Latest news with #Lonicera
The Herald Scotland
3 days ago
- The Herald Scotland
Honeysuckle was used to ward off disease and evil spirits in Scotland
Like another favourite, the rowan tree, honeysuckle was endowed with special powers. In many parts of Scotland, people used both of these plants in making boughs and wreaths that were hung up in byres to ward off disease and evil spirits. It's even been reported that once a year, a worthy fellow from the Outer Hebrides swam out to an island in a nearby loch for special honeysuckle stems. Of the different types of Lonicera, I'm looking here at climbers. Many of these honeysuckles have been developed from our native species, Lonicera periclymenum. This fragrant wild species can be found in woodland, scrub and hedgerows throughout Britain, especially in fairly free-draining ground. Read more For centuries gardeners have been developing cultivars from this genus. As well as new forms of our native L. periclymenum, new species have been introduced from southern Europe, Asia, and North America. There's a wide selection online for us now and most garden centres should carry quite a few including deciduous L. japonicum 'Hall's Prolific'. Its white flowers offer the compelling fragrance we all want. If you're after an evergreen, you might prefer L. japonica 'Halliana' with equally scented white flowers. As a general rule, white and yellow flowers are reliably scented, and this includes L. japonica 'Dart's World'. The tubular flowers of this climbing vine have pink outers encompassing a creamy yellow throat. As the flowers mature they turn to peach and yellow. On the other hand, if you'd prefer the fiery display offered by L. x brownii 'Dropmore Scarlet' or the copper orange blooms of Lonicera 'Mandarin' you'll be chapping if you're after a fragrant bush. So with new cultivars regularly appearing, check the label before buying. If 'scented' or 'fragrant' is missing from a description, move on to the next plant. As far as I'm concerned, Lonicera's gorgeous scent permeating the evening air is what the plant's about and the garden's wildlife backs me up. Moths are drawn to fragrant plants, especially pale-coloured ones, as are the many small insects that are an indispensable staple to foraging bats. I've counted over 100 bats emerging from a colony in the roof and scented honeysuckles are one of their pit stops. Plant of the week Marvel of 4 Seasons (Image: PA) Lettuce Marvel of 4 Seasons is an old variety, dating to at least the 1880s, and is still one of the best lettuces to grow. With red outer leaves and a pale green heart, you can have a multi-coloured salad from a single plant. Sow seed from early spring to late summer for a succession of tasty salads.
Telegraph
4 days ago
- General
- Telegraph
Ask the head gardener: How can I get my honeysuckle to flower?
Dear Tom, How can I get my honeysuckle to flower? It's Lonicera periclymenum 'Serotina' on a south-facing trellis about 7ft tall, with a fence next to it. It has shade at the roots from other planting, and the soil is clay but has been much improved with compost, manure, and so on. I've had it for about 10 years and it makes lots of foliage, but little in the way of flowers. I cut it back in the autumn to keep it in check. What else can I do? –Rosalind Dear Rosalind, I think you have certainly been patient with your honeysuckle; how frustrating that after 10 years you've not seen many flowers. Honeysuckles can be tricky to grow, being prone to mildew in times of drought, often producing lots of top growth with bare stems towards the base, not to mention their erratic flowering. There are many issues which can cause Lonicera not to flower and it could be one, or a combination of the following: Fertility Excessive feeding can lead to leafy growth; the plant does not feel the need to flower and reproduce itself through seeds, as life is good with little stress or threats. The priority for the plant is to get as big as it can, as quickly as it can, feasting on all that lovely fertility. I suspect that your clay soil is very fertile and is encouraging your climber to produce foliage and few flowers. I would avoid adding any more organic matter to your clay soil; simply provide a mulch layer with gravel or larger pebbles to shade the roots and conserve moisture, without adding any extra fertility, which promotes leaf growth. Pruning Honeysuckles can fall into two main groups, depending on their flowering times. There are those that flower in early summer, which should be pruned immediately after flowering, and those that flower in late summer, such as your 'Serotina', which simply need a light trim in the spring. Reduce the plant by about one third to keep it tight against your fence. Pruning at the wrong time would be detrimental to the flowering performance of your honeysuckle, but I do not think this is the case, as your pruning in the autumn would not compromise the following year's blooms. Light levels Flowering lonicera need high levels of sunlight to encourage flowers, and your south-facing trellis would certainly provide that. For other readers who suffer with a similar issue, a lack of sunlight may be a factor as to why their honeysuckles are not flowering. Moisture Excessively dry soils would also cause a honeysuckle not to produce flowers. Although clay soils sit wet during the winter months, just make sure that your clay soil is not drying out excessively during the summer. If this is the case, then water your climber during dry periods, especially when flower buds are developing. Fertilisers Fertilisers such as sulphate of potash will increase the levels of potassium, which will promote flowering but also add other nutrients such as nitrogen, encouraging more leafy growth, so proceed with caution. An application of sulphate of potash at the beginning of the growing season, at the rate of a handful per square yard, may help to encourage flowering, but don't overdo it. Replace Finally, probably the most fatalistic view is that some varieties are better performers than others. Although 'Serotina' has an award of garden merit, which is usually a benchmark that I would recommend using as a plant buying guide, an alternative cultivar you could try would be 'Graham Thomas', with white flowers that fade to yellow, in the hope that you might get more success. Alternatively, a Clematis viticella type or a Trachelospermum might be worth a try.
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Ever wondered how to shape your evergreens? Experts share their tips
Topiary offers a unique way for plants to shape our gardens. Shaping plants into balls, pyramids and even birds doesn't have to be as complicated as it might seem, so you don't just have to admire topiary in the gardens of stately homes and horticultural shows. A new photographic exhibition, On The Hedge, opening at RHS Garden Wisley in Surrey, charts our relationship with hedges and topiary, from their role in shaping our landscapes and homes, to their environmental benefits. 'From a design point of view, topiary is really important, even if it's just a simple basic structure. A cube, or a cone, or even just a ball of some sort gives really good structure through the winter when a lot of gardens go quiet,' says RHS horticultural advisor, Nick Turrell. 'If your shape – it could be a simple cone or a cube – is repeated through a garden, the eye will immediately pick up on that repetition. In summer, it might just sit in the background but it still provides an important structural framework. 'Then in the winter it looks amazing because the frost sits on it.' 'Yes – it could be knee high, a cube or a dome and you could grow them in a border, like an exclamation mark among all the froth of the flowers. I've done it even in tiny little postage stamp-sized gardens, when you have two or three in the border which adds a good bit of solidity,' says Turrell. If you've only got room for a pot, put your evergreen in as big a pot as you can, which won't dry out as quickly as smaller containers, but be aware that it will require more TLC than if you plant it in a border, he advises. 'It will require a bit more attention. Any plant, whether it's clipped or not, is totally dependent on you for food and water. It will need feeding through the summer, ideally every three weeks. 'After the first season the potting compost will have run out of nutrients so it's down to you to feed it.' If the compost needs changing, the chances are you'll need to repot your topiary into a bigger pot. If you don't have room for that, it will need regular feeding and will benefit from mulching with some well-rotted manure in the autumn, he suggests. Box blight and box tree caterpillar are still a real problem, so find an alternative, he suggests. His top three choices are yew, small-leaved privet and Wilson's honeysuckle (Lonicera nitida). 'With yew, you can have it whatever size you like, it always comes back and it has tiny needles, which lends itself to close clipping.' The small-leaved privet doesn't grow too tall – reaching around 1.5m if you let it – and is quite happy to be clipped, he says. Wilson's honeysuckle is strong-growing, with tiny leaves. You can grow it in a pot and if you occasionally forget to water it, it can bounce back, he says. Look at the size of the leaves of whichever plant you choose, because the bigger the leaf the worse it is to topiarise, he adds. 'You can end up cutting through a broad leaf halfway through when you are clipping it and then the ends can start fraying and going a bit brown, which doesn't look good.' Don't plant, for instance, three of the same species next to each other hoping that they will be dense enough to give you a shape more quickly, because they will eventually end up fighting for space and light, he advises. 'If you're looking for a cone or a ball which is say, a metre high, you can buy them ready-made but they are expensive. If you buy a yew just as a plant, which is 60cm tall, it won't cost as much and as long as you are patient and feed and water it you can start trimming it once it reaches the size you want it to be. 'They will grow fairly quickly. Within 18 months – two seasons – you should start to see the beginnings of the shape, if it's not too intricate, like a cockerel.' 'Keep it simple. A good pair of sharp shears or even some little handheld long-nosed snips are perfect. Don't worry about electric hedge trimmers – it's the difference between using an electric shaver and a razor blade. You get a much better finish with a sharp pair of shears or long-nosed snips. 'Using those tools also encourages you to look carefully at what you are doing, whereas electric hedging shears are a bit slapdash.' Put a frame over the plant – you can buy shaped frames at garden centres and topiary specialists. Anything that grows outside the frame can be clipped to get the shape you want. Position the frame over the top of the plant after you've planted it. They are like a plant support. Once the plant has grown and you have achieved your desired shape, you can remove the frame, or leave it in place as a marker, especially if it is an intricate shape, he suggests. Beginners might start with easy cones or cubes, but you can progress to cloud shapes, birds and animals. There's no hard and fast rule about when to trim but it would normally be in spring or autumn, depending on how fast it grows, he says. Step back every few snips when you are trimming, to check on the shape and the perspective. 'If you cut off too much in one section, you'll probably need to cut the whole lot down to that size,' he suggests. 'It's not the end of the world, it just delays the ultimate size that you want.' If you buy a plant which is already shaped, take a picture of it at the outset, so that if it starts growing fast, you can see what shape it looked like at the start. If you want your topiary to inhabit your flower borders, don't be afraid of planting your colour close to the topiary, which will create a contrast between a crisp, shaped evergreen and a froth of flowers, he says. If you want your topiary to be a stand-alone showstopper in, say, a lawn, don't plant anything nearby which will take away its prima donna status, he suggests. On The Hedge runs at RHS Garden Wisley in Surrey from Jun 13 to Sep 28.
