Factsheet 25 – 8th October 2015
Jim, George and Carole were in the Secret Garden on a lovely day and the sunny weather was bringing out the autumn colours.
There is a fabulous planting combination here of a tree called Cercidophyllum japonicum under planted with Kniphofia (Red hot pokers).
Cercidophyllum japonicum is a favourite with our presenters andwas talked about endlessly at the Rothesay Roadshow on Bute.
In the autumn when the first frosts hit it starts to smell of candy floss or strawberry jam.
The Corylopsis (above) which George gave a hard prune last year was also starting to show some leaf colour as was Bergenia cordifolia or ‘elephant’s ears’ (below).
Featured plants
Cercidophyllum japonicum Kniphofia
Corylopsis pauciflora
Bergenia cordifolia ‘Purpureum’
Show bulbs
George was outside the greenhouse. It is time to start planting bulbs for entering into the spring flower shows. If you fancy having a go at it, George explained that the best thing to do is to work back from the show date to find out when to plant them. Approximately 12 weeks is required for the bulbs to grow and be ready in time for the show.
George planted up some hyacinths and commented that these are garden hyacinths and not prepared bulbs for flowering at Christmas. These will flower for shows at Easter time.
He used deep pots, such as old rose or clematis pots, so that the roots will have plenty of depth to grow in. He filled the pots with a compost made of bracken and wool with some added grit for drainage.
The bulbs were really packed into the pots onto the top of the compost with their noses above the compost.
George noted that you need to read the information about the class you are entering. For example George planted three bulbs of the hyacinth ‘Ann Mary’ in a pot as three bulbs is the number required to display together to enter for this particular class.
The pots were then put into a plunge bed and covered with about 6” of used compost (from old grow bags etc). This weighs down the bulbs and keeps them positioned in their pots.
They would be left in the plunge bed until January. George being the old romantic suggested Burns Night (25th January) for the Aberdeen show in March or Valentine’s Day for the Caley (Edinburgh) show at the end of March/beginning of April.
With the Narcissi he planted as many bulbs as would fit into a pot. The aim was to get all of these to flower and be in perfect condition on the day of the show.
Featured bulbs that George is using (supplied by Blom’s Bulbs)
Hyacinth ‘Ann Mary’ (pink) Hyacinth ‘Aiolus’ (white) Hyacinth ‘Delft Blue’
Narcissus ‘Anniversary Gift’ (Div 2) Narcissus ‘Camelot’ (Div 2)
Narcissus ‘Ice Follies’ (Div 2) Narcissus ‘Delnashaugh’ (Div 4) Narcissus ‘Jack the Lad’ (Div 4) Narcissus ‘Tahiti’ (Div 4)
Borderline hardy shrubs
Jim was in the Trials Area. About a year ago Jim planted six borderline-hardy shrubs to test their winter hardiness.
These are shrubs that are widely available and described as being fully hardy. Last year we had one of the mildest winters in years, so they haven’t really been tested for hardiness yet. All survived and are doing OK.
Jim has decided to leave them in for another winter to see what happens this time.
Abelia grandiflora is a superb plant and has just finished flowering and has lovely autumn colour.
Caryopteris ‘Heavenly Blue’ is very good for late colour, but can suffer in a cold winter.
Ceratostigma plumbaginoides died right back even in the mild winter of last year but has come back this summer. Perhaps this would do OK in our climate with a bit more shelter.
There are also two lovely Buddlejas here. Jim explained that these are very different from the common Buddleja davidii – these are less tall and more delicate.
Buddleja weyeriana ‘Sungold’ has gorgeous golden flowers which the butterflies love and Buddleja fallowiana has fresh grey foliage. They can both be hit really hard in the winter.
Ceanothus repens (Californian lilac) can fail completely in a hard winter. We will return in the spring to see how they fare this time.
Featured plants Abelia grandiflora
Caryopteris ‘Heavenly Blue’ Ceratostigma plumbaginoides Buddleja weyeriana ‘Sungold’ Buddleja fallowiana
Ceanothus repens
Scone Palace
This was the final visit to Scone Palace where Brian Cunningham, Head Gardener, reviewed the progress made this year on the plant hunter David Douglas’s memorial trail. There are probably very few gardens in Britain that do not grow a plant from the introductions of David Douglas. He is quoted as collecting around 20,000 specimens and covering almost 8000 miles on foot.
Poached egg plant
This year the team have added to the mature plantings, in early spring - by sowing annuals such as Poached egg plant and Californian poppy.
They have also added modern cultivars of Douglas’s conifers such as Abies procera 'Glauca Prostrata’ to create the effect of water coming down a slope. He has also planted a weeping version of the Douglas Fir.
There was still some colour in the garden with the vivid lupins (no image) and pale pink Sidalcea malviflora 'Rosaly'.
Sidalcea malviflora 'Rosaly'
Brian planted bulbs for next spring. But first he removed the Godetia plants which were starting to go over, prepared the soil by adding leaf mould and then planted up Erythronium grandiflorum bulbs for next years display.
He planted them up in a naturalistic way by throwing them up into the air and planting them where they landed. Erythroniums are good candidates for naturalising under trees and shrubs.
Acer macrophyllum
In another part of the garden Brian planted up some David Douglas Acers - Acermacrophyllum, known as the big leafed maple Acer circinatum the vine leafed maple (no image), and two named varieties of Acer circinatum called ‘Burgundy Jewel’ (its purple foliage will prefer full sun) and ‘Pacific Fire’.
‘Burgundy Jewel’
Brian explained the different containers used for these plants including air pots which create even root structures, plastic pots and root balls (field grown, delivered in hessian).
‘Pacific Fire’
Featured plants
Abies procera 'Glauca Prostrata’ Poached Egg plant
Californian poppy Lupin
Sidalcea malviflora 'Rosaly' Erythronium grandiflorum Acer macrophyllum
Acer circinatum
Acer circinatum ‘Burgundy Jewel’ Acer circinatum ‘Pacific Fire’
For further information about Scone Palace, visit their website -
http://scone- palace.co.uk/palace-grounds/gardens-and-grounds
A special thank you to Ian Young of the SRGC for providing the photos of Erythronium grandiflorum in full flower.
Spring bulbs and bedding
George and Carole were in the Trials Area where they were admiring the sunflowers for the last time.
The variety ‘Giraffe’ has finally started flowering and has reached a staggering 3.6m in height with still some more growing to do.
Fluffy Sunflower ‘Teddy Bear’ has also done well despite the rain.
George also commented on his very productive square metre vegetable plot. There have been three/four harvests from there, and this week there was the last of the harvesting to be done and then the plot would be put to bed for the winter.
Carole and George then moved on to planting up spring bedding plants and bulbs for next year. The idea is to carry on the square metre planting theme – Jim did a little trial last spring with squares of bedding plants planted at different spacings.
For this display there are wallflowers, myosotis, polyanthus, violas and pansies with bulbs added to give some height and colour contrast to the display.
Wallflowers flower late at Beechgrove so Carole combined these with the later flowering Darwin and May tulip hybrids.
Heights were important in this scheme, Carole wanted to complement the under planting with appropriate heights and colours of bulbs.
Blue pansies were combined with yellow tulips and yellow violas with a cyclamineus Narcissus called ‘Tracey’, which has a yellow trumpet and white petals. These will be tried out to see what our favourites are for next year.
Featured varieties
Bulbs (supplied by Bloms Bulbs) Daffodil ‘Jamestown’ (small cupped) Daffodil ‘Stint’ (triandrus)
Daffodil ‘Tracey’ (cyclaminieus) Daffodil ‘Warbler’ (cyclaminieus) Dwarf Narcissi ‘Jack Snipe’ Dwarf Narcissi ‘Rip Van Winkle’
Tulip ‘Angel’s Wish’ (May) Tulip ‘Calgary’ (early single) Tulip ‘Monte Carlo’ (early double) Tulip ‘Olympic Flame’ (Darwin) Tulip ‘Showwinner’ (Kaufmanniana) Tulip ‘Stunning Apricot’ (May)
Spring bedding (plants grown in Scotland, supplied to garden centres by A. G. Young) Wallflower ‘Orange’ Wallflower ‘Primrose’ Wallflower ‘Yellow’ Myosotis Polyanthus ‘Blue’ Polyanthus ‘Red’ Polyanthus ‘Yellow’ Viola ‘Coconut Duet’ Viola ‘Yellow Blotch’ Pansy ‘Blue Whiskers’ Pansy ‘Midnight Glow’
Clearing out the greenhouse
George and Jim were outside the greenhouses admiring the late colour here.
Our little potted Acer looked like it was on fire.
The Sanvitalia is still flowering and doing well and looked great planted beneath the dark leaves of the Ricinus.
There was also a variation of the Scotch marigold still flowering away outside the tomato greenhouse. George noted that this was hardy down to 2°C.
Jim and George went into the tomato greenhouse (Robinsons). It was time to clear it out and clean it for next year.
There were a lot of green tomatoes left– it’s been a very poor year for tomatoes. George suggested making chutney with these by cooking them down with onion, sugar, raisins and vinegar and apples.
George started to remove the string supports from the plants and to take them down.
Jim noticed some botrytis on one of the plants and commented that he used to fumigate the greenhouse with the plant material in it to kill off any diseases before putting the material on the compost heap.
In order to fumigate successfully, all of the vents and doors in the greenhouse need to be closed. You need to check for any repairs first and undertake some maintenance.
One of the vents in the greenhouse was broken so this would need to be repaired before fumigation can take place.
The greenhouse can be fumigated with a sulphur or garlic candle. It should then be vented and cleaned with a proprietary greenhouse cleaner. George recommended Citrox – a cleaner based on Citric acids.
George suggested that you could also gently power wash it to remove any dirt, especially from all the nooks and crannies. Hopefully it will be a better tomato season next year.
Featured plants Sanvitalia ‘Aztec Gold’ Ricinus gibsonii
Calendula ‘Blond and Brisk’ Calendula ‘Orange Ice’ Calendula ‘Sun Flurries’
Tillypronie Garden
Carole visited Tillypronie Garden on Royal Deeside. This is one of the highest gardens in the UK at 1,125ft.
She met with Head Gardener Kate Redpath who gave her a tour of the garden. Kate was potting up primula seedlings that had germinated in the path and in the water garden. Kate explained that invasive Skunk cabbage has been removed from this part of the garden thus allowing the seeds which had been dormant for many years to show through. Astilbes were providing late colour and Inula gigantean were still looking good at this point in the year.
Carole had come to Tillypronie to see the heather beds near the house. These beds were laid out in the early 1950s by the late Lord Astor. These have been clipped into a cloud formation after flowering each year and even though they are more than 60 years old they still look good. The current Lord Astor – Philip, is keen to keep the status quo of these magnificent heather beds, so Kate continues with the pruning regime. Originally 40 varieties of heather were planted. At this point the Irish Heath was looking lovely (Daboecia)
They then moved up to the terraces close to the Victorian House built in 1867. Kate explained that there was lots of late summer colour here as the house entertained shooting parties during the late summer.
The plants included real good do-ers like Monarda and Helianthemum (perennial sunflower). Nasturtiums are a bit of a Tillypronie tradition and have been under planted with spring bulbs to extend the colour throughout the season.
Monarda
Helianthus
There have been further developments to the Rose Garden where the pink Rose ‘Queen Mother’ has been under planted with pink Geranium sanguineum to cover the bare earth.
Rose ‘Queen Mother’
There is so much more to see so Carole would love to visit again.
Geranium sanguineum
Further details and opening days can be found on Scotland’s Gardens website – They are also open for private tours by arrangement.
http://www.scotlandsgardens.org/gardens/gard en/0d202cc7-3093-478c-995b-999801042ad5 Twitter @Tillypronie
Jim was in the Cutting Garden looking at the apple ‘Redlove’.
This is a top heavy plant with lots of fruit. Jim explained that you need to ensure that plants are properly staked to protect them from the autumn gales. The ties need to be secured to the stake so that the plant does not suffer from wind rock. This can cause damage to the roots and the plant could die.
Featured variety Apple ‘Redlove’
Carole was in the Calendar Border. There has been a lot of bulb planting for spring colour this week.
It is also worth extending the season by planting bulbs for summer and autumn colour. Carole planted Eremurus (Foxtail Lily) for summer colour. The bulb looks like an asparagus crown and you need to spread out the roots carefully when planting.
For autumn colour, Carole planted autumn crocus (Colchicums).
Featured bulbs (supplied by De Jager) Eremurus ‘Cleopatra’
Eremurus ‘Foxtrot’
Eremurus ‘White Beauty Favourite’ Crocus speciosus ‘Albus’
Crocus speciosus ‘Conqueror’ Colchicum autumnale
Colchicum autumnale ‘Alboplenum’
George was in the Gentian dry river bed. It was a bit disappointing as George had planted last year for a ‘torrent’ of gentians but instead there was only a trickle.
George decided to augment the display by planting more gentians of the same varieties to those that are already here. He also added white violas around the edges of the river to look like foam. Featured plants Gentian ‘Balmoral’ Gentian ‘Braemar’ Gentian ‘Caley’ Gentian ‘Troon’
Viola sororia ‘Immaculata’
Jim, Carole and George were in the Cutting Garden where they were admiring the splendid late colour of the chrysanthemums.
Featured Chrysanthemum varieties (outdoor collections from Halls of Heddon - Blooms, Sprays, Korean & Rubellums) Chrysanthemum ‘Allouise’ (Bloom) Chrysanthemum ‘Astro’ (Spray)
Chrysanthemum ‘Bronze Dee Gem’ (Spray) Chrysanthemum ‘Membury’ (Spray)
Chrysanthemum ‘Pennine Swan’ (Spray) Chrysanthemum ‘Southway Sheeba’ (Spray) Chrysanthemum ‘Mary Stoker’ (Intermediate) Chrysanthemum ‘Myss Saffron’ (Intermediate)
Chrysanthemum ‘White Gem’ (Intermediate) Chrysanthemum ‘Primrose Dorothy Stone’ (Intermediate)
Chrysanthemum ‘Nell Gwynn’ (Korean & Rubellum)
Chrysanthemum ‘Perry’s Peach’ (Korean & Rubellum)
Chrysanthemum ‘Ruby Mound’ (Korean & Rubellum)
It’s the last programme and it’s all about jobs to do at this time of year, preparing for
winter and for next spring too. Beechgrove 2016
Problem Corners
We would like to hear from you if you would like us to come and sort out a problem in your garden. This is NOT a makeover but a small niggling problem that you have in your garden. Roadshows
You might remember this year that we all went on tour to Tarland and also to Rothesay
for two Beechgrove Roadshows. We hosted some entertaining Q&A sessions and visited lovely gardens of the area.
We would like to do similar next year and would like to hear from you if your area has a venue suitable for a Q&A session as well as
having gardens that typify the local growing conditions. How to apply: http://www.beechgrove.co.uk/how-to-apply or write to us at: Beechgrove Garden Tern TV 73 Crown Street Aberdeen AB11 6EX
George’s Green Tomato Chutney Green tomatoes Apples Raisins Brown sugar Pickling vinegar 1 tsp salt
Chop up the ingredients, place into a pan and cover with the vinegar. Simmer until thick and gloopy. Place into warm sterilised jars.
Tillypronie
They are open for Scotland's Gardens on the first Sunday in June and the last Sunday in August. They are also open for private tours, by appointment – minimum group size 10, maximum 60. Cost is currently £10.00/head which includes a guided tour and cream tea. [email protected]
We are also on twitter @Tillypronie
You can find more information on gardens involved in Scotland’s Garden Scheme on their website:
http://www.scotlandsgardens.org/gardens/all
The Beechgrove Garden is produced for BBC by Tern – www.terntv.com 73 Crown Street Aberdeen AB11 6EX HAPPY GARDENING!
