What a Day for Hemerocallis – the Daylily

This is the Royal Horticultural Society symbol for the Award of Garden Merit ‘AGM’. This award indicates that the plant is recommended by the RHS.

A Coronary Garden was more popular in late Victorian times but as I discovered it goes back beyond the 17th century. Coronary gardens were  used to grow flowers that could be used for wreaths and garlands and take their name Coronary from the word crown not the health problem.

‘Organic Fruit and Vegetable Gardeners Year, The A Seasonal Guide to Growing What You Eat’ by Graham Clarke

The Poppy Appeal supporting the British Legion

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.

For the answers hover over the photograph. The variety shouldn’t affect how the seed looks but there may be differences in the seedhead itself.

This is one of the many books in my collection but the only one to focus on growing big, bigger and biggest vegetables. If you want to grow giant vegetable for exhibition or to get large crops then there are many pointers in ‘How to Grow Giant Vegetables’ by Bernard Lavery and below.

Great April weather has produced a harvest of blossom on my apple trees. With no danger of frost and plenty of insects there should be no problem with pollination. Even the later flowering apples trees have open blossom and this means the essential cross pollination by more than one species will be taking place.

Seeds are self sown when seeds germinate and grow without the help of a gardener. The majority of plants grow, flower, get pollinated then set seeds. If seeds are then distributed naturally from the plant they are self sown.

From pitchers to pictures

Succulents demonstrate the ability to adapt and survive in the harshest of environments. They are well known for growing in dry inhospitable locations such as desert areas.  As shown in the range of families in this plant group there is an astonishing variety of size, shape, form  and colour to be found.

My perennial Phlox have been a good stalwart flower for cutting and filling a vase this last few weeks. I found the pink colours had more scent but all the Phlox seemed to drink copious amounts of water (I wondered if water and scent were related). The Penstemon in the same vase as the Phlox was not as successful as they had a far shorter life. Another successful long lasting cut flower is the Alstromeria. The Reds performed better than the yellows but both lasted over a week.