8:40am Saturday 13th February 2010
By Gina Parkinson
SNOWDROPS are at last beginning to make an appearance in our garden with small clumps of thin leaves poking through the soil. Soon a tiny white blob will appear at the base of them, the embryonic start of the flowers.
Now they have made a start, even the predicted cold spell forecast for the end of last week is unlikely to affect these tough little plants and we should see them in full bloom by the end of the month.
Clematis armandii is also beginning to make a move towards flowering, and chubby buds are noticeable among the stems and leathery evergreen leaves. The buds will fatten and elongate as February days pass until the plump mass separates into individual balls and eventually sprays of scented white flowers.
In our small vegetable patch, the garlic cloves planted last October have come through, single green leaves flagging the developing garlic beneath the soil. Last year, most of our garlic crop failed to divide, possibly because it was planted towards the end of March. This was too late for the period of cold needed to stimulate the correct development of the bulb, so I put into the garden in good time this year and we have certainly had enough low temperatures this winter.
While much of the February garden is about things to be, small shoots, tiny flower buds, anticipated stirrings under the soil, other plants are making a statement. One such in our garden is pittosporum tenufolium ‘Tandara Gold’ that has looked amazing all winter, despite this plant family having a reputation for being less than hardy.
At one point, the dainty leaves did look worse for wear and became tinged with brown, but they have made a recent recovery with hardly any being shed.
It is grown by a warm south-facing wall that gives protection from winter cold and plenty of warm summer sunshine that highlights the mass of dark twiggy stems and miniature green-edged yellow leaves.
This plant can be grown as a shrub where the numerous stems will form a neat rounded shape that can reach 180cm or more tall. Alternatively, a small tree can be developed by isolating one or two strong central stems and pruning out all the others.
As the plant matures a thick, deep coloured trunk forms and divides, topped with a cloud of foliage. This takes a little work. Tandara Gold is a vigorous plant and will shoot on old and new wood so the trunk needs to be kept clear of new growth, but it is an ideal solution where space is limited with the bare trunk freeing up space for other plants to be planted around its base.
Garden supplies
LOW Moor Gardeners’ Store opened for business last Saturday and is open each weekend on Saturdays from noon until 1.45pm and on Sunday from 10am until noon.
There are plenty of garden supplies available including seeds in conveniently small packets, potatoes and onion sets, as well as a range of other useful products such as netting, canes, weed membrane and compost. Prices are competitive and store membership cost £2 a year. Low Moor Gardeners’ Store is at Low Moor Allotments, Kilburn Road, off Fulford Road, York.
Garden talk
ASKHAM Bryan College Gardening Club will hold an illustrated talk about clematis on Tuesday at the college. Chris Cocks, from Taylors Clematis, will discuss all aspects of clematis care, from choosing a specimen through to planting and pruning, with professional tips on how to get the best from these popular flowering climbers. The talk will begin at 7.30pm in the Conference Hall at the college. Tickets are free to club members and £5 on the door for non-members. There is plenty of free parking.
Gardening TV and Radio
Tomorrow.
2pm, BBC Radio 4, Gardeners’ Question Time. Chris Beardshaw, Pippa Greenwood, Anne Swithinbank and chairman Eric Robson help members of Lacock and District Garden and Allotment Association, in Wiltshire, with their gardening problems. Pippa Greenwood meets some snowdrop-lovers.
Friday.
3pm, BBC Radio 4, Gardeners’ Question Time. This week from the Lake District where Chris Beardshaw, Bunny Guinness and Bob Flowerdew are guests of the Lakeland Horticul-tural Society, in Windermere. Also, chairman Eric Robson, in the light of recent weather in the area, investigates how plants survive flooding; plus a profile of and garden designer Thomas Mawson.
Saturday, February 20.
7am, BBC Radio York, Julia Booth. Presenter Julia Booth and gardening expert Nigel Harrison present their weekly plant surgery.
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