GARDENING:
Look and learn at one of these glorious and inspiring shows
THE famous Chelsea Flower Show opens in ten days, but there are so many other horticultural events from now until autumn. Here are my picks, along with tips for neighbouring attractions to enjoy during your visit. GARDENING SCOTLAND, EDINBURGH FABULOUS nursery exhibits, Q&A sessions with experts, cookery and floral art. DETAILS: Royal Highland Centre, Edinburgh, June 3-5, 10am to 5pm. Tickets £14 in advance (gardeningscotland.com). NIGEL’S TIP: Edinburgh Zoo — a short bus ride from the showground — is set in superbly planted gardens. It’s famous for pandas, too. HARLOW CARR, YORKS SPECIALIST nursery exhibits, talks, demos, Q&As and delicious food served in Bettys tea rooms. DETAILS: Harlow Carr Garden, Harrogate June 10-12, 10am to 5pm. Adults £11, children, aged five to 16, £5.50. Free to RHS Members (visitharrogate.co.uk). NIGEL’S TIP: Walk 1.5 miles through Harrogate’s Valley Gardens and pine woods to Harlow Carr. WOBURN ABBEY, BEDS THE 42-acre garden will feature nursery trade stands and a Q&A with TV’s Pippa Greenwood and Martin Fish. The Duchess of Bedford will open a new waterfall, in Humphry Repton’s restored design. DETAILS: Woburn Abbey, Bedfordshire, June 25-26, 11am to 5pm. Adults £11.50, children £6.50. (woburnabbey.co.uk). NIGEL’S TIP: Bletchley Park, home of British code-breaking. SANDRINGHAM, NORFOLK LOCAL nurseries, arena events, talks by TV’s Chris Beardshaw and Barnsdale Garden’s Nick Hamilton in a beautiful setting. DETAILS: Sandringam Estate, near Dersingham, July 27. Tickets: Adults £10, Free to under-16s (sandringhamflowershow.org.uk). NIGEL’S TIP: Enjoy the Norfolk Lavender at nearby Heacham. HYDE HALL, ESSEX BOASTS 60 trade stands, a plant emporium and — new for 2016 — a pavilion featuring botanical art. DETAILS: Hyde Hall, Chelmsford, August 4-7, 10am to 5pm. Entry with garden ticket. Adults £11, children £5.50. Free to RHS members (rhs.org.uk/gardens/hyde-hall). NIGEL’S TIP: Check out Hyde Hall’s brilliant Dry Garden to see how the right plants ensure a superb show even in August. SOUTHPORT, MERSEYSIDE CELEBRITIES Joe Swift and Christine Walkden of the BBC’s The One Show will be there. Chef Ainsley Harriott opens the event. DETAILS: Victoria Park, Southport. August 18-21, 10am to 6pm (5pm Sunday). Tickets £19 in advance (southportflowershow.co.uk). NIGEL’S TIP: Southport blends gentility with traditional ‘kissme-quick’ seaside fun. I love the Royal Clifton Hotel’s faded Victorian opulence. WISLEY, SURREY SIX-DAY show is in the Royal Horticultural Society’s flagship garden. Exhibits include a dahlia display and nursery stands and a range of sale plants. DETAILS: RHS Garden, Wisley, near Woking. September 6-11. Admission included in garden ticket. Adults £11.70, children £5.85 in advance, free to RHS members (rhs.org.uk/gardens/wisley). NIGEL’S TIP: Explore Wisley’s vast gardens and stately glasshouse. MALVERN, WORCS CHEF Valentine Warner, superfoodie Mark Diacono and TV gardener Joe Swift will attend Malvern Autumn Show. Expect giant pumpkins, a food market and flowers. DETAILS: Three Counties Showground, Malvern. September 24 to 25. Adults £15.50, children £5.50 in advance. Free parking, and free shuttlebus from Great Malvern rail station (rhs.org.uk/ showsevents/malvern-autumn-show). NIGEL’S TIP: Take a walk in the Malvern Hills which ring the showground, or enjoy riverside dining at nearby Upton -upon-Severn.
TO ENSURE a display of fragrant wallflowers next spring, sow the seeds in the following fortnight. Wallflowers germinate readily if directly sown in shallow drills in a well-prepared seedbed. Make sure the ground is not cloddy and that the soil is moist below the surface.
Sow thinly along the row and expect the seedlings to show in a couple of weeks.
If necessary, irrigate the ground afterwards, but take care not to disturb the seedlings. They should grow into stocky, well-branched plants. You can also raise wallflowers from seed sown into little pots or seed trays. Grow these on in larger containers. The young wallflowers will be ready to plant out where they’re to flower in October. They’ll provide colour and fragrance from late March to the end of May. Old-fashioned tall varieties such as blood-red Vulcan, creamy yellow Ivory and flamecoloured Fire King are brilliant for bedding. Erysimum Bowles Mauve and Apricot Delight (pictured inset) are attractive companions For softer hues Aurora is a pretty salmon and Persian Carpet a mix of warm shades. These varieties have full perfume — as important to me as the colours.
TOMATO CARE
GREENHOUSE tomato plants should be growing fast. If raised as single-stem cordons, they’ll need supporting canes or twine. Tie the delicate young plants to their supports using soft jute string.
Pinch out any side-shoots, but take care not to bruise the stem.
Feed with general fertiliser, such as Miracle-Gro All Purpose, until the first trusses begin to flower. Then switch to a high potash feed such as Tomorite or Homebase Tomato Feed.
Bush tomato varieties are better for growing outdoors. Protected plants will be safe to put out after May 21, but only if the weather is warm. Tomatoes can be killed by the lightest frost.
READER’S QUESTION
MY BEAUTIFUL lilac, planted three years ago, was covered in buds, but ruined by frosts last month. Now the buds and young leaves have turned black or are distorted. Will it recover, or should I replace it? Mrs B. Dobson,
Doncaster. POOR you, losing this year’s show. But common lilac is hardy — even though flowers and leaves can be coaxed into early growth, then zapped by late April frosts.
Your plant should recover and could produce a bumper flower crop next year, as it compensates for this spring’s loss.
Take no action yet and allow the plant to produce new shoots. When these emerge, remove the destroyed flowers and dead leaves. Cut these off just above the uppermost healthy shoots. Thereafter, your plant will recover.
Plant of the week LABURNUM
YOU may have noticed that amazing picture of Bodnant Garden’s gigantic laburnum tunnel in a recent edition of this paper. Few have room for such magnificence, but in times past, almost every front garden boasted a laburnum tree. They’re not so abundant now, but the best variety by far is Laburnum x watereri Vossii. The flower stems can reach 60cm. Laburnum seeds are poisonous, but this variety is almost sterile so seed is not produced. If you haven’t space for a laburnum tunnel, a single tree could be trained over an arch or allowed to stand in a border. Laburnum prefers full sun and free-draining soil.
Special offer HARDY GARDEN CHRYSANTHEMUMS
HARDY garden ‘mums’ are ideal for a mass display in beds and borders. This cushion-shaped perennial chrysanthemum, introduced from America, can survive a British winter. Each pack of six is one each of six colours. 3cm diameter plug plants supplied. Buy six for £9.99 or order 24 for half price, £19.98. Order online at mailgardenshop.co.uk or call 0844 472 4161, quoting MGS852.