Bedding down for the winter
They may have a different character from the permanent inhabitants of the garden; something to do perhaps with their soft, thin, foliage, contrasted with strong heads of colour, but these brave, elegant plants are well worth investing in. They can be used in pots and containers, in window boxes and the open garden and even on apartment balconies.
Spring bedding has become a forgotten area of gardening for many, which is a great shame. With the summer display cleared away, there is room now for a wonderful combination of bulbs and hardy bedding plants that will provide colour throughout late winter and early spring.
Plant-breeding developments with pansies and violas (for example) over the past few decades have produced stunning results. ‘Universal’ was the first series of pansies that really did perform well during the cold, dull months of the year, followed by ‘Universal Plus’ and both series offered a good colour range to choose from.
Today, gardeners can enjoy the Matrix strain of pansy, offering superior all-round performance capable of creating a swathe of striking colour as varied as you could imagine. Where else could you possibly see the likes of copper next to cobalt, pinks turning to mauve, and yellows wandering off into cream? These are mixtures hard to convey in train-tracks of black and white text, for virtual reality in still not possible with the printed word. Apart from pansies, there are wallflowers, Brompton stocks, forget-me-nots, Sweet Williams and the double daisy flowered Bellis perennis to choose from. Many of these combine perfectly with spring-flowering bulbs so by inter-planting say your wallflowers with taller-growing tulips of a contrasting colour you can put on quite a show.
Don’t forget some of the early-flowering perennials, which can be treated as bedding plants. These include aubretia, arabis, auricula and doronicum, with its yellow daisy flowers. Support these when creating formal designs with low shrubs, such as clipped box.
Start work as soon as possible, even if it means clearing away summer bedding that still looks presentable. The ground needs preparing so the spring bedding can become well established before conditions get much colder. Plants hate a heavy or waterlogged site, so fork over to improve aeration and drainage, and mix in extra compost. Sprinkle a generous application of fertiliser over the area to boost growth (fish, blood and bone meal, despite its rather odious name, is a really good organic food which I can thoroughly recommend) and water during mild periods to ensure plants reach maximum size. Keep potted plants in reserve to fill any gaps in spring.
WINTER WEATHER; The pleasant weather in the far south has helped with clearing and preparing the garden for its winter rest. And yet, despite the elation of completion and consummation (of the gardening year) we gardeners are beginning to get a little nervous. We ponder the coming winter with trepidation and show fear by digging up dahlias (that were never dug) and dragging large pots of Agapanthus, Argyranthemums (Marguerites), Cordylines and all the better Salvias under all kinds of cover. Tree ferns are being wrapped with triple folds of fleece and their crowns stuffed with enough dried leaves and chopped bracken to keep a Siberian winter at bay. At least I’m taking all these precautions having lost (like everyone else) mature and expensive stock not once, but twice, during 2010. What is the lesson of last year and what are we to do to protect all those valiant remnants that barely survived to the current season? Many are still invalids and in no way able to withstand another lash of prolonged sub-zero temperatures. Use bracken I suggest, chopped, shredded, or as long fronds as it gathered from the countryside. Lay in loosely over suspect tender plants and if you live in a windy area, secure it with domes of chicken wire. Invest in fleece, bubble wrap (for insulating greenhouses) and any other material which can be draped lightly over all tender plants. In reality of course all you can do is to keep your fingers crossed and hope that the doomsday weathermen are way off the mark.
EVERGREEN: Plants come into their own at this time of the year and they will continue to stand and take pride of place in the spotlight until early spring.
For this reason, pay particular attention to any shrubs or trees which take your fancy and jot down the names of those with especially attractive berries or leaf colour. As regards attractive leaves, can I suggest a relatively cheap introduction from the family Osmanthus, one which will surely liven up a dark corner of your garden for the next few months? The suggested variety is low-growing, short jointed and densely evergreen (should that read “ever-yellow”?) for it has attractive yellow foliage which looks very much like holly. It’s sold as Osmanthus heterophyllus Aureus and it remains yellow-leaved right throughout the year. With a pyramidal shape just like its better-known cousin, Osmanthus heterophyllus tricolour, this interesting introduction has in recent times become a most sought-after garden plant.
- Mitchelstown Flower and Garden Club are hosting a Floral Demonstration with Margot Allen in the town hall on Thursday at 8pm.
- Apple Day at The Secret Garden, Newmarket on tomorrow from 1pm to 5pm. For information call 029-60084 or visit www.thesecretgardener.com
- Glenville Flower and Garden Club will host Shanagarry potter Stephen Pierce at the Kades Kounty on Tuesday at 8.30pm.
- The Royal Horticultural Society of Ireland presents a lecture; A Plantsman’s Garden including Roses and Clematis, by Carl Dacus in Wesley House, Leeson Park, Dublin 6 on Wednesday at 8pm. Details can be had from 01-235 3912 or at www.rhsi.ie
- Alpine/Hardy Plant Society presents Julian Sutton of Desirable Plants Devon to speak on Adventures With Fancy Foliage on Thursday in the Lavanagh Centre at 7.45pm.
- Lough Flower and Garden Club will hold their Annual Dinner on Tuesday at 8pm in the Rochestown Park Hotel. Tickets from Peg at 021-4966068
- Blarney and District Flower and Garden Club present The Gardens of Blarney Castle by Adam Whitbourn, on Thursday at 8pm in Whitechurch Hall.
- Owenabue Flower and Garden Club meet on Monday at 8pm in the C of I Primary School. Eileen O’Brien is to give a talk, titled The Spirit of the Season.
- Blackrock Flower and Garden Club host a Christmas Demonstration with Margaret Walsh on Tuesday, November 1 in the Ursuline Secondary School Blackrock at 7.30pm. The event will support Cystic Fibrosis Association. Tickets €15 includes supper and are available at the door.
- The Spiro Singers will be in concert at Hosfords of Enniskeane’s Blue Geranium Café on Sunday, October 30 at 2pm, followed by The Dandelion Puppet Theatre at 3pm.
- Turn that patio into an outdoor room this winter is the title of a talk (followed by a gourmet lunch for €10) at Griffins, Dripsey on Tuesday and Thursday next at noon.
- Professor Pádraig Ó Macháin and Crónán Ó Doibhlin are to give a talk on the Book of Lismore, at Pugin Hall, Lismore Castle this Tuesday at 7pm. Entry is €10.
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