Summer Herbaceous Border

The herbaceous border is starting to fill out well, although there are still a few gaps where I need to improve the planting scheme. My favourite three plants for summer in the herbaceous border are the vibrant red Lychnis Chalcedonica, the pretty pink sweetly scented Phlox Paniculata and the classic white Chrysanthemum Maximum, better known as the Shasta Daisy.

Lychnis Chalcedonica, also known as Jerusalem Cross or Maltese Cross, was introduced into Britain in the 14th century and has always been linked with returning pilgrims. Although it was collected in the Middle East it actually originated in European Russia. The first part of the name comes from 'lychnos', the Greek word for lamp, and is thought to refer to the woolly leaves which were used as wicks for oil lamps. The second part of the name comes from 'Chalcedon' which is the classical name for Kadekoy, the district of Turkey opposite Istanbul. Flower heads composed of small bright red cross shaped flowers are borne on upright stems above the mid green leaves in early to midsummer. The plant grows to about 3 feet tall and will self seed freely. It likes moist but well drained fertile humus-rich soil and prefers a position in full sun or light dappled shade.

Phlox Paniculata is a lovely scented border plant which has flowers in varied shades from white through to pink, red, purple and blue, often with contrasting centres. The flowers appear throughout summer into autumn, and are long lasting when cut. I have three varieties in my garden at the moment and intend to plant more. They are a really good reliable hardy perennial with a long flowering season. The delicate fragrance is an added bonus. Grow them in any moist fertile soil, positioning them in full sun or partial shade. This welcome addition to the herbaceous border was introduced into Britain in 1730 from the Eastern United States.

The perennial Chrysanthemum Maximum, also known as the Shasta Daisy, is one of my favourite plants. The lovely white daisy flowers are up to 3 inches across with a golden eye and make a cheerful display from June to August. There are varieties available with semi double or double flowers but I think the single flowered variety is the most beautiful. It grows to between 24 and 36 inches in height and likes a sunny position in a well drained fertile soil. Propagate by taking 2 - 3 inch long cuttings of basal shoots in March/April or by lifting and dividing established clumps, again in March/April.

Harvesting the first Potatoes

. The veg patch is looking good at the moment. The runner beans have their beautiful scarlet flowers and have not been too troubled with blackfly this year. The beetroot is looking healthy and I have just planted twenty winter leeks and ten curly kale plants. Hopefully these will give me some lovely fresh veg this winter provided we do not get such severe weather as last winter. The last of the strawberries have been picked and eaten and I have now turned my attention to the potato crop. Today I lifted the first of my new potatoes. I have been a bit concerned about them as the weather has been so dry, but the first two haulms have been lifted and they look like they have produced a reasonable crop. I will be cooking the first of these potatoes for lunch tomorrow and intend to serve them with a chicken casserole and some sweetheart cabbage. Mmmm - can't wait!

Lilies

I grow two types of lilies in my garden - small Asiatic Hybrid lilies which only grow to about 15 - 18 inches tall and are therefore suitable for growing in pots, and a species lily called Lilium Pyrenaicum which was given to me by a friend. The Asiatic Hybrids have beautiful large trumpet flowers of varied colours and are the ones which are widely available in garden centres. The species lily, Lilium Pyrenaicum, which is pictured left has much smaller bright yellow flowers with curved petals and long orange stamens. It is not as flamboyant as the Asiatic Hybrids but is much more of a traditional cottage garden plant and grows to about 24 - 28 inches in height.
My lilies flower from May to June and have just finished. The bulbs in the pots will increase and become pot bound eventually and I then transplant them to a sunny spot in the garden.
Lilies thrive in sun or partial shade and should be planted between October and March. The Asiatic Hybrid lilies are stem rooting. This means they produce roots from just above the bulb as well as from beneath it. These require deeper planting than those that just root from the base of the bulb. A good rough guide is to plant at a depth of two and a half times the height of the bulb. Young lily bulbs have contractile roots and can pull themselves down to the correct depth if planted a bit too shallowly. If planting in pots use a good soil based compost such as John Innes No.1.
One word of warning - watch out for the bright red lily beetle. The larvae can cause severe damage to your plants. They also cover themselves in a black slimy excrement which looks horrible. Luckily the beetles are very easily spotted being such a bright red colour. Just pick them off and squash them. You need to be vigilant and check your plants regularly. I find they seem to be more active in the evening. There are chemicals which can be used to control this pest but I don't like using strong chemicals in the garden where they could have a detrimental effect on other beneficial insects such as bees. Anyway it's much easier and cheaper to just remove the beetles by hand and kill them.   

Avoiding Carrot Root Fly

Growing your own carrots is easy and rewarding - nothing beats the sweet taste of freshly lifted young carrots. There are many varieties of all shapes and sizes and all are easy to grow. I grow the 'Early Nantes' variety which is a slender finger length carrot.
The only problem you are likely to encounter is the carrot root fly. The adult flies first lay their eggs in May/June and then lay a second batch in July/August. The eggs hatch to produce small maggots which tunnel into the roots. The adult fly is attracted to the carrots by the smell released from fresh leaves so it is best if you handle the leaves as little as possible. It helps if you don't sow the carrots too thickly so there are fewer seedlings to thin out. 
One way of deterring the adult fly without using chemicals is by interspersing rows of carrots with rows of onions. The smell of the onions allegedly disguises the smell of the carrot leaves. I haven't tried this method as I have limited space to grow root crops in my vegetable patch. So I decided to try a different method. I saw a television programme which featured someone who had previously suffered a lot of problems with carrot root fly and who found a simple chemical free solution. Evidently the flies will fly at a certain height and this person solved the problem by growing their carrots in a barrel about 3 feet tall, above the height at which the adult carrot fly travels.
I have managed to get hold of an old 45 gallon plastic drum which I have filled with soil and planted with carrots. I tried this for the first time last year and had a reasonable crop so I hope to repeat that success this year.

Conserving Water in the Garden

This has been an unusually dry spring and some parts of the country are officially in drought. We all need to think about how we are using water and gardeners can make a real difference by using water wisely. Collecting rainwater is the easiest way to conserve water use in your garden. If you have a water meter it can also save you money. Proprietary rainwater diversion kits, together with rainwater storage butts, can be purchased from most DIY outlets but all sorts of containers can be utilised by the innovative gardener.
I installed my first rainwater butt (pictured) at the rear of the garage a number of years ago. Since then I have installed two others at the front and rear of the house, and two smaller containers collect rainwater runoff from the greenhouse. It's surprising how much water you can save with just a few storage barrels.
Another good way of preventing your garden from drying out excessively is by mulching your borders to reduce water loss, and by adding plenty of humus to your soil, especially if it is very free draining. Home made compost is excellent for this job and it's free, saving you even more money.
If you want to be more creative get advice from a plumber regarding a 'grey' water system. Grey water is what comes out of washing machines, washbasins, showers and baths. It may contain soap and detergent but this can mostly be removed by suitable filters. The objective is to pump this water to a special storage tank where it can then be reused for flushing toilets, washing the car and watering the garden. It's a great idea for water conservation but a bit of an expensive investment for the average gardener.

Oriental Poppies

June is the month that my Oriental Poppy (Papaver Orientale) comes into flower. Oriental Poppies are really spectacular when in flower, the bright scarlet flowers being about 4 inches in diameter.
This is a hardy spreading border perennial which grows to about 2-3 feet tall. There are a number of garden varieties with flower colours ranging from white through to pink and blood red. My plant is a beautiful scarlet red. It's a shame the flowers don't last longer. By the end of June they will all be gone. As the foliage is rather untidy I prefer to cut it back once flowering has finished. Sometimes if the weather is mild enough they will produce a second flush of flowers in the autumn.
Oriental Poppies are happy in ordinary well drained garden soil but need a sunny position. Plant them out in March/April or October. Established plants can be propagated by dividing and replanting the roots in March or April.  

Growing Tomatoes using the Ring Culture Method

Each year I like to grow a few tomatoes. My favourite variety is 'Gardener's Delight' which produces lots of small sweet fruits. This variety can be grown outside as a bush plant but the weather in this part of the country is not really good enough to ensure a decent crop. So I prefer to raise my tomatoes in the greenhouse. Tomatoes are easy to grow under glass, whether grown in the soil border or in growbags or pots. If you use the soil border to grow your tomatoes the soil will need changing after 2-3 years. If you use pots then a richer soil based compost such as John Innes No.3 is required.                   My greenhouse has a solid floor and I don't really like using growbags so I have been using the ring culture method for a number of years and find this gives excellent results. This simple system uses 12 inch diameter bottomless pots (also called rings) which stand on an isolated bed of aggregate such as gravel, crushed stone or pebbles. My aggregate bed is a frame constructed of 6 inch deep wooden planks lined with plastic sheet and filled with small pebbles. Plastic 12 inch diameter rings are placed on the aggregate bed spaced 18 inches apart. These are filled with John Innes No. 3 compost and a bamboo cane is inserted into each ring to train the tomato plants up. After planting water in well and leave for a few days for the plants to root through the compost into the aggregate. Continue to water the compost sparingly for a few weeks followed by watering the aggregate regularly. Once the first couple of flower trusses have set and the fruits have started to swell, a proprietary tomato feed can be watered into the compost on a fortnightly basis. When growing tomatoes up canes or wires as a cordon, make sure any side shoots are removed so the plant's energy is concentrated in the production of the fruits.