Bargain Orchids

Due largely to modern micro-propagation techniques, orchids have become much more widely available and very reasonably priced. The plants are raised in test tubes from tiny fragments of tissues, enabling growers to produce them in their thousands, cutting literally hundreds of years from the traditional production cycle. Cloning may sound a bit Frankenstein but for plants it’s really just a hi-tech way of taking cuttings.

Of all the orchids, cymbidiums are by far the toughest and most widely sold. These are the ones with long strap-shaped leaves and flowers in an amazing range of colours. They are happy in quite cool conditions and do well with minimal watering while in flower.

If want an absolute bargain, watch the shops for orchids that have just finished flowering. Prices are often slashed to giveaway prices. To get them to perform again next year, put them outside somewhere as sunny as possible, keep them watered and give them an occasional liquid feed. The leaves can look quite attractive as a foil to summer flowers in a container collection, so there’s really nothing to lose.

Bring them indoors again until temperatures threaten to go below 5 degrees C and ease off the water for the winter. As long as you had a nice summer, you should be rewarded by ten full weeks of bloom.

Written By Alistair Ayres

Success With Japanese Maples

Japanese maples are very popular as patio plants. They can be extremely beautiful but they commonly fail to deliver their full potential. The two most common reasons are they don’t like wind, scorching sun, even in London, is too much for them. In the spring, the new leaves are also very sensitive to late frosts and aphid attacks. Once the leaves are spoiled, that’s it for the season. Forget that glorious autumn colour. In nature, they grow in slightly acid conditions but they do fine in ordinary compost. What they won’t stand is drying out or sitting in water.
If I haven’t put you off, here are my tips for the cautious grower.

1. Cover the plant with horticultural fleece (available from garden centres) to get it through that treacherous period between the buds bursting and the leaves fully opening. This will protect against unexpected frosts and aphids.
2. If you haven’t got an ideal position out of the midday sun and away from windy corners, use tougher plants like bamboos to give them a bit of shade and shelter.
3. Don’ wet the leaves while the sun is on them. They scorch very easily.
4. Prune any dead bits that you find at the end of the stems. These are nothing to worry about in themselves but can lead to secondary fungal infections.
The trick is to get those leaves through the summer so your tree can show what it has really got offer in autumn.

Written By Alistair Ayres

Tasty Garden Salads

Young leaves make very tasty salads, you can grow them ready mixed just like those in bags at the supermarket, they are very quick compared more conventional lettuce, and require very little space to grow. The easiest way to start is use seed mixture such as ‘Salidini’. The Organic Gardening Catalogue (http://www.organiccatalogue.com) offers a good range of spicy, oriental and Mediterranean mixtures.

You can sow them any time from April until August and they’ll be ready for cutting in about 4 to 6 weeks when the leaves are about 8 to 10cm high. You can graze them gradually with scissors as you need them or harvest the whole lot in one go. Leave about 1cm of stem, and you’ll get a second crop of leaves within a couple of weeks. Occasionally, you can get a third cutting but by that time it’s better to sow some more.

If you want to have a go at experimenting yourself, cos lettuce, Chinese greens, beetroot, chicory, mustard, broccoli, rocket, and basil are all delicious when eaten as baby leaves.

Written By Alistair Ayres

Down In The Basement

Gardens below street level can be very damp and gloomy places. Plants with dark green foliage tend to do best here but you need some flowers to bring in the light. Colours can be difficult to use and my preference would be stick with white.

White busy lizzies (Impatiens) are safe choice and so are white begonias. You could try the larger tuberous begonias as well as the smaller waxy-flowered bedding types. Zantedeschia aethiopica, the giant white arum, commonly sold as a houseplant, is perfectly hardy and will provide a striking display in a damp basement. For more subtle effects, try Aquilegia ‘Munstead White’, with its cute upturned bonnets in early summer, or one of the many tellima varieties with there delicate frothy flower heads in white or cream.

At Little Green Space (the online urban gardening site) there are shady ready planted boxes available for those who are busy and want instant splendour.

Written By Alistair Ayres