Making the Best of It... (Was 'Blog from an Untidy Garden')

[WimB]

As the days begin to draw out a little and the mild weather awakens the early flowers here is the first update for 2011.

After the harsh cold of December, January has been dull and increasingly mild.  The first weeks of February have continued in similar vein bringing quite a rush of colour to the garden as crocus, cyclamen, snowdrops and irises appear.  Here are just a few, the first shot showing flowers in the slate bed  which was shown snowbound in the last post of 2010.

Iris 'Katherine Hodgekin' was planted out as some undersized bulbs two years ago.  After a non-flowering season last year they are now nicely settled in.
The Crocus tommasinianus shown is one of the best 'pink' forms I have, just as good in the garden as in a pot and needing less looking after!  The small striped Crocus vernus is not to everyone's taste, although it is often admired.  It's chief virtue in my eyes is its indestructibility in the garden.

Tony,

I love your striped Crocus vernus, reminds me of Colchicum kesselringii.

[angie]

Tony the crocus and cyclamen are nice against the slate. My iris Katherine Hodgeekins are just starting to come.
Looking forward to seeing more.

Angie

[tonyg]

It's not all good news though.  The severe cold in December took its toll on some of my plants.  I do not give any artificial heat so I try to only grow plants that can cope with the conditions here.  This winter has been the most severe in the 20 years and as well as losing Cyclamen rohlfsianum which always struggles I have said goodbye to Freesia andersonii and Oxalis versicolor.  The latter has survived here for all those 20 years .... until now   Some Cyclamen graecum have also suffered, they will survive but it might be time to say goodbye to a few .....it will make room for more iris and crocus .  Mind you, a few of the crocus are showing signs of stress.  I kept the pots fairly dry through the intense cold but Crocus ochroleucus 'large form' which I believe originates from the Golan Heights has succumbed to a neck rot, perhaps due to frost damage.  Hyacinthoides (Scilla) lingulata usually makes i under glass but you can see from the photo below that different forms have responded in different ways.  One has lost all leaves, one has lost none and the third has lost leaves on plants nearest the glass.  There may be small bulbs left below ground - maybe.

AND as soon as it gets milder the aphids are back   Who'd be a gardener?!

[angie]

AND as soon as it gets milder the aphids are back   Who'd be a gardener?!

Yes sometimes I wonder as well why we put so much effort in. I have so many mature plants in the garden looking dead or are dead, time will tell. I think having two really cold winters hasn't helped. And why is it always the plants that you like the most go. I did some tidying up in my polytunnel yesterday and I have quite a few that have got neck rot.
Hope your aphids won't be to that bad maybe the winter will have killed them all off 

Angie

[Luc Gilgemyn]

A very interesting blog Tony, illustrating the Good, the Bad and the Ugly... 

The stripy Crocus Vernus is also a favourite for me !!

[tonyg]

Too ugly for photos ... but see recent Bulb Log if you want some graphic details.

I am gradually realising more losses from the pre Christmas cold here.  Plants reveal their death slowly at this time of year.  Added to those mentioned earlier are Tropeaolum tricolorum, various South African romuleas, Tecophilea cyanocrocus (a large potful at the edge of the plunge - those in the middle seem OK), Crocus ochroleucus albino form (smallest offsets seem OK, big corms rotted), Crocus caspius, Narcissus triandrus, Narcissus serotinus and Nerine masonorum. 

As before these are all plants that I have grown in the same way, in the same place for many years.  This was the most severe cold weather event here in at least 20 years.  Most of the losses have come in pots at the edges of the greenhouse bench.  So far I can detect NO LOSSES in the outside frames where the pots sit on a bed of sand, surrounded by concrete blocks.  Despite being 'outside' the insulating effect of the blocks and the ground seem to have made a real difference.  Outside are seedling crocus and other bulbs which might be expected to be more susceptible to extreme cold but these seem OK.  Clearly the greenhouse benches, with cold air above and below are the coldest places.  I will be considering soil warming cables (as Ian Young uses) as an option for the future in the greenhouse benches.

In the short term .... is it worth planting the seed of a dozen Moraea species that I got from exchanges this winter?  Doubt any would have come through this winter

[Darren]

Very sorry to hear of your losses Tony.

If you decide to replace your South African bulbs please let me know and I will send you some seed or bulbs.

[angie]

Hi Tony, first sorry to hear of your losses. I am not very knowledgeable, still learning a lot about pot culture.  When I did my plunge trays I wasn't sure about putting in soil warming cables as I had overhead heating so I did one with and one without. I can't believe the difference in the beds. The one with the heat and it's only set really low has no green algae on the pots or the soil. Also the unheated bed sand is really wet.
This year I will empty my plunge bed and fit warming cables. If we get another winter like the last two I think I better be safe than sorry. I suppose I should have done this right from the beginning then at least if anything went wrong with the overhead heating the plants would have stood a better chance of surviving.

Come on Tony, Darren has made a lovely offer. Get those cables in and get growing and we will benifit by seeing some more of your lovely pictures.

Angie

[tonyg]

Very sorry to hear of your losses Tony.

If you decide to replace your South African bulbs please let me know and I will send you some seed or bulbs.

A kind offer - when I have sorted the cables I will be in touch with an offer of something in exchange.  Big Thank You!

[Gerry Webster]

Tony - I’m very sorry to hear about your losses.
I’ve just been assessing the losses in my garden due to the excessive cold. While not extensive, they are curious. So, most of the contents of two pots of 3 year seedlings of Crocus robertianus (not in leaf at the time) have gone but 4 year seedlings of C. caspius (in leaf) are fine. The first is supposedly hardy while the second is supposedly somewhat tender. A pot of C. banaticus (in leaf at the time) is fine, but next to it, a pot of a later flowering form of the same species (not in leaf) seems to be empty. Very odd.

[tonyg]

I'm feeling slightly better after talking to friends at Harlow Show today.  I am not alone in recording losses this winter.  Even the professionals have been hit.  Rob P reported frames of winter narcissus lost and other alpine species wiped out.  Norman S also suffered in Cambrigeshire, Crocus caspius forms cultivated for decades lost.  Cold with no snow cover was the most damaging. 

[tonyg]

Oh sunny day ..............

A few views of the frames, plants and a problem taken on a bright Sunday morning.
I have 6ft x 4ft of frame taken up with various narcissus.  The winter flowering types have flowered really well this year, seemingly unaffected by the cold, perhaps held up by the cold which means flowers now as the days draw out and the light is better.  I have a lot of damaged flowers, I think it is slugs (little ones) but it might be snails.  I'll take a torch outside in a minute and see if I can catch the little bu****s.  Narcissus x minicycla is one of my favourites.  The whole plant is really tiny, especially if grown 'hard'.  Despite the losses in the greenhouse the picture of the crocus seed frame (2009 sown) shows no sign of cold stress, all pots with growing shoots ... yes growing, not rotting off!

In the greenhouse Fritillaria stenanthera has been quite unaffected by the cold unlike the plants in several of the surrounding pots.  A nice connection with a plant I photographed at Harlow yesterday - the seed of this came from Jim Almond who raised Saxifraga 'Coolock Gem' named after his street and his daughter.
Now the days are warmer Timmy has taken up residence in the greenhouse again, guarding against blackbirds and rodents ... wish I had time to just sit in the sun

[tonyg]

And in the garden ...

Narcissus pallidiflorus (seed raised ex Pyrenees) has been hiding its light under a bush for years.  Our clearance project has opened it up to the light, I will move it out of harms way in the summer.
Narcissus albidus (correct me if I am wrong) is a first season planting.  I'm not sure if it will do well outside but these were spare bulbs so worth an experiment ... at least they are unslugged!
Primula marginata dwarf form was one of the first alpine plants I bought at a show (probably Early Spring twenty or so years ago).  It is a great, easy and floriferous plant for pot, trough or open garden.  The first to flower are under cover but the one in a raised trough is also out now.  In a more shaded trough the buds offer promise of things to come.

[mark smyth]

Most of my autumn flowering Crocus have died due to neck rot and my S. linguata   and Cyclamen and special Primulas ....

[tonyg]

Ouch!!
My autumn crocus frame seems fine, even Crocus caspius which was ko'd in the greenhouse.  Three factors helped: Breezeblock frame provided some insulation, pots were on the ground, not on raised benches and most important of all they were on the dry side.  The pots in the greenhouse benches are smaller and dry more quickly ... so I water them more often, with dire consequences this winter.