by Joy Gough | Oct 7, 2013 | Customer Trial Panel
Some things in the garden are now past their best and will need composting or cutting back if I don’t need the seed heads.
I normally have the greenhouses empty by now, but this year the tomatoes are still going strong, so leaving them a little longer.
The patio
The other greenhouse is full of new plants growing on and cuttings which I have rooted for friends, even with plants I can’t normally get to root, so it pays to keep trying.
Greenhouse full of rooted cuttings
The garden is still looking nice with late flowering annuals and perennials, I have just cut these (photo number 4) and can’t believe what is still in flower for October. The roses, over 50 of them, are still flowering and so are the fuchsias.
Glorious fuchsias
The red and orange pyracanthas are laden with berries making a lovely screen at the back of the garden.
The local school children have been using the garden for reading, drawing and playing and are coming back again if the weather stays fine. Some of the comments could only come from children, such as “is the grass real?” and “can I move in?” So hopefully another generation of gardeners in the making.
Cut flowers to brighten up the house
I’ve just found a photo taken in October 2006 and thought you might like to see it, this is what we started with. All good fun.
The garden in 2006
Joy Gough joined Thompson & Morgan’s trials team in 2011 and tests plants and seeds in her own garden in Wiltshire. Learn more about Joy’s gardening journey on the Thompson & Morgan blog.
by Joy Gough | Sep 18, 2013 | Customer Trial Panel
What a fabulous year I’ve had with T&M plants, as you might be aware we open for the National Garden Scheme and by appointment anytime between May and September, which keeps us on our toes, meeting likewise gardeners and having time for tea and cake.
A lot of the visitors have commented on the trial plants and where can they get them, so Thompson & Morgan gets mentioned a lot. Next year I am putting up a sign explaining what I am doing, and any T&M trial plant will have a special label on, it will save me explaining it to hundreds of visitors.
Bumper crops and fabulous flowers
Bumper crops of tomato Alicante and Gardener’s Delight, and Cucumber Zeina, so much so, I have given lots to family and friends when they come round – some who don’t normally eat cucumbers because of indigestion which they said they didn’t have with Zeina.
Cucumber Zeina
The mini greenhouse cloches have been invaluable all through the season, and are still in use now for cuttings. Even though another second-hand greenhouse was put up in March.
Fuchsia ‘Duke of Wellington’ with its purple and dark pink flowers hanging down have been flowering for months now.
Fuchsia ‘Duke of Wellington’
Clematis ‘Twinkle Bell’ has gorgeous bell shaped yellow flowers which hang down in rows and just keep on flowering.
Clematis repens or ‘Twinkle Bell’
Joy Gough joined Thompson & Morgan’s trials team in 2011 and tests plants and seeds in her own garden in Wiltshire. Learn more about Joy’s gardening journey on the Thompson & Morgan blog.
by Joy Gough | Jul 17, 2013 | Customer Trial Panel
Katsura tree and clematis repens – an update
Leaves turning from green to pink
Katsura Tree
Two katsura trees 20″ tall arrived last August. I potted them up in 50% ericaceous and 50% multi-purpose compost and kept them in the shade in the greenhouse to give the roots a chance to establish.
I re-potted them at the beginning of March this year into large terracotta pots when the new foliage was green. It’s now turning to dark pink.
Getting taller and prettier every day
These trees are getting taller and prettier – they’re now 4′ tall with heart-shaped leaves. I am keeping them in pots at the moment, so that I can move them around the garden to anywhere there is a space to fill.
There have been no pests, diseases or shrivelled leaves. The plants like semi shade or full sun.
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Clematis repens
Clematis repens, the Twinkle Bell clematis
I have grown clematis in pots before, but these are now my favourites.
When they arrived I potted them into larger pots in multipurpose compost and vermiculite, 3″ deeper to stop clematis wilt. Once they were growing well I potted them into equal parts leaf mould, compost and vermiculite.
These plants don’t have any tendrils, so I have tied them into a frame and the flowers hang down like raindrops.
They are green in bud and open into 1″ bright yellow bell-shaped flowers. Even though they look delicate, the petals are very thick and waxy and totally different to the usual clematis.
Next year I am going to try them in hanging baskets and let the flowers just hang over the edges, I can’t wait.
Joy Gough joined Thompson & Morgan’s trials team in 2011 and tests plants and seeds in her own garden in Wiltshire. Learn more about Joy’s gardening journey on the Thompson & Morgan blog.
