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26 October 2020

11/10/2020 / Syd Harrod / Seasonal productivity

Sept.2020 / John Keys, Margot Caldwell, et al,/

       Admiring, and yet puzzled by, Hydrangeas

 I just noticed what a lot of seed our tree is producing again, reminding me that I collected some last year and it’s still in the envelope.  But it won’t matter - Japanese maples take two years to germinate!  If the seedlings vary a lot, even better, there are sure to be some fine autumn colours among them. You can copy this link:    HTTP://www.quiet-corner.com/growing-japanese-maples-seed/    into your browser, and give it a try.

 09/08/2020 / Alan Hamilton / Actual productivity!

       Peas            Grapes        Potatoes      Crab-apples

I planted the peas late and they have produced a bumper crop!  Grapes grown in  my greenhouse  - a green seedless type called “Lakeland”.  The good crop of potatoes are of “Apache” and blues.  The crab-apple is  “John Downie” again: I will try and make some apple jelly from this crop.

I had a huge crop of soft fruit this year - this branch of Blackcurrant is bending over.   After a slow start the Rhubarb is now really strong.

“Lady Emma Hamilton”

Pink-mauve Phlox

Thalictrum delavayi

Actea “Black Spires”

Thanks to John Keys we can admire these fine colours on his west-facing slopes without worrying whether his Lilac was late or the Hydrangeas early, a fine spectacle indeed.  The H. macrocarpa varieties are well-known for their wide range of colours, blue through purple, red and pink to white; and of flower-head shapes from rather vulgarly named mop-heads to graceful lace-caps.     I think John’s white Hydrangea might be of another species, H.  arborescens, or maybe a hybrid with H. paniculata which has taller and looser flower-heads.  

Now: Margot is enthusiastic about a really hardy sub-species, H.  macro.  serrata. They are usually less pushy bushes and wear neater lace-caps. She has a good source nearby at  McLaughlin’s Carndonagh Nursery.

This serrata looks as though it has taken a liking to life at Margot’s.

Brilliant leaf colour! Although she didn’t tell me the name of the variety,  I can foresee there will be more than just this first one by the time we are free to visit Margot’s sheltered coastal  wonderland.

John is blessed with good clear reds and blues: you see so many awful muddy mauves in our district. The causes are in the soil, lack of aluminium as  well as high pH.  Here are two branches of one plant,  bought small, probably planted over a surprise boundary between two distinct  soil  zones. Even superphosphate in the compost can  inhibit blue !

 We believe this rarity is “Ami Pasquier”.   Ed.