Christopher Lloyd loved colour, and as I stand on the upper pathway of the Sunk Garden, here at Great Dixter, I notice the pops of colour from the spires of pink-purple Lythrum and terracotta-orange Crocosmia all around me.
Designed by Nathaniel Lloyd, Christopher Lloyd’s father, after WW1, this south-facing and sheltered sunken garden is enclosed by two barns, a magnificent yew hedge and a wall on the southern boundary, thus creating its own micro-climate and the plants love it!
1. It is especially important to keep Camellias and Rhododendrons damp at the roots this month as this is the time that the buds form for next Spring. Water well and mulch if you can.
2. Take Aeonium cuttings now by severing leggy leaf stems a couple of inches below a cluster. Leave the stem end to callous over, then push into gritty compost and keep in a shady spot until roots start to form.
What a strange spring this has been as everything has grown so tall ….but then some things especially vegetables have hardly grown at all and are struggling as there has been little warmth.
Anyway we soldier on….
1. Divide spring flowering bulbs as soon as foliage fades. My own stock has diminished and badly need splitting.
2. Prune ornamental cherries when flowering has finished making as few cuts as possible as they have difficulty healing.
3. Tie in shoots on sweetpeas which are finally growing and revelling in the cool conditions.
4. Cut early flowering hardy geraniums to the ground when they finish as they have a tendency to seed everywhere…unless you want them to of course.
Continue reading Pat’s Jobs for June
I found this photo posted on the blog of Garden History Girl. It’s one of the blogs I have at some stage signed up to and now get regular posts. It is worth checking out (overlook the name) and this one contains some fascinating information on pelargoniums / geraniums and snippets of plant history. If you have never been clear on what are pelargoniums or geraniums, this is the one to look at! And there are some lovely pictures too!
Vija
On Wednesday evening I sat in on a Garden Masterclass presentation from Rosy Hardy on geraniums. Many people will know of Hardy’s Cottage Garden plants already; they have had a stand at the Chelsea Flower Show for many years and have won in excess of 20 RHS gold medals. Rosy’s energy and enthusiasm for plants seems undimmed by all the years! However, she did point out that 2020 was going to be their final year at Chelsea because the months of April and May are a busy time for the nursery and it all becomes too much work at a critical time. That final year will now be 2021.
Vija
Charlton and Blackheath Amateur Horticultural Society 