Log into Facebook to see what our 6.6k UK gardeners know about Houttuynia Cordata Chameleon. In this post UK gardeners talk about growing conditions, how quickly it spreads and what to do about it, late season autumn colour and scent.
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Houttuynia Cordata Chameleon, a really lovely plant but can romp away in the right conditions.
Vegetables to sow and plant this month, updated monthly with specific cultivar types.
September is becoming a very important and busy month for the vegetable grower as most varieties of winter vegetables can be sown or planted this month. Use your AcryliCloche® garden cloches to the full and protect seeds and plants from pests. Cloches will boost growth and give those winter vegetable plants a flying start. With so much to plant out you may struggle to find space. Cloches are excellent for using as a ‘nursery bed’. Sow seeds directly outside close together and cover with your garden cloche. When they have germinated and grown into small plants transplant them into their final growing positions.
Now is the time to start buying and sowing some of the big players in the vegetable garden; Broad beans, garlic and onion sets. These are all winter hardy but suffer badly with damage from mice and pigeons when they are planted. Cover with any of your cloches or use a Seedling Cloche to protect them while they germinate and get their roots down.
via Vegetables to sow and plant this month, updated monthly with specific cultivar types..
Putting the cloches in place
We covered the potatoes that we had planted with the cloches. Previously, the soil was covered to keep it warm and help the potatoes germinate. We found a leatherjacket and went looking for more. They can cause a lot of damage eating young plants and severing their roots. It was a good day and we left delighted that our young plants were now protected!
What a difference a cloche makes…
Visiting the garden today I couldn’t help but marvel at the difference the cloches are making to the rate of growth of the potatoes and lettuce. Plants that are just outside the cover of the cloches are much smaller and weaker looking. The four lettuce plants to the left of centre are under the cloches… those to the right are not. You can also see the prevailing wind/ rain pattern as the rain is blown in through the open ends of the cloche.
Kudos to Martin for the excellent watering technique… Jim will proud.
UK Gardening on Sow and Hoe – March Newsletter
UK Gardening on Sow and Hoe
March Newsletter – Did you see?
Hellebore Day, Iris reticulata Gordon, Recycle and Reuse Tips, Mystery Blossom, Witchazels, Gardeners World – Your Views, Free when you buy…Papaver Orientalis ‘Patty’s Plum’, The Five Minute Interview, Vegetables to sow and plant now, Flowers to sow and plant now, Lambs Lettuce under cover, Seedling Cloches, Seed Swap UK, Best flower / Plant this month.
Hepatica Day on Sow and Hoe with Ashwood Nurseries.
Hepatica americana
Welcome to Hepatica Day on Sow and Hoe
Advice on growing stunning Heptaicas by Ashwood Nurseries
Ashwood is one of only a few nurseries in the UK specialising in hepatica plants and is the only UK nursery that supplies fresh hepatica seed. The nursery owner John Massey is widely regarded as being one of the UK’s leading experts on hepaticas: he has his own private plant collection and has travelled to China, Japan, Korea, North America and Europe to see them in the wild.
An impressive record of Gold Medals for hepatica exhibits at RHS London Flower Shows is a testament to the quality of their plants. One of the highlights of the RHS Shows came in 2000 when Ashwood joined forces with the Niigata Nursery Association from Japan. Their combined exhibit received the Lawrence Medal, awarded to the best exhibit to be shown at any of the RHS Shows during any one year. http://www.ashwoodnurseries.com/
The Japanese name for hepaticas is ‘Yukiwariso’ or ‘The Breaking Snow Plant’. In the wild they grow in scattered and localized habitats on sunny slopes in generally deciduous woodland. They are also found under evergreen trees including pines and camellias Hepaticas grow in many different soils, often containing humus, over sandstone, lava, granite or calcareous rocks. Generally they can be found at particular altitudes in the mountains and gorges, up to a height of 1,250 metres.
The Japanese have been collecting hepaticas in the wild since 1603, but only during the 1980’s have they started breeding and cultivating them to help satisfy the increasing demand Today there are over 550 named cultivars and, incredibly, most of these have been collected from the wild!
Japan hosts many hepatica shows in Niigata and Tokyo during early spring, where enthusiasts can go to marvel at the many exquisite forms. Hepaticas are much loved and revered in Japan. The unbelievable range of colours exhibited by the flowers, stamens and pistils, the countless different forms, including the fabled double cultivars, fuel this enthusiasm to a cult status. The Niigata area is famous for an especially variable range of hepaticas, with stunning contrasting stamens, and even a rare yellow or green. The doubles here are also very complex and variable, and both bi -and tri- coloured forms can be found.
View full article via Hepatica Day on Sow and Hoe with Ashwood Nurseries..
Includes –
Hepaticas in Japan
Cultivation of Hepaticas
Growing Hepaticas in the garden
Growing Hepaticas in the Alpine house
Growing Hepaticas from seed
via Hepatica Day on Sow and Hoe with Ashwood Nurseries..
With images of –
Hepatica americana
Hepatica japonica forma magna
Hepatica americana
Hepatica asiatica
Hepatica henryi
Hepatica nobilis Indigo Strain
Lambs Lettuce. Valerianella locusta, – Garden Cloches and Plant Protection
An important winter salad crop growing well under cloches.
Valerianella locusta, doing well under AcryliCloche® Garden Cloches UK
More commonly known as Corn Salad, Lambs lettuce or Mache. An important winter salad crop.
A hardy annual which crops over winter. These Low Barn cloches are not in place for frost protection. Covering them with a cloche overwinter promotes faster growth, keeps them tender and protects them against damage from pests, wind and rain.
Read full article on the benefits of growing winter salad under cloches via Lambs Lettuce. Valerianella locusta, – Garden Cloches and Plant Protection.
Hellebore Day on Sow and Hoe with Mike Byford.
Hellebore Day
Advice on growing stunning Hellebores by Mike Byford of Hazles cross farm nursery. Home of the National Collection of Hellebores.
Full article and stunning images can be found on Sow and Hoe. UK Gardeners.
![481918_457623040958850_542286231_n[1]](https://sowandhoe.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/481918_457623040958850_542286231_n1.jpg?w=230&h=228)
A primrose red vein bred by Mike Byford
January.
We were delighted to welcome Mike to Sow and Hoe and honoured that he has taken the time to share his knowledge and stunning images of helleborus. Throughout the day, online at Sow and Hoe, we posted images and growing advice from Mike.
Mike Byford, holds the National Collection of hellebore species. A biologist, he fell in love with them over 30 years ago and has been breeding and collecting them ever since.
A picotee double white hybrid
Mike Byford – Helleborus in the wild.
‘The wild species are stunningly beautiful in their own right and worthy of a place in any garden. The variation is massive and it’s not just modern hybridisers who can produce beautiful heart stopping blooms – nature does a pretty good job too. Here we see where the strong reds and purple picotees might have originated. The species are found across Europe around the Adriatic sea and spread out from there to Georgia, Turkey and China. A very old genus, they have been around for millions of years.’
Helleborus orientalis
Mike Byford – Origins.
“The modern garden hybrid hellebore was first grown and bred in the early 19th century and was developed mainly from the wild species Helleborus orientalis which has the largest flowers of the true species. It is only in 3 forms. One of which is shown here, a yellow form Helleborus orientalis ssp. Guttatus and a pink form ssp abchasicus. Other wild species such as H. torquatus and H. atrorubens were used too.
Garden hellebores are still frequently called “helleborus orientalis hybrids”. This is untrue as they are such a mix of genes bred over a hundred years that no one has any idea whether the plant has any orientalis genes in it at all. They are called Helleborus x hybridus.”
Mike Byford – Forms. Read more
Mike Byford – Perfect for pollinators.Mike Byford – Growing conditions. Read more
Mike Byford – Propagating.Mike Byford – Growing from Seed. Read more
Mike Byford – Breeding Hellebores.Mike Byford – Pick of the bunch. Read more
Thank you Mike Byford. Mike Byford B.Sc. M.Med.Sci. Owner of a national collection of helleborus species at Hazles cross farm.
You can visit Mike and his National Collection of Hellebores. Details Here
Plants and seeds are also available from Mike. Please visit his web site.
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AcryliCloche Low Ban Garden Cloche
Sow and Hoe is for UK gardeners to share information about gardening. Sow and Hoe is sponsored by PoshCloche Garden Cloches who make strong rigid garden cloches in the UK called AcryliCloche.
Growing Figs. UK Gardeners on Sow and Hoe advise.
Fig Tree
Denise has a question about her fig tree. Can our UK gardeners help?
‘I have a fig tree in a pot – approximately 3 feet high. Suggestions please for the right type of soil to use. It is in it’s original pot and has hardly grown in two years, so is probably desperate to be moved! It has survived the winters well and has just the beginnings of some tiny figs, so I guess these will need to come off?
View the original post on Facebook to read all the advice and tips on growing fig trees for maximum fruit. CLICK HERE
UK Gardeners on Watering your Fig Tree
“I had one in a pot for years and it stunted its growth. I would leave the
figs though, why not enjoy them. The trick is lots and lots of water.”“I now have a very large fig tree, it is planted against a wall in very
poor soil and most years i get plenty of figs, it also only gets a little
water.”
UK Gardeners on Planting your Fig Tree
“Marian planted her fig tree in garden in its pot now 3 years old and this year has over
100 figs on it which are now ripening really well.”“Angela
trees like their roots restricted they crop better. Either dig a hole
in garden 3 feet square and line with bricks leaving drainage holes in
bottom use garden soil mixed with bone meal to plant fig tree in, every
year during dormant season dig round fig tree to check that roots are
not growing through drainage holes if they are cut them off. Always
plant your Fig tree in the garden during dormant season. Or you can keep it potted in 12
inch pot and plant in garden leaving top of pot protruding from garden
slightly. Leave little figs on tree.”“Maria – Yours is in the soil? Potted figs with restricted roots do need lots of water. Gritty stony soil like all Mediterranean plants, restricted roots or they wont produce much crop.
UK Gardeners on Winter care of Fig Trees
“Is it usual for the fig tree to loose it’s leaves over winter??”
“Yes Lucie, figs are deciduous.”
“Helen. Yes even though mine is in a conservatory, it looses all it’s leaves.”
UK Gardeners on Getting your Fig Tree to Fruit
“Jane – If you are prepared to look after it really well, then move it into a
bigger pot, pref with a soil-based compost. Otherwise put it in the
ground – poor soils against a wall will act as a natural root
restriction, although if you really want a sparse sort of tree, then you
could do as suggested above with bricks etc. I like the look of the
beautiful leafy tree, and still get figs. If the figs that are on it are
REALLY tiny (smaller than pea-size), leave them on as they will
develop into fruit next year. If they are bigger (like a hazelnut or
more, then take them off). Figs are deciduous and will lose their leaves
in the winter whether they are inside or out. Wear gloves (pref
disposable ones) to remove the small figs ar they exude a horrendously
sticky sap”“Roslin. A fig prefers to be pot bound or if in soil you put concrete slabs round
it in square. It is used in wild to poor, hot conditions the figs won’t
come to much yet as it is a young plant.“Hi. I took mine out of its pot and planted against a
south-facing wall in our clay-based soil, but we restricted its root-run
by lining the bottom and sides of the 1meter-square hole with old tiles
and slates. It is now, just a few years later, about fifteen feet tall
and producing bigger and better figs every year. Variety ‘Brown
Turkish.’ or ‘Turkish Brown,’ I can never remember. :)”“Michele. Are you using Rockdust in your pot too?
“mine is in a large galvanised bucket ( with drainage holes) in the ground. Must remember to water it more if I want to feast!”
View the original post on facebook to read all the advice and tips on growing fig trees for maximum fruit. CLICK HERE
AcryliCloche garden cloches.
Sow and Hoe is for UK Gardeners. Sponsored by www.poshcloche.co.uk Manufactures of AcryliCloche Garden Cloches.
Vegetables to sow and plant this month.
Vegetables you can sow and grow for your vegetable garden in February.
Protect tender plants, watch out for winter frosts and start sowing.
February can often be the coldest month of the year yet now is the time to start sowing many vegetables. Most need heat to germinate in February but can then be placed under you cloches out side. Others such as broad beans can be sown direct but will benefit greatly from cloche protection to aid germination and protect from hungry pests looking for seed.
If space is an issue create a nursery bed. Sow seeds closely together outside and then transplant into their final sowing position later in the year. This works particularly well for Broad Beans and Onions grown from seed.
February sowing is always a risk so hold back some seed for next month.
Try Seedling cloches and Low Barn garden cloches for sowing direct. They will not collapse under the weight of winter snow, are wind stable and will keep hungry pests off your seeds.
AcryliCloche Seedling Cloche
- AcryliCloche Low Barn Garden Cloche
| Artichoke | Lettuce varieties |
| Green Globe | May Queen |
| Purple Globe | Valdor |
| Jerusalem Artichoke | Veneziana |
| Aubergine (Eggplant) | Black seeded Simpson Looseleaf |
| Long Purple | Red Sails Looseleaf |
| Broad Bean | Rubens Romaine |
| Super Aquadulce | Suzan Butterhead |
| Aquadulce Claudia | All the Year Round |
| The Sutton Dwarf | Lettuce Parella Green |
| Imperial Green Longpod | Lettuce Suzan |
| Express | Lettuce Wynova split pills |
| Bunyards Exhibition | Misc |
| Green Windsor | Japanese Burdock |
| Stero | Mizuna varieties |
| Witkiem Manita | Broadleaf |
| Beans Climbing & French | Kyoto |
| Blue Lake | Mustard Leaf varieties |
| Hunter | Green in Snow |
| Beetroot | Mibuna |
| Boltardy | Mitsuba |
| Detroit 2 Bolivar | Okra |
| Moneta | Burgundy Red |
| Red Ace | Clemsons Spineless |
| Broccoli | Onion Seed |
| Purple SproutingEarly | Bedfordshire Champion |
| Santee F1 | Giant Zittau |
| Brussels Sprout | White Lisbon (salad onion) |
| Half Tall | Onion Sets |
| Rubine | Centurion |
| Seven Hills | Jet Set |
| Igor F1 | Red Baron |
| Cascade F! | Sturon |
| Cavalier F1 | Stuttgarter |
| Darkmar | Pea |
| Groninger | Feltham First |
| Nautic F1 | Parsnips |
| Noisette | Cobham Improved Marrow |
| Red Bull | Avonresister |
| Trafalgar F1 | Half Long Guernsey |
| Cabbage | Tender and True |
| Advantage F1 | White King |
| Derby Day | |
| Cape Horn | Peppers Sweet |
| Golden Acre | Doux Long des Landes |
| Greyhound | Golden Californian Wonder |
| Marner Early Red | Marconi Rossa |
| Premiere | Purple Beauty |
| Spitfire F1 | Sweet Nardello |
| Stonehead | Tequila Sunrise |
| Marner Lagerrot | Pepper Hot |
| Calabrese varieties | Boule de Turquie |
| Parthenon F1 | Early Jalapeno |
| Cardoon | Habanero |
| Argente de Geneve | Hungarian Wax |
| Carrot – Forced early crop | Ring of Fire |
| Amsterdam Forcing | Radish & Mooli varieties |
| Nantes 2 | Munchen Bier |
| Napoli F1 | Giant of Sicily |
| Paris Market | Icicle |
| Sugarsnax | Rudolph |
| Cauliflower varieties | Short Top Forcing |
| All the Year Round | White Dream |
| Snowball | Rocket varieties |
| Igloo | Rucola |
| Perfection | Skyrocket |
| Celeriac | Shungiku. Also known as Chop Suey Greens. |
| Prinz | Garland Leaf Large |
| Celery | Garland Leaf Small |
| Daybreak | Shallot |
| Green Utah | Longor |
| Leaf | Red Sun |
| Solid White | Vigarmor |
| Tango | Tomatoes |
| Corn Salad varieties | Clementine |
| Vit | Gardeners Delight |
| Louviers | Red Alert |
| D’Orlanda | Tumbling Tom |
| Dutch Broad Leaved | Zuckertraube |
| Verte de Cambrai | Ailsa Craig |
| Cress & Mustard | Buissonante |
| Morrocan | Golden Sunrise |
| Fennel | Harbringer |
| Finale | San Marzano |
| Komatsuna varieties | Beefsteak |
| Torasan F1 | Brandywine |
| Mexican Tomatillo | |
| Violet Tomatillo | |
| Texel Greens | |
| Strawberry Seed | |
| Alpine | |
| Temptation |
Sow now with AcryliCloche Seedling Cloches
Garden Cloches for the home grower made in GB
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Events on Sow and Hoe
Seed Swap Online - March / April
Plant of the Month
Garden Cloches Made in GB
Strong rigid garden cloches made in GB
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