Spritzhenry's Inbox

looking good spritz, this is defo more red than mine - i think mine must the other variety that i saw which was simular - 'Diane' i think it was called. this is going to be really stunning when it is full out.

Hi Spritzhenry,

This a lovely photo I have tried grow french lavender in my garden it doesn't do very well.

It reminds me of a ladies hat at Ascot.

Libby.

ok spritz, i know what you want me to say - you leave that poor Vyvyan alone!, - but you did ask! but if it makes you feel any better, Alan also says that no plant 'has' to be pruned. at the end of the day you can always cut it back hard next year if the flowers do suffer or are too high to appreciate! you have'nt got anything to loose, either way won't damage the plant!

hi spritz, well it is up to you, but in the words of Alan Titchmarsh - 'what is the point of having lovey big blooms so high up that the only way you can see them is by looking down on them from your bedroom window' - there is a really good pruning article in feb issue of gardeners world mag i've been reeding, late flowering clematis should be cut back to 15 cm above ground level - just above shooting knode between now and mid feb, to get the best out of them. i know it's heartbreaking but i had very simular going on at the top of my C. tangutica, which was hanging over next doors garden, so i went out there this morning and bit the bullet and did it! while i was there i also hacked back my C. 'jackmanii' and my climbing roses. i just keep telling myself that i will benifit from it when they flower in my garden this summer rather than next doors!

I have quite a few of these in my garden, they are pink and have flowered for ages! Can you tell me if I need to cut them back and when? Many thanks, Andrea

I have ordered stuff and I can't really remember what it was, I'll have to look at my e-receipts to work out what I've ordered! I love going to places like Woollies and garden centres to trawl through the BOGOFS and the reduced sections, I've brought plenty back to life from sticks and twigs and it's really satisfying.

Another favourite annual I love so much are Pansies !

I love all types of Orchids.

good for you Andrew, i too have had some good plants from woolies in the past, but it is pot luck, they are not always what the label says and often in poor condition because of the way they are packed, but i currently have growing Acer 'Bloodgood' which was bought last spring from woolworths it was i tiny dead twig, it is now nearly 5ft already! i also have a tamarix, which again was i tiny dead sprig - that has also flurished and is now bushy and about 3ft tall. i bought some queen of the night (black) tulip bulbs a few years ago, but gues what? - yes they turned out bog standard red, and i bought a magnolia with the Acer and Tamarix, and that died. but when you work out what i paid for them all on BOGOF deals it was well worth the plants that i have got from them.

They've been selling stuff like this for years now. Several years ago (1996 to be precise), I bought two hibiscus shrubs there and they're both thriving. One is 'Red Heart', the other was supposed to be 'Bluebird' but it isn't - it has double flowers that open pink and then change to blue.

I took some samples down to the RHS at Wisley but they were unable to identify it and thought it might be a new variety. They suggested I contact Notcutt's as they breed hibiscus. Notcutt's asked for some material to propogate and grow on. After twelve months they agreed it was a new variety but said it was too similar to one they already had to be worth selling. I got them to send back the material they had been trialling and gave it to some members of our Garden Club so now there are five plants of it around the town. What have we called it?

Lady Bracknell - what else?

I went through my seedbox this morning, hoping to find one wee thing I could sow now, but no. Will just have to be patient. At the mo, we have bought 45 packets of seeds, 122 plug plants, 24 plants from garden centres and nurseries online, a rambling rose, and seed potatoes (which arrived this morning) - and still more to search for! I want to tote it all up, but can't bring myself to do that yet.

Wandered into our local Woolworth the other day and found they have packs of some common plants and bulbs at £3.99 each and a special offer of BOGOF. One of their packs was 25 Acidanthera bulbs - sorry spritzhenry, hope this hasn't spoiled your day

What a lovely Pagan tradition of celebrating the nature and thanking it. I am looking more and more into celebrating, or at least acknowledging these type of things, even so far as to celebrate Solstice on the 21st December instead of Christmas, but with the kids still at home it can't be avoided,by the way which one is you, Wassailling by the way??? Did you put bread in the tree and douse it with cider?

Lightly dig the soil with a trowel, give it some bonemeal and top dress with a layer of compost and some good mulch of small bark chippings or leaf mould. That is what I would do then give it some liquid feed in the Spring when the new shoots start to appear, seaweed or something similar, all the best and I hope he recovers

Right here goes, i have treated myself to the following:

Centaurea 'The Bride' - white cornflower
Night Scented Stocks (always a must for me near the house!)
Papaver somniferum 'Applegreen'
Centaurea 'Frosted Queen'
Emilia coccinea 'Scarlet Magic' (Tassle Flower)
Godetia 'Amethyst Glow'
Phacelia viscida 'Tropical Surf'
Californian Poppy 'Champagne & Roses'
Calendula 'Sherbet Fizz'
Centaurea 'Dairy Maid' (yellow cornflower)
Amberboa muricata
Bellis Daisy 'Tasso Strawberries & Cream'
Sunflower 'Claret' - these are for Brooke to grow around her play house.
i also have some Lilium regale that i swapped with AndrewR
and about 6 different types of Sweetpea - but not sure if i will use all of these as the peas are toxic and i won't fit them all in the front garden, as i have also bought some veggie seeds to do with Brooke including garden peas, though it would be best to leave the sweetpeas out of the back garden, so they will proberly end up on seedswap once i have sown what i can in the front.

the veggie seeds i have got to do with Brooke are as follows: Tiger Tom's (stripy tomartoes)
Radish
Carrot 'Parmex' (cute little round ones)
Garden pea 'Canoe'
Spring Onion 'White Lisbon'
not had much experience in veggie growing but i thought it would be a good way of introducing Brooke to the wonderful world of gardening - also might help to get her to eat more veg! lol.

...... not to mention the slate blue bare root David Austin rose i am waiting on, and the deep burgandy lily bulbs.....and the narine bulbs that should be coming any day now......and...... the 'Apple Blossom' Geranium plugs... oh and the bargin selection of Fushia plugs.......ect!

need i say more!lol

ooooooh you naughty girl! lol they all sound mouthwatering tho, - i already did mine a couple of weeks ago tehehe. i got them last week, i can't remeber them off the top of my head, - so many of them! lol but i have already listed them on the my garden bit, and set reminders when i need to sow, i'll go back into it and make a list for you!

Hi spritz, can't find it anywhere in my tree book, but then if it is a Photinia, it proberly wont be listed in there as it is more of a shub. but i think quite a lot of large shrubs have the potential to grow to tree size if given the right conditions and left long enough with out cutting back hard. i have just been reeding the comments on your question and a few others have had the same thought. and if AndrewR thinks it Photinia i would say it proberly is - he is never usually wrong on garden plants.lol

Go for it, give it a good feed and maybe a trim in the spring to keep it in check, I have downloaded a picture of a photinia flower on my homepage if that jogs your memory
Andrea

Hi, Photinia does have a white flower/cluster, I have posted a picture of it on my homepage in photos, please take a look and if you recognize it then that may be your plant. Photinias are big shrubs and can grow over 10ft so this is not unusual. There are a few different breeds of photinia, Red Robin being the most popular, the picture I downloaded was photinia serrulata (Chinease Photinia), hope this helps
Andrea

I agree with Andrew, it looks like a sick photinia, where is it planted, position, etc

I've seen a photinia in shade and starved conditions do this - red leaves now but no new red growth in the growing season

ha-ha! it's opened! looks great spritz! - much brighter colour than mine! mine is up against a dark green fence and it catches your eye from the patio or house. but i don't have a huge garden so it is'nt that far away anyway.

hi Spritz, i know that this might sound daft but it looks very much like a Photinia, i have seen big ones before but never tree size. but i know that you do have a Photinia don't you so i gues you would know if this tree was one. well you've got me on this one! i will however consult my books just incase, - my mothering law gave me a book on trees last year, - i'll go dig that one out! it's vert pretty whatever it is!

Not 100% sure but it looks like magnolia acuminata.
How large is this tree?
Fred

Is this flowering now? Can you do a close-up of a flower?

Do you find the flowers of this show up at a distance; I planted 'Pallida' (pale yellow flowers) against a dark background for this reason. I guess a blue-grey conifer would make a suitable background to this one or any of the orange-flowered varieties

Hyacinths are one of my favourites. Love the perfume.Lindak

One other point, after you have used any pruning tools where you are possibly cutting out diseased material, dip your blade into bleach to sterilise before going on to another shrub. (A 10 percent solution is strong enough.)

There are two diseases that can affect Viburnum called Phytophthora hedraiandra or ramorum. It's a basal stem canker (look for cankers about 10cm up the stem from the base) causing defoliation and dieback
It's been spreading across Europe for a couple of years now. It gets into areas of damage on the plant and destroys it. Cut off dead wood as low to the ground as possible then burn the offcuts -DO NOT COMPOST
Keep an eye on the rest of the plant for similar things happening.
Good luck

Yes cut it out and dispose of it straight away.