For a lovely splash of colour, plant some cyclamen - they are sure to brighten up any garden. For other ideas for planting and for this month's tips and advice, go to http://www.floralandhardy.co.uk/projects/22.html

Will it be a white Christmas? Wouldn't that be lovely!
If not, and the rain and snow stay away, you can make use of your deck, patio or courtyard in your garden. Even if you have a small garden, you don't need much room to party! If you'd like a garden makeover, have a look at some of these small gardens, patio designs and courtyard designs to give you some inspiration, then all you need is the excuse to party! http://tinyurl.com/garden-designs

The Gardener's Prayer

O Lord, grant that in some way it may rain every day, say from about midnight until three o-clock in the morning, but, you see, it must be gentle and warm so that it can soak in; grant that at the same time it would not rain on

campion,





alussum,




helianthemum,




lavender



and the others which in your infitine wisdom know are drought-loving plants - I will write their name on a bit of paper if you like - and grant that the sun may shine the whole day long, but not everywhere

(not, for instance, on spiraea,




or on gentian,





plaintain lily,






and rhododendron)




and not too much; that there may be plenty of dew and little wind, enough worms, no plant-lice and snails, no mildew, and that once a week thin liquid manure and guano may fall from heaven. Amen

Karel Caper The Gardener's Year 1929

December in the Garden

Hope you’ve managed to escape the deluge and haven’t suffered too badly. We’ve been fairly lucky in the south-east but I know others haven’t been so fortunate. If your garden is not completely under water, there are still plenty of flowers to enjoy in December.
Here's my top ten:

1. Camellia sasanqua – we normally associate Camellias with spring-time, but this is a really handsome evergreen shrub that bares large single, white, pink or red flowers from autumn through to spring. It can get quite big though so place carefully.



2. Chimonanthus praecox – Winter Sweet – a large deciduous shrub with, as the name suggests, sweetly fragrant, yellow flowers in winter. Cut some shoots to take indoors to enjoy the spicy aroma.






3. Clematis cirrhosa – an evergreen climber with attractive foliage and masses of creamy bell-shaped flowers from late autumn to early spring.







4. Cyclamen cuom – a low-growing plant to add a splash of dazzling red, pink or white, flowering December – March above attractive marbled foliage.




5. Hamamelis mollis – Witch Hazel - a really valuable large shrub or small tree, with oval bright green leaves with orange, yellow and red autumn colours and fragrant orange, red or yellow flowers on the bare branches. Again, cut some for indoors, or plant near to entrances to enjoy the sweet scent as you pass by.




6. Iris unguicularis – pretty lavender blue, scented flowers in winter and evergreen grassy foliage. Quite low-growing though, so make sure you plant them somewhere you can appreciate the fragrance – maybe in a raised bed?




7. Jasminum nudiflorum – Winter Jasmine – a really cheerful splash of yellow is provided by this rather lax shrub in winter. Tie it into supports to keep it tidy.





8. Mahonia media – another bright yellow flower, scented this time - and very attractive to Blue Tits I find! The evergreen holly-like leaves also make this an attractive large shrub for the rest of the year.




9. Prunus subhirtella ‘Autumnalis’ – Autumn Cherry - a smallish, ornamental cherry tree with interesting bark, oval green leaves and pink or white flowers November – March – very pretty.




10. Viburnum tinus – a common sight in many gardens, and for good reason as it’s easy to grow and also grows quite fast. It has glossy dark green foliage and clusters of white flowers from red buds December – March.




DECEMBER TIPS AND ADVICE
1. If your garden is at all wet, try to stay off the lawn, otherwise you’ll end up with a mud bath!
2. The same applies to your flower beds, but if it’s not too bad, borders can still be dug over in preparation for spring planting. Clay soils can be improved by adding plenty of grit, old potting compost if you have it, or well-rotted leaf mould.
3. Protect any tender shrubs with straw if you haven’t done so already.
4. Check on tree ties to make sure they’re secure against winter winds.
5. New deciduous hedges can still be planted now as long as the ground is not frozen or waterlogged.
6. If we get any snow, make sure you carefully brush it off shrubs and hedges to prevent damage.
7. If you’ve got a greenhouse, make sure you ventilate it whenever possible and water plants only when absolutely necessary to prevent rotting.
8. Check over all your tools and equipment before putting it away for winter - sharpen secateurs and knives, oil the pivots, thoroughly clean chemical sprayers, etc.
9. If you’ve left a pump submerged in a water feature, continue to run it for a few minutes at a time every week or two. Remember to maintain an ice-free patch in ponds both to protect the fish if you have them, and to prevent cracking in the pond liner.
10. Finally, long winter evenings can be passed by going through seed catalogues and deciding what you are going to grow next year – exciting!

The Stinkiest Flower

Latin Name - Amorphophallus titanum
Common Name - Corpse flower or Titan Arum

It comes from Sumatra and you can smell it half a mile away!

Up to 3m tall, this is the biggest and smelliest flower in the world. When it blooms it releases a disgusting smell, a bit like rotting meat that can be smelled over a long distance. Since the plants tend to be a long way apart and do not flower very often, the scent is thought to be essential for attracting insects to spread their pollen.

There are a number of flowers that smell bad and they are often pollinated by flies, beetles or other insects that normally feed on dead animals.

Why cut back flowers?
It’s not just trees and shrubs that need pruning. Flowering perennials, annuals and bedding plants will make more flowers, better quality blooms or bushier plants with the odd nip and tuck. There are several easy, undemanding techniques that can be carried out while you are pottering around the garden

Promote flowering
The majority of flowers bloom and set seed, a natural climax to the growth cycle. Deadheading flowers as they fade not only tidies up the plant, but it interrupts this sequence and stimulates new flowers to appear.
Deadhead fading flowers of bedding plants, annuals and herbaceous perennials regularly to stimulate new blooms and prevent plants from self-seeding.
With lupins, foxgloves, delphiniums and verbascum as soon as the flowers begin to fade, completely remove spent spikes to their base or nearest bud.
This technique also prevents unwanted self-seeding of many perennials. Simply snap off the dead flower with your thumb and forefinger.
Try it on summer bedding plants and annual and biennial flowers, such as calendula, godetia and pansies.

Make bushier plants
Many plants concentrate their energy in a single tip bud, while other buds along the stem remain dormant.
If the tip bud is removed then buds lower down will produce side shoots. This is called stopping, pinching or tip pruning and is used to make bushier growth.
Some plants will only need pinching once, such as bedding plants and sweet peas. Several perennials may need pinching a few times – take out the initial bud of a dahlia and then pinch out the resulting side growth.

Keep perennials compact
Chopping back perennials in late-spring will make bushier plants that flower later on in the season and often flower more prolifically. Known as the Chelsea chop, it is carried out in late May, soon after the famous flower show has finished.
To do this, cut or pinch back plants by half. Sedum, rudbeckia, echinacea, helenium and golden rod will all respond well to this technique.

Prevent plants from becoming leggy
Lightly shearing over aubrieta, lavender and alyssum after flowering combines deadheading with light pruning. It will prevent leggy growth, keep plants compact and produce an abundance of flowers the following year.

Prevent Pests
Cut back yellowing foliage on hardy perennials such as day lilies, crocosmia and asters. It will make the garden look tidier and stop pests from using the leaves as shelter over winter.

(reproduced from the BBC Gardening website)

"Get Your Grown-ups Growing Day" was launched at the beginning of October with the help of Neasden Primary School in Hull, Blue Peter Gardener, Chris Collins and RHS Regional Advisor, John Hickling. This month-long drive to get parents and the wider community to support school gardening forms the next stage of the RHS Campaign for School Gardening. Piloted in Yorkshire, 76 schools have registered to take part so far. Plans are underway to roll this initiative out in more regions next year.

Here at Floral and Hardy we have created this wonderful outdoor classroom for James Ellison school in Slough and it is already a working garden providing the school its own vegetable plot!

Have a look at the whole project:
http://tinyurl.com/yl4lulq