September Flower Gallery
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- Jojo
- JaneHollis
- Jojo
- JaneHollis
- Gay_Klok
- JaneHollis
- Jojo
- JaneHollis
- Jojo
- JaneHollis
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» Jojo - fall flowers
Hi JaneI love all your pictures! It certainly doesn't look like fall!
I also have Erysimum 'Bowles Mauve' blooming in the garden along with some of the other shrubby wall flowers (an orange one and also John Coddrington). These seem to bloom on the same stalks from spring to fall, getting taller, leggier, and frankly, uglier as time goes on. Would they have formed new flower stalks if they had been cut back earlier? If so, when is a good time to cut them back?
I'm in coastal British Columbia Canada, much the same climate as Norfolk and Cambs except rainier. I read your articles often because, despite the fact that I am not in the English Country, things seem quite similar here.
-- posted by Jojo
» JaneHollis - Re: fall flowers
In response to message posted by Jojo:Hi JoJo, Textbook advice on the perennial wallflowers is to cut them back after flowering - which is difficult because they never seem to stop flowering!
I must admit I haven't cut mine back at all - I hide the legginess by cramming other plants around them! And also I take cuttings from the older plants so I have plenty of fresh young plants, so the old, tired ones can be discarded (or that's the theory - I haven't pulled out any of the old ones yet!)
I'm sure the plants will rebloom pretty quickly after pruning back, but perhaps the best time to do it will be when you need the flowers least - like June when everything else is centre-stage. And of course avoid frosty times when the new growth could be damaged.
It is interesting to hear what other areas have similar gardening climates to England. Hope yours is not too much rainier than ours, otherwise you will be washed away!
Thanks for dropping by.
-- posted by JaneHollis
» Jojo - Re: Re: fall flowers
Hi JaneI checked on my Erysimum today and see lots of new buds coming. The old straggly blooms are almost 3 feet tall, but still with lots of blooms and buds at the top. I guess I was avoiding having to manicure it -- I'm one of those who likes to chop things down in one fell swoop.
You're right - about the end of June I am not reliant on it for colour, and that seems like a good time to do it.
We do get alot of rain here, apparently twice as much as King's Lynn where I have an aunt who gardens. I've put ditches beside my big herbaceous border and it's now a gravel path. The rest of the garden does almost wash away in the fall.
-- posted by Jojo
» JaneHollis - Rainfall
In response to message posted by Jojo:That does sound like a lot of rain - although Norfolk is part of East Anglia which is renowned for its low rainfall (by British standards!)
I think all English gardeners are waiting with bated breath to see what this autumn brings. This time last year we had relentless torrential rain which caused widespread flooding - I was very glad I live on a hill! We are all hoping it won't be so bad this year. Hope your garden doesn't suffer too much either!
-- posted by JaneHollis
» Gay_Klok - Re: Rainfall
In response to message posted by JaneHollis:Jane, loved your photos. The fuchsia magellanica [pale pink form] has become almost a nuisance in the country garden. And we are certainly a COOL temperate climate this year.
Today is Friday and it is only C 12 and on Sunday the Aus Rhodo Society visit the garden. Forecast is rain Sat, rain Sunday! Will five me time to make biscuits and cake for afternoon tea - if it rains hard enough they will scurry inside anyway :=] We have "real" rain in the country, in the town garden it turns into a kind of spitting, usually
-- posted by Gay_Klok
» JaneHollis - Re: Rainfall, Fuchsias etc
In response to message posted by Gay_Klok:When you say the pale pink Fuchsia is almost a nuisance, do you mean that it is so vigorous, or does it seed itself about?
I must say mine is getting pretty huge, considering it was only a tiny cutting a couple of years ago. It is calling out for a severe pruning as it is hanging right out over the lawn, which annoys my husband when he is mowing! However, it is still producing flowers in great abundance so I am reluctant to do anything with it yet.
I hope your weather is better than forecasted - sporadic showers or drizzle are bearable, I find, but non-stop torrential rain is a totally different matter! Hope the visit is a success!
-- posted by JaneHollis
» Jojo - Re: Re: Rainfall, Fuchsias etc
2 years ago I bought a tiny Fuchsia m. 'Alba', which looks exactly like what you have pictured. I didn't expect it to grow 8 feet in that time. It didn't die back in wood at all last winter, and I'm very curious to see how big this thing is going to get.It started to arch out hugely in all directions last May, so I bought a peice of iron re-bar (reinforcing bar usually used for cement foundation work) and bent it into a gothic arch shape, then struck each end into the ground. I cut back all but three stems of the fuchsia and tied it to the metal, so it's sort of like a fuchsia arbor.
Now, what to grow up the other side? I would choose another fuchsia but if it grew as big as the 'Alba', they would collide in the middle.
-- posted by Jojo
» JaneHollis - Re: Fuchsia Arbor
In response to message posted by Jojo:I think your Fuchsia arbor sounds like a great idea. It made me think that my Fuchsia would probably benefit from being tied into the wall behind it. The size is not so much a probably, it is the sprawliness of it! So fixing it to the wall may help.
What about a clematis to grow up the other side of the arbor? I grow Clematis jackmanii through my pink Fuchsia and it looks really effective. If the two plants met and mingled at the top it wouldn't be a problem - it would just add to the effect.
-- posted by JaneHollis
» Jojo - Re: Re: Fuchsia Arbor
Hi JaneI think you're right - A clematis is probably the way to go, and jackmanii is so forgiving. I need something there because I keep bashing into that end of the arbor -- it's not placed in the most traffic-friendly place.
The only problem with tying fuchsias is that they send up lots of suckers from the base each spring. Mine is encountering it's first year on the arbour and I think I will have lots of chopping to do next May to maintain the look. They also suffer quite easily from overcrowding, but if you spaced out the branches on the wall they'd likely be fine. I notice mine is quite brittle now. Spring is probably the time to be bending the branches.
There's nothing cooler than those old magellanica specimens you see growing in conservatories. Some are trained into tree forms and the twisted bark is such a gorgeous point of interest. I was hoping mine will do that eventually, and I've been rubbing off shoots that appear along the long stems to try to get a knobbly old look.
-- posted by Jojo
» JaneHollis - Re: Ancient Fuchsia standards
In response to message posted by Jojo:I know what you mean about those ancient standard-trained Fuchsia magellenicas - one of my neighbours has one growing in his garden. Must ask him how old it really is.
-- posted by JaneHollis
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