An End of April Update

Hey guys,

Im sorry its been nearly 3 weeks since my last post- sorry about that!

Well whats been happening?

Hermione is still broody- I gave up dunking the chicken in the pond to cure her after about 3 days as it didn't seem to be working! And plus the neighbours were giving me funny looks. She gets turfed out of the nest box twice a day to feed and drink. And now just as Hermione might be coming out of it Flo has decided to get broody aswell! But they both like the same nest box so it's a bit of a squeeze in there for them! So that means no one is laying at the moment- we might have to start buying eggs again!

The under planting along the shady borders is almost finished with the addition of more ferns, Geranium phaeum, a saxifrage, Arisaemas, Rodgersias, Astillboides, Astilbe, Persicaria Red Dragon, Lamium, Sweet Woodruff and some Arisarum europaeum.

The tender plants have now been brought up out of the cellar and out from the kitchen and lounge where they spent the winter. Of the plants that spent the winter in the cellar in total darkness- the green Ensete ventricosum looks dead, and sadly my Passion Flower ‘Sunburst’ only bought last year at Hampton Court doesn't look like its made it. But on the plus side the Ensete Maurellii and Montbelliardii seem to be fine are pushing out new leaves already. Another Passion Flower and the variegated Brugmansia are also fine with this period of darkenss and no water!

Above are my new Agave parryii which i bought from a garden centre back in January which had the most extraordinary large collection of agaves and aloes. The larger Agave on the right is Agave macroacantha Blue - which i bought from a nursery in Germany many years ago.

The beds have been mulched with some well rotted manure which has made the garden look very smart and neat with all the fresh foliage coming through. My new Thyme's are now potted up in matching pots to give the bees some food when they all flower.

The Musa basjoo seem to have mostly come through the winter fine even those unprotected- however those left to fend for themselves ive found ive had to cut more off the top of the stems to find new growth- the Musa sikkimensis haven’t done quite so well. The pups are all dead (not surprising as I didn't protect them) and had to cut off 3ft from the main trunk which was protected with fleece.

The tadpoles have hatched and have become fat black wiggly commas in the wildlife pond.

Most of the large plants have begun to sprout including the Robinia, Fig, Albizias- but my Manihot has not sprouted yet- much to my dismay! Fingers crossed it is just late this year! And the Marsh Marigolds are flowering in the pond. Below is a photo of my Schleffera impressa cool hand like new shoots.

The early purple tulips looked fantastic on the front porch but sadly are over now- with some pale pink ones taking their place with some late Muscari. (see top photo)

The cats seem to be enjoying the sunshine anyhow!

A Hedge in a Box!

So I was up at 6:45 this morning so walk round to my local Post Office depot to pick up my native hedge that I ordered online last week.

It actually arrived yesterday but the postman didn't knock, and when I left for work all I found was the red note on the doormat indicating he had been- how infuriating!! As my bare root trees would now have to sit in the depot for a whole day extra without water- just because the postman didn't knock on the door! I was in!

So I picked up the box about 7 this morning – it was pretty heavy (its times like this i wish i had a car) and took it home to pot up the plants before I headed off to work.

They were very well packaged and no major damage at all to the plants only 1 snapped side branch- even better i dont think i knocked off any buds when unpacking or potting up the plants- which I thought was amazing considering they were all tied together and i manage to knock off my Japanese Acers buds reckless abandon when walking past the pot as im so clumsy! (speaking of Japanese Acers- of my potted plants my autropurpureum on the side of the pond i discovered to my horror is covered in scale insect on its stems and trunk- i must do something baout it this weekend). This hedge is destined to be put up on the allotment- so they would have to be potted up for a few weeks before they can be planted up there. I only had half a bag of compost- so I ended up putting the 33 plants together in 6 pots.

I bought the plants from Danny from Botanica (http://www.botanica.org.uk/), who are based in Suffolk. Was very impressed with the quality of the plants and the customer service received.

So onto the good stuff- what did I get?????

Note the 30 pots of Asparagus to be planted out on the allotment!

Well I figured rather than buy a Hawthorn or Blackthorn based hedge- go for a complete mix of species which should encourage a broader range of wildlife.

So I got:
Field Maple (Acer campestre)
Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna)
Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa)
Common Crab Apple (Malus sylvestris)
Guelder Rose (Viburnum opulus)
Spindle Tree (Euonymus europaeus)
Wayfairing Tree (Viburnum lantana)
Dog Rose (Rosa canina)
Field Rose (Rosa arvensis)
Hazel (Corylus avallana)
Common Buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica)
Wild Pear (Pyrus communis)
Wild service tree (Sorbus torminalis)
Scots Rose (Rosa spinosissima)
Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris)
Silver Birch Tree (Betula pendula)
Rowan (Sorbus acuparia)

That's 17 species in total and 2 of each species- I think I will let the birch grow into trees but the rest will be grown in the hedge.

Im trying to decide how high the hedge should be- I think I will let it grow to about 4 feet- this should provide some privacy from neighbouring plots but not too tall to block out the light.

Anyhow- am very pleased so far with the delivery and cant wait to get them planted out! Roll on the 4 day weekend!

Buying a Bumble bee colony

You may remember I had seen on Jimmys Farm a bee box ready supplied with bumble bees- i loved this idea and wanted to see if I could find a source of these boxes- i got a few responses from my emails.

I discovered however that the species of bee in the boxes you can buy are actually not native species and mainly sold to pollinate greenhouse crops- so should not be released into the wild. Tut tut Mr Doherty!

I got a great response from Dr. Ben Darvill the Bumblebee Conservation Trust Director from the University of Sterling who wrote:

"Sadly the boxes of live bees currently available in the UK for use in commercial greenhouses are a sub-species from abroad. It is a criminal offence to wilfully allow reproductives (new queens and males) to be released into the wild because of the threat they pose to our native bees. In time we may be lucky enough to have a UK supplier of bumblebee colonies, and these would be a valuable interpretive and educational tool. However, a degree of caution is needed, because placing one of these boxes in unsuitable habitat would lead rapidly to a starving bee colony! Step one is to ensure that gardens, parks and the wider countryside are as full as possible with bumblebee-friendly flowers, and advice on this is on our website. Suitable habitat will be naturally occupied by bees, so there really is no need to buy colonies, other than for interest and education."

I got another email from Graham Collins who gave me these links on how to make my own Bumble bee box.

"Bumblebee nest boxes seems to be almost as common as bird boxes. A quick 'Google' for "bumblebee nest box" reveals numerous sites where they are available. They can be quite expensive, and the following links explain more about the principals involved and how to make one yourself -

http://www.bumblebeeconservationtrust.co.uk/nest_boxes.htm

http://www.cheshire-bka.co.uk/Articles/BumblebeeNests.php

I don't think you should try to buy active nests (wrong time of year anyway) since as far as I know the only available ones contain foreign strains of bees which are not supposed to be released into the wild (I think they are meant for pollination of glasshouse crops). They are more likely to harm wild populations than help them, and should be banned.

You should find out more about them before getting nests, and I would recommend Field Guide to the Bumblebees of Great Britain and Ireland by Edwards and Jenner, available here:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bumblebees-Britain-Ireland-Country-Conservation/dp/0954971302

This will explain the life history and how to attract them to your garden. Also that for all species it is only the queen that survives the winter and new colonies are founded each year. The earliest species are just beginning to emerge at the moment so you should have a month or two to get set up."

Im not quite sure i've got a spare £60 to spend on a book on bumble bees tho!

So i think the best idea to get Bumble bees in my garden would be to get my own bumble bee box and hopefully next year a wild a queen bumblebee will move in.

My dad on the other hand is halfway through his Honey Bee keeping course- he is due to be getting his own hive of Honey Bees in his garden about May time- quite exciting!

RHS Greener Gardening Show - 31st March

Forgot to put up some photos of the Greener Gardening show here in London.

Its the last RHS show till the autumn now which seems bizarre as spring has hardly even started yet!

My camera was on some wierd mode so some of the photos have a blue tinge to it- but hope you dont mind!

There was supposed to be a green theme to the show, so along with the main display which was a show of how schools can create wildlife habitat in minimum of space by creating a vertical display, there was a bee keepers stand, a froglife stand and a hedgehog stand.

I couldnt believe myself- i didnt buy a single plant! Not one! I am not sure what was going on- I can normally persuade myself to part with cash so easily for plants! I think ive been thinking about my allotment alot recently so i reckon thats why i decided not to buy any normal garden plants. I was tempted by some Lamiums and a Lathyrus species from Hardy's plants but at £6 a pot i decided to give it a miss!

New butterfly border for 09

As much as I love the tropical plants I grow in my garden- one thing ive been frustrated about is the lack of flowers in the garden- and I mean specifically flowers that attract butterflies and bees. I was always torn when I started the garden between having a wildlife garden or a tropical garden as the 2 don't really go hand in hand- and as you may see my garden is tiny- I believe it is about 15ft by 30 ft with a side alley where I grow my ferns so it was hard to do both.

Unfortunately the tropicals won! But its time for some changes!

The tropical plants I grow are mainly large foliage plants like treeferns, bananas, palms and bamboos and the flowers (if any) are not good nectar providers. Ive tried growing Dahlias or annuals every now and then but they don't flower that well as they aren’t in the sun.

This year ive decided to remove some of the tropical plants that haven’t done so well after this winter on the right hand side of the garden which is in full sun most of the day. Im leaving the taller plants at the back like the Fig tree, the Trachycarpus fortuneii and the Robinia frisia to still give me the height and privacy from the neighbours. However I will probably remove a couple of Yucca which are growing at the front of the border.

This has given me a space about 8ft by 2ft in full sun- great! Now last year if I had this space it would have been filled with Cannas, Gingers, Dahlias and other exciting tropical species but this years im going for the best nectar providers I can find! Now these don't have to be natives- but simply good sources of food for butterflies and bees.

After a search on the internet I came up with this list as some of the star performers to look out for this spring when im at the garden centres- i wonder how many of these i can fit in the bed!

Verbena bonariensis
Agastache
Echinops ritro
Hyssop (H officianalis)
Marjoram/Oregano
Aster (Aster novae-anglicae)
Ox Eye daisy
Sedum spectabile
Coneflower (Echinacea)
Ironweed (Veronia)
Mint (Apple/Spear)
Thistles (Cirsium and Centaurea)
Monarda
Marigolds
Knautia arvenis (Field Scabious)
Hemp agrimony
Greater Knapweed

The frog song "Bom bom bom..."

Last night we had some quite heavy rain- which is really relaxing when your trying to get to sleep- but above the rain I heard for the first time this year the frogs calling in the pond outside.

The pond is right by the bedroom window so its really quite easy to hear the frogs when they get going. Unfortunately they seem to prefer the Goldfishes pond over the 3 smaller wildlife ponds which I built specially for the frogs! So as a result we never get any surviving tadpoles.

Our wildlife ponds we have are below:

Last year I dug the newest wildlife pond which is only 3ft by 3ft which was a great hit with the damselflies but the frogs didn't move in- I think if we get any spawn in the goldfish pond I will transfer it over to the wildlife pond so increase the numbers of little frogs in the area.

Our tabby kitten India loves trying to catch the frogs unfortunately- and several times over the summer we have to rescue frogs which have found themselves out of the water and confronted with an over excited tabby kitten! This probably is the reason for the frogs reluctance to move away from the larger and deeper goldfish pond!

We have introduced other amphibians into the garden but it is are harder to see if they are still around. There should be Common Newts and Common Toads in the garden.

I think 4 ponds in a tiny urban garden is more than enough for most people but- i just love them and am wondering where to put number 5!