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Lyn and Malcolms Garden Blog
September 2010

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September 28th
It is getting nearer the time to start bringing in some of the plants from the 'Exotic' Garden.
Lots of visitors ask where we store the plants, well here is one place, the passage between house and sheds, I put the shelving up this afternoon, to be ready for the influx of plants. Notice the yellow Brugmansia flowers hanging down outside the moorish arch.

Shelving for winter storage of plants.                                                A Comma butterfly on Rudbeckia in the sunshine today.
 

I don't want to cut down the exotic plants at the moment, as they are still looking good. It is a bit of a juggling act, to leave them out till the very last moment, we don't want them to get badly frosted. I reckon we should be ok for a few more weeks, providing they survive the strong winds which are forecast for later in the week.

Part of the 'Exotic' garden today




September 26th
After two nights of +3 and +4 centigrade, it was time to put the insulation back on the greenhouse. We are hoping to leave the tender plants out for a bit longer, it would be a shame to cut them down and store them as they are still flowering.

The sun shining through the back of a Ricinus 'Carmencita leaf   Ricinus 'New Zealand Purple'
 

The seed of Mirabilis jalapa (which are poisonous)                      Salvia buchananii still flowering
 

September 19th
We don't normally leave the dead heads of clematis flowers on the plant, but some of them we miss. The seed heads take many forms, one of which can be seen in the photo below.
Grasses come into their own at this time of year, we do have some of the smaller ones in the garden, although we have to split them if they get too big for their allotted space.
One of the jobs today, was to take cuttings from various plants, hopefully they will end up on our plant stall next year.
Dahlia's are still flowering well, take a look at the petals in the picture below.

Seed heads of Clematis 'Sweet Sensation'                               Miscanthus sinensis 'Zebrinus'
 

Ipomoea Indica cuttings


Dahlia Wheel


Starting at the bottom 6 o'clock position and traveling clockwise
Fashion Monger
Pooh
Giselle
Knockout
Tally Ho
Floorinoor
Purple Puff
Moonshine
Boogie Woogie

September 18th
We spent most of the day in the garden today. I picked the last of the tomatoes in the greenhouse, and tidied up the greenhouse ready for the invasion of tender plants that will soon be heading in for the winter.
The Cannas are usually stored in their pots under the slatted greenhouse staging, but they tend to get over wet when we water plants on the top of the staging.
So I have covered the staging with exterior plywood which I have painted with a fence paint. There may not be as much light below, but as the Cannas will be dormant, it is not such a problem.
The Exotic garden is still looking good, although temperatures at night have been down to just +6 centigrade. We did open our garden in September several years ago, but we could never be sure that the garden would still look good enough.


September 16th
Just got back from a few days away in Norfolk. We visited East Ruston Old Vicarage Garden, Amultree Exotics, Thorncroft Clematis, Woottens of Wenhaston nursery, the RSPB reserve at Minsmere and Pensthorpe nature reserve.


The Desert Wash and Californian Border at East Ruston 



The Tree Fern Garden at East Ruston


Obviously a lot of money has been spent on the gardens, the pictures above, are just two of at least 19 different gardens which have been made.
We were a bit disappointed that some of the gardens seemed a bit neglected, with for instance herbaceous plants that had not been supported properly, that lay on the ground. 

Crested Crane at Pensthorpe in the conservation project


Godwit at RSPB Minsmere


We bought 3 plants at Thorncroft's. Clematis 'Bijou' Clematis 'Maria Cornelia' and Clematis 'Dark Eyes'
At Amultree Exotics I was very good and only purchased Canna 'Konigin Charlotte'. Amultree had a very good selection of Exotic plants and they were not over priced.
At Woottens of Wenhaston We bought 7 plants, again at very reasonable prices, they do also operate a mail order service.

Clematis 'Dark Eyes'


September 9th
A feast of pictures showing some of the plants in flower today, all are from the Exotic garden.

Dahlia 'Windmill'                                                                            Hibiscus Newbiscus Mauvelous just opening a 150mm across flower
 

More buds to open on Hibiscus Newbiscus Mauvelous                  Ipomoea lobata
 

Lemons just turning yellow they do this as the weather turns colder     Lilium speciosum 'Uchida'
 

Hibiscus rosa-sinensis, this one sometimes pink or red, other 
times both                                                                                          Clematis fruiticosa. Not an easy one for us, have lost one in the past.
 

September 6th
Yesterday we walked round the garden (it wasn't far) making notes of which plants we will move in the Spring, and also which ones we will be getting rid of. We have been doing this for the past 10 years, and still haven't got it quite right. 
The Echinacea are still giving a good show and look different at all times of day, as the are lit by the sun or shade.
The wind blew hard this morning, depositing the seed from our silver birch, pretty well all over the garden. This afternoon we had several hours of quite heavy rain.
Before the rain I gathered seed from Eryngium bourgatii 'Picos Amethyst' and 'Graham Stuart Thomas'. We will be sowing these in seed trays filled with gritty compost, that will be left outside all winter. I also gathered seed from the annual Rudbeckia amplexicaulis, they came up well this year from a sowing in late January. 
Pretty well all the Phlox have had their old flowering heads cut off now. They will produce secondary shoots and flowers in about 3 to 4 weeks.
Most of the Monarda have finished flowering, except Monarda 'Violet Queen' which has the longest lasting flowers, although they are looking a little bit weather beaten now.

Echinacea



Monarda 'Violet Queen'


September 3rd
Some warm days this last week despite cold starts in the morning, but we still retain a lot of colour, so here are some flowers in bloom today.

Hedychium densiflorum 'Assam Orange'                                         Roscoea not 100% sure on the name of this one, but a lovely colour.
 

Rudbeckia laciniata 'Goldquelle                                                        Echinacea 'Tomato Soup'
 

Lots of spiders about now as Autumn approaches.