A Day Out at Swines Meadow Farm Nursery

A great display of Begonias At Swines Meadow

When I first joined Twitter one of the first people I started to follow wasd @rareplants, who runs the wonderful Swines Meadow Farm Nursery in Market Deeping in Lincolnshire, along with his wonderful wife Karan. In time I came to learn that behind the Twitter name is Colin Ward, a brilliant plantsman who quite honestly knows more about plants in his little finger than I do in my entire body.

Last weekend Colin held the second of his two plantfairs this year. Lots of nurseries reasonably close to Colin had stalls and there were some excellent plants for sale as blogged by @papaver. However, as a plantaddict I was far more interested to see what Colin had on offer as he seems to be a master in finding slightly different varieties from the norm and growing them amazingly, as with the display of Begonia above.

Swines Meadow has a great selection of Ginkgo varieties for sale

In the outdoor beds there are a fantastic selection of herbaceous plants and grasses alongside some amazing trees such as the Ginkgo above, and a spectacular variegated Liriodendron. There are also lots of fruit trees and an incredible selection of bamboos. All the plants, whether large or small, are beautifully presented and look healthy and amazingly fresh which has been a difficult thing to achieve in the dreadful season we have had this year.

Once inside the greenhouse that is open to visitors there is an incredible range of  plants which range from annuals to perennial Begonias and ferns, along side some less hardy plants such as Fuchsia arborescens, which will need to be brought in over the winter months.

The greenhouse full of great finds.

Colin and Karan propagate lots of the more unusual plants at the nursery, growing lots from seeds, cuttings and division. If you get the chance to visit the inner sanctum, where all the plants are brought on, you will find a treasure trove of wonderful and unusual plants. I came away with an Akebia pentaphylla, a very rare and unusual Akebia which is an incredible plant and which Colin has propagated from his own stock plant.

I could go on and on about the plants which are available at Swines Meadow but rather than bore you I would implore you to go and have a look at www.swinesmeadowfarmnursery.co.uk, where you will see the range of plants that are available. Mail order is available too!!

To finish your visit please go and look at the amazing garden that Colin and Karan have created as it not only gives ideas on how to integrate plants bought at the nursery into your garden, but is an amazing and beautiful space to just be in. So I will finish this post with a selection of photos taken in the garden on Sunday.

Finally, please look out for nursery folk such as Colin and Karan. It's very easy to go to your local garden centre and buy plants that have been imported through Holland  but unless we support our British nurserymen and women and buy British grown plants, we will lose these wonderful folk and their knowledge.

An enormous Tetrapanax Rex

Cornus contraversa Variegata or the Wedding Cake Tree

Paulonia tomentosa cut back to create the huge leaves

Huge caulms of Bamboo

A Very Victorian Fantasy in Bournemouth

The dark side of Bournemouth Borough Council's planting scheme

Before you ridicule me for adoring this garden, stick with me and I will explain why. Although firstly, having spent some time talking with the ladies on the stand on Monday, who seemed genuinely amazed and entralled that the garden looked so great, I need to explain a little about the garden.

Bournemouth, the land of holidays at the beach, donkey rides and ice cream, has a darker literary side which I for one knew little about. Mary Shelley wrote "Frankenstein" there  and is buried in a graveyard there, where the sculpture in the centre, by Bournemouth artist Andy Kirkby, will end up after the show is dismantled. Robert Louis Stevenson also wrote "Jekyll and Hyde" there and the two planting schemes are mirrored by those characters in ways which will become apparent.

The garden is split into two halves. In the half shown in the photo above there is very typical Victorian seaside parks and gardens planting, with Coleus, Ricinus, Cannas and countless more annual bedding varieties that the Victorians loved. The colour is deep and rich and screams of bedding schemes in the days where parks and gardens departments trained the horticulturalists of the future(it's where Alan Titchmarsh amongst others began his career), and draws the eye into it. It has a tropical feel that today can be seen in places such as The Exotic Garden at Great Dixter, but has been refined for today's taste, whereas this is true Victorian bedding at its best.

Both sides of the planting scheme

The opposite side of the bedding, or the opposite bed, is entirely white in its flower colour, calling in the lighter side of the Victorian arts such as Aubrey Beardsley's Art Nouveau works. It is gentle and innocent, with huge drifts of Cosmos, Orlaya grandiflora and Antirhinums amongst other species. The quantity of plants used gives the illusion of a huge billowing drift of white cloud atop a green background and is almost heavenly in appearance.

In both beds are willow sculptures by Stephan Jennings. In the sub-tropical, dark bed these are in dark willow figures, demonic in their appearance, whereas in the white bed they are of pale willow and are fairy like and innocent.

Victorian style bedding at its best

So why then, do I think this garden worthy of a blog post? Well its really simple. I stood in front of it saying"Oh look, seaside bedding" long before I knew that the garden had anything to do with Bournemouth Borough Council. It dragged me back to childhood holidays and days out at the seaside. The planting was stunning and all of the plants were produced in Dorset, continuing the tradition of producing your own plants for display. In essence, it was honest. And very beautiful.

These peacocks were planted with amazing succulents

My feeling with this garden was also that the gardener could get planting ideas from this garden that are actually steeped in the horticultural history of this country. Unfortunately due to budget cuts the vast majority of Parks and Gardens departments no longer exist in the way that they used to, meaning that our industry now really struggles to find young people good training schemes and has lead to a real lack of skills in horticulture in the UK. So this garden not only talks of the Victorian history of Bournemouth, but also of the horticultural history of the UK both in the history of gardeners and gardens. And when you look at this garden it is truly apparent that the loss of the Parks and Gardens departments throughout the country has lead to our outside town and city spaces being  poorer and sadder places. It was amazing to see this piece of horticultural history displayed in such a fantastic garden. Thanks Bournemouth.

Drifts of white

Growing for Taste at Hampton Court

Panting to make you weep with joy at The Garlic Farm

I was immensely excited to be granted a press pass to Hampton Court Flower Show this year, mainly as I had never been to this show before and I was interested to compare it with Chelsea which I have been involved with at work for years.

The show at Hampton Court is enormous and I really was not prepared for the amount of stalls and stands selling what can, kindly, be described as garden accoutrements. But at least now if I need a metre tall dragon breathing fire and made of metal I shall know where to go. If I'm honest I felt a tad overwhelmed by the sheer size of it and was very glad to have Emma Bond with me.

Now I could go on all day about what I did and didn't enjoy, and there will be subsequent posting once I've finished giving it thought, but the marquee that I adored far beyond anything else was the Growing For Taste marquee.

Walking in the first thing seen was the garden created by The Garlic Farm on the Isle of Wight which went on to win a gold medal and best exhibit in the marquee. To quote Emma Bond, "the planting made me want to weep", as it was a stunning mix of Verbena bonariensis at the back, coming down to flowering Elephant Garlic and Ammi majus. There was a beautiful white rose in the mix as well and this all surrounded a seating area which was set for lunch. On the roof of the seating area were garlic bulbs drying in lines of different hues and all in all it was somewhere I could have sat for hours. It was amazing.

Garlic bulbs can be ordered for atumn delivery at www.thegarlicfarm.co.uk

Lunch at The Garlic Farm

Blackmoor Fruit

Blackmoor fruit also had created a wonderful display, showcasing how easy it is to include fruit growing in the smallest of spaces, such as a front garden. I really enjoyed seeing the different fruit training techniques used as well as the use of containers I also loved the use of the walls for training the plants against as its a very useful thing to remember is possible no matter how small the space you have is. They send out plants by mail order and I can personally vouch for them as I have bought several things all of which have arrived very quickly and established well. www.blackmoor.co.uk

Beehive composter and glasshouse at Pennards

Pennard Plants, as usual had a wonderful display of crops growing in raised beds in a real vintage style garden. It's no secret that I love this style but I have to say I often think Pennards are overlooked as their stands are always fantastically put together and the plant material always top quality.

Raised beds at Pennards

Plus I really believe that many people think that to grow food of any kind that you need lots of space and all the stands showed, very clearly, that that really isn't the case and that any space can be made suitable for some sort of edible plants.

Herbs and Beans Christmas cropping display

Herbs and Beans are a nursery that are new to me and I was particularly impressed by the way in which the stand was set out, showing what type of herbs and vegetable to grow for different purposes, for example to attract bees. The most brilliant section was the section that was named Leafy crops for Christmas which showed a variety of crops to plant in August/September that will crop throught to December and possibly beyond.

 But finally I must talk about the Otter Farm stand. Anyone who follows Mark Diacono on Twitter knows what a great and funny guy he is, and as I had hounded him to follow me, which bless him he did, I was excited to see what he had produced. Otter Farm is the countrys first climate change farm, growing crops which may end up being the norm in the years to come (as long as this year doesn't become the norm and we all revert to growing crops that enjoy the deluge). So I expected interesting plants, but I wasn't expecting the beauty and lushness of the planting. There were fruiting apricots and nectarines, lush growth from Japanese gingers, amazing Egyptian Walking Onions and the most amazing mature Sechuan Pepper that was at least 8ft tall and would make a beautiful multi stemmed tree in a small garden that couldn't cope with anything much larger.

Sechuan Pepper

But what The Otter Farm stand really showed is that Forest Gardening can be not just productive but absolutely beautiful as well and that an awful lot is possible in a relatively small space. So follow Mark on Twitter (@MarkDoc) and watch out for any talks or courses he gives as he's a very interesting chap who knows an awful lot as well as being quite funny, very amusing and charming.

Otter Farm provide mail order plants and seeds www.otterfarm.co.uk, where Mark also writes a great blog

The stunning Otter Farm Stand

Oreganum Beauty of Kent

And finally I would just like to show you this plant. It's called Origanum Beauty of Kent and the bracts look like hop flowers. And its available from Pennards Plants who do mail order at www.pennardsplants.com and is just absolutely stunning. They are also available at the show.

The Chelsea Chop

So. as those of you who follow me on Twitter will already know, I had some slight issues with the way the concept of the Chelsea chop was explained on Gardener's World on Friday 8th June. 140 characters is just not enough to explain why so I have decided to blog on the matter as I have had enough of people being given incorrect information. The comment that set me off was that the Chelsea chop was to be performed in the weeks following Chelsea Flower Show. this is just not true as the concept is that Chelsea Flower Show is the reminder that the chop needs to be performed forthwith, and with good reason which I will come to.

 So what is the Chelsea Chop? Well as we all know, summer flowering herbaceous perennials such as Heleniums, Lysmachia, Sedums and countless more, like to grow upwards really fast as the daylight hours lengthen, and can very easily get to the point where they are getting unruly and falling over, even before they have flowered. So the idea of the chop is that the plants get cut back, whilst the daylight hours are still lengthening, in order that they don't collapse, but also, and far more importantly, so that they plant breaks from buds under the site of the pruning and becomes a bushier and therefore easier to control specimen. Many people like to perform this in mid-May and put any staking into the ground that they are going to use at the same time. The important thing to remember is that this can actually be done a number of times. Take, for example, a Verbena bonariensis that you have lovingly raised from a seed. It will want to grow upwards as a single stem. However, this is no good to anyone as no sooner that it gets wobbled by the wind it will be over on its side and it also will just be a single stem with a flower on top. So. once the seedling has three or four sets of true leaves, cut it back above its second set of leaves and the buds there will then move into action and break so that it has two stems. Do this again and again as the plant grows and you will end up ith a beautiful, multi-branched plant that is not so tall it needs its own scaffolding system to keep it upright and which will produce multiple heads of flowers. Each time you cut for cut flowers in the house it will break again and become a better and better plant. As growers we do this with all herbaceous stock in order to produce quality plants.

 Earlier in this tome I mentioned the importance of daylight hours and I shall now explain why. The "thing"with plants is that they are far more aware of the seasons than we are. In order to get all plants growing at their optimum daylight hours need to be long, so your herbaceous border knows that even though it might be a nasty wet day that it is still the beginning of June due to the fact that it's light for a long time. Its at this time of year that plants put on leaf, grow upwards and in summer flowering perennials in particular, get themselves to the point where they will begin to think about flowering. Timing your chop is vital as the plant will sulk for a week or two afterwards and you need it to get going again before the summer equinox at the end of June when the daylight hours decrease and the plants realise they need to flower and set seed. Therefore, in the UK, a month before this date is Chelsea week, and hence it is a good reminder that actually it is really last chance time. Obviously, if you have plants that have fallen after this date then cut them back as it will do no harm to the plant, but you may forgo many flowers that season.

 Also commented on was the idea that one plant can be cut back to different levels for flowers in succession, rather than all at once. This is a great idea but I must offer one word of advice. Once the plant has flowered once, if you let it set seed it will be very slow to flower again and you will be disappointed by the second and third flushes. This is easily overcome by making sure that you deadhead the plant before it sets seed as this will fool it into thinking that it hasn't flowered and off it will go again. Finally please always make sure you prune plants back to a bud. Plant stems at the tips have growing hormones in them and you need to cut back quite close to the bud to push those hormones back into the buds rather than let them continue up the stem. Also if the stem is left too long you run the risk of bacterial or fungal infection getting into it and the plant dying or suffering due to that. Also always ensure that the prunings are removed and composted and not left in the plant. And be quite mean and tough, cutting back by at least half if you are only going to do it once. The plants and your garden will thank you for it.

Bees, Butterflies and interpreting the theme

Well it has occurred to me that perhaps I have been a little hasty. A forest garden is a great idea but where will all the flowers be? Once the fruit blossom is over there will be very few and excited as I am about the forest garden concept, I love to have colour all through the season. So, having been entranced by Sarah Raven's series about attracting pollinators to the garden, I have decided that I am going to reinterpret the forest garden theme in order to bring in the insects to the garden and in the long term, help good fruit set!

So what does this mean? Well actually its really good news I think. It means I can still have Dahlias as long as they are single blossoms that have plenty of nectar like the one above, taken at Oxford Botanic Garden last summer, along with its visiting bee. I can also have zinnias, sunflowers, cornflowers, and ammi to name but a few along side pots of annual meadow mixes which I shall trial to see which attracts most of the good guys that we want.

Now I genuinely know this will help to pollinate the fruit I am also going to grow. At work we have bee hives. looked after by a great guy by the name of Arnold who is utterly adorable. Pre bees we grew fruit on the nursery and we had a reasonable amount of fruit each year. However, since the bees something little short of miraculous has taken place. The apples, pears and nectarines have all fruited like crazy as have the grapevines and kiwis. Plus we have seen an increase in birds, with all 9 of our small bird boxes used last year and several nests in heating ducts and trees and last year we found Great Crested Newts in one of our glasshouses. Already this year we've seen birds looking at the boxes and today the bees were flying around and we had hoverflies dancing around in the Daphnes which I have realised, smell like lemon sherberts.

So by growing the right plants to attract in the good guys I'll have great fruit set and hopefully a garden that has enough biodiversity to look after itself and see of any bad guys that might try to come in. I will, of course, report back!!

A bee!! And a happy one!!

Bath, soil, an exciting exhibition and the reborn artist

Last Saturday, before the onset of the snow, I visited the wonderful Emma Bond and her lovely husband Tom in the beautiful city of Bath. Bath is an amazing place with lots of independent shops and restaurants, not to mention the amazing Botanical Gardens, Bath Abbey and the Roman Baths.  However it was at the Victoria Art Gallery that I found the most amazing sculpture exhibition.

A long time ago, in almost another lifetime, I graduated with a degree in Fine Art. I've never lost my interest in art and I consider what I do, growing plants, to be just as creative as making art. Quietly I've watched to art world from afar and have always loved the colour and textures created by artists of all disciplines. So I was extremely excited when Emma dragged me out of the snow and into the Victoria Art Gallery to see an exhibition by the sculptor, Peter Burke. And it was incredible. The sculptures are made from soil from the area surrounding Peter's home in Bradford-upon-Avon in Somerset, bonded so it can be used as a medium for artwork. The first thing and the most amazing to me, was the  difference in the colour of the soil from different places.

The Cup Series

The above three images are identical in terms of the image and the only difference is the colour of the soil.

Radius in Chalk

The above image is made of chalk  from the Bradford-upon-Avon area. 

Whereas this image which is exactly the same in terms of it's design, is made from an iron rich clay type soil from a different part of the Bradford-upon-Avon area. Both are stunning images and yet they are quite different although the same, and this difference is created, essentially, by colour. 

But this set me to thinking. It isn't colour that changes these images, but soil. Soil, the most important thing that as gardeners we can have. Its the absolutely most important thing to us and we spend our days trying to improve what we have, adding organic matter, feed, minerals, to ensure that we have the best growing media for our plants. But what this exhibition showed me was that essentially, soil will always return to its natural state and that is the state it was in before man tried to change it for his own needs.

This intrigued the artist in me and made me think about how I could add on to this with a work or works of my own and this is what I came up with. I would like a soil sample from as many people as possible, enough to fill a 3"pot would be ideal. Just soil, as pure as you can find it. Each pot will have a seed placed into it and photographed every day and it will become an installation work, recorded photographically and documented here.

If you'd like to contribute or take part please feel free to contact me.

sara@thephysicgarden.co.uk

In other news I officially dislike snow immensely, particularly when all the leaves that had started to germinate for the 52 Week Salad Challenge turn to mush because of it! Enough said on that matter I feel but I promise my next post will be plant/gardening related!!

Something to warm the cockles.

A peacock at Rousham strutting his stuff in the sunshine.

I know. Its freezing. You can't get a fork into the frozen ground. Lots of plants have gone all flaccid in the cold. And we are due snow over the weekend. But if the urge to garden is there you can still sow broad beans, peas and onion seed in trays in doors. You can get chilli seeds planted and early tomatoes as long as you have somewhere to put them once they need potting on that is covered. You can trawl the seed catalogues or order dahlias from The National Dahlia Collection! And here are some pictures I took in the heat of last summer to cheer you  up and warm you.

An unidentified Dahlia at Oxford Botanical Gardens

An unidentified Salvia at Oxford Botanics

And if that doesn't help let me suggest some more ideas to tickle your horticultural tastebuds!! There is the glasshouse at RHS Wisley to visit which at the moment will be full of exotic butterflies-an amazing spectacle but beware as it will be busy. Kew Gardens will be opening their annual Orchid exhibition soon in the Princess of Wales Conservatory which is always worth a visit.

Echinacea in the new Rose Garden at RHS Wisley designed by the wonderful Robert Myers for whom I have grown plants in the not so distant past!

The Annual Borders at Wisley where the Ricinus must have reached 12 feet tall.

And remember dear gardening folk, by mid February the daylight hours will have reached more than 10 a day and your garden will be springing into action. Buds will be bursting, leaves will be appearing and the world will start to turn from winter brown to spring green one more. Your garden will be screaming for you to jump into action, secateurs at the ready so use this cold snap to prepare. Sharpen your secateurs, and your spade if you see fit, sort out your seeds, and clean your seedtrays and pots ready for the day when you hear your garden screaming for attention.

So hears to the season ahead!!