February Gardening Articles

• Bamboo

• Lillies

• Hellebores

It might be argued that Bamboos have suffered a bad press over the years but I'm delighted to see that they are seriously back in fashion. The spate of TV garden make over programmes a few years ago showed us the best way to use them.

True, there are still some seriously invasive thugs to avoid planting but the vast majority of varieties in nurseries and garden centres will not take over your plot!

 

The other factor that might put you off growing them is their almost unpronounceable and often changing names! Don't be put off because they are worth the extra trouble!

 

Bamboos aren't just panda fodder, they are exciting tall plants that fit into virtually all styles of garden and either make dramatic focal plants or very effective sound and privacy barriers. They are rarely static and create an extra dimension of movement. They look especially good when planted close to water.

Initially growth can be slow so you might be tempted to push the boat out a bit and buy some of the larger more mature plants that are available. I have found that it pays to really prepare the soil well when planting. Mix plenty of well rotted garden compost or potting compost into the soil and apply a good fertiliser such as Growmore or Vitax Q4. Extra care in the first few years after planting will ensure that you maximise growth potential. Ensuring that your bamboos are well watered at all times and regularly fed in spring and summer with a high nitrogen liquid feed such as Miracle Gro will encourage new strong healthy canes.

 

So which ones to grow?

 

Well it's best to start with those that are most decorative like the one in my photo here. This is a Phyllostachys and there are several really good ones in this family (although not good common names to use). The in-demand black stemmed bamboo comes from this group and is a lovely focal plant when well established. It is slow growing and slow to multiply so expect to pay a premium. Golden stemmed varieties are faster doers and will produce an equally dramatic effect. The one photographed here is called Aureocaullis but if you can't find this one Holochrysa, Castillonii and Spectabilis are all worth planting. Generally Phyllostachys bamboos are not invasive and stay where you plant them

 

I also recommend varieties from the bamboo family called Fargesia (sometimes also called Sinoarundinaria¦ (I do wish the botanist would stop messing around with the names!). Fargesia anceps, nitida or murieliae are all good neat clump forming species and safe choices. The narrower canes of these will form dense clumps which will make brilliant hiding places for children's hide and seek.

 

If your garden is restricted to a few pots in a courtyard don't despair because well watered and regularly fed bamboos make ideal container plants. You can grow the taller ones listed above and the pots will restrict their size a little or perhaps pot up one of the shorter varieties like Pleioblastus viridistriata. Now there's a name to roll off the tongue!

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Lilies are spectacular cut flowers and most varieties will quickly fill a room with their heady scent. Grown in a pot they can be sensational on your patio or terrace too!

 

It surprises me how few gardeners realise just how remarkably easy they are to grow at home! There are a few golden rules to follow but like most bulbs they pretty much look after themselves.

 

Bulbs are fleshy and made up of loose scales which dry out if not planted early. Choose big bulbs because, in this case, big really is better! Ideally pot your bulbs up just as soon as they arrive in the shops. They do best in really deep well drained pots and these are often called "long toms". Terracotta pots are best because they let the roots breath and they rarely become waterlogged which lilies won't tolerate.

 

Put a few pieces of broken pot or tiles in the base and use free draining potting compost. I find that it is worth adding a little Osmocote slow release fertiliser granules to the lower part of the pot as lilies are quite hungry feeders.

 

Plant the bulbs so that there is at least 20 cm [8"] of compost above the top of the bulbs, this is very deep and the reason for using such deep pots. Put at least three bulbs per 15 cm [9"] diameter pot but avoid placing so close that they touch one another. This will ensure a good show of bold flowers with loads of scent!

 

After potting them up and giving the compost a good watering there is very little to do except wait. However, do keep a close watch for the dreaded lily beetle which, if left will happily munch its' way through all your lilies leaves. This relatively new pest is bright scarlet and easy to see. Pick them off as soon as they appear and watch out for those that drop off and play dead only to miraculously recover and start their chomping all over again! The grubs of this pest can be mistaken for bird droppings, a cunning disguise, so spraying the whole plant with Provado Bug Killer may be the best way to treat this little monster.

 

Pot lilies grown outside will flower from mid summer onwards and can be kept to flower another year or two. If you are planning to keep the bulbs in the same pot, feed with a high nitrogen and potash feed after flowering [liquid tomato fertiliser will do] and don't be in too much of a rush to cut off the old flower stalks. The goodness in these will help build next year's bulbs.

 

Not all varieties are scented. For best scent I recommend 'Casa Blanca' and Lily regale or, better still, grow both! A pot full of each placed behind other lower growing summer bloomers will look great and smell even better!

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As I write this my garden is in the grip of one of the few really cold periods of this so called "coldest winter for years". Snowdrops are out, Rheinveld's Early Sensation daffodil is opening and there is a carpet of magenta hardy Cyclamen coum in bloom. This is all very predictable and, although beautiful it is, nothing beats the excitement of seeing the first nodding bell-shaped flowers appear on the Hellebores! Even in when daytime temperatures struggle to get above freezing there are intricately marked treasures to find amongst the evergreen leaves.

 

For several years I have been collecting Helleborus hybrids, planting them in shady areas where the soil is deep enough for their fleshy roots to establish and letting them hybridise. As a result, each late winter brings new surprises as self sown seedlings flower for the first time. Hellebores are promiscuous and will produce lots of offspring without my intervention. My part in this plant breeding is small and restricted to acting as a kind of referee. By ruthlessly removing all but the best colours with the most interesting petal markings I try to ensure that only the best genes are there for nature to take its' course.

 

Lenten Roses, as Helleborus oriental hybrids are known, are easily grown and suffer few problems. Greenfly will feed on the new leaves as they emerge in spring and the old leaves can become infected with Hellebore leaf spot (Coniothyrium hellebori). Those leaves with dead brown spots are best completely removed to avoid spread. Greenfly is easily controlled with a spray of a natural predator friendly insecticide. Any reasonable soil will suffice but they seem to do particularly well where soils are heavy and have plenty of organic matter and some lime. Because they are a dappled woodland plant they are ideal for a shady spot. However, a word of caution, all parts of this plant are poisonous if eaten.

 

Hellebores are certainly a fashionable plant at the moment. There are many trying to direct their natural tendency to hybridise with beautiful double, intricately speckled and new coloured blooms emerging. It certainly is a very exciting time to be growing Hellebores!

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