Adam's Garden

As the trees shed their leaves and winter moves in many old friends in the garden emerge from the shadows. Cornus alba, a shrub with red bark, adds a dash of colour to a corner of the garden which was barely worth viewing just a few weeks ago. In summer the foliage of this plant is unmemorable and the flowers pleasant yet nothing to shout about, but the great attraction lies in the young stems. The usual practice is to cut the shrub back in late winter allowing the new shoots to grow upright from the stump, giving a good display for the next winter. There is in fact quite a variety of C.alba with 'Spaethii' having the added summer appeal of leaves with yellow margins and 'Sibirica' with it's brilliant red shoots. The Cornus (dogwood) genus provides a tremendous diversity and I have often thought it would be fun to plant up a whole collection just to show the possibilities. The centrepiece would have to be a Cornus alternifolia, the Pagoda dogwood, with ornately tiered branches and a Cornus controversa 'Variegata' would have to be in there as well if only for the charm of the creamy white variegations on the foliage.

Although it has only been in situ for a couple of years now I have come to regard the Pittosporum tenuifolium 'Irene Paterson' as a favourite. The leaves of this form are very pale, flecked almost white in places, and in the low Autumn light it almost shines, drawing the eye away from the darker surroundings. Surprisingly for a plant with such light foliage it grows at a reasonable pace; quicker than the 'Tom thumb' form which has purple leaves. Pittosporum has become very popular of late, judging by the huge variety for sale in garden centres and nursery. It could be that it has the good combination of not growing too large and keeping it's leaves over winter.

Eucalypts are good in winter because they look almost like deciduous trees but retain their leathery foliage through winter and the bark always makes a pleasant sight, as does that of a number of willows. The Salix alba (white willow) has numerous forms and the fast growing shoots always offer cheerful hues. Var vitellina (golden willow) is my personal favourite with bright yellow and orange winter shoots and it has two excellent forms: 'Britzensis' with glowing reddish orange shoots and 'Chermesina', the same but brighter red. The Salix matsudana 'Tortuosa', while excellent in Summer looks even better in winter because the contorted stems are all the more noticeable. I prefer the more lyrical common name - Dragon's claw willow - because it gives a good description of the dramatically twisted branches. I was given a cutting a few years ago and it has grown fairly well. However, it is too close to a false acacia (Robinia pseudoacacia) and will have to be relocated this year.

Although it is easy to spend time admiring the plants that come to the fore about now it should not be forgotten that there are a few jobs to be done. Planting daffodils bulbs is probably the easiest of these, and although it is a little later than ideal the pleasure of this job is you know the display will be one of the first of the new gardening year - by that I mean the new growing season in spring rather than the displays that can be seen during winter (such as the winter flowering cherry - mine died this year, from what I don't know!). Planting tulip bulbs comes next on the list and this year I am going to try some new types. The great thing about gardening is the number of new varieties that come out each year, in every genus, as well as old varieties that come back into fashion. My favourite tulip has to be praestans 'Fusilier', small with multiple heads, although the taller pure white 'Purissima' runs it close.

A job that really is a chore is the annual cleaning of the greenhouse, followed by coccooning of the interior with polythene bubblewrap. The present batch of wrap has lasted four years but disintegration has started to set in. The greenhouse measures 14 by 8 feet so it takes quite a lot. Each double sheet is carefully rolled up in spring when the warmer weather comes and labelled, ready to come out again in November. I have a plan showing where each piece goes, but in time the stuff shrinks and tolerances gets tighter, causing frayed nerves and short tempers. Fitting it in the correct position is easy, if cut with plenty to spare, but unfortunately this is not always the case. Fixing at one end and stretching the sheets is usually the only option but this often results in tearing somewhere along the line, followed commonly by a volley of expletives! Next year I shall renew the whole lot. It costs about thirty pounds but saves a lot in heating and as a bonus provides diffused light for spring seedlings, protecting them from sun scorch, although it does lower the light level, something that is not desirable in gloomy winter.

This year I am not storing my Pelargoniums in the shed. Last year too many rotted, and given the ease of propagation I am keeping a few in the greenhouse and throwing the rest away, having taken numerous cuttings. To be honest it is so cheap to buy germinated seedlings of so many varieties that I may not even grow any from seed this year at all. Pelargonium seed is very expensive compared to many other seeds and germination is sometimes well short of 100 per cent and besides there are never very many seeds per packet. Last year the shed was a little too full, making watering and checking the plants somewhat problematic, so I have cut down on numbers this time which meant throwing away a number of container grown displays of Fuchsias and other perennials that are not fully hardy. It always rankles when perfectly decent plants have to be discarded, and sometimes they are simply left outside to take their chances, but decisions like these always have to be made because no matter how much space there is available it is just never enough!

Now that most of the year end jobs are done I can spend some time ordering seeds and making plans for next season. In another month it will be time to start all over again with the first seeds, the onions, going into the propagator but for the time being I shall just keep an eye out for good old reliable friends in the garden.

You can find more articles in the archive under Soiled Hands.

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