WHAT'S LOOKING GOOD IN SEPTEMBER 2020

Mixed Petunias - this morning

 

You all have lovely looking plants, mine are growing well but not as neat as yours. I have many a fuschia plant not sure how to keep them tidy and get flowers. some haven't flowered properly any advise welcome f

 

@Ruth82 some are hardy and some aren't. The first one looks like a hardy one and you can leave it to die back. In spring when it starts to grow back and there's no more frosts you can cut the old stems down to the ground,if it doesn't die down just trim it in spring.
The second one do you dig it up or leave it?
The third one looks like a hardy, do the same as the first. Don't know about the others can't tell from the pics.

 

Helenium :-



Fuchsia 'Tangerine' :-



Trachelospermum asiaticum 'Summer Sunset' :-



Phlox paniculata :-



Bellis :-



Cyclamen persicum :-



Persicaria amplexicaulis :-

 

Been really busy on the nursery, but today had a really nice day, making some autumn and some winter containers and baskets, Cyclamen have been a pain this year, and I'm glad its cooling down, as any more heat the Pansies and Violas will start to stretch, and the late season Prims should be called lightning instead of Husky, anyhow a couple of piccies for you, sorry about the sun, its been cloudy all day, until I got the camera out.

 

And the dwarf Eucomis have been great this year

 

Mine weren't! They all seemed to have divided producing lots more smaller plants except for the one that did bloom.

 

My Eucomos bicolor didn't flower at all.
Nerines are coming on with more flowers than last year.
Mr John.


Ostara.


Hosta Purple heart has has another flower stem.

 

Well I bought a Eucomis sparkling burgundy three years ago and it flowered first time this year, its now putting up new leaves from new offsets, odd time of the year to be doing it I was thinking.
Looking for bicolour next year.

 

Eucomis are like Crocosmia, they need to be split every other year or they stop flowering,.

 

I have a few Nerines, Alba very slow this year, Bowdenii in flower, but Isabel the dark purple/red have so many buds on them, but I did divide them in spring

 

So why did it take three years to flower?
My Crocosmia has been in the same place for 20yrs it still flowers.

 

Usually Bulbous perennials have a habit of producing small bulbets if you like, and it depends on soil depth, if the mass can spread then it will, if it comes across competition, it will make bulbets (smaller bulbs) underneath the mass, which remain redundent, or on top of the mass, even though they can be seperated, they remain part of the mass, being small, they concerntrate on sprouting to increase photosynthesis, if the mound gets too big, you get lots of green growth, and no flower, so usually its best to divide every couple of seasons, in certaian circumstances, the bulblets can become infertile, so as a survival mechanism, the under bulbs will take over, and as they have reserves they will flower, but usually after 7 or 8 years, the mass will die, what I expect has happened in your case is, as the mass becomes redundant, it has self seeded, and created new plants and mass. Plants do not have feelings, as we understand, its all about survival, getting as big as they can, and reproducing, somehow they find a way, put a plant in a suitable condition it will thrive, give it half a chance, it will do its best, put it in an unfavourable condition not a hope in hell, something I have learnt by being here on GC, yes I am professional grower, I create Ideal conditions, use quality products, and put them in a quality product, and I get quality results, get a problem, its a uniform fix, the every day gardener does not have this, every garden is unique, every gardener uses different techniques to obtain the required results. I am here to learn, and to teach, I have my own garden, but I do use the best available to me, so I top dress with worm cast, I use professional feeds, my plants are grown in pretty much lab conditions, I have access to professional Nematodes, so my experiences are slightly different to yours, I learn from you, the every day gardener, hopefully you might learn from me a horticulturalist, neither are wrong, just a different experience.

 

The park opposite my home is showing a great display of Ilex berries plus their variagated foliage. Also the Arbutus have lots of bright red fruits.