Pulmonaria

Pulmonaria - Lungwort

Pulmonaria 'Opal'

Pulmonaria 'Diana clare'

Lungwort used as a remedy for lung infections
before modern medicine came along. They have
many common names which can be misleading.

Pulmonaria 'Rosy's Mum'

Pulmonaria 'Blue Ensign'

                                                           

Pulmonaria rubra 'Redstart'

Not all forms have the silver spotting on the leaves, however most are clump forming. One of the exceptions are the rubra group which are thugs and should come with a garden health warning. They are useful though for the areas in the garden where most other plants wont grow.

Plain green foliage enhances the colour of the flowers as in
"Blue Ensign"

Pulmonaria 'Trevi Fountain'

Most of the large silver spotted leaved varieties if given a haircut after they have finished flowering will produce good clean foliage that is resistant to slug damage.
This will mean that you can have good shade foliage ground cover without holes or the need for slug control.
Remember that these plants do require a good amount of moisture so planting in a dry sunny position is the quickest way to get a sick looking plant.


Division in august is the best solution and this will give you some good looking autumn foliage, as well as head start for the next season flowering. You will find they have an extensive root system which is why they don't like to be in too small a container for any length of time. It is possible to container grow them but do give them a large container with plenty of moisture and organic matter.

                                                 

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More spring beauties

Anemone nem. Pink Blush

Anemone nemorosa are a wonderful spring plants that carpet the floors of deciduous woodland especially hazel coppices pre the bluebells coming out.

Anemone nemorosa

Anemone nem. Alba Plena

Anemone nem. virescens

Anemone nem. 'Bowles Purple'

There is a wide variation in colour and size of flowers within the name varieties.
All are summer deciduous so as soon as they have set seed they disappear for another year
a fleeting but magnificent display. They are well worth growing under deciduous trees and shrubs as early flowering ground cover.

Anemone nem. 'Royal Blue'

Often you will spot them flowering and forget they had been planted and this is always a good surprise.









All Anemone nemorosa are best planted as growing plants, they will establish far better. The dry packaged rhizomes sold and planted in October tend to be rodent fodder!! Also should be rehydrated pre planting.
If you are planting these out in the autumn make sure that they are given a soak in water prior to planting. I advise that you plant with chicken wire around the rhizomes to protect from squirrels and mice.
Also place a label underground with these plants as the other main culprit of them disappearing is You digging them up. The rhizomes look like twigs and are often thrown away after a tidy up.

Anemone x lipseniensis

Anemone x lipseniensis is slightly more refined with

lovely purple foliage and soft lemon flowers as contrast.

Slower to colonise an area so patience is required.

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Lanzarote December 2013

The off season playtime!

I have come out for a break by myself to dive, last time Rob came with me the the weather was not good for a land lubber. He does not like the sea or too much sun, but cold winds and clouds we might as well have been home, water is wet!!!

I on the other hand was having some fabulous dives. If anyone tells you there is nothing to see here they must be blind.

So I am out here to be able to dive dive dive ha ha the gods are not on my side.
I arrive and the first day we do 2 good dives but getting out on the second dive was a bit hairy, by the time I was on my bum for about the 5th occasion, I decided staying there taking the fins off with huge waves going over me was the safest option.
Then 3 days of no diving, so what to do? Well there are plenty of volcanoes to climb..some people think that it is quite a desolate landscape but I love the geology of the place above and below. Even a chance
                                      to have a look at the
                                      different natural vegetation
                                      growing in such harsh
                                      environment.

These two little beauties

are amazing to actually grow

and survive.

If you look and observe there

are actually quite a few different

plants growing naturally in the 

wild spaces.

 


So when we did get back in the water it was angel shark fest! these are the most incredibly beautiful shark you can want to see both resting or swimming effortlessly. It was just about full moon and the females were coming in but its 2mths early. Heavily pregnant or just sitting tails out to attract a mate...

 Pink coral not something there is
a lot of in the waters off Lanzrote
but where it does grow its beautiful.
This dive it was only feeding slightly with a few polyps open.

 Yellow frogfish on one of my last dives, the last time I had seen one of these strange looking fish was when diving in Jordan.

 This anemone has the most beautiful purple and orange colouring. There are so many types of these in the waters here.

Lastly you can also go below ground on the island and it does not have to be in the large tourist attractions. If you can find a guide to take you there are volcano tubes to explore which are fascinating.

Lapa was not too sure this was the best walk in the world but he endured it...

One of the best Diving Instructors is David Thompson who is allied to La Santa Diving. He can spot some excellent wildlife.

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Hellebores

Helleborus x hybridus 'Red Lady'

Helleborus x hybridus

 Helleborus a very large  group of exciting perennials for growing in shade to full sun. They are the heralds of spring.

The x hybridus types are the most commonly grown being easy garden plants with

a lot of coloured selections being named. Quite a few of these are grown from seed and this does give quite a bit of variation within the groups.

Helleborus x hybridus 'Yellow Lady'

Helleborus x hybridus 'White Lady

Helleborus x hyb.double Queen mix

Many different forms have been bred by crossing different species and there are some amazing varieties out there for the keen collector.

Helleborus x ericsmithii 'Bob's Best'

Double forms are frequent even in seed raised varieties.

Helleborus foetidus

Helleborus argutifolius

Helleborus sternii

The specie types are also very useful in their own right as garden worthy plants as they are able to tolerate specific conditions.

Inter-specific crosses were hard to initially raise with this beautiful example being the first. They are now becoming more common and make incredibly floriferous plants that bulk up in the garden really well.

Helleborus 'Walbertons Rosemary'

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Ranunculus ficaria spring is here

These wonderful plants also known as celandines are so cheerful to see in the spring.  There is such a range of colours, both of leaf and flower.

Ranunculus.f.'Fried Egg'

Ranunculus.f.'Double Bronze

They are incredibly useful as ground cover under trees and shrubs. quite a few gardeners think they are weedy subjects, however they are useful. They are summer deciduous so after they flower its bedtime until next year.

Ranunculus.f.'Double Bronze

Ranunculus.f.'Salmons White

Ranunculus.f.'Brazens Child'

So many different flower colours and petal formations. Also various foliage types to give interest as well. Very easy to divide and move around.

Ranunculus.f.'Brazens Child'

Ranunculus.f.'Randall's White'

Ranunculus.f.'Double Mud'

I always smile 

when I see these 

little gems 

appear in the spring. 

Embrace them as 

ideal ground cover they are reliable.

Ranunculus.f.'Randall's White'

Ranunculus.f.Flore Pleno Group

Ranunculus.f.'Green Petal'

 

Ranunculus.f.'Brazen Hussy'

Some of the named varieties are no where near as invasive as the common celandine. But they are a plant that is summer deciduous so there is no evidence of them once the have died off in April. The foliage reappears in December and the flower February /March. As ground cover planting that flowers profusely in spring in a semi shady area nothing can beat them.
Who does not want a Brazen Hussy in the garden? Named by one of the best Christopher Lloyd.....

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An interview with Rosy Hardy by Andy MacIndoe

 

Rosy Hardy is well known as an authority on Herbaceous Perennials.  I always enjoy catching up with Rosy and her husband Rob at Chelsea Flower Show for an indulgent tour of the Hardy’s Cottage Garden Plants exhibit. As a bit of a shrubby, used to dealing with woody plants I so admire the delicacy, colour, texture and grace of perennials. This is a much softer, world where plants drift together in charming associations.

Of course I do grow lots of perennials, but in my garden they take their chances amongst everything else. One day I promise myself that I’m going to learn more.  Rosy and I do lots of talks to gardening clubs and horticultural societies, and we seem to follow each other on the lecture circuit.  Wherever Rosy has been she leaves gardeners inspired and they all talk about how much they gleaned from spending a couple of hours with her, and they rave about the wonderful perennials they bought!

I invited Rosy to share her love of perennials and gardening with us, and to give us a few tips on how to achieve success with them. I’m really delighted to welcome her as a guest to the My Garden School blog

How did you get into perennials in the first place Rosy, and how long have you been hooked?

Hook on perennials more by mistake than design. I have always loved flowers from early on in life and loved wildflowers firstly, knowing all their names wherever we lived: Russia, Scotland, Hampshire or Northumberland. The latter being my first place for this interest as I rode either my pony or horse around the countryside. Also being a nosy person horseback is an amazing place to be able to peer over people’s walls and hedges and see what they are growing. Even better for being able to pick the odd plum out of reach from anyone else!

I studied at Writtle Agricultural College doing Commercial Horticulture specializing in vegetables. A few positions down the line I ended up digging up my garden and selling plants at carboot sales in Ascot. Everyone loved the perennials and so it started. My Sister-in-Law Anne Liverman has an amazing garden, with a collection of superb perennial varieties, Dove Cottage, Ashbourne, Derbyshire. We were allowed to lift and split and propagate from here to build up our collection. 

So are you and Rob into gardening in the broader sense? Do you grow your own vegetables for example?

If we had some free time during the growing year we would be vegetable growers but sadly not to be… but I do have a gravel garden, which gives me pleasure and I find can be easily maintained with my busy schedule. Rob is a maniac with the lawn mower and attacks what can become a hayfield when he can. Our garden is a conglomeration of plants left over from various exhibits, usually Hampton Court Daily Mail Gardens.

I always think of perennials as rather hard work. All that lifting, dividing, staking; are they all like that. Have I got it wrong?

Hard work never hurt anyone?? Seriously they are not hard work if grown correctly and allowed to prosper. At least if you get them in the wrong place you can lift them Spring or Autumn unlike shrubs and trees…

Do not over feed them and allow clumps to become moderately mature before splitting. Make sure that if you have a mixed border use the shrubs as your growing supports. Remembering to use techniques like Chelsea chop properly so it is a chop not a snip which means that the plant is cut to an inch of its life and then will grow far more compactly. Dead heading as with Roses encourages more flowers and always water wisely.

What is your number one tip for gardeners growing perennials?

Enjoy them

People often say to me that they would love an herbaceous border. Does anyone grow them like that today?

There are plenty of people growing true herbaceous borders even in the smaller garden and they can still plant in three’s or five’s. It is getting that layer planting correct whereby you use the ground wisely with taller plants creating the shade for the lower storey.

Even traditional herbaceous borders have their keystone plants that were evergreen shrubs, to draw the eye, or used as a backdrop such as Taxus or Lonicera nitida.

If I you had to choose your three “Desert Island Perennials” what would they be, and why?

Geum Totally Tangerine

Gaura Rosyjane

Salvia Carradonna

What’s the big “buzz” perennial for this season?

Now if I had a crystal ball I would be a very rich plants-woman….

Lets say all 3 of my new introductions from British breeders:

 Gaura lindheimeri 'Freefolk Rosy' Bred here at Hardy's a continuation of the breeding program we have with Gaura.

Eryngium 'Neptunes Gold' a fabulous large flowered form with golden yellow foliage and bracts but still the electric blue stems and flowers a winning combination.The breeder is a mystery at present but definitely British.

Trollius 'Dancing Flames' a new introduction from 'Fairweathers' nursery in Hampshire.

We’ve seen lots of perennials trending in recent years: echinaceas, heucheras, agapanthus.  What’s still in and what’s had its day?

These trends are because the breeders can get so many different colour variations into these plants, making it possible for people to want any new variant available, whether it is good or not.

I am not so keen on trends; plants that stand the test of time are always to be appreciated first, as gardeners will be successful.

Here today gone tomorrow plants tend to be grown more in containers and a lot of these trending plants are grown this way and treated more as disposable or annual planting.

I know that you supply lots of fab. perennials to the show gardens at Chelsea Flower Show. How do you know they will flower on time? 

The truth we don’t!

We have to grow about 3 times the quantity required and give them various treatments such as heat and supplementary lighting. Sometimes it is potting up at different times and stages in their development that makes the difference. It all comes down to knowledge of the plant material and a great awareness of plant physiology. An awful lot is to do with observation of what the plant is doing and then timing treatments accordingly.

What are your other guilty pleasures apart from herbaceous perennials and gardens?

That will be Scuba diving, Champagne, and lunch with girlfriends. 

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