Parthenocissus, Zauscheneria and the Orchard

Parthenocissus henryana has done particularly well this year. The vivid scarlet leaves were on this year's growth as it was cut down to the base. Perhaps that is why it has retained its leaves for longer. The plant is on an east-facing wall, which is sheltered from the prevailing winds.

Another plant with flowers of a similar hue is Zauschneria, which has been in bloom for months but now is almost over. I was told it was tender when I was given a cutting many years ago. But in a low brick wall facing the creeper it has travelled the whole length and now looks like a scarlet hedge. Easily rooted by cuttings it should be in everyone's garden. I believe there are at least two varieties. I think mine, with its dark green leaves, is likely to be Zauschneria californica 'Glasnevin', which can also be found in the Botanical Gardens in Dublin.

At the moment the orchard badly needs attention. I lost an old Victorian plum tree in one of the gales – the roots were completely rotten and the trunk hollow. How it produced delicious plums for the last few years I don’t know.

I tried a few cuttings because the tree was at least 70 years old so I don’t think it would have been a grafted plant. Unfortunately I put them into a large bucket of sandy soil outside the greenhouse. I found to my disgust the rabbits had clipped them off. One is showing some growth at ground level but I am not very optimistic.

I also had a large old apple tree, which I always thought was the variety 'Morgan Sweet'. It was a good crisp eater – bright green fruit which eventually took on a pale yellow tinge when cooked. It snapped off about four feet up the trunk to it would be a major operation to dig out the roots. It has now begun to grow a few green shoots so I will leave well alone and see what happens.

Early Days at Wheatfield

There has been a house at Wheatfield since the 17th century. Pictured is a drawing of the house before the Second World War by John Moody.

I came to Wheatfield on the death of my mother-in-law over 40 years ago, but I didn’t start to garden seriously until the mid 1970s. The two and a half acre garden, although it may look old, has only been in its current form for 35 years.

The house, farm buildings and garden cover four acres, which when I arrived was mainly under grass. It consisted of a plantation of trees with daffodils, crocuses and snowdrops, which had naturalised beneath them. I understand these were planted by my husband's grandmother.

On the substantial lawn facing the house was a large birch tree, behind which was a bed of mixed rhododendrons, a couple of copper Prunus triloba, a large horse chestnut tree, a number of mixed conifers, plus a windswept ornamental crab apple tree. A laurel hedge divided the lawn from the field.

To the east side of the house were two beds divided by a path with three rose arches – one bed contained roses, the other herbaceous plants. A small rock garden was backed by a well kept Lonicera hedge.

To the left was, and still is, a cold greenhouse with a large vegetable garden behind it with soft fruit bushes. Nearby were a couple of white lilac trees and a large specimen of Crinodendron lanceolata. The orchard contained plum and apple trees, including 'Laxton Superb', 'Newtown Pippin', 'Morgan Sweet', a russet and one unidentified variety.

Pictured below is a view from the house today.

October Tips

Don’t be in too much of a hurry to tidy up for the winter as there are still some autumn flowering plants to be enjoyed, such as gentians, Kaffir lilies, nerines, white and double pink Japanese anemones.

Try planting a row of broad beans, the variety 'Aquadulce', in a sheltered part of the vegetable garden. If the winter is not too severe you should be picking beans at the end of next May. If you have saved your own seed it will cost you nothing but your own efforts.

I am sowing sweet peas in deep pots – large yoghurt cartons or litre fruit juice cartons with holes made in the bottom are ideal. Keep in a cold greenhouse or garage until they germinate. You can also place them in the shelter of an evergreen shrub and cover with a piece of glass or thick plastic in case a mouse is ready for a meal. A slug pellet is also a good precaution. Again, the weather plays its part but these plants if they survive will give you flowers in May.

Nerine bulbs from the southern hemisphere will give you long-lasting clumps of shell pink flowers with strong stems. Don’t plant too deep as this appears to inhibit their flowering. A sunny spot in rich, well-drained soil is all they need. They can be grown in containers with success but be careful they don’t get waterlogged, and keep in a warm sheltered spot in the winter.

Bulbs planted in the ground will benefit from a mulch as the shallow planting can leave them vulnerable to frost.There are a number of varieties. Bowdenii is the most popular as some of the others are too tender.

Colchicums

These plants, sometimes known as autumn crocus, are an exotic looking flower. Although fragile they have stood up to the stormy weather this year.

I planted most of them around fruit trees in the orchard. At first I think I didn’t plant them deep enough as they tended to fall over.

The variety Colchicum speciosum alba increases a lot with me – I think there is a double variety but I haven’t been able to locate it yet.

The lavender coloured double variety ‘Waterlily’ is very attractive but hasn’t increased like speciosum.

There is a drawback with these plants. The leaves, which appear in spring, are large and floppy. I have read they should be cut back but I think mine have increased so well because I have allowed them to die naturally.

Passion Flower - Passiflora caerulea

I have a sunny corner near the greenhouse, which is sheltered by a south-facing wall. At the base of the wall sit half a dozen old troughs, containing a few alpines, some bulbs and dwarf conifers, including the ‘Noah’s Ark’ juniper.

In this favoured position I tried Plumbago capensis, which lasted several years and would probably still be alive if I had given it winter protection. I next tried a passion flower, grown from a cutting given to me by a friend. It bloomed for years, trained along the wall – but several years ago I neglected it during a dry spell in early spring and lost it through drought. Oddly I had never watered it, as rain dripping from the guttering above had obviously been enough to keep it going.

To continue the saga my grandson decided to replace it as a Christmas gift. He ordered two different varieties, one for himself and one for me. When they arrived, one looked healthy, the other on its last legs – the latter was given to me with very little hope.

After trimming off the obviously dead stalks, one shoot piece remained. I put the pot on a window sill which had sunshine until after lunchtime and there it remained until early spring, when to my surprise and delight, a small green shoot appeared at the base.

When this reached a foot high and still very fragile, I thought I would pinch it out to allow side shoots perhaps to form. As it was so delicate I took at sharp pair of scissors and cut it down to about six inches. The top piece was quite turgid, so using a skewer I made a hole in the compost, trickled in some water and inserted the cutting, putting in a pinch of sterile sand. In a very short time it rooted. Since then I have rooted two more cuttings of the same variety Passiflora caerulea and it is now growing healthily at the base of the wall.

Ground Cover

Ground cover can often lend a new dimension to the garden, giving patches of colour when shrubs have ceased to flower – they are usually low growing plants which help to smother annual weeds.

I use some of the dwarf periwinkles (Vinca), some with white flowers, some with blue. There are quite a number of varieties, both single and double, with a wide spectrum of colour, from white to purple.

I have also two varieties, one with silver variegation and one with gold. They all have shiny evergreen leaves which enhance the foliage of shrubs.

Another useful plant is Pachysandra terminalis. It has white flowers which are insignificant but the small, evergreen leaves are of an attractive shape and a good weed suppressant.

The Erigerons, with daisy-like flowers in pink and mauve, bloom all summer if deadheaded now and again. The variety given to me as Erigeron ‘Four Winds’ but I believe it to be Erigeron speciosis (pictured above right).

I also use another of the species Erigeron mucronatus ‘Profusion’ (pictured left) with smaller daisy-like flowers in multicolours. This will also bloom until the first frost.

These plants cover large areas quite quickly but can easily be contained if they grow over their allotted space.

Seeds, Rabbits and Orange Peel

Walking around the garden, I have noticed quite a few seed pods, namely Agapanthus orientalis, a very free flowering variety with pale blue flowers.

Also some Agapanthus ‘Headbourne hybrids’, which have flowers in varying shades of blue, including a very dark blue, and also white. These only grow to 12-15 inches high so are suitable for the smaller garden.

Galtonia candicans has set a lot of seed. If you are prepared to wait a couple of years, sow it now as I did. I prefer a large pot rather than a seed tray. Hardy perennials and bulbs set in a shady place will need very little watering and if you use sterile sandy soil for the top two inches, anything that germinates isn’t smothered with weeds.

I am hoping that the seed from Cobaea scandens (pictured left) is viable. Most seeds I prefer to sow when fresh but as they are tender I will sow these in early spring.

I have had great trouble with rabbits this year, decimating many of my plants (my friend Anthony has decimated some of the rabbits with his shotgun). With a large garden, it is not possible to protect everything. I have just recently heard that if orange peel is placed near a plant the rabbits will avoid it. Hopefully this will be effective.

Autumn tip - this is a good time to be thinking about making alterations to the garden and changing plants that have been disappointing because of size, colour or performance. Take out or reduce the size of shrubs that are smothering nearby plants.