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Get your garden out

Hi all,
foxfish said:
but the Ginko tree in Candie gardens looked like it had shed gold leaf on the ground this morning!
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That is a lovely tree, and a favourite of mine. I usually go to Kew Gardens this time of year (but not in 2020). They have a number of big Ginkgo trees, including <"one planted in 1762">. I think in 2018 they were particularly spectacular and had "fruited".

cheers Darrel
 
Candie Gardens feature some of Guernsey's more notable trees including the second tallest Canary Palm in the British Isles ( the tallest of which is elsewhere in Guernsey ) and a 200 + year old gingko which is said to be the sixth largest in the British Isles!
I seem to remember this one produced fruit only once as it needs another tree close by to allow this to happen?
The nearest Gingko is around 3/4 of a mile away from this one but due to favourable wind condition one year the pollen was able to reach the Candie tree.... at least I think I read somewhere that is what happened!
 
Hi all,
foxfish said:
I seem to remember this one produced fruit only once as it needs another tree close by to allow this to happen?
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Yes, they are either male or female. At Kew there are quite a few different old trees (originally seed grown?) so I assume that there is a mix of sexes. I think most of the trees in the UK are clonal and male.

cheers Darrel
 
I can see a lot of bees for this time of year.

Is that a south facing wall? I've heard freckles isn't reliably hardy and does best with radiated warmth. Been looking for something to extend the bee season but don't have any warm walls left that don't get blasted by the wind. Considered clematis armandii instead as I think it's hardier.
 
Lovely to have that at the end of the year 🙂 I've got some clematis apple blossom to kick off spring, but thats still some time away. I considered adding clematis winter beauty as well, because its a bit hardier then many of the late flowering clematis, but the I've nowhere left to put it 😛
 
Hi all,
mort said:
Is that a south facing wall? I've heard freckles isn't reliably hardy and does best with radiated warmth......eft that don't get blasted by the wind
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It is about as good as I've got, SE facing and protected to both sides by <"next doors conservatory"> and our kitchen. Behind it is a <"Cedar wood panel"> (it is a 1970's house). It survived 2010 and 2012 (we got the <"solar panels in spring 2011">, so the photo predates then), when it was pretty chilly here. I've had C. cirrhosa "Wisley Cream" a couple of times as well, but they've never survived long.
mort said:
Considered clematis armandii instead as I think it's hardier.
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Wolf6 said:
I considered adding clematis winter beauty as well, because its a bit hardier then many of the late flowering clematis, but the I've nowhere left to put it
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I've got <"Clematis armandii & C. clarkeana (urophylla) "Winter Beauty"> as well. I've had C. armandii even longer than "Freckles" so there probably isn't much in it hardiness wise. I haven't had "Winter Beauty" very long, but it is a rampant grower, almost as rampant as C. armandii.

"Freckles" is easy as a semi-hardwood cutting, "Winter Beauty" is really easy, C. armandii is possible, but often the cuttings root, but never produce a new shoot and eventually dwindle away.

cheers Darrel
 
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That's interesting about the C. armandii as I was going to try to grow it from cuttings. I'll still give it ago but it's good to know for if they fail.

Every year i like to try and propagate something new and last year I tried my first clematis cuttings, a few made it but nothing that impressive. I gave it another go this year and I've been really lucky with most of them striking. So I've had lots to give away and do swaps with.
 
Hi all,
mort said:
and last year I tried my first clematis cuttings, a few made it but nothing that impressive. I gave it another go this year and I've been really lucky with most of them striking
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I think a lot of it depends on timing and getting wood that has started to harden, but hasn't hardened too far. I've got "My Angel", "Freckles", "Winter Beauty" and "Avalanche" as rooted cuttings at the moment, but had a total failure with all the viticella ones I tried and I've never had any joy with any of the large flowered hybrids.

cheers Darrel
 
Another visitor 🙂 Its mostly the small birds that are ballsy enough to get this close to the house though. Starlings and other slightly bigger birds tend to stay further away from the house 🙂 Blackbirds go more for the dried mealworms etc. which I throw into the grass. I've also got a jar of peanutbutter and a few houses with seed in the garden. Already did this a little bit in the past, but since the wfh situation I've really gotten into it and trying to identify the different birds. Its always fun when a new species shows up, or a rarer one like nuthatches or woodpeckers.
roodborstje.jpg
 
mort said:
Been looking for something to extend the bee season
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I've got a Mahonia, which has cheerful yellow flowers in winter. I was quite surprised the first time I saw bees on it in December. When we get a sunny day they will come to the Mahonia even in January and February. It's quite big and spiky, but nice if you have a suitable spot for it.
 
Hi all,
sparkyweasel said:
I've got a Mahonia, which has cheerful yellow flowers in winter.
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I've got a similar one, they are either Mahonia x media "Charity" or M. x media "Winter Sun".

I planted mine about 25 years ago (it is quite big now) and when we first had it used to flower after Christmas, but now it is reliably in flower by November.

There is research that suggests <"winter flowering garden plants">, have aided the <"development of year around Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) colonies">, and some years they've definitely survived the winter with us and we've had foraging worker Bees in January & February (on "Freckles" and Lonicera fragrantissima).

cheers Darrel
 
sparkyweasel said:
I've got a Mahonia, which has cheerful yellow flowers in winter. I was quite surprised the first time I saw bees on it in December. When we get a sunny day they will come to the Mahonia even in January and February. It's quite big and spiky, but nice if you have a suitable spot for it.
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I had been considering mahonia but not the usual cultivar. We have lots of the common type down are road that are all full of flower at the moment and we had one in the past that I think my fingers can still remember.

My neighbour has a large one thats borrowed landscape so I have been thinking a M. nitens cabaret would compliment it or I like the newer soft caress but heard it's a really slow grower and it's still expensive for anything but a small plant.
 
Hi all,
mort said:
M. nitens cabaret
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I haven't seen that one. There is a M. eurybracteata 'Soft Caress' (I'd have had no idea what it was, but it still had the label) down the road from us. These little new cultivars definitely look more suitable for smaller gardens.
mort said:
and it's still expensive for anything but a small plant
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£25 <"from Burncoose">.

cheers Darrel

​

 
Where I live we are lucky to have one of the worlds largest clematis developers.
About 10 acres of glasshouses are dedicated to the production of the beautiful plants, they have regular open days and I must say I love to visit! There are people who look and talk more like doctors or surgeons than plant growers and some parts are very sterile and clinical.
I think the majority of plants are exported to America but of course they are for sale to anyone.
https://www.guernsey-clematis.com/index.php/about-the-nursery
 
Raymond Evison is an Island character, he does a lot for charity and is a regular on our locale radio station, he has a very appealing voice!
I can’t remember how many Chelsea flower show golds he has won but I think it is some sort of record.
 
I saw Raymond on a programme, maybe about Chelsea, and they had footage of the clematis cuttings that they grew in little mist tents. It was very similar to the war tropica grows some of its plants.
 
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