June in the Garden

Flaming June? Not yet, but we can hope!
We have been promised a barbecue summer, but isn’t that what they said last year?
Whatever the weather, there’s plenty to enjoy in the garden:

Floral and Hardy’s Top Ten Flowering Plants for June:

1. Allium – Flowering Garlic – still one of my (and many a show garden’s) favourite, a summer bulb with eye-catching, large globular heads of silvery lilac to deep mauve star-shaped flowers on tall stems, and strappy foliage.







2. Astrantia – Masterwort – an old cottage garden plant that can look just as good in more contemporary schemes. The old varieties were a bit insignificant, but some of the new ones are much more vibrant with stunning, wine-red, pin-cushion-like flowers and attractive lobed foliage. They are particularly useful as they tolerate shade.






3. Clematis – many of the really spectacular large-flowered varieties of these climbers are coming into bloom now, with flowers ranging in colour from white to pinks, reds, mauves, blues, and even pale yellow. Easy to look after if you stick to the pruning instructions on the label.




4. Delphinium – Larkspur - what English country garden would be complete without these stately perennials for the back of the border, with attractive deeply cut foliage and spires of flowers ranging from white to pink to mauve to intense deep blue. Truly majestic plants, but not awfully easy to look after, they need really good soil, lots of water and their height means they need staking early on. Slugs and snails can be a real problem in the spring too. Surely worth the effort though?

5. Eremerus – Foxtail Lily – an unusual plant not often seen in gardens, possibly because it can be quite difficult to get the growing conditions right. It needs full sun all day, free-draining soil, protection from cold winds, copious watering during dry weather and protection from frost in winter. If you can provide all this though, they are well worth the effort with spectacular upright flower spikes of white, yellow, orange, peach or pink, rivalled only by the Delphiniums in stateliness.








6. Geranium – Cranes Bill – an undemanding perennial with saucer-shaped flowers in a range of colours from white to pink, mauve and blue, some with attractive veining, above attractive mounds of deeply cut foliage. If you have the time to dead-head the fading flowers, the flowering season will last much longer.




7. Hemerocallis – Day Lily - such a great plant, so named because each flower lasts only a day, but is quickly replaced by another, giving this plant a long flowering season. It’s easy to look after and there are so many colours to choose from. As a bonus the flowers are edible too!







8. Leucanthemum – Shasta Daisy – an easy-to-grow perennial with simple, large white daisy flowers with a prominent yellow eye, great en masse in the borders, but also good for cutting. Attractive double varieties are also available.




9. Philadelphus – Mock Orange - quite large, dense deciduous shrubs, some with beautiful lime green foliage, with masses of large, cupped, gorgeously scented, double white flowers.






10. Syringa – Lilac – one of the mainstays of the British garden, and although it flowers for a relatively short period, the size and fragrance of the blooms of this large shrub more than make up for this. Varieties with white, pink, lilac and purple flowers are available. But remember it’s supposed to be bad luck to bring flowers of the white varieties into the house!







June Tips and Advice

1. You’re safe to plant out your summer bedding now, if you haven’t already done so. Get those hanging baskets up!
2. Keep sowing salad leaves to get a succession of harvests throughout the summer. Courgettes and Swedes can be sown now too.
3. Plant out Tomatoes now and put in the stakes for upright varieties before placing the plants to avoid damaging the roots. There are also many trailing varieties that are good for hanging baskets – attractive and productive too!
4. If you have fan-trained fruit trees, remove any shoots that are growing towards the wall or out from the front of the tree and tie in shoots growing along the supporting wires.
5. Tie in canes of Raspberries and Blackberries, thinning canes out if they have become too congested.
6. Protect developing Strawberries by spreading straw under the plants. (You can also buy strawberry mats from the garden centre, or simply use black polythene).
7. Water everything well if we do get a lot of dry weather. Do it in the evening if you can so that the sun doesn’t dry it up straight away. Also, it’s better to give everything a really thorough watering once a week, rather than a sprinkling every day as this only encourages the roots to come up to the surface where they’ll dry out.
8. Top up ponds and water features regularly as some water will be lost due to evaporation.
9. Feed everything once a week, that way you’ll get a lot more flowers.
10. Tie in all your lovely climbers as they grow so that shoots don’t get damaged or too entangled.
11. Keep looking out for pests and diseases in all your plants and treat before they become too infested.
12. They say the first cut of box hedging should be done on Derby day and indeed all hedges can be pruned in June. Be careful that your tools are sharp and on no account allow the top of the hedge to become wider than the bottom, otherwise the bottom will suffer due to lack of light.
13. If your Ceanothus (Californian Lilac) has got too big, it can be pruned back once the flowers have gone over, as can Evergreen Berberis (Barberry), Chaenomeles (Japanese Quince), Cytisus (Broom), Kerria (Jew’s Mallow), Philadelphus (Mock Orange), Syringa (Lilac) and Weigela.
14. Keep up with your weeding, but don’t forget sometimes to just sit back and enjoy!

For a new garden that can include any of these plants and flowers, contact us to start the process

Are we growing more vegetables?

Over the bank holiday you probably spent some time in your garden. But according to figures of seed sales, vegetables have become more popular than flowers.
In 2005, 60% of seed packets sold were for flowers, but since 2007 sales of vegetable seeds have soared, according to seed supplier Suttons. Last year 70% of seed packets sold were for vegetables.

Following the trend the President's Award at this year's RHS Chelsea Flower Show went to Medwyn's of Anglesey for their wonderful vegetable display.

According to Guy Barter, head of horticulture advice at the Royal Horticultural Society, this trend cannot be explained by climate: "In my opinion this is entirely down to attitudes and interests.

"I suspect that it is not to do with the recession, but I expect you will see that feeding through, although in practice, growing your own is not that much cheaper."

For me it wouldn't be the cost that would matter, but the far better taste of vegetables that you grow yourself. It can't get any better than picking a variety of vegetables and putting them straight into your salad or the cooking pot!

When it comes to fruit, Scotland has the lowest proportion of gardens growing fruit at 17% and the South West once again tops the table with a proportion of 34% of gardens growing fruit.

So is there a reason why those who live further north don't grow fruit and veg?

According to Mr Barter, the variation between North and South is potentially down to the harsher climate in Scotland and northern England: "On the whole, the climate in Scotland is not as good for fruit and vegetables, it's more challenging than in the South to grow things like tomatoes or plums, for example."

Floral & Hardy have many years experience in Garden Design and can help you create the garden that you want, including vegetable patch!

Article produced using the BBC Magazine online

RHS Chelsea Flower Show

Well the Chelsea Flower Show has been a real treat this year with gardens ranging from contemporary, cool of the 'Lights and Colours of the Alps' to the wonderfully inviting and relaxing 'Trailfinders Australian Garden'. The themes are certainly diverse running from the 'Global Stone Bee-Friendly Plants Garden' through to the exotic 'Green & Blacks Rainforest Garden'.

I love every one of them and a favourite is hard to choose. There is certainly something for everyone but I think my own personal favourite would have to be the 'Trailfinders Australian Garden' for its welcoming space, just ready-made for entertaining.
I just love the idea of being in a welcoming outside room when the sun is shining, but of course this happens more often in Oz even though our weather recently has been glorious!

Whichever is your favourite, the Chelsea Flower Show has certainly been spectacular this year.

The best show garden was the Daily Telegraph's Garden "Thrive" by Andy Sturgeon and Medwyns of Anglesey won the President's Award with their magnificent vegetable display.

If you didn't manage to get to the show you can watch the programs on BBC's iPlayer or go to the RHS website to see their coverage.

If you have been inspired, we can help you to create your own piece of paradise. Contact us and we will start the process of designing your own private oasis.

Urban gardening

Floral and Hardy’s designers are well versed in accommodating a variety of small urban spaces, but when we stumbled across the ‘Banksy’ of the garden world it was certainly an inspiring discovery.

Steve Wheen is a man on a mission to highlight two plights; gardening and the ever increasing, contentious issue of potholes in the UK’s roads. Steve attacks the holes in stealth mode, choosing his location carefully and safely so the gardens have as much longevity as possible.

Steve, like many other cyclists and road users, became frustrated with the state of the roads and felt that this was a colourful way make a statement on the issue. "I find potholes a constant menace and I've almost come off my bike several times, I'm also a mad-keen gardener and wanted to make a point,” said Steve.

Image from the Pot Hole Gardener.

We think that this is a grand gesture towards highlighting issues such as potholes in the road as well encouraging green fingers, and that you can have fun with flowers even in the smallest of spaces!

The Floral and Hardy team are equipped to tackle a variety of gardens, in particular small garden design (perhaps not the size of a pothole!) to large corporate spaces. Now that the weather is finally starting to show its summer attributes, it’s the perfect time to spruce up your outdoor spaces and create your own little urban oasis.

A small garden can often be more of a challenge than a huge open space, carefully considered construction, plants that will flourish well in shady corners - Floral and Hardy can make the most of vertical space and layering to get the most out of your outdoor space.

You can follow Steve’s progress on his blog, as well as a colour gallery of his work, by visiting: www.thepotholegardener.com

May in the Garden

May has to be my favourite month in the garden.
Everything’s so fresh and green, and some of my favourite plants are coming into flower now.

Floral and Hardy’s Top Ten Plants for May:

1. Aquilegia – ‘Columbine’ or ‘Granny’s Bonnet’ – an old cottage garden favourite with pretty ferny foliage and dainty flowers with long ‘spurs’. They come in many colours and self-seed freely around the garden. They reach 60-90cms tall depending on variety. Plant them near to the front of the border so you can see the delicate blooms.









2. Azaleas and Rhododendrons – actually azaleas are rhododendrons too, but we tend to think only of the larger leathery-leafed evergreen species as rhododendrons. The deciduous and smaller oriental types, we think of as azaleas. Many of the colourful deciduous varieties are beautifully scented. Generally speaking the azaleas can take more sun than the rhodos, but all need an acid soil. Try and visit one of the open gardens in your area this month to see spectacular displays. You can find out where they are from the Open Garden Scheme or from the RHS.

3. Ceanothus ‘Concha’ (AGM) – ‘Californian Lilac’ - one of my absolute favourite garden shrubs, this has the deepest of blue flowers in profusion. It can grow quite large (about 3ms tall and wide) so you do need space for it, but it’s worth it. Try growing a pink Clematis montana through it for a lovely colour combination, and later flowering Clematis to prolong the flowering season.



4. Cercis canadensis ‘Forest Pansy’(AGM) – Judas Tree – despite its unfortunate common name – given because it was believed to be the tree Judas hanged himself from – this is a really pretty small garden tree. The deep pink flowers give a dramatic display on the bare branches and these are followed by heart-shaped, deep purple leaves, turning yellow in autumn. It will eventually grow about 10ms tall.


5. Choisya ternata (AGM) – ‘Mexican Orange Blossom’ – so called for the sweetly scented white, star-shaped flowers. This is such an easy shrub to grow and I use it a lot in my designs. It’s evergreen and so also makes a good foil for other flowering plants later in the season. There are several different varieties – some with finely divided foliage and some with lime green leaves. It makes a rounded shrub about 1.5ms tall and wide.

6. Convallaria magalis – ‘Lily of the Valley’ – an easily overlooked plant, as it only reaches about 25cms high, until that is, you get a whiff of its wonderful fragrance. The bell-like flowers are generally white and their scent has been used for making perfume for centuries. They make good ground cover in woodland or shady borders.







7. Dicentra spectabilis (AGM) – ‘Bleeding Heart’ – so named for the shape of its pendant flowers, this is another plant that prefers woodland or shady conditions, although it will tolerate sun if the soil is moist. It has attractive ferny foliage and is also available in white. It grows to about 60cms tall.


8. Paeonia suffruticosa – Tree Peony – we’re probably all familiar with the herbaceous peony with its large blousy, blood red flower, but the tree peony is less well known. They make large shrubs (to about 2ms) with attractive deeply cut foliage and big bowls of papery petals in red, pink, white or yellow. They’re not hard to grow, just give them a sunny, sheltered site and stake the flowers if they’re too heavy!




9. Papaver orientale – ‘Oriental Poppy’ – what can I say – big, bold and beautiful. These flamboyant flowers are available in colours ranging from white to deep red, but most have black bases to the petals and prominent black anthers. In recent years the variety ‘Patty’s Plum’ has been very popular, but I like the brighter, orange-red blooms of ‘Marcus Perry’. The only down-side is the fact that the foliage dies down after flowering, so cut back and plant other perennials around them to fill the gaps.


10. Polygonatum hybridum (AGM) – ‘Solomon’s Seal’ – another old cottage garden plant, but its elegant form and flower would look just as good in a contemporary scheme. Its graceful arching stems grow to about 1m high and carry pendant green-tipped, white bells. It’s another one for the shadier parts of the garden.








MAY TIPS AND ADVICE

1. Stake herbaceous plants if you haven’t already done so, particularly tall specimens like delphiniums, to stop the precious flowers being broken off.

2. You can still sow hardy annuals such as nasturtiums, marigolds and sweet peas where they are to flower if you’re quick, otherwise you can sow some perennials outdoors now, such as Lupins, Delphiniums and Achilleas.

3. If you sowed annuals last month you should be ready to thin them out now. On average you should leave about 10-15cms between them but obviously that will depend on the size of the mature plant, but make sure you keep the strongest looking specimens.

4. If you didn’t mulch around your plants earlier, either with good home-made compost, well-rotted manure or bark, do it now to help keep the moisture in the soil.

5. Keep looking out for pests such as aphids and caterpillars and deal with them promptly by whichever method you prefer.

6. Any dead shoots on climbers such as Passiflora (Passion Flower) and Trachelospermum (Evergreen Jasmine) can be pruned out now, and, if it’s got too rampant, old favourite Clematis montana can be cut hard back now, immediately after the flowers have faded.

7. Formal hedges can be cut back to shape this month, although be careful if you have Leylandii that you do not cut back into old brown wood, as this plant does not regenerate.

8. If you have a new pond and are starting to get an algae problem, don’t be tempted to empty the pond and start again, as this will only prolong the problem. Instead remove the blanketing algae by twirling a bamboo cane in it to get it all out, then make sure you have some good aquatic planting to grow on and cast some shade over the pond, such as Water Lilies and Water Hyacinth . Oxygenating plants are also very beneficial and your local aquatics shop can advise you.

9. Early May is really the last chance to sow new lawns

10. Finally, make sure you are watering and feeding everything regularly from now on, especially in periods of dry weather.

April in the Garden

It’s official – the clocks have gone forward and it’s finally spring. We can look forward to warmer weather and longer evenings spent outside enjoying our gardens.

Everything is a little late this year after the long cold winter but plants are waking up now and we should start to see many coming into flower soon.

Top ten flowering plants for April:


1. Amelanchier lamarckii (AGM) – one of my favourite small trees, originating from North America and awarded the Royal Horticultural Society’s prestigious Award of Garden Merit (AGM), this beauty has several seasons of interest. In April we get masses of white flowers at the same time as the young coppery-pink foliage. In July reddish-black edible berries appear and in the autumn the foliage turns wonderful shades of red and orange. A great choice for the smaller garden where plants have to work hard for their place.




2. Chaenomeles ‘Crimson and Gold’ – a tough and undemanding shrub that cheers even the dullest day with its bright crimson flowers with golden anthers, borne in abundance on bare branches. Crops of yellow fruits that can be used for jam or jelly making follow in the autumn. Its spreading nature means it makes a fine wall shrub.




3. Doronicum orientale ‘Magificum’ – a really useful little perennial for the front of the border with attractive tooth-edged, heart-shaped leaves and bright yellow, daisy-like flowers. Its clump-forming nature means that it can help cover up those fading daffodil leaves that can make the garden look so untidy. Contrast them with Scilla non-scripta (Bluebells) or Muscari (Grape Hyacinths) for a fresh blue and yellow spring combination.



4. Euphorbia characias ‘Wulfenii’ (AGM) – a bold, architectural plant, at home in both traditional and contemporary schemes. Evergreen, blue-green foliage and sulphur yellow bracts forming large heads surrounding the tiny flowers. The foliage contrasts beautifully later on in the year with Kniphofia (Red Hot Pokers). Just be careful when handling this plant as the sap can be irritating to the skin.






5. Fritillaria meleagris (AGM) – in contrast to the bold Euphorbia, this is a delicate little bulb for the rockery or for meadow areas. It is commonly known as the ‘Snake’s Head Fritillary’ for its distinctive pattern. Left to its own devices it will spread and naturalise quite happily. Plant it with Primroses for a pleasing colour contrast.


6. Magnolia ‘Susan’ – many Magnolias are actually trees rather than shrubs and simply too large for most gardens, so you need to be selective on which variety to choose. ‘Susan’ is one of the smaller varieties growing to only about 2-3ms tall, making it a more suitable candidate for the smaller garden. It has glorious, fragrant, purple-red, tulip-like flowers. Grow it if you have acid soil and plant it in April if you can, in a spot away from cold winds.




7. Pyrus salicifolia ‘Pendula’ (AGM) - this small tree looks for all the world like a tiny weeping willow – until it flowers! It has the same weeping habit and similar narrow leaves, but the similarity ends there as pretty white flowers appear in spring and small ornamental pears (inedible) appear in the autumn. A delightful addition to any garden.



8. Trillium recurvatum – with the rather disturbing common name of ‘Bloody Butcher’, this is a rather eye-catching woodland plant, but it’s not for everyone. It needs rather specific conditions with shade overhead, moist, well-drained soil below and plenty of leaf mould. If you have these you can enjoy the mottled leaves and beautiful reflexed maroon flowers, each part arranged in threes as the name suggests.

9. Tulipa ‘Apricot Beauty’ (AGM) – everyone’s familiar with the tulip and there are so many varieties to choose from to suit any colour scheme, but this is one of my favourites. The goblet-shaped flowers top sturdy stems and are a delicate salmon-pink fading to beautiful sunset shades before the petals fall.





10. Viburnum carlesii ‘Aurora’ (AGM) – nothing beats the intense fragrance of this shrub in early spring when the rounded heads of pink flowers open from red buds, filling the air with their gorgeous scent. Rich autumn foliage colours add a further season of interest, making this a plant I wouldn’t want to be without.


APRIL TIPS AND ADVICE

1. Your herbaceous plants will all be showing now. Support those that are going to need it before it’s too late! Plants such as ornamental poppies and perennial geraniums can soon start to look messy if they are allowed to flop over.
2. Feed your roses! Also make sure you treat as soon as there are any signs of aphids or black spot.
3. Look out for Lily Beetles (bright red) in your emerging Lilies and Fritillaries. Pick them off and crush them or they’ll demolish the plants in days.
4. If your Viburnums have been attacked leaving the leaves like brown lace you’ve probably got Viburnum Beetle. Spray the new foliage now and at intervals throughout the season to prevent it happening again.
5. Prune early flowering shrubs such as Forsythia, Ribes (Ornamental Currant) and Chaenomeles (Japanese Quince) as soon as the flowers have faded.
6. You can feed your lawn with a spring/summer feed and mow every week from now until the autumn. You can gradually lower the blades.
7. New lawns can be sown now after carefully preparing the soil by raking level, firming and raking again. Make sure you water thoroughly – even if it rains!
8. Wildflower meadows can also be sown now. Make sure you choose a mix that is suitable for your site and soil conditions. There are many mixes available – for wet or dry soils, chalk or clay, shade or sun – easy!
9. You can sow Sweet Peas outside now where they are to flower.
10. April is also the best month to plant Magnolias.

For ideas and inspiration for any garden, visit our garden design portfolio to see how Floral & Hardy can add something special to your garden!

Have you ever discovered hidden treasure in your garden?

Who remembers as children digging in the garden in hope of finding hidden treasure? More often than not our discoveries merely consisted of rusty nails and discarded garden paraphernalia, but that never took away the thrill of the search.

Unfortunately as adults the thrill, and even likelihood, of finding anything of value and antiquity in our garden is seldom, but surely the cardinal question has to be: would you actually say anything if you did?

Last month, a woman was the first person in the UK to be prosecuted for failing to report treasure. Yes, we said treasure! However, this wasn’t the Treasure Island variety involving ancient maps, hostile pirates and inordinate quantities of gold coins; instead she found a 14th Century coin-like object – known as a ‘Piedfort’ – worth £2000 in her back garden.

Although the woman, from Ludlow, took the silver artifact to her local museum back in January 2009 to be identified, she kept hold of the coin up until last month when the police finally came knocking and charged her under ‘Section 8 of the Treasure Act’ (we would love to know the what the other sections include).

(Image by gettyimages.com)

After an investigation by West Mercia police, the woman pleaded guilty to the offence of finding an object believed to be ‘treasure’ and not reporting it. She was ordered to hand over the artifact and presented with a conditional discharge and ordered to pay £25 court costs.

"This is a landmark case and it sends a clear message to those who fail to report Treasure,” said Dr Michael Lewis, Deputy Head of the Department Portable Antiquities and Treasure at the British Museum. “This was the first known case of its kind in the country to have resulted in prosecution.”

Well, let this be a clear warning to us all then. It’s easy to rely on the age-old saying of ‘finders, keepers’ but even treasure buried in our very own garden isn’t legally ours. We’re sure a few rusty nails or fork heads don’t count though….

Our garden design team has worked on hundreds of gardens and projects over the years and never found a single bit of treasure! Maybe you’ll be the first?