready to be planted for winter and spring. Try something different this year not just the standard universal winter flowering pansies.

The basket shown includes carmine coloured miracle cyclamen and mauve winter flowering heather, set off against variegated trailing ivy and variegated acorus. This will give a great mix of flower colour and foliage texture throughout the coming months.

I would suggest underplanting with dwarf bulbs and in the case of the above mixture would use Iris George.

MONOCHROME SPRING

 

Forget all your bright colours, your yellow crocus, red tulips and blue hyacinths - next springs colour scheme for the stylish yard should be black and white.

Dark charcoal grey containers should be planted with the virginal white Tulip purissima whilst clean white or light grey terrazzo planters should shimmer with deep purple/black Tulip Queen of the Night.

Our garden centres and supermarkets are now well stocked with spring bulbs, so for go the bargain mixed bags and search out something a bit more special.

Bulbs to look out for that fit in with the monochrome scheme are : Narcissus Snowbaby, Narcissus Thalia, Tulip tres Chic, Tulip Swans Wing, Tulip White Elegance and Tulip Black Hero.

THERE'S MORE TO CONIFERS THAN CHRISTMAS TREES!

 

Conifer Week 27th September - 5th October

Conifers have been very 'non you' since the 1970's when every new garden had a selection. They went out of fashion, dispised by the garden designers and ignored by garden retailers.

Today though they have returned, new varieties have been introduced that are perfect for the smaller garden giving all year round colour and interest without over-powering small spaces.

Take the time to go along to your nearest garden centre this week who will I'm sure have a great display of conifers that will change your mind about the humble Christmas tree.

RED-HOT CATS TAILS AT B&Q

 

It's amazing what you can find when least expecting it.

Whilst browsing round our B&Q, I discovered two summer baskets hanging folawn on a stand. Both contained just Acalypha hispida, Red-hot Cats Tail, which is a half hardy shrub that is generally grown as a houseplant. It looked great in a basket and would have survived outside until the first frosts. It likes sun or part shade and moist but well drained compost.

www.diy.com

EBONY AND IVORY

 

A great combination for containers to give flower colour throughout the summer and well into the autumn is cream coloured agryanthemums planted around one of the slim leaved dark foliage phormiums. This one is Phormium Platts Black. The agryanthemums will flower longer if you dead head as much as possible

MORE THAN JUST LEAVES

 

When growing herbs we sometimes become obsessed with removing the flowers to encourage bigger and better foliage for culinary use. But sometimes we can compromise.

These purple basil growing in a pot on the patio have been flowering for several weeks now and are superb. The lilac purple flowers contrast so well against the deep purple green foliage. I haven't noticed that the foliage is any less pungent.

So perhaps it is worthwhile allowing some of our herbs to go to flower at the end of the summer.