Ornamental Japanese Maples are widely available for planting in your garden. The autumn colouring makes these trees spectacular when planted en mass in a woodland or Japanese garden setting.
21.07.2023 - 22:31 / awaytogarden.com
HOW DOES A WHIFF of garden fragrance sound right now—a virtual noseful from an unexpected source: vines and climbers? It includes some headlines in the world of plant breeding—new fragrant clematis with colorful, showy flowers. Vine expert Dan Long suggests these, and more, plus a chance to win some for your garden.Dan Long–proprietor of Brushwood Nursery aka gardenvines.com–is celebrating 15 years of selling an impressive assortment of hundreds of vining and climbing plants. He joined me from Athens, Georgia, on the latest radio show and podcast, to give us a tour through some upwardly mobile choices in the world of scented things. (Details on how to listen and subscribe free to the program are at the bottom of the page.)
my fragrant-vine q&a with dan longQ. I mentioned the recent headlines of new fragrant Clematis–so maybe let’s start there before we talk jasmines and honeysuckles and even some passion flowers and climbing roses, among the many delicious possibilities.When I think fragrant clematis I think of C. montana with tons of tiny flowers covering a trellis, or maybe the sweet autumn clematis, C. terniflora (again with masses of tiny blooms). But how did these new varieties come to pass?
A. A friend of mine in Netherlands, Ton Hannink, developed them. I hesitate to say he is an amateur breeder–because he is very good at what he does and has been at it for two decades, but it is not his profession.
Ton has been working with his connections around the world and with some really rare and interesting species, and worked with one rare fragrant species to come up with these hybrids that are gorgeous, have a terrific fragrance, and a whole new color range–lavender and blue. And the fragrance is not shy at all.
Sugar-Swee
Ornamental Japanese Maples are widely available for planting in your garden. The autumn colouring makes these trees spectacular when planted en mass in a woodland or Japanese garden setting.
The best trees for chalk soil conditions tend to be locally grown and not be Dutch imports. In fact they resemble shrubs more than trees but there are the odd exception that are tree like.
Where would we be if there weren’t already numerous robots used in the gardening industry. Do you imagine there are thousands of Dutch gardeners pricking out the seedlings of the soon to be gaudy annuals on supermarket displays or thousands of Chinese coolies picking individual seeds for our packeted seed industry (well may be in this case).
Look out in other gardens for great bulbs to grow for next spring. This Grape Hyacinth called Muscari Azureum is a clear soft blue that is recommended for naturalising. Muscari Valerie Finnis is also blue whilst most of the other species and varieties flower in shades of purple. Muscari grow well in pots where the foliage can look interesting.
Dutch Iris or Iris reticulata are small bulbs for pots or rockeries. Flag Iris are big and blousy and grow from Rhizomes. These pictures of different Iris are grown from bulbs.
It is the season for houseplants and this Solanum capsicastrum was raised from seed probably in a Dutch hothouse for the UK’s pre Christmas market.
For your amusement or irritation here are some Christmas gifts for your favourite Knome. Hey-Hoe if you want to grow ‘Hey’ then there is this special Hoe.
Slender deutzia (Deuzia gracilis) is a fantastic, but underused deciduous shrub for the sunny to partly sunny landscape. There are several cultivars of Deutzia available, and most produce a profusion of pure white, fragrant flowers during late April and early May. Deutzia will grow well in USDA Zones 5 to 8, which covers most all of South Carolina. In the warmer parts of the state, they will perform best with partial shade.
Looking for a new recipe to help use up your leftover Easter ham? Move over egg salad sandwiches and ham casseroles, and let me introduce you to ham balls! If you have never heard of ham balls you are in for a treat! Ham balls are a Pennsylvania Dutch delicacy. As a native Pennsylvanian, I grew up eating these ham/pork based “meatballs” and remember requesting them (along with scalloped potatoes and baked pineapple) for many birthday dinners. They are easy to make, a great way to use leftover ham, and they freeze well (before or after baking) for a quick-to-serve meal.
Are you frustrated because there are dandelions and other weeds in your lawn? Did you know that dandelion flowers provide one of the first springtime sources of pollen for bees, butterflies, and other pollinating insects?
I noticed that my friend Bob Hyland at nearby Loomis Creek Nursery is counting his twiggy blessings, too, this week—with an ode on his website to Salix ‘Swizzlestick,’ a distinctive corkscrew willow he grows as a dramatic 60-foot hedge.I’m making myself content with much less, but even a little ‘Winter Flame’ (hardy to Zone 4) warms the winter-weary soul. My young plant hasn’t reached full size of 8-10 feet, though at 4 feet it produces a show of yellow-, orange- and reddish-tinged stems that read as coral to my eye.The Dutch breeder of ‘Winter Flame,’ Andre van Nijnatten, has also developed a smaller-stature version called Cornus ‘Arctic Sun’ that is earning high pr
MY GARDENING LIFE STARTED with a hedge—cutting one back hard, specifically. It was the threadbare, tall old privet surrounding my childhood home, and I was determined to “rejuvenate” it, after reading about the process in a book. No artful hedge has ever been created by my hands, though—a fact that feels all the more lamentable after watching Sean Conway’s video tour (above) of designer and nurseryman Piet Oudolf’s garden in the Netherlands. What magic.