My gardening diary
MONDAY Having cleared the greenhouse of tomatoes and cucumbers, it’s had a thorough clean. A few trays of salads and herbs have been reintroduced, all at seedling stage, but they should survive and give us green leaves in the winter. TUESDAY Interested to see whether or not root cuttings from some of the fine white anemones, hybridised by Elizabeth MacGregor, namely ‘Wild Swan’, ‘Elfin Swan’ and ‘Dreaming Swan’, will work. Though all of them are protected by Plant Breeders Rights, this doesn’t mean they can’t be propagated privately. WEDNESDAY The tunnel has a gloomy air. Dahlias in pots are dying down, their leaves in a range of brown from ochre to umber, while the dahlias we’d lifted from the front beds and containers on the terrace are black. Soon we’ll cut back all the foliage. It won’t make it any more colourful but it won’t look so morbid! THURSDAY Some of our perennials have stayed in half litre pots all summer and autumn. Potted on into bigger pots in compost with a high loam content, they should make good plants by next spring. Euphorbia polychroma and Aster frikartii ‘Mönch’ are two of those most in need.
FRIDAY Usually the leaves of three trees close to the top terrace, a Cercis siliquastrum, a hazel and the gingko I planted for Neil, turn golden yellow in the autumn. This year a severe frost before they’d had a chance to fully change colour has marred the effect. SATURDAY We’re forcing bulbs for Christmas. Usually paper-whites are our first choice, but we’re trying blue and white hyacinths, amaryllis as well for presents and we’re experimenting with some smaller bulbs, muscari and scilla, several to a pot. SUNDAY Just found some anemone corms whose paper bag had been overlooked. They always look shrivelled and as though incapable of lush growth, but that’ll soon change!