Amateur Gardening 25-Jun-2022

“Our report on the RHS plant of the year from the Chelsea Flower Show is on page 9 and you can also read about the memorial at Chelsea created to celebrate the life and work of our former columnist Peter Seabrook. Peter’s contribution to gardening cannot be understated. “As a grower, writer and TV presenter he worked unstintingly to promote the benefits of gardening. Peter exhibited at Chelsea for 50 years, creating displays that showcased new plants in a way all gardeners could enjoy and benefit from. The Queen was a regular visitor to Peter’s stand at Chelsea and this year was no exception — he would have been proud of that. We all miss him”. Contact us: Subscriptions: 0330 333 1113 Editorial: 0330 3903732 Email: amateurgardening@futurenet.com Advertising: 0330 3906566…

WHILE I love growing native flowers and filling the garden with pastel hues and delicate grasses, I can’t resist the exotic allure of dahlias and cannas. I’m obviously not alone in this as they are two of the most popular summer varieties, and with good reason. Dahlias are loved for their infinite variety of heights, shapes and colours, while cannas add height to the centre of borders, their colourful broad leaves as much a talking point as their sturdy stems holding fiery red, yellow and orange blooms. Despite their exotic appearance, canna lilies are fairly problem-free, though they do suffer from slug and snail attacks so protect them with wool pellets. They can also contract a virus that is incurable, meaning plants should be removed and destroyed. Cannas thrive in sheltered, fertile soil in…

WHILE we’re busy catering to the every need of our beds, borders, pots and baskets, let’s not forget that our lawns need looking after too. It’s often the largest single area in the garden and the UK’s usual warm, damp early summer is perfect growing conditions for grass so you may find yourself needing to mow once a week at the moment. Keep the blade on a fairly high setting as this ensures the lawn will stay looking lush even through dry spells. Cut too short and the parched soil below will start to show through. Unless you are planning a garden event, it isn’t worth watering if your lawn starts to go brown during dry weeks, as it will green up again when it rains. Keep up with edging around borders, as it’s…

MOST years Team AG approaches the RHS Chelsea Flower Show with slight trepidation because many of the gardens verge on the pretentious and show nothing that our loyal readers would consider adding to their patch. This year, however, our fears were unfounded as plants were back in their rightful place at the forefront of the displays, not overshadowed by strange concrete blocks or rusty American prairie grain silos. While there was nothing on show to scare the horses or make you scratch your head, there were plenty of inspirational and very eye-catching ideas to take home and try yourself. A rare exception was the Plantsman’s Ice Garden, John Warland’s chilly monolith representing the threat of global warming. AG editor Garry Coward Williams said: “At previous shows the ugliness was ignored like the Emperor’s New…

THE first Chelsea Flower Show without Peter Seabrook was always going to be a strange event. The absence of gardening’s most irrepressible character was commented on by many. This year, his ubiquitous floral display was replaced by a touching memorial featuring a garden bench with his trademark straw hat, gumboots, sunflower tie and overalls. There was also a bouquet of sweet peas named in his honour and later presented to The Queen when she made her customary tour of the Great Pavilion. ‘Peter Seabrook’ is a new variety in shades of mauve. It is long-stemmed, early flowering and highly scented and was discovered as a ‘rogue’ by Peter and developed by Thompson and Morgan. The brand’s horticultural director, Paul Hansford, said: “Sweet peas were one of Peter’s favourite plants and he spotted this…

BOLD, beautiful and not, perhaps, a traditional choice, the winner of the 2022 Chelsea Flower Show Plant of the Year may raise a few eyebrows, but there are good reasons why x Semponium ‘Destiny’ walked off with the prestigious accolade. It is a cross between a hardy Sempervivum and an Aeonium and is the perfect plant for these times of climate change and uncertainty. Drought-tolerant and hardy down to -2°C, ‘Destiny’ has striking dark red leaves that hold their colour all year, and pretty yellow flowers. It grows to 60cm across on a single rosette of leaves and may start to branch out when mature enough. The plant was developed at Surreal Succulents in west Cornwall by Daniel Michael. AG expert Graham Rice was one of the RHS judges called upon to choose the…