#gardeningguru

[iplantsman]

Possibly not showcasing the wonderful foliage as much as it should or could, the detail of the flower of Caryopteris × clandonensis ‘Sterling Silver’ (‘Lissilv') (Silver Bluebeard) in the picture, still shows off its great beauty. How could it not be today’s #oneadayplant . Sadly, Caryopteris aren’t widely used in designed projects and for no good reason. I think it is because they flower so late in the year that they get forgotten about. What Ceanothus are to late spring and early summer, Caryopteris and Ceratostigma are to late summer and Autumn. . Excellent deciduous shrubs, ‘Sterling Silver’ has one of the best silver foliaged plants out there. I like the way the foliage compliments the powdery blue flower clusters. Just look at each flower in detail. As beautiful and interesting as a Rosemary flower. Both are underrated flowerers. . Plant in full sun in well-drained soil. Clips well and can be grown as a low hedge if desired. Will get to 1m (3’) tall and wide easily enough. . Such a good shrub, shamefully underused. Let’s plant more! . #caryopteris #caryopterisclandonensis #caryopterissterlingsilver #silver #leaves #shrub #blue #flowers #greatplant #bluebeard #autumn #latesummer #gardening #plantingdesign #rosemary #gardeningadvice #gardeningtips #gardenista #gardeningguru #gardendesign #iplantsman #floweringshrub #powderpuff #paleblue (at Crowborough, East Sussex) https://www.instagram.com/p/CGM-zRJAHs4/?igshid=11wjvzu7lxb9q

[joliealexaposts]

If you are finding Lawn Care in Charleswood then contact at Gardening Gurus. Visit: https://is.gd/GardeningGurus

[tossyv-blog]

Veronica, hebe. Such a tidy plant. I have one that has grown into a tree 3 mts high or more. They are usually bushes about a metre high. #gardening #gardeningguru #flowers #flowerstagram #floweringbush #bees #mygardentreasures #mybackyard #mygarden

[iplantsman]

Working on my new Pittosporum parvilimbum, with a plan to try growing it as a lollipop shaped 1/2 standard. . Time will tell how I get on. . #pittosporum #pittosporumparvilumbum #topiary #iplantsman #training #plants #planttraining #pruning #evergreen #shrub #scented #scentedflowers #hardy #garden #gardening #gardeningtips #gardeningadvice #gardeningguru #gardenista #plantmad #growsomething #thegloryofgreen (at Crowborough, East Sussex) https://www.instagram.com/p/CDO8DydgEJ5/?igshid=qk1koirbtu63

[iplantsman]

@fiskarsfinland HSX92 Shears made the lightest of work of a small section of my neighbours’ awful, raggedy Privet hedge. With a few more trims, I should be able to get it into a better, sense shape. . As someone with a systemic arthritis, having tools that hold and grip well as well as operate with minimal jarring or impact is important. These do that very well. Clean cuts, easy to use. I like the storage case for the blades end. It would be a really struggle to improve on these. . Going to use on some topiary next as requires much more attention to detail and will be a better test of precision. . Thanks for sending me this to trial Fiskars. Top product. Highly recommended. . #shears #fiskars #producttrial #hedge #hedging #hedgetrimming #pruning #fiskarsHSX92 #orange #black #topiary #privet #ligustrum #ligustrumovalifoliumaureum #iplantsman #gardening #gardeningadvice #gardenista #gardeningguru #gardenmaintenance #arthritis #versusarthritis #ankylosingspondylitis #reactivearthritis (at Crowborough, East Sussex) https://www.instagram.com/p/CDG2Rdmgqot/?igshid=kfg4b65nzgov

[iplantsman]

Today’s #oneadayplant is this choice Hydrangea relative Dichroa febrifuga . . This very handsome shrub from Asia doesn’t get anywhere near as much attention as it should. Late flowering with these attractive clusters of lilac flowers set against good foliage colour late in summer and through to autumn. . Often said to be very tender, tolerating a low temperature of 1•C, I have found it to be much hardier than this growing it outside on a few occasions and seeing it take significant frosts, though losing foliage. In properly sheltered spots it will be evergreen to semi-evergreen and although better in a conservatory or greenhouse, I think it is worth trying outside in warm and secluded spots. . It has the capacity to get to about 1.5m (5’) tall and wide, but is normally smaller. I suspect it could make an interesting specimen fanned against a wall. Might have to try that sometime. . Apparently used a lot in Chinese medicine, though this is not a subject I know anything about as it stands. . #dichroa #dichroafebrifuga #hydrangea #plant #evergreen #shrub #spring #summer #autumn #interest #halfhardy #tender #plants #iplantsman #garden #plantingdesign #gardening #gardendesign #gardenista #plantista #gardeningguru #gardeningtips #gardeningadvice #autumncolour #fallcolor #lilac #flowers #fleurs #flores (at Crowborough, East Sussex) https://www.instagram.com/p/CGo6BoXgKFQ/?igshid=1xjkwmm8tl5pu

[iplantsman]

Gaultheria mucronata (f) Pink Berried Form (Syn. Pernettya) (Prickly Heath), today’s #oneadayplant . Yesterday I showed North America’s Gaultheria procumbens, today we look at a South American species. Similar, but not hugely so. Berries in this form are pink, but they can be white, red, plum-purple or very pale pink as well in my experience. Much smaller leaves here than in G. procumbens. These are smaller than your pinky fingernail typically and very strong and leathery. They are pointed too, so plants feel coarse and prickly to the touch. . Where G. Procumbens is self-fertile, this plant will require a male form (which won’t Berry) for every 3-5 female plants that you have. Flowers are small, white pendant bells in spring. . This is a fairly large, irregularly sprawling evergreen shrub given time to establish. Easily 1m (3D’) tall and wide and with the potential to do 3 times this in time. . Not a great hedging plant in my experience, but can be massed to form a robust barrier. . Berrying is often not as good as it is on younger plants in nurseries and garden centres and will be nothing if you don’t plant a male as well. . Acid soil, which is moist, but never waterlogged. Decent sunlight helps berrying, though it grows perfectly well in shady spots. . I am not aware of any uses for the plant and I don’t believe that the berries are edible, so recommend not trying them. . #gaultheriamucronata #pernettyamucronata #pricklyheath #evergreen #shrub #berries #hardy #acidsoil #plant #gardening #plantingdesign #glossy #fruits #iplantsman #gardeningtips #gardeningadvice #shrubs #plants #gardenista #gardeningguru (at Crowborough, East Sussex) https://www.instagram.com/p/CHZ34bXAc-p/?igshid=1wwfcgnikpxnf

[iplantsman]

Pachysandra terminalis (Japanese Spurge)(it isn’t a spurge, which are Euphorbia, helping prove that common names are unhelpful) today’s #oneadayplant . I like blocks of groundcover, used creatively, but with bold confidence. Pachysandra is a fine bit of evergreen groundcover which is planted less than it should be in my opinion. Difficult to get excited about; the flowers are fairly uneventful short spikes of tiny white flowers with purple-brown stamens. It is however, consistently good through the seasons, evergreen, great in shade and dense enough cover to prevent most weeds growing through it. It spreads relatively slowly through creeping stems, which root as they extend to make a solid carpet only 15-25cm (6”-10”) tall, but a single plant could get to 1m (3’4”) wide in time. . In sun, the foliage often yellows, which is less desirable to look at in my opinion. I like it grown as a carpet with large deciduous shrubs, or small trees growing through it. . Where lots of large scale plantings often reach for Ivy or Vinca (Periwinkle) as a groundcover selection, I think that this is a better solution in many cases. . There are ‘more’ green varieties like ‘Green Carpet’ and ‘Green Sheen’, which are great, but not necessarily very different. There are also a couple of variegated forms available, which are good growers, though I’m not a huge fan. Personal preference rather than an issue with the plants. . #pachysandra #pachysandraterminalis #buxaceae #groundcover #plants #subshrub #herbaceous #perennial #evergreen #plants #plant #plantingdesign #foliage #flowers #garden #gardening #gardeningtips #gardeningadvice #iplantsman #gardenista #underratedplants #gardeningguru #plantsforshade #ivy #hedera #vinca #periwinkle (at Crowborough, East Sussex) https://www.instagram.com/p/CHNNaTGAWNW/?igshid=1pam1zhw7tsyf

[iplantsman]

The prickly beauty of Poncirus trifoliata (Japanese Bitter Orange). An interesting and underrated shrub, but not one to mess with and today’s #oneadayplant . I have found this plant to be completely hardy in the UK and while it definitely gets taller and fruits better when grown in conservatories, it flowers and fruits well enough outdoors in the South of England anyway. . Foliage is ok. Three leaflets per stalk (trifoliate) as the species name suggests. Autumn colour yellow before falling - ok, but unmiraculous. Flower is an attractive star-shaped white with a decent scent. The Golf Ball-sized (perhaps a bit larger in truth) fruit is pretty, ripening from lime-green (no pun) to orange-yellow (also no pun) and is incredibly bitter to eat. A real face puckerer! Most people trying it will only do it once. I understand that you can make marmalade from them, which is good though and that they are used in traditional medicine in Asia as an anti-inflammatory. . Probably the most defining feature of this plant are the abundant, ‘take no prisoners’ thorns, which are strong, inflexible, sharply-pointed and over an inch (2.5cm) long. They hurt. . There seems to be continual debate as to whether it should be considered a true Citrus or not. You may find it as Citrus or Poncirus for sale. . A bit of exotica. A talking point. Call it what you will, I really like it as a sprawling shrub, very slow growing, small tree and I’d like to see more as a wall-shrub fanned over a surface. . #poncirus #poncirustrifoliata #citrus #citrustrifoliata #bitter #orange #japanese #fruit #flower #foliage #deciduous #shrub #smalltree #hardyplants #exotic #iplantsman #asianmedicine #medicinalplant #medicinalhorticulture #gardening #plantingdesign #gardeningadvice #gardeningtips #gardenista #gardeningguru #autumn #marmalade #scentedflowers #scentedleaves (at Crowborough, East Sussex) https://www.instagram.com/p/CGroTXQgVP3/?igshid=ypzjrz4ig955

[iplantsman]

One of my favourite purple/red foliage shrubs Cotinus ‘Grace’ (Smoke Bush). Today’s #oneadayplant . A lot of people struggle with how best to grow Cotinus. Not that they are difficult, but that one has a choice to make. Either to have big leaves, straight stems and an upright habit, or to have flowers, smaller leaves, a domed habit and small tree size. It goes as follows, if you prune back the plant stems in March, you will get more colourful leaves approx 3-4 x the size of unpruned plants on fairly straight, upright stems. This is great for a foliage plant. If you don’t prune, you will get much less annual growth, but produce a very large, rounded shrub, which by mid-summer will have tiny flowers of a very thin network of stalks that look like Candy Floss or Puffs of Smoke (hence common name). So pick a habit and stick with it. Or not, you could prune every three or so years to maintain a manageable size and get the ‘smoke’ for two of those years. Best advice, if you have the space is to plant three plants together and either rotate your coppicing to one or two of those plants each year, or to leave the one at the back to group to grow up and flower and the two at the front can be cut back each year for huge foliage. You could in theory do this on a single plant too; part pruning and part leaving, but I suspect it would look rubbish more years than not. . Grace is not the best flowerer of the group and has naturally larger leaves, so it is a good plant to grow if all you are looking for is foliage. Cut back to 30cm or so in March and watch it grow! Plant somewhere where the sun in autumn will shine through the leaves before they fall off. Glorious! . Doesn’t enjoy being too wet around the roots. Similarly, if pot grown, or a new plant in the ground, don’t let it dry out as the leaves will shrivel and fall. . #red #purple #cotinus #cotinusgrace #foliage #smoke #smokebush #shrub #smalltree #pruning #coppice #sky #sun #summer #deciduous #iplantsman #garden #gardening #plantingdesign #gardeningguru #gardenista #gardeningtips #gardeningadvice #plants #plant #maintenance 🄲🄾🅃🄸🄽🅄🅂 🄶🅁🄰🄲🄴 (at Crowborough, East Sussex) https://www.instagram.com/p/CE3h_fpg86N/?igshid=1rc2w7jjlu9lz

[iplantsman]

Anemone hupehensis var. japonica ‘Splendens’ (Japanese Anemone/Windflower), todays #oneadayplant . Late summer would not be complete without the wonderful floating flower heads of Japanese Anemone. Commonly seen is the pure white Anemone hybrida ‘Honorine Jobert’, but equally worth growing are some of the pink forms like this. They are just as thuggish by the way, so if you don’t like how they quickly bulk up to fill an area and don’t respect boundaries, this variety is still not for you. In fact, the plant pictured is breaking through cracks in a stone wall and populating every square cm of the bed that it is in. Handsome plant though and putting on a good show. . Popular with bees. Very easy to grow. Their foliage is a bit of a let down and quickly gets big enough to swamp out smaller perennials, so buyer beware. . If you can give them space, few plants will outperform their brilliant show. They grow in sun or part-shade and do particularly well in open, deep, fertile soils, but generally will find a way to succeed elsewhere too. . #anemone #japaneseanemone #windflower #pink #anemonehupehensissplendens #flower #thug #bees #pollinator #pollinatorplants #latesummer #flowers #plants #garden #landscapes #plantingdesign #gardendesign #gardening #gardeningadvice #gardenista #gardeningguru (at Wormit) https://www.instagram.com/p/CD3WDPHAZkL/?igshid=1j911b4my7vg5

[iplantsman]

Escallonia ‘Red Hedger’ pulling in the crowds... of bees. Honey Bee heaven in the sun. . #apismellifera #honey #bee #honeybee #escallonia #escalloniaredhedger #red #flowers #iplantsman #apiary #bees #pollen #sun #sky #clouds #evergreen #shrub #floweringplants #insects #wildlife #garden #gardening #landscape #countryside #gardeningguru #gardeningadvice #gardeningtips #plantsforinsects #pollinatorplants #summersun (at Crowborough, East Sussex) https://www.instagram.com/p/CDWEP9VAnW6/?igshid=2r8xlsscn9x4

[iplantsman]

Just starting to ripen! Tomato ‘Marmande’ with fruit the size of an orange. Looking forward to eating this when ripe. . #Tomato #tomatomarmande #outdoors #bakinginthesun #sun #ripening #fruit #tomatoes #garden #iplantsman #gardening #growyourown #growyourownfood #gyo #food #edible #orange #green #containergardening #slowfood #allotment #vegpatch #easytogrow #gardeningforkids #growsomething #growfromseed #gardenista #gardeningguru #gardenadvice #gardeningtips (at Crowborough, East Sussex) https://www.instagram.com/p/CC9CnZpgDC1/?igshid=lzkl5gneh5ye

[iplantsman]

Marrubium libanoticum (Lebanese White-Horehound) (set against a Fig leaf). Today’s #oneadayplant . Not having a great year as the rain in June was not welcome for it, but I love the silver foliage and these dainty whorls of white flowers. . It is a small plant only 40-50cm high and 20-30cm wide. Needs the sun and to be fairly dry to do well. Perhaps another year. . I like it for the dried stems in winter, which look good as part of a dried arrangement indoors too. . More seed to be sown here to get a larger colony me thinks. . #marrubium #marrubiumlibanoticum #silver #silverfoliage #leaves #white #flowers #subshrub #herbaceous #perennial #ficus #ficuscarica #fig #drygarden #plants #mygarden #gardenista #gardening #gardendesign #plantingdesign #gardeningguru (at Crowborough, East Sussex) https://www.instagram.com/p/CCKErH5gY1y/?igshid=f73b5ccyrbq6

[iplantsman]

One of my favourite Fuchsia for today’s #oneadayplant. Fuchsia magellanica ‘Lady Bacon’. . Fully hardy in my experience and uniquely colour to aid identification. It is both subtle and garish simultaneously! Pink, cerise, red and mauve on the most slender, pendulous flower. I just love it. Perhaps lacking the sophistication of F. m. ‘Alba’, but one doesn’t always want sophistication! . A really good thing. . Easy to grow and consistently good. Flowers from May until the frosts. Will, in time, make a substantial shrub over 1.5m, but that will, for some, be over a decade in the making. . #fuchsia #fuchsiamagellanica #fuchsialadybacon #ladybacon #flower #colour #plants #iplantsman #garden #plant #plantingdesign #pink #red #mauve #purple #cerise #hardy #subshrub #perennial #shrub #gardening #gardeningadvice #gardeningguru #gardenguru #gardeningtips #gardenista #mygarden #growsomething (at Crowborough, East Sussex) https://www.instagram.com/p/CCIb_gMAhxz/?igshid=1aeia215pthvm

[iplantsman]

Rosa x odorata ‘Mutabilis’ (Ch) (Chinese Tea Rose ‘Mutabilis’) #oneadayplant . Another single flowered rose I really like. Unknown origin as best I’m aware adding to the mystery. Flowers are an interesting mix of pinks and apricots, fading to a cerise pink as they age. Scented, though I never really notice it, so I’m guessing not particularly strong. . A shrub rose which performs well generally, but in my humble opinion does better in slightly cooler years, where flowers last longer. While everyone says it can get to 1.8m (6’), I can’t recall seeing it that big ever. 1.2-1.5m (4-5’) seem more realistic. . #roses #rose #rosa #rosamutabilis #flowers #pink #apricot #cerise #shrub #mysterious #plant #garden #iplantsman #gardening #plantingdesign #gardendesign #rosegarden #flowers #growsomething #gardenista #gardenguru #gardeningguru (at Crowborough, East Sussex) https://www.instagram.com/p/CCA0-HRA-D7/?igshid=1m9venfbpnuk1