137 years of practical advice

1884 The World’s Oldest Gardening Magazine 2021

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5
Keep structures in good order
Time to lay a simple path
amate 333 1113
subs.curgardenin 7 How to fit a water butt
o g
– see p.uk/mar21
ages 4
48-49 2, 9 Get the rock garden tidy
12 How to grow free seeds/
Bird watch: the sparrowhawk
Great garden ideas
24 Pelargoniums: here are nine stunning
varieties to bring cheer to your garden
28 Poppy love: best floral picks for the
back, middle or front of your border
32 Annuals for shade: cheerful plants that
can cope with full or partial shade

“I’ll show you the best poppies for Gardening wisdom

28 all parts of the borders,” says Hazel 11 Peter Seabrook
14 Bob Flowerdew
16 Val Bourne Wildlife
19 Lucy Chamberlain’s Fruit and Veg
37 Ask John Negus
45 A Gardener’s Miscellany
50 Advanced Gardening
52 Anne Swithinbank’s Masterclass
55 Letters to Wendy: from AG readers
59 Toby Buckland
Garden news
6 War charity wildflower competition
Reader offer
22 Great deals on dahlias and lilies
Subscriptions
48 Get AG delivered every week
“It’s time for you to get “Some annuals
9 that rock garden sorted
and weeded,” says Ruth
32 can surive well
in shade,” says Graham “How are you all feeling? Hopefully, your
Future

gardens are dappled with spring blooms!

I was proud as punch to see my ‘Tête-à-tête’
daffs rising from the lawn for the second
year running. I wasn’t sure it was wise to
give about a quarter of the lawn over to
daffs – but since they started to break
through, I’m pleased I did it. I will soon
be enjoying a mass of yellow
trumpets blowing their cheerful
reveille as they tower over the
blades of grass! Have yourself
a great gardening week.”
Garry Coward-Williams,
Editor

Contact us:
All images Alamy, unless credited

Subscriptions: 0330 333 1113

Editorial: 0330 3903732
Email: amateurgardening@futurenet.com
Advertising: 0330 3906566
“Pelargoniums have so much to offer,
24 you really should try them” says Anne

Cover (pic: Alamy): Himalayan blue poppies (Meconopsis sheldonii) ‘Slieve Donard’
13 MARCH 2021 AMATEUR GARDENING 3
 Your
Gardening Week
with AG’s gardening expert Ruth Hayes
Keep the patio clean and
free from slippery rotting
material reduces the risk
of accidents
Structural maintenance
We’d rather be gardening, but it needs doing, says Ruth
Y
ES, spring is well on its way
and we all want to get on with
the fun business of planting
and growing but hold your
horses a moment longer.
It’s all very well getting on with
gardening, but you won’t be able to get
far if, for example, the shed is in a state
of disrepair or you slip over and do a
serious injury because the decking or
patio has become mucky and slippery
over winter.
Gardening isn’t just about the plants
we tend. Without the fences, walls, flat
surfaces and steps that create form and
let us get from A to B, we – and the
garden – would be stuck.
So before the gardening year really
does take off, spend some time making
sure you are safe to work.
Future unless credited
We have an area of patio that gets
very little sun and, in the winter, can
develop the surface of a skating rink.
Luckily it is easy to remedy with some
4 AMATEUR GARDENING 13 MARCH 2021
Make sure drainage
channels are clear
warm water and a cleaning product.
Likewise,a well-used stretch of lawn
that turned into a quagmire as soon as
the weather turned wet, has been saved
by the addition of a stepping stone path,
allowing the grass to grow back.
Sheds and greenhouses need
attention too. The former needs a clean
and de-pesting and the shed may need
another lick of paint after winter storms.
Q Hot on the extremely cold heels of the
mini Beast from the East 2 in early
February, we received a few calls from
readers asking why we had been
instructing them to prepare soil for
planting when they couldn’t because
of the freezing conditions.
We work several weeks in advance
and unfortunately can’t count
impeccable long-range weather
forecasting among our skills. So if our
advice seems at odds with the weather,
make a note of the article and return to it
when conditions are more appropriate!
Giving the shed
a lick of paint
A coat of paint or preservative
1 will keep your shed sound for
several years. Before starting, tape
around windows and don’t forget to
preserve the ends of any wooden
supports holding the structure off
the ground.
Always paint following the grain
2 of the wood as this gives better
coverage. Do two coats if necessary
and once done and dried, preserve
or paint any metal door latches and
window furniture.
Safe surfaces
Patios, paths and deckings all
need sweeping and cleaning after
winter to remove slippery algae and
wet, rotting debris that can be
treacherously slippery.
A pressure washer is ideal for
blasting decking clean. If it remains
slippery, attach anti-slip tread strips,
which are widely available online
and from DIY stores.
Avoid using pressure washers to
rinse down brickwork patios as they
will remove any waterproofing
sealant and also force cement from
between bricks.
Instead, products such as Jeyes
Fluid or Ecofective Path, Patio and
Decking Cleaner do an excellent job
of removing slipperiness and green
algae rings left by patio pots.
Brush drainage channels clear of
debris and make sure drains and
downpipes can run clear.

Lay a path to protect a lawn
Stepping stones blend in and are an attractive addition
After a winter’s wear, grass can turn
1 into a muddy mess that is a breeding
ground for weeds. A simple path will
help prevent this.
Cut around each one with a sharp
3 half-moon lawn edging tool. You
want to remove a 1⁄2in (1.5cm) more soil
than the stone’s depth.
Place a layer of builders’ sand at
5 the base of the hole to hold the
stones firm. The stones should sit just
below the turf to protect mower blades.
Greenhouse is go as the weather warms up
Clean the glass so it Spring can be a stormy
1 lets in as much light and
warmth as possible in early
2 time so make sure
greenhouse panes are
spring, and wipe down and securely fastened in place
disinfect surfaces inside. with clips.
Let the fun begin!: The soil is warming up and drying out so
it’s time to start thinking about planting and dividing
perennials. Next week I’ll show you how.
Clean algae and moss off fences
Both Alamy
using a wire brush or washer
Start by laying the stones on the
Good wood
2 grass, making sure they are a
comfortable distance apart and laid in
Choose a dry, still day when you
need to spruce up or repair any
an attractive line. damaged or weathered woodwork.
Fences and gates that have
become discoloured with algae can
be sanded down and wiped with a
damp cloth or
blasted with
a pressure
washer.
Once dry,
protect
them with
Use your hands or a spade to your choice Filling in
4 remove the turf and soil in the
shape of the stone, levelling it off as
of paint,
varnish or
rotten wood
you go. preservative
stain.
Broken or rotten fence posts and
panels should be replaced at the
first opportunity to avoid further
damage or the risk of injury.
Wooden furniture that looks the
worse for wear can have rotten
bits cut out and filled or replaced
with new material from your local
timber merchant.
Make any adjustments so the If the job looks bigger than you
6 stones lie just shy of the surface,
then brush a little more sand around
thought, it may be best to call in
professionals.
the edges. They will soon blend in.
If the gravel on your Change the soil in
3 greenhouse floor shifts 4 greenhouse beds to
about, take the opportunity to reduce the risk of pests and
re-distribute it and add more disease and give new crops
before the busy season. more nourishment.
13 MARCH 2021 AMATEUR GARDENING 5
 Your
Gardening News Got a story?
email ruth.hayes@futurenet.com
The latest stories from around the UK

Lockdown seeds of success

Wildflower business flourishes as gardening grows

Future
GERMINATING a new business from the
tiniest seed of an idea while in lockdown
may sound like a madcap idea, but it has
paid dividends for one Welsh farmer.
Rhys Jenkins set up Wild Wales Farmer Pollinator-friendly
Seeds a year ago and has had a bumper Rhys seed mixes
12 months. Jenkins are popular Blenheim Flower Show is back with

??????????
Based in the Vale of Glamorgan, the started Wild more than 300 exhibitors
firm produces grass and wildflower Wales
Seeds
seeds and sells them to a range of during
customers, from large organisations
such as local authorities, airports, parks
lockdown
and has
Blenheim
and festival sites to amateur gardeners. seen his
business show is back!

A wide range of seed mixes
The company is a first for Wales and has
been welcomed because it has made it
possible to source seeds locally rather
than buying from European producers
hampered by red tape and higher costs
as a result of Brexit.
It offers consumers a wide range of
grass seeds, from ‘carnival patch-up’,
economy and deluxe lawn mixes to
pollinator-friendly ‘Bees Knees’ mixes
and salt-resistant seaside mixes.
The wildflower seeds are also
created for a range of different soils and
containing different flowers.
“Lockdown has
boosted demand
for seeds”
Jobs help for aspiring gardeners
IF you are interested in a career in
horticulture, Squires garden Centres
may have the answer.
The chain, which operates across
Surrey, Sussex, Berkshire and
North and West London and is
Squires Garden Centres
Xyxyxyxyxyx
flourish
Rhys said: “We launched Wild Wales
Seeds just as lockdown hit, so it was a
worrying time at first, but we’ve been
delighted with the response.
Creating exactly what people need
“We have been inundated with
messages from companies saying they
are pleased they can now get seeds
grown in Wales. We’re enjoying serving
a huge range of customers, big and
small, and we enjoy working with them
to create exactly what they need.”
Rhys started the business when the
land his family had farmed for
generations was developed. He took
over the management of a local estate,
where he started Wild Wales Seeds and
has plans to expand further.
For further details visit wildwales-
seeds.co.uk or call 02920 214 695.
horticultural college to study for an RHS
Level 2 & 3 qualification, paid for by
Squire’s, and be offered a two-year
contract with Squires.
A great opportunity
Postponed show returns for 2021
MORE than 350 exhibitors are raring
to go as the Blenheim Flower Show
returns this summer.
The event, scheduled for June
25-27, a full year after its original
dates, will have full Covid
precautions in place to protect
exhibitors and the public.
The weekend event will be a riot
of colour, fragrance and weird and
wonderful plants, the 20,000 square
foot Grand Floral Pavilion forming
the centrepiece of the show,
containing the UK’s finest nurseries
and growers giving expert advice
and gardening ideas.
Talks and expert advice
New for 2021 is Floral Street, the
perfect place to discover your
favourite plants, flowers and an array
of gardening goodies from unique
garden gazebos, greenhouses and
arbors to beautiful flowers,
gardening sundries and hundreds of
other products.
Visitors can enjoy talks with
experts and enthusiasts, an outdoor
plant village, fabulous food and drink
as well as entertainment throughout
the weekend.
Admission includes entry to the
Park and Gardens so visitors can

celebrating 85 years of Deborah Nugent, who also make a day of it exploring

business in 2021, is looking
for applicants to join its
Grow Our Own
apprenticeship scheme.
The scheme is open to
everyone, and is perfect for
those who are passionate about
plants and want to learn new skills.
Apprentices will work across Squire’s apprenticeship scheme visit
16 garden centres to gain experience
and plant knowledge, attend
6 AMATEUR GARDENING 13 MARCH 2021
trained as an apprentice Blenheim Palace’s Formal Gardens.
with Squire’s and now works For further details visit
there full-time, said: “The blenheimflowershow.co.uk or
Deborah Nugent: opportunity of academic call 01993 810530.
‘A unique learning and retail experience Q Blenheim Palace is the birthplace
experience’ is unique and offered me a of Sir Winston Churchill. It is also a
great insight and training.” World Heritage Site and boasts more
For further details of the than 300 years of history surrounded
by over 2000 acres of ‘Capability
 squiresgardencentres.co.uk or email Brown’ parkland and formal gardens.
hrtraining@squiresgardencentres.co.uk

Don’t forget to raise
your butt on a stand
Clear gutters for
easy water flow
Make space for water
You can never have too many water butts, says Ruth
I
F this spring follows the pattern of
the past few, we are heading for a
few wet weeks followed by a late
spring of good weather.
Whether this happens or not, it
makes sense to make provisions for
water storage now, which means
attaching water butts to as many
drainpipes as possible. We have five,
and although three of these are large
tanks, we had still drained them dry by
early last summer.
Harvesting rainwater makes sense on
every level. It is more natural than tap
Step
by step Fitting a water butt in five easy steps
Mark the diameter of the connector
1 pipe then carefully cut it out.
3 Cut out a slice of drainpipe and fit
the connector cuff and hose.
Your
Gardening Week
with AG’s gardening expert Ruth Hayes
Attaching a water butt to a
greenhouse or in a growing
area makes watering easier
water for plants and can be used for
topping up ponds and bog gardens.
You can use tap water for ponds, but
it’s best to fill watering cans and let it
stand for 24 hours to give the chlorine
time to dissipate before adding it.
Collecting rainwater takes the strain
off your water bill and by siting butts on a
shed or greenhouse (or both) around the
garden, it reduces the distance you need
to trek with heavy watering cans.
Water butts come in various sizes and
are available from garden centres, DIY
shops, online and hardware stores.
Screw the pipe into the aperture,
2 making sure it is a tight fit.
4 Attach the drainpipe hose to the
connector joint attached to the butt.
5 falling in and insects breeding in
the water.
Natural water butt cleaning tablets
are safe and effective
Clear water
If it isn’t properly covered,
collected water can become smelly
and disgusting, contaminated with
debris and become a breeding
ground for mosquitoes and other
flying pests.
Purification tablets are widely
available and use natural ingredients
that won’t harm plants.
Water Butt Klear by Envii ( envii.
co.uk, call 01246 240880) and
Natural Water Butt Treatment
( gardening-naturally.com,
call 01285 760505) are just two
products available.
However clean it is, you should
not use harvested water on sown
seeds or seedlings. These are
vulnerable and can quickly fall foul
of a fungal disease called damping
off, which causes the mass collapse
of whole trays of seedlings.
Instead, always use fresh tap
water and compost, and make sure
your equipment is either new or
thoroughly washed.
If you have room it is worth linking
two or three butts together
Finally add the lid to stop debris
13 MARCH 2021 AMATEUR GARDENING 7

Top Tip
Early spring is a good
time to move rockery
stones as soil is soft and
there is time to let the
stones settle before
planting in a few
weeks’ time
This is the year I turn our rockery from
a wasteland into a thing of beauty!
Rocking the garden
Ruth will use spring to update her troublesome rockery
I
FEEL I am engaged in a constant
battle with our rockery, but this is
the year I win – though I am sure I
say that most springs, then admit
defeat somewhere around midsummer!
‘Rockery’ is actually a far too grand
term for what we inherited when we
moved here: a slope between the patio
and lawn scattered with large stones
and over-run with weeds. We have
planted one half of it with herbs and that
just about works, but the most
prominent half (typically) is a shambles.
It isn’t helped by the fact that every
spring it is filled with lily-of-the-valley
which is – controversially to many I’m
sure – my main adversary. Yes, the
flowers look and smell wonderful for a
couple of weeks, but they leave the
Quick rockery improvement tips
1 Make sure plants are sitting on a
bed of gravel to improve drainage
and raise their lower leaves off wet
soil. It also looks more attractive.
Your
Gardening Week
with AG’s gardening expert Ruth Hayes
Step
by step
Alpine
trough
Plant up a mobile feast of interest
It’s a good time for
rockery planting
Place crocks in the base and fill
1 your trough with multipurpose
compost with lots of added grit and
sharp sand for good drainage.
Hardy geraniums are
suitable for rockeries
rockery full of foliage for months,
allowing no room or anything else.
This spring, once they start to show, Set your plants, in their pots, in
I shall dig out their tenacious rhizomes
and create space for the alpines, herbs
2 an arrangement you like and
start teasing out any tangled roots
and (come autumn) spring bulbs the before planting.
rockery was designed for. I’ll let you
know how I get on...
Better weather gives us the perfect
opportunity for rockery improvements,
especially as many of the low-growing
plants don’t like the wet as their leaves
are vulnerable to rotting.
If you don’t have a rockery but love
alpines, a good alternative is to plant up
an alpine collection in a trough or old
sink. They are easy to do and can be After planting, water well to
moved somewhere undercover for
protection in winter.
3 saturate the rootballs and settle
the compost around the plants.
Add a layer of gravel to help
2 Keep on top of weeds as they will
quickly out-strip your low-growing
4 drainage, raise the lower
leaves and create an attractive
alpine plants and can be a haven for appearance. Set your trough or pot
pests and diseases. in a sunny, sheltered site.
13 MARCH 2021 AMATEUR GARDENING 9
 Listen to
Peter’s free
podcast every
Thursday. Search for
‘This Week In The
Garden with Peter
Seabrook’ on
iTunes
Peter harvesting his celeriac crop:
a hardy root veg that can be cooked
like any other or shredded in salads
Main image: Arthur Edwards / The Sun
Enjoy year-round veg
Early sowing is the answer for celeriac, as Peter explains
W
E have become so
accustomed to the full
range of salads and
vegetables on sale year-
round that self-sufficiency through the
winter has been forgotten. There are,
however, several useful winter crops
that we need to think about at
this time of the year.
Celeriac is a good
example – a really hardy
winter root, which can
be cooked like other root
vegetables or shredded
for use in salads. The
bases and tops are a bit
rough, but the larger the root Celeriac ‘Giant Prague’ planting out after any
grown, the easier they are to is a popular variety further chance of frost in May.
peel and the more flesh available
on each one.
Early sowing gives a longer growing
Body image: Alamy. All other images Future, unless credited
season, helping to get increased root
size, and while April sowings can be
made under unheated glass, a sowing
“The larger the root
grown, the easier
they are to peel”
Your
Gardening Week
with Peter Seabrook, AG’s classic gardening expert
Peter’s top tips
Alamy
Chinese cabbage and a wide
1 range of salad leaves can be
autumn-sown and overwintered
under cold glass; see an excellent
example in the Global Vegetable
Garden at RHS Garden Hyde Hall.
Garden peas can be harvested
2
in four weeks if sown in trays on
now in heat will give you a flying start. a warm windowsill. Leave a couple
The keys to success are avoiding any of inches of stem, and they will come
checks to growth, which can cause again several times.
the plants to run prematurely to seed
(known as bolting), and keeping rows
well-watered in dry weather.
Recommended cultivars are
Celeriac ‘Giant Prague’, an
open-seeded kind with lots
of seeds in each packet,
and ‘Asterix’ F1 hybrid
(EW King), with good
resistance to bolting.
Heated glass-raised Pull any remaining beetroot in
plants will need to be
hardened off before
3 the ground before they start
to grow again, causing the root
to shrivel.
There is a whole range of
salad leaves to autumn-sow and crop
through the winter under cold glass.
The toughest (which can be grown
unprotected) is landcress, a watercress
substitute; leaves will be more tender
grown under protection, but I have
self-sown plants outside, harvested
for sandwiches, pretty well year-round.
While red and other coloured beetroot Self-sown landcress will survive
are usually lifted in the autumn and then
stored in the cool, they are tough enough
4 hard frost and snow outside
through the winter. Leave just one
to be left in the ground until March. Lift
them now before they start to re-grow,
plant to seed, and you’ll have plants
popping up for several years.
shrivelling the roots.
13 MARCH 2021 AMATEUR GARDENING 11
 Your
Gardening Week
with AG’s gardening expert Ruth Hayes
easy-going and happy in any soil as long
as it is fertile and free-draining. They will
thrive in a sunny spot and are pretty
Tamp compost drought-tolerant.
flat before Cleome are also known as ‘spider
sowing flowers’ because of their large blooms
that combine spikes with petals in

Future unless credited

shades of pink and white.
Originally from the West Indies and
South America, these statuesque
beauties can reach a height of 48in
(120cm) so need to be planted towards
the back or centre of a bed. They have a
Scatter seeds delicious scent, are great for pollinators
thinly for best and also make exquisite cut flowers.
results Sow them thinly onto damp compost,
then cover with a very fine layer of more
compost and firm it down. Add a lid and
place the tray somewhere warm.
If germination is slow, move the tray
somewhere cooler for a couple of days
then return to the warmth – this
temperature fluctuation can often spur
Cover with on tardy growth.
compost them
add a lid
Once all the seedlings are through,
remove the lid and grow them on until
Mr Fothergill’s

Cleome ‘Violet Queen’ is an unusual

beauty that likes a sunny spot they are large enough to move to
individual pots. Harden them off and
plant out when you are sure the frosts

A beauty with sharp claws are passed.

Plant out 24in (60cm) apart in sunny,
free-draining soil and keep well watered.
Cleome is a stand-out, but treat with respect says Ruth

T
HIS week’s free seeds made
their debut with AG last year
and I am thrilled to see their
return for 2021.
Take care when touching adult plants,
Sarah Raven’s Cleome ‘Violet Queen’ especially when you come to remove
is a stately, interesting half-hardy annual them in autumn, as the stems develop
that deserves to be better known. sharp spines that can catch you unaware
For all their exotic looks, they are – as I learned the hard way!

Bird Watch: The Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus)

Ruth has nothing but respect for this fierce little hunter
OUR garden is full of birds and at peak debris of their hunts littering the garden, yellow legs and eye rings.
feeding times. In the morning, early and once watched from the dining room Sparrowhawks have been part of
afternoon and at pre-dusk the air is as a sparrowhawk snatched a bird from the UK’s falconry tradition for
alive with their trills and tweets. the feeders and dismembered it centuries, despite having a reputation
But sometimes they upon the lawn. for being one of the hardest birds to
suddenly fall silent, as The sparrowhawk’s train. In medieval times they were
though someone has hunting success is down thought suitable for noble ladies,
hit the ‘mute’ button. to the fact that they are because of their small size, and by the
Both Alamy

A quick glance at the adapted for flying fast 17th century were regarded as priests’
sky gives the answer: and targeting prey with hunting birds.
the cruciform-shaped pinpoint accuracy within To this day they
silhouette of a the confines of dark and are used in north
hunting sparrowhawk. dense woodland. Africa to hunt
These small birds of Sparrowhawks are They are attractive birds, the annual
prey are fearsome hunters small birds of prey the males (also known as quail
and think nothing of taking a ‘muskets’) having a grey overcoat migration
sparrow or tit off a feeder and will even and white chest with russet barring, and are
down a wood pigeon, leaving a pile of while the colouring of the larger females often freed
bloodied feathers in their wake. (and also juvenile birds) is more brown. at its end.
We regularly find the feathered They have a wickedly curved bill and Ruth Hayes
A pile of feathers at
a sparrowhawk kill
12 AMATEUR GARDENING 13 MARCH 2021
 Your
Gardening Week
with Bob Flowerdew, AG’s organic gardening expert
Conventional digging methods involve breaking up
the soil substantially to plant (as with this trench) as
well as to harvest, whereas ‘no dig’ is considered
Bob’s top tips
more beneficial to soil health and a gardener’s back! for the week

Adding humus-rich fertility

seems more effective
when mixed in while
planting seed spuds
in with ‘dig’ methods

Future
Over-sow bare patches of turf
1 with grass seed and then rake
in; choose tougher ‘recreation’ area
seed, not fine or fancy.

In no-dig gardening, sets are not planted

but placed on top of the soil and covered
with a mulch of straw, leaves or compost

To dig or not to dig...

Future
Growing spuds should be straightforward, but if the ‘dig Take care not to cook seed
versus no-dig’ debate has you wondering, Bob can help 2 and seedlings under glass,

O
NE of the most enduring
garden controversies is the
conventional or ‘dig’ method
of growing spuds versus
several forms of ‘no-dig’. This seems a bit (with holes for plants to emerge). Later,
odd, as there’s so many variables with
the digging methods, anyway.
However, all dig methods
do involve breaking up the
soil, twice – once to plant,
and always ventilate or shade
but instead placed on top of the soil and with paper on very sunny days.
covered with mulch – either a deep, loose
one (such as straw, leaves or compost)
or a fabric geo-textile or cardboard type
the mulch is removed to reveal the crop.
If only it was this simple! First,
potatoes are among the few
crops that prefer looser soil
to firm (firm, not hard
Future

and again to harvest. packed), and surface

The essential point of
no-dig is that the soil is
never disturbed, which is
considered very beneficial
to the soil health, and also
to the gardener’s back.
Unfortunately, though, I’ve
found no-dig methods seldom give
as large or clean a crop as ‘dug’
comparisons, though they can save
much hard work.
With no-dig, the sets are not planted
All images Alamy, unless otherwise credited
planting can make it
difficult for sets to root. Hand-pollinate early-flowering
Next, potato crops are
very much improved by
3 fruits such as apricots, plums
and peaches using a small brush,
adding humus-rich fertility cotton bud or feather.
No-dig raised bed such as well-rotted manure.
covered in manure This can be applied with or
before a mulch, but in practice it
seems better utilised when mixed in
while planting the sets. But these are
minor points, perhaps.
The biggest problem with no-dig is

light reaching the swelling spuds and

turning them green, toxic and inedible.
“Spuds prefer
Future

Thus, much extra care has to be taken

with mulching to prevent this. The other
looser soil drawback is that no-dig spuds are
frequently more pest-damaged than 4 Dress and rake soil where you’ll
be growing brassicas with some
to firm” those embedded deep in the soil.
So if your back’s OK, I reckon it’s
garden lime, using a handful per
square yard/metre (don’t inhale dust).
better to keep on digging!
14 AMATEUR GARDENING 13 MARCH 2021
 Your
Gardening Week
with Val Bourne, AG’s organic wildlife expert
Crocus tommasinianus
does its own thing to
attract early pollinators
such as honey bees
Daffodil ‘Rijnveld’s Early Sensation’
wasn’t as early as usual and burst
into flower in February this year
Weather watching
Spring’s arrival is complicated by weather oddities, says Val
I
T can be bitterly cold in Cold Aston
in March – so cold that one witty
garden visitor who came to see
my spring flowers (which weren’t
up, let alone in flower) sent me a letter
addressed to ‘Almost Spring Cottage,
Cold Cold Aston’! I always say I should
have framed that envelope, because it
sums up my dilemma perfectly. Spring
comes later here.
Every year is different, though,
and plants have their own built-in
agenda and, just like husbands,
they can’t be hurried along. It
will happen when it happens.
This year seems late, so far.
My witch hazels were tardy Signs of life in the veg
into flower, although it wasn’t patch at ‘Almost
very cold. I have had them out Spring
before Christmas in very mild years,
but it was late-January before most
opened their spidery flowers this year.
Body image: Val Bourne. All others Alamy, unless credited
‘Pallida’ and ‘Aurora’ have a lovely freesia
scent, so I really look forward to them.
I usually have a large-trumpeted early advert). You’re mostly dealing with
daffodil called ‘Rijnveld’s Early Sensation’
“Many plants have
their own agenda”
16 AMATEUR GARDENING 13 MARCH 2021
Eagerly anticipated Hamamelis x intermedia
‘Pallida’ has flowered later this year as a
result of erratic weather patterns
out by Christmas. This year, it was
February, and I’m not sure why. I do
know that certain early bulbs, like
snowdrops, are temperature-driven
rather than light-driven. If winter’s warm
yet sunless, they’ll flower early, and
I fretted that my snowdrops would come
out in January rather than February this
year. A cold snap put the brakes on,
so they ended up on cue.
Other spring flowers,
those that are prompted
by light levels rather than
temperature, were also
a fortnight later. These
included hardy Cyclamen
coum and many small-
flowered crocuses. These
Cottage’ perennial spring flowers
follow their own agenda to
coincide with early pollinators.
However, when it comes to vegetable
sowing, you’re in the driving seat, Britain
(to quote a very annoying television
annuals, and many are sown straight into
the soil, so the ground must be getting
warmish. The important day for action
was 19th January: that’s the date when
the sun got near enough to begin
warming up the ground.
Last year was exceptional. Spring
started just as lockdown began, in the
third week of March, and everything
germinated because we had warm days
and warm nights. We’d also had a lot of
autumn and winter rainfall, so the soil
was friable. Cold Aston springs tend
to have sunny days and clear nights,
and that kind of dry weather produces
temperature extremes. I have to rein
in the Best Beloved’s enthusiasm, or
hide the seeds, in order to stop him!
What’s written on the seed packet
doesn’t always help. You’re told to sow
parsnips in February, for instance,
probably because the seeds take
30 days to germinate. I used to adhere
to this religiously, but years of failure
have taught me to wait. Parsnips are
tap-rooted umbellifers – members of
the cow parsley family, just like carrots.
This family needs ambient temperatures
around 10ºC/50ºF before the seeds
are even willing to germinate.
F1 parsnip seeds are now available.
They were developed by Tozer Seeds
and the first one was ‘Gladiator’ F1,
released in 1982. Peter Dawson
searched colonies of wild parsnip for
a plant without any or much pollen,
and finally found one on the A3 near
Guildford. F1 varieties, though more
expensive, have added vigour and
that makes them far more willing to
germinate – once the weather’s right.
It can be frustrating. I’m reminded of
an old farmer friend from Hooky (now
long gone) who used to say, “Spring’s
around the corner. It’s just a (insert your
own swear word here) long corner.”
Experience had taught him to catch the
moment, and it’s one of the hardest skills
in gardening. As soon as I think spring’s
in the air to stay, I’ll sow my pea seeds
– my top variety is ‘Hurst Green Shaft’,
a variety that does really well here.
Once spring is in the air, be sure
to sow more peas than you need
TIP Another long-gone
gardener from Hooky
always used to say this about sowing
peas: one for the mouse, one for the
crow, one to rot and one to grow!
 Your
Gardening Week
with Lucy Chamberlain, AG’s fruit and veg expert
Focus on... Compact plots
Even the smallest spaces can be quickly transformed into miniature havens for bountiful
harvests. Lucy Chamberlain explains how to get more edibles from compact gardens
I
T’S official – UK gardens are
getting smaller (by about 1% per
decade, to be precise). And with
larger plots harbouring more
weeds and extra work, it’s no surprise
that small-space gardening is popular
with time-strapped growers. Luckily,
there are loads of successful ways
to grow crops in compact gardens…
Healthier soil, better varieties
Closer spacings and more intensive
cropping is only successful if your soil
is up to scratch. Adding bulky organic
matter (like well-rotted manure or
garden compost) helps add nutrients
All photography Future, unless otherwise credited
and lock in moisture. Dig a 3in (8cm)
“Make sure you
choose naturally
compact varieties”
Struggling for space? Worry not, as even tiny
spaces can flourish with an assortment of
veggies like tomatoes, lettuce and peppers
layer into the top spade’s depth of soil.
If you’re growing in pots, opt for a brand
with extra nutrients and water-retaining
materials (such as Gro-Sure Container &
Basket Compost). If container gardening
is your main focus, install plenty of water
butts and install a drip irrigation system
to ease your workload.
Morello cherry trees can be trained
against walls in small gardens
Potted miniature Peach ‘Bonanza’ (Prunus
persica) is great for tight spaces
A simple grid provides a framework
for herbs and veggies in a small plot
Main, body and inset images: Alamy
You will make life much easier on
yourself by choosing naturally compact
varieties. Dwarf vegetables such as
Lettuce ‘Tom Thumb’, Tomato ‘Sweet ‘n’
Neat’ and Pepper ‘Redskin’ are ideal
for tiny plots. There’s help here with
fruit as well: Raspberry ‘Ruby Beauty’,
Blackcurrant ‘Ben Sarek’, Peach
‘Bonanza’ and Blackberry ‘Opal’
are just a few examples.
Light and shade
Even the smallest areas have both
sunny and shady spots. Identify them,
and then choose crops accordingly; for
instance, redcurrants thrive in shade,
whereas chilli peppers love the sun.
Balconies have lots of wall space but can
be blustery – a few well-placed potted
evergreens or a windbreak help to shield
crops from the elements. Patios can
often be suntraps – lining pot sides with
bubblewrap and sitting them in trays of
water help to keep roots moist. Narrow
windowboxes and smaller pots will dry
out quickly, so don’t over-plant them.
13 MARCH 2021 AMATEUR GARDENING 19
 Your
Gardening Week
with Lucy Chamberlain, AG’s fruit and veg expert
Lucy’s corner
Make the most of miniature plots
■ Wall and fence space is invaluable;
hang large tubs, baskets and planting
pouches against them or invest in
vertical growing systems.
■ Choose climbing vegetable varieties
as well as fruits, to get them up off the
ground (which can then be cropped
with something else).
■ Grow early-maturing veggie varieties
Don’t
forget! How to make even more of your small spaces
Alamy
Multi-use crops: In a small space
1 you want big returns from plants.
There are plenty of edible bits that get
overlooked – pumpkin shoots, radish
and turnip leaves, courgette flowers –
so harvest these as well as the more
conventional parts for extra harvests.
ck j obs
5 qui
Sow early batches of beetroot, gem
1 lettuce, carrots and spring cabbage
under cover for the first precious
harvests of these hardy crops.
Inspect forced rhubarb stems for
2 slugs and snails. Either remove by
hand or scatter some organic slug
pellets under forcing pots.
Potassium is the main element
3 needed by fruit in order to crop
well, so add some top-dressings
of sulphate of potash as the
soil warms.
Globe artichokes are quite easy
4 to propagate at this time of year;
simply slice off divisions with
a spade and pot them up.
Test your soil pH. Kits are readily
5 available and after testing you can
adjust any feeding to deliver the
appropriate nutrition.
20 AMATEUR GARDENING 13 MARCH 2021
with a fast growth rate and
quick turnover to pack
more on to your plot.
Viola tricolour
is an excellent
edible for borders
■ Use cloches and
covers to stretch the
seasons – you’ll gain a
whole extra month each
side of the growing season.
■ Grow edible flowers (such as
hollyhocks, daylilies and violas) instead
of ornamental blooms in your borders.
■ Sow vegetables into modules so that
Both: Alamy
Beans can be cultivated in pots
they are ready to transplant into beds with wigwams against a house wall
and tubs as soon as they are cleared.
Alamy
Cut-and-come-again: Leave Intercropping: Partner quick-
2 lettuce, chicory, endive, radicchio,
spring cabbage and kale stalks in the
3 growing annual spinach, rocket
or radish with slow-to-mature Savoy
earth once the main head is harvested; cabbages or purple sprouting broccoli.
they’ll sprout a new flush of leaves in Sweetcorn, which loves full sun, can
four weeks. Cut-and-come-again leaves be underplanted with shade-loving
will flush two or three more times. loose-leaf lettuce and landcress.
Top
tip
A ripe ‘Anjeer’ fig
Terrace Gardening / Alamy
growing in a pot,
and (inset) pruning
out any die-back
before the fig fully
comes into leaf
IF you haven’t yet tried growing figs in (this prevents roots from drying out).
pots, give it a go this year. By confining Ensure drainage holes are adequate,
these vigorous trees in a container then pot your tree up (John Innes No3
you’re effectively bonsai-ing them.
This keeps them compact, and also
is ideal) and site it in full sun.
There are plenty of good varieties
encourages them to bear fruit earlier; available – all are self-fertile, so only
a heavier crop is encouraged, too. one tree is needed. ‘Brown Turkey’ is
Now is an ideal time to plant a tree.
Choose a non-porous container at
very reliable in our climate, but there
is also tastier ‘Rouge de Bordeaux’

least 18in (30cm) wide, deep and tall and stripy ‘Panache’.
 Next week: Focus on cloches and covers,
harvest first rhubarb, plant up a nectar border,
take blueberry cuttings, try lime leaves.

Be on the lookout for pests now

THERE’S a reason why certain insect specifically to the growing points rather
pests are troublesome. The terrible than the older leaves. With young shoots
trio – aphids, whitefly and red spider being the most nutritious parts to feed Spraying broad

Inset: Alamy
mite – have an impressive (or perhaps on, this is where you’ll find initial pests. beans to protect
that should be depressive) ability to Aphids can be squashed between finger against aphids
reproduce quickly. Whitefly and red and thumb (as can whitefly). Regular use
spider can lay eggs at 10°C (50°F), of organic sprays based on plant oils or
whereas female aphids can breed fatty acids will also keep this trio at bay.
without the need to mate, giving birth to
nymphs that already contain the next
brood within them. Gardeners don’t
stand much of a chance – but to stack
“Check young
the odds in our favour, vigilance is key.
These savvy insects know that their
shoots for pests” I’m checking new shoots on these forced
strawbs for signs of early aphid attack
host plants will be pumping nutrients

Step How to sow cucumbers Why

by step Whether you fancy all-female smooth, snack box minis, heritage yellow
or classic long greens, now’s the time to get your cucumbers started: not try..?

Although tender, Water the pots well Once the first true
1 cucumbers can be
sown early because
2 and allow them to
drain. Sow one seed per
3 leaf (not the oval
seedling leaves) has
Blue honeysuckle
(Lonicera caerulea
var. kamtschatica)

Alamy
many varieties can take pot, ¾in (2cm) deep, emerged, move your
a couple of weeks to covering each seed with cucumber seedlings from
germinate, and indoor
types will be cropped in
compost once sown. Water
lightly and place in a well-lit
the propagator to a warm
(minimum 18°C/64°F),
Honeyberries
a frost-free greenhouse. propagator set at 22°C/72°F. well-lit and well-ventilated AS gardeners, we’re all familiar with
Fill some 3½in (9cm) Keep them just moist and spot. Keep moist, but not honeysuckles, but did you know
pots with good-quality ventilate the propagator waterlogged, until you that some of them produce edible
seed compost. well once germinated. are ready to plant. and delicious fruits?
The honeyberry (Lonicera
caerulea var. kamtschatica) is one
Warming up the soil for planting such species, yielding elongated,
milky purple fruits in midsummer
IF you’re anything like me, you’re just after its characteristic trumpet-
itching to get those precious veggie By placing plastic shaped cream flowers. This edible
seeds into the earth – but you need to cloches over bare species of honeysuckle is just as
soil now, I can start
wait. Sowing into cold soils can result sowing radish like hardy and robust as the ornamental
in poor germination rates, so be savvy, ‘Scarlet Globe’ types, happy in sun or dappled
patient and let cloches help you. Placed out sooner shade where it can scramble into
over the area you plan to sow, cloches the light (just add some support
Inset: Alamy

and frames will trap and magnify any wires or trellis).

spring sunshine your plot receives,
gently raising the temperature of the
soil beneath. Rigid plastic and glass
tunnel cloches are the most insulating
(fleece and polythene are less so).
Ideally, position your cloches over
designated beds two weeks before you
plan to sow, digging the area over first.
After a fortnight, you can then sow the
The taste is somewhere between
a grape and a plum, and the fruits
are tasty both raw and cooked. Yield
for a single plant is impressive (no
additional pollinating plant is
needed). Now is an ideal time to
likes of carrots, beetroot, plant one of these hardy climbers,
lettuce, radish, spinach so make it a weekend project.
and hardy salad leaves. So step to it!
13 MARCH 2021 AMATEUR GARDENING 21
48 AMATEUR GARDENING 13 MARCH 2021
13 MARCH 2021 AMATEUR GARDENING 49
Among the diverse pelargonium family there’s
one to suit every taste, from scented to
delicately flowered and showy, such as
the naturally bushy ‘Imperial Butterfly’
A passion for
Pelargoniums
Once they were commonly called ‘geraniums’, and are in the same plant family, but
pelargoniums offer something very different as Anne Swithinbank explains
L
OOKING back to my childhood
in the 1960’s, windowsills were
alive with red, pink or lemon-
scented pelargoniums and if
you didn’t have any, cuttings would soon
be passed on. I was always on the
lookout for unusual varieties and
remember cadging cuttings of the old
dark-leaved miniature ‘Red Black
Vesuvius’ from a plant-loving aunt. Their
popularity dated from the Victorians
who, at least in London, could buy them
from the handcarts of door-to-door pot
plant hawkers known as ‘botany bens’.
We knew them as ‘geraniums’, a
confusion that arose when Carl Linnaeus
originally lumped pelargoniums in with
hardy border geraniums because they
both produced seed capsules
resembling cranesbills. They were
separated in 1789 and although both are
in the plant family Geraniaceae, there
are big differences in cultivation and
what they can offer the gardener.
Pelargoniums are sun-loving, not frost
hardy and usually die off if left outside in
a British winter.
24 AMATEUR GARDENING 13 MARCH 2021
Pots allow you to display
collection of pelargoniums
Most of the 250 species originate genetic mutations. Depending on their
from South Africa, growing in open ancestry, pelargoniums are arranged
locations of well-drained soil and the into groups and all are gorgeous and
first to reach Europe around 1600 is collectable, from tiny succulent species
generally thought to be P. triste. In to the shrubby Unique group perfect for
French this means sad or regrettable, filling summer containers. To please the
as the flowers were thought small and nose, a whole category of scented-
dull-coloured. Yet I find these night- leaved kinds release essences of lemon,
scented blooms of cream and maroon orange, peppermint, pine and spice.
bewitching against ferny foliage. Now is the time to order for summer
growing. Some zonal and ivy-leaved
Hybrids and zonal types pelargoniums are raised from seed in
By the late 1700s, 50 species were large numbers but named cultivars are
grown and hybrids created, especially of sent out as rooted cuttings. Indoor
the common or zonal pelargonium so- gardeners with small bright windowsills
called because of the dark, horse-shoe will find the dwarf and miniature zonals
shaped marking on each leaf. Cultivars perfect with their short joints and pretty
also arise when plants produce sports or single or double flowers.
Where to buy*
Allwoods 01273 844229 allwoods.net
Fibrex Nurseries 01789 720788 fibrex.co.uk
Trecott Nursery 01769 540066 trecottnursery.com)
Woottens of Wenhaston 01502 478258 woottensplants.com
*Many nurseries are currently unable to send out plants – or despatch may be delayed.
 9 favourite pelargoniums
al
3 with zogns
markin

Allwoods.net
Fibrex.co.uk

P. ‘A.M. Mayne’ P. ‘Apple Blossom Rosebud’ AGM P. ‘Pink Dolly Varden’

The strong, bushy and upright growth of
this classic double-flowered zonal type
performs well as bedding, in patio pots
and under glass. Generous heads of
flowers are a rich, deep magenta-purple.
H and S: 16in (40cm).
Alamy unless credited
Rosebud pelargoniums arose as
mutations and were popular as Victorian
buttonhole flowers. This classic dates
back to 1850 and is still a favourite for
the neat heads of double pink and white
blooms. H: 16in (40cm) S: 10in (25cm).
A pretty pelargonium with a lot going on.
Generous heads of single, softly shell-
pink flowers combine with fancy cream-
edged leaves (pictured), whose darker
horseshoe markings are lit by pink. H:
12in (30cm) S: 6in (15cm).

3 regal s
m
pelargoniu
Fibrex.co.uk

P.’Kamahl’ P. ‘Parisienne’ AGM P. ‘Rimfire’ AGM

Regal pelargoniums are struck from
summer cuttings to overwinter and
bloom the following May and are worth
potting on for a further year. This one is a
particularly good salmon.
H: 20in (50cm) S: 16in (40cm).
To sit among three of these
sumptuously lilac pink beauties would
be like surrounding yourself in pink
marshmallows. Definitely worth potting
on to gain large, shrubby, second-year
plants. H: 20in (50cm) S: 16in (40cm).
Lovely though ‘Lord Bute’ is, for the
drama of red, purple and black-hued
blooms, why not try something different?
Expect rich mahogany blooms lit by a
salmon edge on compact plants great
for pots. H and S: 18in (45cm)

3 petite s
m
pelargoniu
Trecott © Jonathan Hall.
Allwoods.net

P. ‘Ambrose’ P. ‘Bird Dancer’ AGM P. ‘Petit Pierre’ variegated

Miniature varieties favour windowsills,
forming low-maintenance bushy plants
like tiny trees. Producing heads of double,
white, pink-flushed flowers against green
foliage. H and S: 6in (15cm).
This dainty, free flowering cultivar is a
dwarf stellar variety, whose leaves have
zig-zag edges and strong markings as a
backdrop to heads of single, salmon-
pink flowers. H: 20cm (8in) S: 6in (15cm).
A perky miniature of compact, bushy
shape and apple-green foliage perfect for
a bright, high shelf. Stems of single fresh
pink flowers with a white eye are prolific,
over a long period. H and S: 6in (15cm.)
13 MARCH 2021 AMATEUR GARDENING 25
 3 showy Angels and Uniques

P. ‘Imperial Butterfly’ AGM

Angel pelargoniums are daintier than
regals but still make magnificent plants
to fill containers with masses of blooms.
This one makes a bushy plant whose
white flowers are feathered with dark
purple. H and S: 16in (40cm).

P. ‘Quantock Perfection’ AGM P. ‘Mystery’ AGM

A vigorous and free-flowering Angel pelargonium The Unique
happy to fill a patio container to overflowing with an group represent
eye-catching display. Expect plenty of orchid-like two- early breeding to
toned flowers coloured magenta and pale pink. create floriferous,
H: 20in (50cm) S: 16in (40cm). shrubby bedding
plants. This one
certainly covers
some ground but
is probably best
in a container, to
show off its black-
blotched, deep
red flowers.
H: 3ft (1m) S: 35in
(89cm).
Allwoods.net

General growing tips Propagation

Pot young plants into 50:50 PELARGONIUM cuttings are easy to
multipurpose and John Innes no 2 with root from spring to autumn. Make
20% added grit. Nip out growing tips them about 3in
to encourage branching. (8cm) long,
Whether potted or planted out, remove
sun and well-drained soil are bottom
appreciated. Give a general purpose leaves and
liquid feed fortnightly to established any flower
plants, switching to high potash stems and
when flowering. insert into
Tuberous or succulent species thrive 50:50 Pelargonium cuttings
best under cover where watering is multipurpose take easily
easily controlled. compost,
Overwinter plants in a cool, bright setting one per 3in
but frost free spot. (8cm) pot or several per 3.5-4in (9-
In March, prune overwintered plants 10cm) pot. Never use hormone
to shape and pot on after new shoots Pot into gritty compost rooting compound or cover the
have arisen. plants with lids.

26 AMATEUR GARDENING 13 MARCH 2021

 Unusual species and hybrids

Woottensplants.co.uk

Fibrex.co.uk
P. ‘Ardens’ AGM P. echinatum ‘Album’
This eye-catching tuberous pelargonium makes a spreading, The upright, succulent stems have blunt spiny structures but
prostrate form. After the early summer show of crimson also branch and make neat grey-green leaves and in early
flowers, plants rest and may lose a few grey-green leaves so summer, stems of pretty white flowers decorated by coral
avoid overwatering at this stage. H: 5in (13cm) S: 12in (30cm). spots. H: 12in (30cm) S: 10in (25cm).

Woottensplants.co.uk
Woottensplants.co.uk

P. trifidum P. sidoides AGM

Introduced to Kew in 1790 by plant hunter Masson, this species The combination of small, soft silvery grey leaves and a long
redeems itself with aromatic foliage and clear-cut creamy display of neat dark purple-maroon flowers has made this
flowers whose upper petals are marked at the base with dark species a bit of a classic. Mature plants make good-sized
crimson. H: 8in (20cm) S: 30in (75cm). mounds in terracotta pots. H and S: 12in (30cm).

With scented leaves

Trecott © Jonathan Hall

Fibrex.co.uk

P. ‘Islington Peppermint’ P. radula AGM

Plants are more compact than the usual P. tomentosum but still Finely divided rose/lemon-scented leaves are perfect for
deliver velvety mint-scented leaves. Handsome blooms are flavouring cakes, knocked around in the sugar and flour and
sticks-of-rock coloured, the pink and black upper petals also baked in whole but removed before icing. Pink flowers
contrasting with lower white ones. H and S: 12in (30cm). are pretty too. H and S: 30in (75cm).
13 MARCH 2021 AMATEUR GARDENING 27
Few plants can equal poppies; from the beautiful blowsy
perennial varieties to delicate tissue flowers of annuals such
as ‘Ladybird’, that will pop up in the same year of sowing
Poppy Love!
Make your garden full of summer colour by planting poppies now, says Hazel Sillver
P
OPPIES provide unrivalled
cheer, flowering in splashes of
bold colour through the
summer border. Children love
them, and adults never tire of them: their
simple flower shape and joyous shades
of scarlet, plum, pink and orange
brighten their surrounds, as well as
lighten our mood.
In the wild, they grow in iconic carpets
of red that are breathtaking in early
summer. This is Papaver rhoeas (corn
poppy), which thrives in disturbed soil; it
can sleep under the earth for years, until
activated by the churning of a plough.
When the trenches were dug during the
First World War, dormant seed bloomed,
streaking the fighting fields scarlet, and
for this reason and the memories of
those that fought through those poppy
fields, it is the flower of remembrance.
Over 70 species
If you want red poppies in a sunny
border, go for an oriental variety. For
instance, the letterbox-red ‘Beauty of
Livermere’ at the back, the fringe-
petalled scarlet ‘Türkenlouis’ in the
middle, and the double orange-red
‘Olympia’ at the front. In shade, plant the
red Welsh poppy, ‘Frances Perry’. And
for a meadow-style area, ‘Paradise’ is an
28 AMATEUR GARDENING 13 MARCH 2021
intense vermillion version of the
common corn species
But there are over 70 annual and
perennial species of true poppy
(Papaver), as well as many other plants
that are referred to as poppies (such as
Eschscholzia californica – the orange
Plum-coloured poppy, ‘Lauren’s Grape’
Where to buy*
Sarah Raven 0345 092 0283 sarahraven.com
Special Plants 01225 891686 specialplants.net
Beth Chatto 01206 822007 bethchatto.co.uk
*Many nurseries are currently unable to send out plants – or despatch may be delayed.
California poppy). And so there is a vast
range of colour on offer, as well as the
much-loved classic red.
More colours than red
The big, ruffled orientals are available in
wonderful shades of pink and plum that
look great alongside lavender-blue
flowers, such as Salvia ‘Little Spire’ and
Nepeta ‘Six Hills Giant’. These cool blues
also pair well with the sumptuous
shades of opium poppies such as
‘Lauren’s Grape’.
Smaller species (such as Armenian,
red horned, and California poppies)
shine in the sun-baked environment of a
gravel garden, where their orange
blooms partner well with oregano
‘Herrenhausen’ and Stipa tenuissim.
The pepper-pot seedheads of many
poppies look good in autumn and –
when shaken by the wind – disperse
their seed, so that once you have the
heartening cheer of poppies, you’ll
always have it.
 9 Poppies for borders
3 for
rder
back-of-bo

Sarahraven.com ©Jonathan Buckley

SpecialPlants.net © Derry Watkins

Papaver somniferum ‘Single Black’ P. somniferum ‘Victoria Cross’ Argemone grandiflora
Decadent plum-black single flowers Striking Ferrari-red and white flowers This prickly poppy has single white
adorn this smouldering opium poppy with frilled edges above silvery-blue flowers that reach 7-10cm-wide and look
above blue-grey foliage in summer. Sow leaves in summer. Direct sow in well- stunning against the spiky glaucous
in situ in sun-baked, well-drained soil. It drained soil in full sun. It will self-sow. foliage. Sow in well-drained, sun-baked
Alamy unless credited

will self-sow. H: 90cm-1.2m. H: 60cm-1m. soil, perhaps through gravel. H: 70-90cm.

3 for
r
mid-borde

Special Plants.net © Derry Watkins

P. (Oriental Group) ‘Burning Heart’ Glaucium corniculatum P. pilosum subsp. spicatum
This lovely oriental poppy has big clear- The red horned poppy is a short-lived The spike-flowered hairy poppy is a
pink petals that resemble crepe paper, perennial with red flowers that mature clump-forming perennial with informal
around a black boss. Blooms in May and to burnt orange above fabulous silver- charm. Crinkled apricot flowers above
June in well-drained, fertile soil in full blue downy, wavy foliage. Very well- felty grey foliage. Sow direct in well-
sun. H: 75cm. drained, sun-baked soil. H: 50-60cm. drained soil in full sun. H: 50-75cm.

3 for
ont-of-border
fr
Sarahraven.com ©Jonathan Buckley.jpg

P. rupifragum P. dubium subsp. lecoqii ‘Albiflorum’ P. nudicaule ‘Champagne Bubbles’ mix

The Spanish poppy is a short-lived This delightful summer-flowering annual If you want cut flowers, Icelandic poppies
perennial with mellow-orange tissue- has small pink flowers with white are the ones to grow. The white, orange,
paper flowers above blue-green leaves. markings. Self-sows in sunny, well- pink, and yellow papery blooms are
Sow direct in April in well-drained, sunny drained soil. Available from Sarah Raven scented and merry. Buy seedlings in
soil. Self-sows. H: 50cm. (sarahraven.com). H: 45cm. spring. H: 45cm.
13 MARCH 2021 AMATEUR GARDENING 29
3 poppies for shade

P. cambricum
The good old Welsh poppy sows itself around shady parts of the garden and
produces sun-yellow or orange flowers for months. Moist, well-drained neutral to
acid soil in semi-shade. H: 30cm.

4 that prefer a sunny position

P. commutatum ‘Ladybird’ AGM
Children love this reliable annual, which
has glossy scarlet flowers with black
blotches, resembling a ladybird. Direct
sow now in very well-drained soil in
sheltered full sun. H: 45cm.
30 AMATEUR GARDENING 13 MARCH 2021
P. (Oriental Group) ‘Karine’ AGM
Beautiful bowl-shaped blush flowers in
early summer. Unlike most orientals, it
does not have dark blotches, but is
marked with red at the base. Well-
drained soil in sun. H: 60-75cm.
Eschscholzia californica ‘Alba’
This cream form of the California poppy
looks wonderful growing through gravel.
It has fine grey-green foliage and will
self-seed in poor, dry, sun-baked soil.
Direct sow now. H: 25cm.
 Meconopsis
‘Slieve Donard’
AGM
Himalayan blue
poppies are
dazzling. Buy
sterile plants
from a
specialist
supplier, and
thereafter use
your own seed.
Neutral to acid
soil in areas
that have cool,
damp summers.
H: 1m.

Stylophorum lasiocarpum
The blood poppy is a self-sowing perennial with big green leaves and bright-yellow
flowers from early to mid summer. The name relates the plant’s red sap. Tolerates dry
shade. H: 45cm.

Perennial poppies planting tips

Poppies love good drainage, so
dig in some compost and lots of grit
if you’re on clay.
Don’t add fertiliser, as they sulk in
excessively rich soil.
They resent competition, so give
them some elbow room.
Taller forms (especially orientals)
will require support to prevent
flopping in rain.
If you’re on very acid soil, go
Plant in free-draining soil
for Welsh poppy or Himalayan
blue poppy.

Annual poppies sowing tips

Hunnemannia fumariifolia
The Mexican tulip poppy has brilliant-
yellow flowers above finely divided blue-
grey foliage. It’s a tender perennial that
is grown as an annual. Very well-drained
soil in full sun. H: 75cm.
Sow hardy annuals (such as opium
poppies) direct in late March or April for
summer flowers.
Follow the instructions on the seed
packet, but most poppy seed should be sown
shallow in very well-drained soil in an open,
sun-baked position; and they usually dislike
overly rich soil.
To ensure seed is viable, order from seed
Sow in an open,
suppliers direct. sunny position
13 MARCH 2021 AMATEUR GARDENING 31
 Many annuals thrive in shady conditions –
‘Beacon’ busy Lizzies are particularly
useful for creating a carpet of colour

Annuals for shade

Annuals prefer the warmth of the sun, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be grown
elsewhere. Graham Rice highlights plants that can deal with full or partial shade

A
NNUALS need sunshine.
That’s a lesson we learnt from
the first time we picked up AG
or watched Monty on TV. But,
like so many gardening guidelines, it’s
not really quite so simple.
Firstly, many annuals are simply more
adaptable than we’re told. True, French
marigolds might not flower so well in the
shade but they won’t usually actually die.
And secondly, there’s a select band of
annuals that actually prefer the shade,
although this is partly because it usually
means that they’re less likely to dry out.
It’s also helpful to remember that
there are different kinds of shade. There
are north facing borders that rarely see
direct sun at all but are open to the sky.
Then there’s the shade cast by
deciduous trees, dappled shade if you
like. And finally there’s semi-shade, or
partial shade, where plants are in the sun
for part, but not all, of the day.
recommend for one kind of shade
should also be high on your list for other
types of shade.
But it’s important to say that one
annual stands out as a shade lover and
that’s impatiens (busy Lizzie), but almost
20 years ago a new disease, downy
mildew, almost completely prevented us
from growing them. The seed catalogue
listings that used to run to two or three
pages almost completely vanished, but
now they’re coming back, with a
splendid disease-resistant variety, to the
relief of shade gardeners everywhere.
Look for a ‘Beacon’
‘Beacon’ is the variety to look for, it’s
highly resistant to downy mildew and
has its own unique way of preventing
infection. It comes in seven colours and
Where to buy*
is suitable for whatever shade you
happen to have, as long as you prevent
it drying out.
At the same time as ‘Beacon’ was
being developed, the more exotic
looking New Guinea impatiens were also
being improved, and are now far more
tolerant of British conditions and are
happier in shade. ‘Beacon’ impatiens
should be your top choices, but there
are plenty of other options opposite.
Did you know?
THE botanical name for honesty is
Lunaria annua – so you might think
it’s an annual and would fit in here
nicely. In fact it’s biennial – but still
great in shade.
Alamy unless credited

A plant that really adores shade
Although it’s important to keep in mind
that different plants are suited to
different kinds of shade they are, as I
said, adaptable and the annuals I
32 AMATEUR GARDENING 13 MARCH 2021
Mr Fothergill’s mr-fothergills.co.uk 0333 777 3936
Thompson & Morgan thompson-morgan.com 0333 400 0033
Brookside Nursery brooksidenursery.co.uk 0333 335 6789
*Many nurseries are currently unable to send out plants – or despatch may be delayed.
 6 shade-friendly varieties
g
North-facin Nemophila Tropaeolum
borders One of the
most delightful
Most climbing
annuals really
of all annuals, do enjoy sun
with white- but canary
eyed sky blue creeper
flowers over (Tropaeolum
many months. canariense,
Low and pictured),
spreading, it with its prettily
will usually fringed bright
self-sow into yellow flowers,
any damp and will thrive on a
shady spots, fence that’s
including out of direct
cracks in sun, but not in
shady paving! a dark place.
6in (15cm). 6ft (1.8m).

Alamy
Dappled Impatiens Viola
shade Botrytis- We think of
TI archive

resistant pansies and

‘Beacon’ violas as
impatiens fit spring flowers,
here perfectly. but out of
In seven direct sun
different many will
colours and bloom
two different prolifically in
mixes, the summer too.
white really ‘Sorbet’ violas
illuminates are the pick, in
shady areas a huge range
(pictured). of colours and
Just don’t blends.

DTBrownseeds.co.uk
allow the 6in (15cm).
plants to
get too dry.
10in (25cm).

e Begonia Mimulus
Semi-shad Fibrous-rooted Happy in
begonias are shade,
the ones to and loves
choose, moisture,
especially the mimulus is
green-leaved probably the
varieties, as quickest of all
bronze-leaved annuals to
types only flower from
add to the seed.
dinginess of ‘Magic Blotch’
the shade. (pictured)
You may need comes in a
to pick out the wonderful
Mr-fothergills.co.uk

green-leaved range of boldly

plants at the speckled
garden centre. colours. Often
8in (20cm). self sows.
Alamy

10in (25cm).
13 MARCH 2021 AMATEUR GARDENING 33
 Options for shady containers

Mr-fothergills.co.uk
Ageratum
Can be very dumpy and squat in sun, but in shade ageratum
stretches a little to make a more elegant plant. ‘Champion
Blue’ (pictured) is the one to look for. Avoid white-flowered
varieties as they fade to brown. 10in (25cm).
Thompson-morgan.com
Coleus
Spectacular foliage plants, in a vast variety of brilliant colours
and colour combinations, choose smaller leaved varieties
such as ‘Copa’ or ‘Main Street’ which stretch less in shade than
large-leaved varieties such as ‘Kong’. 18in (45cm).

Thompson-morgan.com
Alamy

Digitalis Impatiens (New Guinea types)

Some modern foxgloves have been developed to flower in Bigger, bolder, mildew-resistant but less tolerant of cool
summer from a spring sowing and make spectacular container summers than regular impatiens, New Guinea impatiens are
plants in shade. ‘Dalmation’ is the one to look for. May need good in semi-shade and on cosy patios. Look for ‘Devine’ or,
support. 3ft (90cm). in spite of its name, ‘SunPatiens’. 18-30in (45-90cm).

Sowing, planting and care

Sow seeds where the plants are to flower or, better still,
raise them in plugs and plant out exactly where you want
them to grow.
Plants may dry out in hot seasons, in spite of being in the
shade, so be prepared to give them a good soak.
Feed container plants, and others if you can, with a
liquid feed – I use tomato food for everything! Mimulus and Hosta sieboldiana
make good planting partners
Alamy

Planting partners
SPRING flowering
perennials, such as dicentra
and geum, will have faded
away when annuals are
reaching their peak so
interplant the two for a long
TI archive
Foliage perennials are
the ideal partners, including
hostas large and small,
heucheras, lamiums, ferns,
and bergenias. Their
colourful and prettily shaped

season of colour from the leaves make effective

same area. partners over many months.

34 AMATEUR GARDENING 13 MARCH 2021

Bedding begonias (B. semperflorens) flower through
summer until the first frost and prefer a lightly
shaded spot. Team up with heucheras
 Ask John Negus
John will reply personally to all your gardening questions every week
Start begonia tubers indoors on a warm, light windowsill
What is the key to begonia success?
Q How can I successfully start and grow begonias? I never seem to have any luck.
Chris Williams, Devizes, Wilshire
A The best time to start begonia
tubers is in spring – March or April.
Start the tubers off by potting them into
the smallest containers possible using
peat-free multipurpose compost and
begin watering.
The tubers should be placed hollow
side up, and not fully buried in compost,
though some people say burying them
in a thin layer of compost encourages
more roots to develop all over the
tubers. The choice is yours!
Keep the pots at 16-21ºC (60-70ºF) – a
bright warm room is ideal.
When the new shoots are a couple of
How do I care for this houseplant?
Q My daughter has been given a
lovely house plant as a gift, but
with no information about it’s name or
how to care for it. Can you help?
Dave Richards (via email)
Thank you for an excellent photo
A of your daughter’s splendid wax
flower, also called Madagascar
jasmine (Stephanotis floribunda).
I suggest that you position it in good
light away from direct sunshine, in a
temperature that doesn’t drop below
55-610F (13-160C).
Sit the pot on gravel in a drip tray or
attractive container and water freely
from spring to summer, but sparingly in
autumn and winter.
Mist leaves twice-weekly with lime-
free water to simulate jungle humidity
and feed weekly, from spring to late
summer, with a houseplant fertiliser.
inches high, pot up the tubers into
suitably-sized containers and continue
to grow them. Reduce the temperature
slightly to encourage the plants to start
the process of hardening off.
If you start your tubers well into April
you won’t need to have them indoors for
so long before starting the hardening off
process in earnest, and this potting
could be into their final containers.
If you plan to plant them directly into
the soil you may need to pot them up
once more to harden them off properly,
before planting out once the danger of
serious frost has passed.
Madagascar jasmine is a stunning
houseplant that likes light and warmth
Continue growing it around a moss-
clad circle and repot it every two years
or so, setting it in a slightly larger
container when roots grow through the
drainage hole.
John has been answering
reader queries for 50 years
Spider mites hate humidity
ICI
A mitey problem
I have had trouble with red spider
Q mite on my carnations and
cucumbers. What is the best course of
action to take?
Peter Tennant, Brighton
Initially, I suggest that you spray
A your plants with SB Plant Invigorator
at the first signs of infestation.
When the temperature rises to around
16ºC (61ºF), sprinkle the nematode
parasite, Phytoseiulus persimilis, on to
the leaves. Finally, spray with soft water
to increase humidity and keep the
temperature below 23ºC (75ºF).
Phytoseiulus is available from Green
Gardener ( 01493 750 061,
greengardener.co.uk).
Pecking perils
Why do
Q pigeons
peck the buds
out of our
cherry
trees?
Kath Smith,
Sheffield
Pigeons get moisture
They are
A and nutrients from
Pixabay/capri23
obtaining pecking blossom
moisture and a little
food. The best way to stop
them from attacking your tree is to erect
a humming line close by, which makes a
deterring whistling sound in even a
gentle breeze.
Most garden centres stock this
product. If you can’t obtain one locally,
log on to amazon.co.uk and purchase a
Haxnicks Bird-Scaring humming line.
13 MARCH 2021 AMATEUR GARDENING 37
54 AMATEUR GARDENING 13 MARCH 2021
While John sometimes advocates using chemicals against pests and
diseases as the most effective means of control, organic options are
sometimes available and we advise readers to go with their preferences
Give your avocado
a helping hand
I found a rooting avocado stone in
Q the compost heap, so I potted it up
and it is now growing well. What should I
do now?
Christine Baggs, Edgware, London
Avocados are tropical trees native
A to South America and the West
Indies. They can grow to 60ft (18m) tall
but are unlikely to in this country, just as
they are sadly unlikely to fruit.
Use a peat-free compost and the
smallest possible pot. Handle the stone,
making sure the tip is about level with
the rim of the pot, and trickle compost
around the roots until the stone is almost
half-buried.
Pinch out the shoot tip, if tall enough,
to encourage bushy growth – 6in (15cm)
is the best height as you can remove
about 1⁄3 of the stem, which may leave it
without leaves. Don’t worry – it will soon
start to shoot.
The avocado will grow rapidly and
soon need re-potting. Do this in spring,
Prune ‘Snowdrift’ clematis after
flowering to keep it neat and prolific
How can I keep my ‘Snowdrift’ tidy?
I have a clematis ‘Snowdrift’ climbing up my trellis but it has now reached the
Q top of the fence. What can I do with it so it can keep growing but in a more
controlled fashion?
Colin Woods, Ampthill, Beds
The best way to train Clematis
A armandii ‘Snowdrift’, to curb it from
growing everywhere and to a great
height, is to prune it after flowering.
All you do is shorten every flowered
stem to within a few inches of the base
and wait for new shoots to appear, which
they will in abundance.
Then fan-train them as horizontally as
Contact John Negus by email address below
Email: amateurgardening@futurenet.com
Quick questions
& answers
Are these
Q harlequin
ladybirds or
native ones?
Paul Matters,
Dunstable
They are
A harlequin
ladybirds. Introduced to
North America in 1988 to control
Avocados will grow in the UK, but not as aphids, this species has now spread
well as they do abroad to other countries, including Britain.
The breed is more aggressive
than any of our native ladybird
but is OK whenever necessary as long as species, which it preys upon, but it
the plant is kept somewhere warm and does do a good job of eating aphids.
light. If you now put it in a 10in (25cm) pot
where it can live for a couple of years.
Top-dress your avo with fresh When do I
compost every spring and re-pot every
3-4 years. During the growing season,
Q prune my
potted olive
feed fortnightly with a liquid feed. tree?
Richard
Stevens
(via email)
The best time is early
A May, when sap is surging.
Simply shorten extra long shoots to
an accommodating length and
remove any which are crowding.
Topdress with fresh compost, feed
and water afterwards.
This plant appears in my
Q garden from time to time, and I
am intrigued to know what it is.
Mayo Marriott (via email)
It is caper spurge (Euphorbia
A lathyrus). A native of Central
and Southern Europe, it is widely
naturalised in Britain. A biennial – it
flowers and dies in its second year
– it is architecturally handsome.
All parts, especially seeds, are
poisonous, so handle it with gloves.
possible over the supporting trellis. If you pull it up, wear
If you do it every year it keeps the
plant neat and tidy and flowering freely
safety goggles to
prevent its milky
and you won’t have old leaves sap splashing
‘clattering’ in the wind. into your eyes
Ideally, after pruning, feed with a and causing
slow-release fertiliser to speed healthy temporary
and robust growth throughout late blindness.
spring and summer.
13 MARCH 2021 AMATEUR GARDENING 39
 Ask John Negus
John will reply personally to all your gardening questions every week
Hippeastrum can produce leaves after
flowering to replenish their bulb
Pixabay/sandid
Will no leaves leave my plant weakened?
My Christmas amaryllis flowered but didn’t produce leaves. Will this affect it
Q next year?
Vicky Gresham (via email)
Don’t worry, your plant will have
A used up energy flowering without
leaves, but this is not unusual and the
leaves will soon appear and start to
replenish the bulbs ready for next year.
Once you have removed the flower
stems, top-dress the pots with fresh
compost, which should encourage some
strong leaves to develop. Keep watering
the compost, but not too much bearing in
mind there are not yet any leaves to draw
the water into the plant.
For the best results, pot your amaryllis
in the autumn and then keep the
When should I plant out my hydrangea?
I have a hydrangea in a pot that I never got round to planting out. It
Q isn’t looking happy – can I do it now?
Pater Marshall (via email)
It would be best for your
A hydrangea if it was moved into
the garden, somewhere where the
soil is rich, fertile, free-draining and
easy to work.
If possible, choose a sunny or
lightly shaded spot where the soil
stays moist in summer. Ideally, before
planting, work in moisture-retentive
well-rotted garden compost or old,
crumbly manure.
After tapping the root ball from its
pot, tease out matted and encircling
roots and set the plant in a hole three
times the width of the root ball.
reader queries for 50 years
compost moist during the whole period
of flowering and growth (autumn through
to early/mid-summer). They will also
benefit from liquid feeding while the
leaves are growing.
Once the leaves have started to go
yellow, in summer, they should be
allowed to dry off and the plant kept
somewhere cool. However, don’t be too
perturbed if the leaves do not go yellow.
You can either force a dormant
season by withholding water or continue
to water and accept that the flowering
season may go astray.
Water
copiously
after
planting
and for
several
weeks
thereafter to
help the plant
re-establish well.
Then, monthly, from April to
September, sprinkle the root area with
fish, blood and bone meal and gently
work it into the soil. Water it in if the
ground if dry.
John has been answering
Dispose of rusted material and use a
fungicide against reinfection
Rust removal
Q Our fuchsias were rusted last year.
Should I just bin the lot?
Shelby Allan, Dumfries & Galloway
A I would keep them. Start by
removing and binning or burning
infected foliage, then feed them with a
high-potash tomato fertiliser to boost
vigour.
Additionally, spray with FungusClear
Ultra, a systemic remedy which should
be effective at eradicating the disease.
It protects new growth from infection
for over three months.
Mystery plant
What is this plant?
Q Mary Jones, Stevenage, Herts
It is common lungwort (Pulmonaria
A officinalis). Naturalised in scattered
localities throughout England, Wales
and Southern Scotland, it has great
charm and cheers
the spring.
There are
many
cultivated
varieties with
deep blue,
white, pink or
red flowers. If
Pulmonaria provide
you like it and early nectar for bees
wish to plant
choice forms of it,
garden centres stock it.
Because it flowers early in the year, it
is good for bees looking for the first
nectar after hibernation.
13 MARCH 2021 AMATEUR GARDENING 41
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4VIPSL5V 0HTV]LY V[OLYIYHUKZ^P[OPU[OL-\[\YL7\ISPZOPUN3PTP[LKI` email post
7VZ[[OLJVTWSL[LKVYKLYMVYT[V!-9,,76:;-\[\YL7\ISPZOPUN3PTP[LK 5VM\Y[OLYHKKYLZZULLKLK5VZ[HTWYLX\PYLK¶MVY<2VUS` telephone and/or SMS. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Q 7SLHZLRLLWTL\W[VKH[L^P[OZWLJPHSVɈLYZHUKUL^ZQ\Z[I`LTHPSMYVTJHYLM\SS`ZLSLJ[LKJVTWHUPLZ@V\YWLYZVUHSKL[HPSZ^PSSUV[ILZOHYLK^P[O[OVZLJVTWHUPLZ^LZLUK[OLLTHPSZHUK`V\JHU\UZ\IZJYPILH[HU`[PTLZ6ɈLYJSVZL[O(WYPS
6ɈLYVWLU[VUL^Z\IZJYPILYZVUS`+PYLJ[+LIP[VɈLYPZH]HPSHISL[V<2Z\IZJYPILYZVUS`‰ WH`HISLI`TVU[OS`+PYLJ[+LIP[ZH]PUNVU[OLM\SSTVU[OS`Z\IZJYPW[PVUWYPJLVM‰;OPZWYPJLPZN\HYHU[LLKMVY[OLÄYZ[TVU[OZHUK^L^PSSUV[PM``V\PUHK]HUJL
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^PSSOVUV\Y[OLU\TILYVMPZZ\LZWHPKMVYUV[[OL[LYTVM[OLZ\IZJYPW[PVU7H`TLU[PZUVUYLM\UKHISLHM[LY[OLKH`JHUJLSSH[PVUWLYPVK\USLZZL_JLW[PVUHSJPYJ\TZ[HUJLZHWWS`-VYM\SS[LYTZHUKJVUKP[PVUZ]PZP[^^^THNHaPULZKPYLJ[JVT[LYTZ-VYLUX\PYPLZWSLHZLJHSS!
3PULZHYLVWLU4VUKH`-YPKH` HTWT<2;PTLVYLTHPS!OLSW'THNHaPULZKPYLJ[JVT*HSSZ[VU\TILYZ^PSSILJOHYNLKH[UVTVYL[OHUHUH[PVUHSSHUKSPULJHSSHUKTH`ILPUJS\KLKPU`V\YWOVULWYV]PKLY»ZJHSSI\UKSL†0UVMPZZ\LZ
W\ISPZOLKWLYHUU\T:LLKZVUS`H]HPSHISL[V<2Z\IZJYPILYZ
XAG code 28BS

42 AMATEUR GARDENING 13 MARCH 2021

While John sometimes advocates using chemicals against pests and
diseases as the most effective means of control, organic options are
sometimes available and we advise readers to go with their preferences
Please can you ID my unknown Iris?
I bought this gorgeous iris last year from a pond plant shop but have lost the
Q label. Please can you help me ID it?
Lily Chong, Camberwell, London
I would say your iris is a variety of I.
A ensata, otherwise known as
Japanese water iris.
Thriving in a few inches of water at the
edge of a pond, or in a sunny border that
stays damp in summer, it is hardy and
should make a handsome clump.
They are the largest flowers of all the
water garden iris and produce the most
splendid and dramatic show of flowers
that come in all sizes and shades of blue,
How can I see off asparagus beetles?
Our greenhouse asparagus was
Q infested with asparagus beetles
last year. What can we do to stop them
reinfesting the plants?
Patrick Harker (via email)
Asparagus beetles are attractive
A pests with red bodies marked
with a cream-and-black cross.
To avoid infestations, you need to
begin checking your plants as soon as
they start to grow again, although small
colonies of the insect are unlikely to do
any permanent damage to the plants
and can be dealt with by hand.
If this is not enough to quell the
attack you should turn to an organic
contact insecticide made of pyrethrum,
such as Bug Clear Gun for Fruit & Veg
or Ecofective Bug Killer.
Protect future crops by cutting
down and burning the old ferns each
autumn, as this can get rid of many of
Contact John Negus by email address below
Email: amateurgardening@futurenet.com
Iris ensata thrive in
boggy terrain
pink, purple and white. Ideally, if you
position it in your pond, plant it in a
perforated pot of aquatic compost. In
autumn, when leaves wither, cut them
back to within a few inches of the base.
As for feeding and speeding new
growth, insert sachets of water lily
fertiliser into the compost at monthly
intervals from April to August.
To keep plants healthy, cut down old
growth after flowering in autumn.
Asparagus beetle can be beaten
at the start of the growing season
the adult beetles. Mature asparagus
beetles overwinter in soil and leaf litter
and the females emerge from the soil
in May, usually after the cutting
season, and lay thin black eggs on the
plant leaves.
Cut back buddleja in spring
to keep it manageable
Buddleja bedlam
My buddleja is running amok! What
Q should I do?
Terri Burgess-Woods, Rotherham
All the flowered shoots should be
A cut back to within 4in (10m) of the
main framework around now, a process
known as ‘stooling’.
If your shrub is really ‘out of control’,
keep it in check by shortening intrusive
shoots by half – they will produce new
flowering growth this year then you can
cut it right back next year.
Pixabay/viviane6276
Anemones will thrive in a sheltered spot
Early beauty
This is flowering in our garden, what
Q is it?
Alec Miles (via email)
It is Anemone coronaria, probably
A the single-flowered ‘de Caen’
variety, which blooms early and is ideal
for cutting.
If it is growing happily in a warm,
sunny, free-draining spot, it normally
excels and pleases you for many years.
13 MARCH 2021 AMATEUR GARDENING 43
 A Gardener’s Miscellany
Gardening’s king of trivia and brain-teasers, Graham Clarke

This
week
it’s:
Mother’s Day
Precious connections between mums and plants
THIS Sunday is Mother’s Day, or
Mothering Sunday if you prefer. In
a normal year, the shops (and garage
forecourts) would all be overflowing
with gift ideas for mums everywhere, as
offerings of thanks and love. But, owing
to the pandemic, it’s a little muted this
year. However, there is no reason why
we shouldn’t celebrate the occasion
on these pages. So to all you mothers,
mums, moms (I can’t understand why
the American’s don’t have ‘mums’ like
us), mammas, grandmothers, step- Give thanks for the mums in your life
mothers and mothers-in-law out there,
let’s look at some of the connections
between you and plants – there are changes every year: it falls on the Fourth
more than you would imagine! Sunday in Lent (known as Laetare Sunday),
The date of Mothering Sunday which is 21 days before Easter Sunday.

Celebrating the divine dianthus…

WHEN many people think of Mother’s
Day flowers, they think of the carnation
– it is, after all, the official flower of
Mothering Sunday. The day became
a national holiday in America in 1908,
thanks to the campaigning of Anna
Marie Jarvis, from West Virginia. During
her tireless efforts, she sent 500 white
carnations to her local church for the
mothers in attendance. This idea spread,
and the tradition was born. Carnations
have since come to signify purity, faith,
love, beauty and charity; all traits thought
to represent the virtues of motherhood.
But these days, it’s not just white
carnations that are given to mums.
There are thousands (literally) of cultivars
listed by the RHS, but it is better if you
visit the website or obtain the catalogue
of a specialist dianthus nursery, such
as Calamazag Nursery, Shire Plants
or Allwoods.
The following cultivars are my
favourites: ‘Pink Kisses’ (pot carnation,
pink with darker markings); ‘Memories’
(white); and ‘Coconut Sundae’ (white
and claret-red). Of course, pinks and
carnations are closely related, and share Dianthus ‘Pink Kisses’: a vibrant pink for pots
the Latin name of ‘dianthus’, which means
‘divine flower’. week, is the pink ‘Gran’s Favourite’ (this
The most appropriate cultivar, if you has very pale pink petals laced with
are celebrating your grandmother this reddish purple).

AGM* plants with ‘mother’

Cape primroses
by name 5 (or similar) in their name
Lynne Dibley / Dibleys.com

A CAPE primrose
Phlox paniculata ‘Mother of Pearl’ Rosa ‘Queen Mother’
(streptocarpus)
makes a perfect
houseplant gift
for Mother’s Day ‘Rachael’ is a new
Dibleys streptocarpus
– and there’s a very for 2021
good chance you
could find one with the actual Christian
name of the recipient!
Dibleys Nurseries ( dibleys.com)
specialise in these and many other
houseplant types. They have numerous
streptocarpus varieties with girls’/ladies’
names – I reckon Dibleys has the best
All photography Alamy, unless otherwise credited

selection of named varieties in the

world. There are varieties with names Rosa ‘Mamma Mia’
from Abigail to Zoe, and with a huge
number in between. ‘Mabel’, ‘Lucille’,
‘Rachael’ and ‘Isla’ are new Dibleys
streptocarpus varieties for 2021.
Dibleys are the holders of the National
Collection of streptocarpus. They have Rhododendron ‘Mother’s Day’ Mother of thousands (Saxifraga stolonifera)
T&M

also won 30 Gold Medals at the Chelsea

Flower Show. * AGM refers to Award of Garden Merit – plants that are recognised by the RHS for having exceptional garden qualities

13 MARCH 2021 AMATEUR GARDENING 45

 A Gardener’s Miscellany
Gardening’s king of trivia and brain-teasers, Graham Clarke
JUST
FOR
AG’s Garden Wall
Historical gardening event of
FUN the week: 14 March, 1947
POET, comedian and
ROSE Viburnum Cordial English presenter Pam
Ayres was born on
FIRETHORN Hybrid tea Mash Quick this day. She is
most famous for

No: 002
LIME Cinderella Rambler Scale her humorous and
Welcome to a new, just-for-fun puzzle: AG’s connections to look for, one for each course. often thought-
Gardens are a passion
Garden Wall. This wall comprises a total of You may find that some words have more than provoking poetry, for Pam Ayres
12 bricks in three courses. Each brick has one connection to other courses, but there is having first come to our
a different word, or phrase on it. The first just the one correct answer. You’ll either find attention when she won the
brick in each course (with words in BLOCK this puzzle fiendishly difficult, or incredibly Opportunity Knocks talent show in
capitals) has been cemented in place and easy! Answers below.
cannot be moved. Just rearrange all the other 1975. Today, she lives with husband
bricks, so that all four words in each course Hint: In one of the courses, the words Dudley in the Cotswolds, and she is
of bricks are linked. There are three different ‘contain’ the fiery link! a keen and knowledgeable gardener.
She often tweets about plants that
ROSE are blooming or struggling in her
FIRETHORN garden. About 25 years ago, I had
the pleasure of working with Pam on
LIME a pilot for a TV gardening quiz show.
connected to ‘fire’) LIME = Quicklime, Limescale, Lime cordial
ROSE = Hybrid tea rose, Rambler rose, English rose FIRETHORN = Viburnum, Mash, Cinderella (these three contain words I was one of the team captains, and we
Answers: had former ‘Goodie’ Graeme Garden
(appropriate!) as quizmaster. Pam
and the late Leslie Crowther were
WIN
Word search
two of the celebrity panellists. The
No:

£30 560 pilot show was viewed by Channel 4

commissioning editors, who didn’t
S S M O T H E R S G commission it – pah! However, I got
This word search comprises to meet Pam, and she was lovely.
words associated with mothers. E U I D A Y A K N S In 2007, Pam starred in a Radio 4
They are listed below; in the sitcom, Potting On, about an ageing
grid they may be read across, T H A F E M N I D R couple running a garden centre with
backwards, up, down or A T M E M A R I G E the help of various oddball employees.
diagonally. Letters may be One of her co-stars was the late Trevor
shared between words. L N P A H E V I S W Bannister (Mr Lucas from Are You
Erroneous or duplicate words Being Served?). Trevor was a keen
may appear in the grid, but O A M T H I F M E O vegetable gardener, but sadly he
there is only one correct C I A T N T U L S L passed away 10 years ago this April,
solution. After the listed words after collapsing on his allotment.
are found, there are seven O D O E S M E S O F Pam Ayres on her mother: “Mum
letters remaining; arrange likes making country wines. She goes
these to make this week’s H M E S O R M I R P off out with a bucket in autumn, and
KEY WORD. C S D N A S U O H T collects things. She makes elderflower,
MOTHERS elderberry, rosehip, potato, parsnip,
DAY HOW TO ENTER: Enter this week’s keyword on the entry form, oak-leaf, wheat-and-raisin wine…
and send it to AG Word Search No 560, Amateur Gardening, Mind you, they all taste the same!”
MAMMA
Pinehurst 2, Pinehurst Road, Farnborough, Hampshire GU14
MIA 7BF, to arrive by Wednesday 24 March 2021. The first correct
CAPE entry chosen at random will win our £30 cash prize.
PRIMROSE Probably the worst
CHOCOLATES This week’s keyword is ..........................................................................................
DIANTHUS Name ........................................................................................................................
Mother’s day joke
DIVINE MY mum’s down: she
Address .................................................................................................................... has a serious allergy
FLOWERS
................................................................................................................................... to all plant pollen,
GIFTS and now has been
MOTHERING Postcode .................................................................................................................. told she’s diabetic.
MUMS Email ......................................................................................................................... She needs cheering
ROSES up, so I’m taking her
Tel no ........................................................................................................................ Err, it’s the thought
THANKS some flowers and a
Future plc, publisher of Amateur Gardening, will collect your personal information
box of chocolates! that counts…
THOUSANDS solely to process your competition entry.

46 AMATEUR GARDENING 13 MARCH 2021

 Crossword
Gift ideas for mums ...just for fun!
EVEN if your mother has a garden
1 2 3 4 5
bursting with plants, and a shed
choc-a-bloc with gadgets and
tools, there are still so many
Jason Ingram / RHS

thoughtful green-fingered gifts 6 7

you can give her.
A subscription to AG: What 8
better than to provide your mum A future visit to RHS 9 10
with a year-round source of inspiration Garden Rosemoor will
and enjoyment? I would particularly make a lovely gift 11
recommend the Miscellany pages of this magazine!
Subscription details appear on the following pages. 12 13
Visit a garden: We are so lucky in the UK to have so
many beautiful gardens, and taking your mum to visit one 14
can create treasured memories. Such visits need not take 15 16
place on a cold March day during a pandemic! Maybe
print out a voucher to “promise the bearer” a lovely day
out when the weather (and life) is better! Lots of gardens
are also child-friendly, making a wonderful day out for 17
three generations; perhaps surprise your mum afterwards
with a framed photo, showing her introducing her
grandchildren to gardening. ACROSS
Entertaining ideas: If your mum loves to entertain in her 2 and 8 across: The occasion 15 With manganese, zinc,
garden, there are plenty of ‘gifty’ accessories. Prices start referred to in this week’s copper and molybdenum,
from just a few pounds, so you can even chip in with other Miscellany! (7,3) this is a trace element in the
family members, to buy a selection of matching items. I’m 6 French head, as in the soil, needed by plants in
thinking of everything from table-top solar lights to fairy Narcissus ‘____-a-____’ (4) very small quantities (4)
7 Place name often used as a 16 Fibre obtained from
lights and citronella candles. And if you’re feeling flush, the husk of a coconut, used
synonym for Jerusalem, whilst
go for a large piece of furniture such as a garden bench ‘____ Canyon’ is a variety of for making doormats and
or even a swing-seat. narcissus (4) brushes, but also as an
8 See 2 across alternative to peat in
9 In Greek mythology, the composts (4)
winged goddess of the dawn 17 Common name for the
and daughter of Hyperion blue flowering Anchusa
– and in gardening, a cultivar officinalis – a key provider
of both Geum coccineum of nectar for wildlife (7)
and Ixia paniculata (3)
10 Heliotrope is frequently DOWN
referred to as ‘cherry ___’ (3) 1 Mix fertile tubs for these
11 Fencing in this French garden-friendly insects for
eGarden requires a defensive lepidopterists! (11) (anag)
stance! (2,5) (anag) 2 Genus of the dawn
12 Frequently Asked redwood tree (11)
Questions (1,1,1) 3 Common name for the
13 French king, as in the tender wax flower (4,7)
Canna ‘___ Soleil’ and 4 Common name for plants
Future

Onions: possibly the worst Mother’s Day gift Rosa ‘Rose du ___’ (3) of the Calceolaria genus (11)
14 The extreme half of 5 Genus name for the
endive! (3)
Wow! I didn’t know that... mother-in-law’s tongue (11)

The azalea flower is a renowned Chinese symbol for 5 Sansevieria

womanhood, and is celebrated annually by cultures all
over the world for its association with love.
Flowers first became associated with Mothering Sunday
as far back as the 1500s. Children picked flowers to
decorate their church, and gave some of the left-overs
to their mothers.
According to a 2011 Canadian survey (Ipsos Reid), 41 per
cent of mothers thought not getting a gift was the worst
thing they could receive on Mother’s Day. However, a
chainsaw and a bag of onions were also on the hate list!
DOWN 1 Butterflies 2 Metasequoia 3 Hoya carnosa 4 Slipperwort
12 FAQ 13 Roi 14 End 15 Iron 16 Coir 17 Alkanet
ACROSS 2 Mothers 6 Tete 7 Zion 8 Day 9 Eos 10 Pie 11 En garde
ANSWERS TO ABOVE CROSSWORD
KEYWORD TO WORD SEARCH 555 (6 February):
VERTICALLY
AND THE WINNER IS: MAGGIE HAWKINS,
BICESTER,OXFORD

13 MARCH 2021 AMATEUR GARDENING 47

48 AMATEUR GARDENING 13 MARCH 2021
Advanced gardening
New series on advanced gardening techniques with Steve and Val Bradley

Lilies are gorgeous and colourful

plants and you can get more for
nothing if you know how...

Alamy
Lily scaling technique
Steve and Val Bradley explain a simple horticultural technique that will enable
you to create a bigger display of gorgeous lilies at no extra cost

L
ILIES are among the most produce young plants around the base conditions. It is crucial that the whole
dramatic plants we grow from of the parent bulb. scale is removed at the point where it
bulbs in the UK and the range attaches to the basal plate, because this
expands every year. The ‘Scaling’ the bulb is the part of the scale where new bulbs
flowers are stunning and the fragrance is Scaling the bulb is both quicker and will form. If the prepared scales are
wonderful on a calm day. Most lilies self- easier. By removing scales from the placed in a warm environment, such as
propagate naturally by division as side dormant lily bulb you can get new baby an airing cupboard, you can start to get
shoots grow at the base of the mother bulbs within weeks under the right new bulbs forming within a few weeks.
bulb. These develop slowly into If they are placed somewhere cooler, but
‘daughter’ bulbs and gradually split frost free, such as a garage or garden
away. This is a slow process, usually shed, you will still get new bulbs, but it
producing one or two extra bulbs a year. will take months rather than weeks.
The most important thing is to keep
What are ‘bulbils’? the scales in the dark while the new
Bulbils are small bulb-shaped growths bulbs are forming. When the scales and
that form in the leaf axil (where the leaf tiny bulbs have been potted, the leaves
joins the main stem). This is the on the young bulbs look like blades of
All images Chris Bradley, unless otherwise stated

equivalent to a side shoot and the tiny grass during that first year and do not
bulbils (some may already have roots) resemble lilies at all. Don’t worry, they
can be removed from the parent plant will look like lilies in the second year.
and sown like seeds to eventually
produce new, flowering plants that are *Tip: The parent bulb will increase in size
identical in flower size and colour to their during the growing season, often back
parent. Their formation usually starts to its original size, but do not be tempted
after flowering finishes and, if not Look out for small bulbils forming to remove scales again the following
in the leaf joints of some lilies
collected, they will eventually drop off year. Leave the bulb alone for at least
the plant. Those that survive will go on to one season so it can fully recover.
50 AMATEUR GARDENING 13 MARCH 2021
Steve Bradley MA MHort (RHS) has written (or co-written) over 40 gardening books, including Propagation Basics,
The Pruner’s Bible, The Ground Force Workbook, and What’s Wrong With My Plant? He is resident expert on BBC Radio
Kent, Sussex and Surrey and he has built medal-winning gardens at both Chelsea and Hampton Court Palace.
Step-by-step guide to lily scaling
Remove any dead roots from the
1 bulb to make it easier to see the
base of the bulb and where the scales
are attached to the base.
You can remove up to 80% of the
4 scales for propagation and the
parent bulb will still flower if it is
planted and grown.
Dormant buds on the base of each
7 scale will gradually form small bulbs
with roots and a small leaf. A single
scale can produce several small bulbs.
These are better off left in place and
then separated in autumn after the
bulbs grow larger and easier to handle.
Take off any damaged scales from
2 the outside of the bulb. Damaged
scales usually rot in the bag rather than
producing new bulbs and they can
infect the healthy scales around them.
Mix the scales with damp
5 compost (equal parts of bulb
scales and compost) The scales react
more slowly (or not at all) if the
compost is too wet or too dry.
Plant up the scales, complete with
8 small bulbs, into 3in (7cm) pots of
compost. These pots can be placed
outdoors in the summer as the small
bulbs develop leaves. As the bulbs
grow, the parent scale will gradually
shrivel and die.
Hold the bulb upside down and
3 start to remove the scales one at a
time from the base of the bulb, making
sure that they are broken away from
the basal plate of the lily bulb.
Place the mixture in a polythene
6 bag with a label recording the
variety and date taken. Fold or loosely
tie to stop the compost drying out, but
do not seal it to allow air circulation.
Place the bag in a dark, frost-free place.
In the autumn, the pots can be
9 emptied and the bulbs can be
cleaned and stored or re-potted
immediately. It normally takes 2-3 years
for these bulbs to produce a new plant
that will have a flower that is identical to
the parent.
13 MARCH 2021 AMATEUR GARDENING 51
 Ask Anne!
Anne Swithinbank’s masterclass on: starting dahlias
Alamy

Anne’s Best care

top tips for tubers
Flowering ‘Bishop’s
Children’, which can be
potted up under cover
in March, or planted out
after last frosts

Dahlias perform better

when staked and fed,
especially on lighter soils
In the greenhouse, plant a tuber

I’m potting up stored tubers of Dahlia ‘Bishop’s Children’

1 in the middle of a generous but
not over-large pot of 50:50 John
raised from seed last year. I could have left them in, but Innes No2 and multi-purpose with 10%
I want to replant them in a different position added grit. If unheated, protect new

Alamy
growth with fleece on chilly nights.

Best start for dahlias

I want to start growing some
Q dahlias but if I buy a tuber, is it
best to plant it straight into the ground
or grow it in a pot first and perhaps get
some cuttings off it? Or should I buy
young plants? Please recommend
some favourites!
Angela Aitkin, Shrewsbury, Shropshire
The good news is that dahlias
A are easy to grow, so however you
tackle this project, success is almost
shoots up until the danger of frost is
past. They will be vulnerable to slug
damage, so take steps to deter or trap
them before the shoots emerge.
In the greenhouse, you can pot tubers
now, to give them a head-start on slugs
and encourage earlier flowering. New In a heated propagating case
shoots make tempting cuttings, and
removing one or two will help the young
2 (or under polythene on a warm
bright windowsill), nestle the tuber
plant branch out. To force cuttings, lay into a tray of moist compost to
the tuber in a seed tray of moist potting
compost in a heated propagating case,
encourage shoot growth.

guaranteed. Another option is raising so the top half is exposed.

dahlias from spring-sown seed as they
will flower in their first year, though the
range is more limited. I love the thrill
of unwrapping my chosen dahlia tuber,
imagining how it will look in the garden
and deciding what to do with it.
The simplest method, if you’re happy
to wait until mid-April, is to plant the
dormant tubers straight into prepared
ground. Choose a sunny, well-drained
position, especially if you are going to
leave the tubers in over winter.
Covered by at least 4in (10cm) of
All photography John Swithinbank / Future, unless otherwise credited
New growth appears quickly, and
after cuttings are taken, the tuber can
still be potted and gradually cooled
down and the resulting plant set out
at the end of May or beginning of June.
Cuttings, whether rooted at home
or received through the post, should
be potted separately and, if necessary, Take softwood cuttings by slicing
moved on to larger pots, as they will
have to remain under glass until there is
3 stems above a leaf. Trim the base
below a leaf, remove lower leaves and
no more danger of frost. Once planted insert in 50:50 grit and multi-purpose
out, they will flower well in their first year compost. Keep warm and humid.
and make good-sized tubers by the time

soil, the tubers are unlikely to push their foliage dies back in autumn.
Alamy

Try these divine dahlias…

TOP of my list is double decorative ‘Crème de Cognac’
at 28in (70cm), with its soft peachy petals and rich
maroon reverses. Slightly taller ‘Crème de Cassis’ is
purple pink with plum reverses. Singles are better for Nipping out the growing tip will
pollinating insects, so ‘Happy Single Kiss’ is peachy
with a glowing centre at 28in (70cm). For dark drama,
4 help leggy cuttings to branch.
Leave sturdy ones until three-four
starry ‘Verrone’s Obsidian’ reaches 3ft (1m). ‘Blue Wish’ Striking mauve and weeks after planting out. Nip the
is a dreamy mauve-white waterlily type at 4ft (1.2m). white ‘Blue Wish’ tips when roughly 16in (40cm) high.

52 AMATEUR GARDENING 13 MARCH 2021

54 AMATEUR GARDENING 13 MARCH 2021
Letters to Wendy
Write to us: Letters, Amateur Gardening magazine, Pinehurst 2, Pinehurst Road, Farnborough Business Park,
Farnborough, Hants GU14 7BF (please include your address). Email us: amateurgardening@futurenet.com

A real community effort Star

I
AM continuing to work on the
Volunteers filling the first six cut flower beds at
letter
Fontmell Friendship Garden,
which is gathering pace and the Fontmell Magna Friendship Garden
momentum. We had the green
light to go ahead at the end of
November 2020 and in less than three
months our small community has joined
together in such a positive way. We are
creating the cut flower garden to support
the social prescribing team in our local
health practice and we are building the
garden in the grounds of the surgery
next door to the village hall
in the centre of our village.
The cut flower garden
will offer a place for the
community to gather and
collect flowers, a place for
us to make posies to deliver
to vulnerable people and a A plant label created
space for people to gather by the village art club
and enjoy nature. We now
have 110 volunteers
involved in so many offering talks, flower Siân Highnam,
different ways – growing demonstrations and Fontmell Magna, Dorset
seeds, digging beds, filling wellness days.
beds, painting plant signs, I am so very, very proud Wendy says Congratulations, this is a
sewing bunting, planting wildlife areas, of our small community and what all the fantastic project – please keep us
volunteering for tea and cake duties, stakeholders are doing. posted with your progress this year

Happiest of house plants

A sprout from the compost heap The much admired crassula The orchid ‘baby’ can be removed

I ENJOYED Toby’s article on avocados
(AG, 23 January). This one germinated
on our compost heap and I could not
resist nurturing it. It spent the summer
on the hot patio, hence the burned
leaves but it sprouted leaves on the
lower stem. It’s spending the winter in
the greenhouse and will get a shadier
spot next year so the leaves don’t
burn. I didn’t know I was growing a
giant but I think it is a real character
Christine Wheeler via email
THIS money plant (Crassula ovata)
was given to me as a small rooted
cutting several years ago and has
produced these very pretty white flowers
for the past two years.
The large plant is situated on a bench
all year round in our unheated lean-to
conservatory and I am not particularly
attentive to it so I think it has done
very well.
Bronwen Cobell
Via email
I AM sending you a photo of my
amazing ‘double orchid’. As you can
see, a new plant with aerial roots has
appeared at the top of a flower stem.
What should I do please?
Tanya Osborne,
Ringwood, Dorset
Wendy says You are in luck! This is an
offshoot known as a ‘keikis’ that forms
on a node on the flower stem. Cut off
and plant up into orchid compost

13 MARCH 2021 AMATEUR GARDENING 55

Letters to Wendy
Write to us: Letters, Amateur Gardening magazine, Pinehurst 2, Pinehurst Road, Farnborough Business Park,
Farnborough, Hants GU14 7BF (please include your address). Email us: amateurgardening@futurenet.com

Spring is waiting
READER Judy Berrow of Chaddesley
Corbett, Worcs, sadly passed away last
year. A knowledgeable gardener, Judy
regularly shared letters and tips on the
these pages. Her family have given us
permission to print her last submission...

Deep in winter’s bitter cold the

snowdrop waves its head.
Shaking in the biting wind when
everything else seems dead.

The snow has gone but the wind

blows on.

Sleet, rain and dark, cold nights.

Maybe spring has forgotten this year
to bring along it’s beautiful sights.
Camellias are big, shiny and brave
laughing in the cold, damp, rain. They
call to others, ‘Come out, come out,
spring really is coming again’.
Then it arrives, as though overnight.
Dancing daffodils bright, brash yellow.
Crocus glowing and Pussy willow.
Judy Berrow, who shared
her poems and tips with
other readers for many years
The air now clean and bright the hope, the cheer.
and mellow.
Life begins all over again with the start
Spring has returned, it has not of another wonderful year.
forgotten and brings the warmth, Judy Berrow

Mini carrot cakes

A family favourite, these little versions of carrot cake may be served as a pudding
Ready in: 45 minutes
Plus cooling. The moist little cakes have
a sweet and tangy frosty
Ingredients
1lb (500g) carrots, cut into chunks
½ pint (250ml) sunflower oil
10oz (300g) light muscovado sugar
Finely grated zest of 1 orange,
reserving half for decoration
3 eggs
9 oz (250g) self-raising flour
1tsp bicarbonate of soda
1tsp ground ginger
1tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground mixed spice

For the frosting:

9oz (300g) cream cheese
1oz (30g) icing sugar, sieved
You will need:
12 individual paper loaf cases or loaf
tins (greased and lined)
Method:
1 Preheat the oven to 180ºC / 350ºF /
Gas 4. Put the carrots in a large bowl
with 2 tbsp water. Cover with cling film
56 AMATEUR GARDENING 13 MARCH 2021
and pierce. Microwave on high for 10
minutes until the carrots are tender. Mash
until smooth.
2 Whisk together the oil, sugar, orange
zest and eggs for 3 minutes until pale and
thick using an electric whisk.
3 Fold in the flour, bicarb, spices and
carrot and mash to combine. Divide
between the 12 loaf cases. Bake for 20
minutes or until a skewer inserted into the
centre comes out clean. Leave to cool
on a wire rack.
4 For the frosting, stir together the cream
cheese and icing sugar. Spread on top of
the cakes and decorate with the leftover
orange zest.
Tip Look for paper loaf cases at
supermarkets such as Waitrose, or bake
in standard round muffin cases.
 SHARE YOUR STORIES TIPS AND PHOTOS and you will receive
a fantastic pair of Town & Country’s Master Gardener gloves — the
UK’s best-selling gardening glove and a perfect companion to help
you in the garden. State small, medium or large with your letter.

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“I took lots of cuttings,” says Valerie way with the companies mentioned herein.
If you submit material to us, you warrant that you own the material
Let daffodils and/or have the necessary rights/permissions to supply the material
and you automatically grant Future and its licensees a licence to
stand in water publish your submission in whole or in part in any/all issues and/or

Cuttings galore!
IN a recent issue (AG, 6 February),
Lithodora diffusa was mentioned and I
thought I would share my experience
from last year when my clump had
become really ‘leggy’. I cut it hard back
after it had flowered and it has produced
lots of new growth and is looking just as
it did when I bought it, with an added
bonus as I took lots of cuttings from the
discarded leggy pieces and now have
lots of new plants.
Valerie Smith via email
before arranging editions of publications, in any format published worldwide and on
associated websites, social media channels and associated products.
Any material you submit is sent at your own risk and, although every
care is taken, neither Future nor its employees, agents, subcontractors
or licensees shall be liable for loss or damage. We assume all
DAFFODILS are flowering and I like to unsolicited material is for publication unless otherwise stated, and
reserve the right to edit, amend, adapt all submissions.
pick the wind-blown ones and those out
of sight of the house. When arranging in
a mixed vase, the sap of daffodils
shortens the life of other flowers. To
avoid this, place the stems in water for
an hour to let the sap flow into the water.
Remove and then add to a vase of fresh
water with your other spring flowers.
Jane Hinton, Potter’s Bar, Herts
13 MARCH 2021 AMATEUR GARDENING 57
 Toby Buckland
Plantsman and BBC gardening presenter
Kicking the bucket takes on new meaning, as a gathering
of garden snails are removed from a climber and relocated Toby’s trivia

The neighbouring
Bantam chickens are
sure to appreciate my
mass of molluscs

Snails have a remarkable

1 homing instinct. To break
it, they must be placed at least
65ft (20m) from their stomping/
slithering grounds – otherwise,
they’ll come back.

Rewilding efforts can be reckless – city

park ponds like this one in Cheshire are
filled with wildlife-destroying terrapins

Snail’s pace

Future
It’s crunch time for molluscs as Toby embarks on a little Only feed snails to birds if you
journey that starts with a bucket and ends with chickens… 2 use organic slug controls.

I
’VE taken dogs, ponies, cats and
even a rabbit for a walk, but today’s
bucket of snails was a first. I won’t
pretend the molluscs were much
company (they weren’t) or that they
returned safely home after their little
adventure, (the rabbit nearly didn’t,
either) but I am satisfied that they have
gone to a good home.
I discovered the hundred-plus cache
of molluscs while pruning a climber,
where they had gathered beneath the
protective wing of stems and leaves.
And before they had chance to make
a slow-mo dash for freedom, I bunged
them in the bucket while I thought of
a natural way of getting them to kick it.
Now I know what you’re thinking…
but as tempting as the scrub next to the
local allotments is, I’d never ‘rewild’
anything that came from my garden.
Such sentimentality might be well
meant, but it’s the reason why city-
park ponds are plagued with wildlife-
All photography Alamy, unless otherwise credited
hedgerows are home to pampas grass
and Japanese knotweed.
No, if a problem is found in a garden
then it should be dealt with in a garden,
ideally by a predator that’s tempted in.
To that end, I came up with the bizarre
but brilliant idea of placing my Bluetooth
speaker beside the bucket to blast
out the trills and warbles of thrushes
recorded on YouTube.
I can only speculate why this hasn’t
worked. Perhaps the thrush in my video
wasn’t singing to attract a mate but
trying to keep other birds at bay with a
rendition of There’s No One Quite Like
Grandma by the St Winifred’s School
Reduce snail numbers
THE wealth of predator-free hiding places and
the abundance of food in gardens can super-
charge snail numbers. ‘Design’ molluscs out
by removing hiding places such as open
Choir? We’ll never know… but after
playing on a loop for four hours, the
blackbirds (and probably the neighbours)
have become very agitated.
I know many gardeners who throw
their snails over their garden fence,
but not only is that something I would
never admit to, I’ve got so many that
their collective bulk could block my
neighbour’s front door.
So instead, it’s up the road to my
friend Jo’s chickens, who eat snails like
treats. Apparently, the shells help to
build up the walls of the chooks’ eggs.
Perhaps we could start a trade?

destroying terrapins, and why so many joints in walls or removing rubble and clutter
near vulnerable plants. Also encourage
natural predators by creating a small gap
“I’d never rewild in the bottom of fences to allow hedgehogs
access, and grow ivy and berrying pyracantha to
Encourage snail-eating
thrushes by growing
berrying pyracantha
anything from encourage snail-eating thrushes. They nest low down
amongst the tangle in dense vegetation under trees, shrubs and established
my garden” climbers. If you don’t have the space, then mealworms and raisins on feeders
will also bring them in.

13 MARCH 2021 AMATEUR GARDENING 59