Tag Archives: gardening

Winter Gardening – What to do in January

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It’s the new year!

And it’s the middle of winter!

It’s tough to feel excited about that when it’s frosty and wet outside. You look over at your garden and think there’s not much going on out there.

But the grey winteriness of January is actually a fine time to prepare for a busy spring and summer.

Here’s some suggestions.

In general

  • Keep the birds going. Winter can be hard for them as their water sources freeze and food is more scarce so keep those feeders full and leave some of the garden a little untidy (read: wild) so they and other creatures can enjoy a bit of shelter
  • Compost/re-purpose your Christmas tree
  • Make a bug hotel and help keep your gardens eco system healthy
  • Tidy up the shed/greenhouse and sharpen your tools

 

Peonies

  • As you may know, come frost or snow, peonies really revel in the winter as it’s a time for them to rest and digest and get ready for spring. If you’ve cut them back in autumn once the leaves had wilted and put a little mulch around them (not in the middle) you can leave them be. They are hardy to about -20C and usually flower better than ever after a cold winter
  • If you didn’t cut the leaves back it’s best to do so as soon as possible to prevent the wet from bringing on the mould. And if there’s already some mould on the remains, don’t compost this foliage, rather put it straight in the bin. That’s the kind of love you don’t want to spread

 

Other Plants

  • Plan what you want to plant in spring and order the seeds, bulbs and tubers now
  • Check any supports or protection you put around your plants are still enduring
  • Look out for weeds and remove from the root
  • Get those bare root plants in now such as fruit trees, shrubs, hedges, peonies, roses and hardy geraniums
  • If you have already have fruit trees, shrubs, bushes and roses, now’s a good time to prune them
  • Dahlia can be uprooted, dried out and stored inside now to protect them from the harsh winter conditions. See how to overwinter them here
  • Harvest winter veg such as parsnips, kale, brussel sprouts and leek
  • Grow some microgreens or sprout some sprouts in your kitchen

 

After Heavy Snow

  • Remove snow from greenhouses and hedges to prevent damage
  • Try not to walk on the grass after heavy snow or frost as it will damage it. But if you must make a snowman, the fun is worth the risk

 

Indoor Container Plants

  • Make sure indoor plants are well hydrated and misted often as central heating can dry the air out and damage them

 

Outdoor Container Plants

  • Make sure your outside plants are getting enough water especially if partly sheltered. The soil should be damp by at least a hand’s depth
  • At the same time, you don’t want them too wet. Raise outdoor container plants onto feet or bricks to avoid them having soggy “feet”

 

As you can see, there’s plenty to do so we better get going!

What Peonies Teach Us

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With this time of constant change and having to keep re-inventing the wheel, the saying “Adapt or die” comes to mind...

But we prefer the more hopeful spin on that idea.

To rather think of what we’ve learnt during this time of uncertainty. Something along the lines of:

"A garden is a grand teacher. It teaches patience and careful watchfulness; it teaches industry and thrift; above all it teaches entire trust." — Gertrude Jekyll

Yes, our precious peony plants have taught us all these things and more. We are so grateful to have had a connection to nature through all of this. It has been an anchor in many ways.

And it seems we aren’t the only ones experiencing that. Many are turning to plants to find some peace and calm in the chaos. Sales of seeds have grown exponentially as window-sill gardens and veggie patches pop up everywhere.

Some that swore they’d never have kids are now trying their hand at plant parenting.

So what are some of the things we’ve learnt from the peonies we are privileged to care for?

Flexibility and Resilience

The only guarantee in life is change so we’ve got to be flexible. Although we’ve had a topsy turvy season this year, it’s been amazing to see how our peonies learnt to adapt and still put on a good show, even if a little late.

In spite of all the unpredictability of what is happening with us humans, those plants and animals just keep doing their thing. With grace and beauty.

Patience

Peonies show us how to hurry up and wait!

For a start, when growing them from seed, peony seeds need to go through a double vernalisation. Then you need to wait another five years to see if the flower is worth anything. Then you’ve got to bulk it up, either the slow way of dividing every two years or the short cut of tissue culture. And still you’ll be lucky to get anything in your life time.

Also, with the flowering season being delayed this year and the show being relatively short anyway, we’ve really had to be present to every moment of this celebration of blooms.

Slowing down and taking all the beauty in each day has had a revitalising effect, helping us to appreciate many other fleeting, yet monumental moments in life.

Contentment

As we know, peonies are not difficult to care for. In well-drained soil with enough sun and a bit of water, they’re good to go. In fact, the peony’s ability to survive for decades untended is testament to its incredible hardiness and longevity.

Now we’re not suggesting you starve and deprive yourself down to the barest necessities. But it got us thinking of the benefits of being content with a simple life and to use life’s challenges as growing opportunities.

What do you think?

What have you learnt from your peonies?

Meet “Etched Salmon” Peony – Plant of the Month

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So we picked “Etched Salmon” as our Plant of the Month. Isn't she lovely?

You'd be forgiven for mistaking these blooms for the underside of a ballerina's tutu. When spring rolls around, you’ll have these Swan-Lake-ruffled-feathery-fluffs in pink, gently prancing around upside down in your garden.

Sound blooming marvelous? Well, we think so too!

“Etched Salmon” is a rare herbaceous double hybrid variety first coming into being in 1968 and registered in 1981 by Cousins and Klehm, being awarded Gold Medal as "Peony of the Year" by the American Peony Society in 2002.

Interestingly, this variety was the only one to last all six days in the heat on our stand at the Chelsea Flower Show in 2019. Now that’s a tough cookie!

So let’s get the specs from toe to top on what this beauty’s all about:

Roots Fibrous, located close to the surface of the soil.

Stems Strong, each ending with a bud

Leaves Large, petiolate, medium green in a compact bush up to 80 cm high with divided foliage. Stays full until either the first frost or autumn. Resistant to wind and rain.

Buds You’ll see buds in the second year after planting and in the third and fourth year it’ll be blooming like a bomb

Blooms Silvery coral pink with a golden border around the edges. Resembles a rose in its rounded shape created by large outer guard petals protecting a bounty of smaller more delicate ones getting darker to the centre. Changes colour several times during flowering but won’t fade in the sun. Can be 16-17cm in diameter.

Aroma Delicate lemony aroma. (When will we have a scratch and sniff function on screens?)

If you’ve fallen in love and want to welcome this darling into your garden family click on the pic on the right! Autumn is the perfect time to start with one. As long as your soil is full of goodness and well drained (especially in winter) your peonies will be that gift that just keeps on giving with minimal maintenance. If you already have peonies and they didn't flower, Alec sheds some light on that here.

Although herbaceous peony stems die back in autumn and winter, don't worry that the cold has killed it off. Peonies need the cooler weather to work hard on developing flower buds to delight you with in spring.

We love seeing this change as autumn ushers in those crisp, cool mornings preparing us for the regeneration work of winter. A wide range of autumn colours can be found on herbaceous peonies. After they have changed colour, the next stage can look a bit dull as the foliage turns brown and curls up. However, this is good news for friendly insects such as ladybirds as they use the leaves to hibernate in. So leave those leaves alone for as long as possible, for ladybird’s sake.

We find it endlessly rewarding seeing the many faces of these plants as they live their lives alongside ours. And that's why we LOVE PEONIES! Because they last forever (60-100+ years) and they just keep getting better and more forgiving and giving with time!

If you'd like to get more into the nitty gritty of planting peonies in autumn we will be talking more about that later this month.

So pop back in to pick up some handy tips and ask us any questions you have!