Flower of the Month: October

There’s not a lot in flower this month so I thought I’d take a look at October birth flowers which are Calendula and Cosmos. I have already featured the lovely Cosmos so I have dipped into my garden files to find some of my Calendula photos.

Marigolds and Borage

Calendula officinalis, the common or pot marigold, is a popular annual plant with yellow to orange daisy- or chrysanthemum-like flowers. The common marigold is still widely used around the world to heal cuts and bruises. Its flowers and leaves are edible, and can be used in soups, salads, and other dishes. It also makes a spectacularly eye-catching garnish.

Marigolds

Because of its resemblance to the sun, it is associated with warmth, love, and creativity.

Flower of the Month: September

This is the month of the Michaelmas Daisy, or Aster or Symphyotrichum or whatever name has been decided upon this year.  I mean who is going to remember Symphywhotsit! The feast day of St Michael the Archangel on the 29th September coincides with the peak flowering season of autumn flowering Asters. Which is how they come by their common name, Michaelmas Daisy.

There’s a colour to suit every garden – they come in shades of white, blue, purple and pink and they can flower for weeks beginning late summer and into autumn.

Asters

They look great in cottage gardens but also work in more contemporary schemes – they associate well with ornamental grasses. They’re extremely popular with bees and butterflies, too.

Some are compact and clump-forming and suited to the front of a border or a container, others are taller statuesque specimens reaching 2 metres and look best at the back of a border where they can waft over the other plants.

One of the best places to see these plants is in Worcestershire, close to the beautiful Malvern Hills. The Picton Garden is a plantsman’s garden that holds the National Plant Collection of more than 400 varieties of Michaelmas Daisies creating a jewel-like tapestry from mid-September. I published a post about this beautiful garden in 2014 so please click on the link and head over there for a visual treat.

 

 

Flower of the Month: August

Looking around the lanes and gardens in August you can’t fail to notice the number of Hydrangeas that are in flower. Here in Cornwall where the temperatures are mild all year round and where there is plenty of moisture they grow into enormous shrubs in colours ranging from the purest white to the darkest purple.

The one place to visit to see these flowers en masse is Trebah Garden on the Helford River. This is when they take centre stage. The plants here are hand pruned in early spring which helps promote the abundance of flowers that remain until long into the autumn. The majority of these were planted in 1949.

Included in the species are H. aspera which has soft velvety leaves. Bees collecting pollen from this plant accumulate a blue sac on each leg rather than the usual yellow.

H. quercifolia has large oak-like leaves which develop burnished tinges in autumn.

H. paniculata “Vanille Fraise” (Strawberry Vanilla) has large panicles of white flowers that turn pink as the summer progresses. This one I have in my own garden.

Hydrangea Valley is filled with plants of all shapes and colours. The pretty ‘Monet’ style bridge provides the perfect place to see them with reflections in the Mallard Pond.

If you want to see more of this lovely garden then please click on this link to my other blog: Cornwall in Colours

Hydrangea

 

 

Flower of the Month: July

July in Cornwall = Agapanthus commonly referred to as the Lily-of-the-Nile or the African lily plant. You will see them everywhere. In planters, alongside the footpaths, in gardens. They instantly take me back to South Africa where they are from and provide an exotic look to a place. I bought some new ones at the beginning of the year, but it will take time before they are big enough to flower and for some reason my variegated leaved agapanthus ‘Silver Moon’ has no flower stems at all this year. Apparently that is not unusual for this variety. Fortunately the strap shaped green leaves with creamy variegation are rather beautiful anyway.

Agapanthus create displays of large masses of striking flowers. They come in a huge range of colours and heights from almost-black through to purple, from French navy to royal blue through to subtle lilac, grey and white and even bicolour ones like ‘Twister’ and ‘Fireworks’.

The name, agapanthus, translates as ‘love flower’ and some are evergreen (Agapanthus africanus and Agapanthus praecox) and others deciduous, depending on which side of the Cape they grow on. The western Cape has a Mediterranean climate with moist damp winters, between May and August, followed by a dry summer between November and January. Agapanthus species on the western side grow in winter when moisture and warmth is available so they like to keep their foliage in winter. These are tender and may need taking into a greenhouse over winter.

The eastern Cape has a wet summer season lasting four months, between November and February, when rainfall averages 5 inches per month (125m). The winters, between May and August, are dry and cool however. As a result agapanthus species found on the eastern side of the Cape tend to do their growing in the summer and then die down in winter.

They respond to both water and food and a liquid high-potash tomato food applied every two weeks will pay dividends and don’t forget that agapanthus needs a sunny position that gets maximum daylight. The flowers, which are bee-friendly, last many weeks and they cut well. Don’t allow them to run to seed, always cut the spent flower heads off.

Agapanthus

Flower of the Month: June

June just has to be roses, doesn’t it? Though Cornwall is not known for growing roses. The damp climate reeks havoc on the leaves (black spot) and flowers (balling buds, browning petals) so roses are not that popular. Saying that I have seven of my own (three inherited), two from my previous container garden and two new ones which are supposed to be disease resistant.

However, black spot is the most serious disease of roses. It is caused by a fungus, Diplocarpon rosae, which infects the leaves and greatly reduces plant vigour, the fungus is genetically very diverse and new strains arise rapidly. Unfortunately, this means that the resistance bred into new varieties usually fails to last because new strains of the fungus arise to overcome it. (Source: RHS)

There is something quintessentially English about a rose though. Childhood memories of picking highly scented petals and soaking them in water to produce a rather brown, but fragrant ‘rose perfume’. The beautiful jewel-like colours, the silky blooms and the myriad of scents. There is nothing quite like a rose garden. In summer. In the sun.

All these images were taken at Godolphin Gardens on 19 June 2019. 

 

Flower of the Month: May

May is the most floriferous month in my opinion. Everything seems to spring into life as the soil warms up and the daylight hours increase. Trees are green once again and many are full of enticing blossom, but the ones that are noticeable in Cornwall are the Rhododendrons and Azaleas. Cornish gardens are simply at their best from March to the end of May.

All these photo were taken in Trelissick Garden.

Flower of the Month: April

Tulips are like exotic birds. They come in different shapes, heights, colours and flowering times.  You have early single and doubles and late singles and doubles. The early flowering ones open in cooler weather, right when winter is just disappearing, and tend to last longer. Their flowers have a distinct cup shape consisting of six petals. The single late tulip is one of the last to bloom, and is also the tallest variety averaging heights of 18 to 30 inches. Also known as the May flowering tulip, these tulips come in the widest variety of colours. Doubles are often known as ‘Peony’ tulips and have heavy heads so need a sheltered position and may require staking.

Apricot Beauty

Apricot Beauty

‘Apricot Beauty’ is an early flowering single and although I found it to be rather a wishy-washy colour to begin with, the more mature the flower the deeper the colour, silvery salmon pink on the outside and spectacularly apricot and yellow on the inside. This started flowering in March and finished in mid-April.

Another early one to flower is ‘Cairo’, with a rich orange colour which lights up in the sun. This is a Triumph style tulip and long lasting and is scented so a bonus. It is very similar to ‘Brown Sugar‘ also scented and in the same orange, copper, red colours.

Cairo

Cairo and others

The next to flower in my collection this year was ‘Ronaldo‘ a delicious blackcurrant coloured Triumph which starts off a deep carmine red but darkens with age. This flowers for absolutely ages and looks gorgeous with the oranges and the pinks.

Ronaldo

Ballerina and Ronaldo

Cairo was soon followed by ‘Apricot Foxx‘ a golden orange with hints of pink. This is a Triumph, a single mid-season flower which doesn’t grow too tall. Handy in the wind.

Apricot Foxx

Apricot Foxx

A late flowering double is ‘La Belle Epoque‘ which actually opened in early April and has been flowering for a couple of weeks now. An unusual colouring of coffee, pink and apricot this is probably not the best tulip for my windy spot, but it is a wonderful flower.

La Belle Epoque

La Belle Epoque

Lily-flowered tulips are late spring bloomers. Their star-shaped flowers have long pointed petals that arch outwards.  I am a big fan of this shape of tulip, finding it very elegant. Among those I have grown are ‘Ballerina’ and ‘Purple Dream‘.  Ballerina (below) is very good at repeat flowering and is also scented. ‘Sarah Raven‘ is a delightful deep red one (seen centre of the collage)

Purple Dream has rich, purple petals which open as the flowers age, revealing a glowing white eye (as seen in the header image).

There are many other types including the Botanical or  Perennial species of tulip, which are smaller and more delicate than modern hybrids, but are normally very hardy and long lived. ‘Whittallii’ is among these, a lovely deep coppery orange.

Whittallii

Whittallii

I have grown Kaufmanniana Hybrids which are supposed to come back every year, but mine haven’t been too successful. Last year the leaves appeared but no flowers and the leaves were eaten by slugs I think. I also grew Parrots, a cultivar with unusual fringed, curled and twisted petals. Mainly late-flowering. I didn’t like them and the heads are too large and heavy for a windy garden.

Next year I will try some more of the Viridiflora which are distinguished by having green streaks or markings on their petals and are normally late flowerers. Given the choice of tulips I am sure there is one that must appeal to you.

 

Flower of the Month: March

This year March came in like a lion. After a very pleasant and unexpected ‘false spring’ in February, the wind and rain returned though happily interspersed with sunshine and at the tail end of the month calm and sunshine returned and March disappeared like a lamb.

So many bulbs which might have made it as the flower of this month had already made their presence known in the previous month, in particular the daffodil or narcissus, so I am awarding the flower of the month to the magnificent Magnolia. Cornish gardens in particularly are home to many of these magnificent trees, some of which grow to a great height and to add to the pleasure they are often found among Camellias and Rhododendrons.

All these Magnolias were photographed at Lanhydrock, nr Bodmin, where they have over 120 varieties.

Flower of the Month: February

February heralds the start of spring here in the UK, although officially spring begins in March. The 1st if you go by the meteorological calendar (I don’t) or the spring equinox which is on Wednesday 20 March this year. After the dull dark days of winter, February is when the days grow longer, the light lingers until late evening and sunrise is before 8 am.  It is also when delicate looking bulbs pop up above ground and buds begin to open and gardeners start to get excited again. Dwarf Iris reticulata or histrioides, daffodils, hyacinths, snowdrops and crocuses are among the more common ones. In Cornwall, camellias and magnolias are making their presence known.

With all these delightful alternatives choosing one flower to represent the month is quite difficult, but I shall opt for the Camellia as it is the one flower that adorns many gardens, public spaces and churchyards in Cornwall during this month and is what I consider to be the ‘Winter Rose’.

February is the  start for the collection of over 500 Camellias in Trebah Gardens to come into its main flowering season and where you will find flowers ranging from pure white to dark crimson, some double, some single, some flecked or bicoloured. So if you are in Cornwall now is the time to visit some of the wonderful Cornish gardens.

Flower of the Month: January

The hellebore is one of the earliest blooms to be spotted in the garden, appearing from late winter to early spring.  H. niger is a semi-evergreen perennial to 30cm, with pedately lobed, leathery, dark green leaves and, despite the name, the flowers are usually pure white or pink-flushed white, bowl-shaped flowers up to 8cm in width. Known commonly as the ‘Christmas Rose’ it usually flowers earlier than H. orientalis cultivars, often in January or February, but mine has sometimes not flowered until March. They self-seed freely and they dislike being disturbed.

The main Hellebores to be cultivated by gardeners are the Lenten Rose varieties (Helleborus orientalis) producing large saucer-shaped flowers in a wide range of colour forms from white to pink, plum and deep blackish-purple, often conspicuously spotted reddish-purple. They will bloom from late January onwards.

Helleborus x ericsmithii ‘Ruby Glow’

Helleborus Ruffles

Helleborus Ashwood Gardens Hybrid

Helleborus Ashwood Gardens Hybrid

Helleborus Ruffles Green

Hellebore

They love being in dappled sunlight and need no more than a few hours a day which is why the perfect location is underneath deciduous trees or scattered in a woodland garden. Remove the old blackened leaves and allow the new growth and buds to emerge. They do not require a lot of fertiliser, but do need protecting from slugs. Though having said that mine do seem to survive slug attacks reasonably well.