Innholdsfortegnelse for 26 April 2025 i Garden News

The announcement of new plants always brings a frisson of excitement – especially in this day and age when we know that by the time they reach the consumer market they’ve been trialled extensively, often over several years, to prove they can be valuable additions to our gardens. In this issue we bring you some absolutely super new perennials. While some may polarise opinion, there really is something for everyone – personally I love the new agastache and tulip, but turn to page 14 and decide for yourself. Let’s get some of them in our gardens this year! Now that Easter is behind us, there is much to do outside. Our round-up of jobs for the week, starting on page 33, is a good place to start; pruning those early…

New varieties of perennial plants come from all sorts of sources, from humble suburban back gardens where something new and unexpected suddenly pops up, to multi-national plant breeding companies run by scientists. Every year, more and more new plants come on the market and, while some never quite catch on and fade into obscurity, others remain popular for decades, even centuries. But there are so many new perennials – hostas, daylilies, dianthus and more – introduced each year it’s almost impossible to keep track. Here, we’ve picked out 10 of the most appealing recent new perennials – the varieties that really do look promising. And they’re all offered by well-known mail order companies as well as less familiar sources. Agastache Beelicious Series The two new prolific perennials from this series…

The latest from Carol's beautiful cottage garden... plus her diary for the week! This is a magical time of the year in the garden. Although it’s only just rising from its slumbers, here and there the ground is spangled with stars and splashes of vivid jewel-like colour. This phenomenon is especially apparent on the shady side of the garden where spring Cinderellas are springing up here, there and everywhere. This isn’t the full-on colour of high summer, with its accompanying green filling in the spaces in between; rather, it feels as though the ground has been sprinkled with brilliant colour or painted here and there with dabs from a bright palette where new paint has just been squeezed from the artist’s tubes. Much of the colour is provided by bulbs,…

The vibrant contrast of pink currants (ribes) and zingy yellow forsythia is a spring classic. Both shrubs are simple to grow, hardy and flower profusely. In common with most spring-flowering shrubs, they should be pruned now, immediately after the flowers have faded. Because they’re so easy to grow, they’re often pruned wrongly and given a ‘short back and sides’ in summer to clip them into neat shapes. But this just creates a congested mass of old shoots in the centre, which will slowly die and won’t flower well. Plus, if you prune in summer, all the new, young stems that carry the flowers the following spring will be removed. An ‘autumn tidy up’ has the same effect. So, these shrubs and others, such as white spiraeas and spring-blooming climbers like…

Helping you get your best-ever fruit and veg With spring well underway, it’s time to say goodbye to a few of the overwintered and stored crops that have seen better days. The Brussels sprouts are coming to an end, with the lower sprouts blown and no longer suitable for the kitchen. But those higher up the stem are still firm and usable, and the tops themselves are a bonus when cooked like cabbage; they make a great addition to a late-spring meal. The plants are now bolting and sending up flowering stems so they’re coming out. Anything edible is harvested and the rest – leaves, stalks and roots – is going to the compost heap. Just make sure to chop or stand on the stems as these can take a…

Professor Buczacki is a horticultural expert, writer and former chair of Gardeners' Question Time Got a problem? Our Problem Solver can help! See our contact details on page 3 #GNASKTHEEXPERTS How do I grow blue poppies? Francine Head, Woking, Surrey Stefan says: When you write of blue poppies, you’re referring to the Asiatic species of meconopsis, commonly known as the Himalayan poppy. They’re exquisitely lovely but I can understand your frustration because they aren’t the easiest plants to grow, and starting from seed, which you’ve tried, makes things even harder. It’s important to remember two things about the blue-flowered meconopsis. First, they must have a moist, organic, slightly acidic soil in light shade. This is why they grow wonderfully well in the acidic mild gardens of the west coast of…

Savour the flavour of your own homegrown strawberries, picked straight from your patio. These three varieties have been specially selected for an extended cropping period so you can keep harvesting a constant supply of sweet juicy fruits over a much longer period. Plant them in the vegetable garden or fill patio containers and windowboxes for easy snacking. If you have a polytunnel or greenhouse you can extend the season further by growing some under cover, too. The collection comprises ‘Honeoye’, ‘Cambridge Favourite’ and ‘Pegasus’. You might also like... Blueberry ‘Bluecrop’ This excellent mid-season variety produces rich-flavoured fruit in abundance in August. Fully hardy, this compact shrub provides interest all year round with elegant white flowers in spring and colourful foliage set against red stems in winter. Blueberry ‘Bluecrop’ is perfect…

There’s a magical feeling when you enter a garden that’s been lovingly tended over a long period of time. The well-worn paths, mossy nooks and plants that appear from crevices give the place a sense of rootedness and a timeless quality where nature and the hands of the gardener have worked in harmony. Although it takes the slow passage of time to achieve this look and feel, with a few tips and tricks it’s possible to make your garden feel settled in its surroundings and established without having to wait decades. ENCOURAGE SELF-SEEDERS Self-seeding plants will lend your garden a lived-in feel and capture the essence of a space where nature is allowed to express itself. Think primroses carpeting the ground underneath deciduous trees or at the base of a…

The online specialist gardening retailer, run by gardeners for gardeners It’s pigeons verses petals! Joanna Daniels A family garden in Astley Burf, Worcestershire, with recently developed beds and borders. What a wonderful time of year in the garden. Every day there’s more to see, either leaves unfurling or blossom coming out. We have several varieties of ornamental cherry; some are already flowering, with others tantalisingly in bud. The problem currently is that pigeons are flocking to the garden and admiring them! It’s very frustrating to see so many promising buds being pecked off by them. To try and discourage the birds I’ve hung some old CDs up in one of the trees – we’ll see if it has any effect. Prunus ‘Autumnalis Rosea’ is an amazing little tree; it flowers…

Award-winning designer, TV broadcaster and best-selling author who makes the ordinary extraordinary If I told you there was a plant with a near 100% germination rate from seed, which is fast and easy to grow, has a heavenly scent, delicious range of colours and blooms for six months, you might think I was kidding. But what I’m describing is nicotiana, commonly known as ornamental tobacco. You can pick up a packet of seeds now at garden centres, nurseries and DIY stores for as little as £2. Sown in the next couple of weeks, these tender annuals quickly bulk up, ready for planting out into the garden after the frosts have passed. This diverse genus of plants hails from the tropical and subtropical areas of South America, where distinct species have…

It’s exciting to try new plants. I love using pears in pies, cakes and crumbles, so I’ve ordered a new cooking pear called ‘Cornishgold’ from a specialist grower. Frank P Matthews discovered the pear growing in the kitchen garden of a historic farmhouse in Cornwall. DNA testing confirmed it was unlike any other known variety and the nursery took grafts to propagate the tree. ‘Cornishgold’ is now available to buy. I might have to wait a few years, but I’m looking forward to harvesting my own sweet and juicy, golden-yellow pears to use in my cooking. Ingredients Makes 16 slices FOR THE CAKE: • 45g cocoa powder, sieved• 175g soft margarine• 175g caster sugar• 3 eggs, beaten• 3 tbsp milk• 250g self-raising flour• 1½ tsp baking powder• 2 pears, peeled…

GROW A NEW GARDEN Becky Searle £25 • Based on practical experience of developing her own new-build garden, the author, an ecologist and vegetable gardener, shows how her approach can easily be used for any new garden, whether starting anew, redesigning an existing space or dealing with an overgrown or neglected plot. Chelsea Green Publishing THE ROSE BOOK Phaidon Editors £34.95 • This lavishly illustrated work is a celebration of the world of roses, from wild ramblers to cultivated hybrid teas. It charts their influence of art and social culture spanning botanical illustration, fashion design, fragrance, film, fine art and photography. The book concludes with a rose glossary by rose expert Michael Marriott. Phaidon PEONY Gail Harland £18 • In this extensively researched, informative and well-illustrated book, the author provides an…

Pollinators come in many forms, from bees, butterflies and hoverflies to moths. Whether your garden is large or small, we can help them by planting a variety of pollen and nectar-rich flowers that bloom at different times of the year. To create your very own wildlife café you need to know which plants are most suitable for pollinators. Some flowers look pretty but their dense petals can make it difficult for insects to access. Flowers with a double layer of petals pose an issue, so single flowerheads are best to give insects easy access to their valuable fuel. Long-tongued bees and butterfly proboscises favour tubular flowers such as foxgloves, borage, comfrey, snapdragons and penstemon, while short-tongued bees are drawn to open flowers like single dahlias and daisies. Moths are attracted…

It’s time to get your herb garden flourishing for the year! Herbs are nice, easy plants to grow, with the added benefit of being wonderfully aromatic and edible, transforming your cooking from humdrum into heavenly. If you’ve added rosemary or bay to a stew or roast potatoes, then you’ll know the richness and depth of flavour that herbs can bring. And many have lovely flowers too, so they’re an attractive addition to veg gardens and patios. Most herbs can be grown in containers, in fact some need to be grown like this as they’re either more tender (basil) or too invasive in the open ground (mint). Annual herbs that aren’t as hardy as others, such as sweet basil and marjoram, can be sown now under glass for planting out in…

Patience pays off In your March 15 issue, Erica Mather wrote to your ‘Problem Solver’ about her bird of paradise plant never flowering. My advice is: don’t give up. My plant is now 20 years old with two flowers every December. It sits on a south-facing windowsill and loves to be pot bound. Sharyn Bevan, Devizes, Wiltshire Pollen pilgrim! I took this photograph of a hoverfly collecting pollen from one of the daffodils on my allotment last month. They are decreasing, so it was lovely to see. I’m planting more flowers on my plot this year. You can even see the pollen on the hoverfly’s head! Mat Williams, by email Floating beauties As it can be difficult to see the beautiful hellebore flower when in situ, I display them in…