Plant of the Month for September – Japanese Anemone

Our plant of the month for September is Japanese Anemone.

Japanese Anemone are beautiful plants, are very easy to grow and flower their heads off from August through to the frosts. During September they are at their best when there are few other plants around. The Gardening Register has two varieties in the garden Anemone ‘September Charm’ and Anemone ‘Honorine Jobert’. Honorine Jobert has been in for nearly ten years now and it never ceases to amaze me every year. September Charm was planted last autumn so this is it’s first true flowering season. The plants need to bulk up a bit before they’ll be as showy as Honorine. Take a look at the plants in our garden.

They are happy in full sun or partial shade and prefer moist, fertile soil. They are fully hardy and flower between July and September or even to the frosts if you’re lucky.

To care for your Japanese Anemones:

• Cut back the stalks after the flowers have faded
• Tidy up old dead leaves in March
• Apply a generous 5-7cm (2-3in) mulch of well-rotted garden compost or manure around the base of the plant in spring
• Avoid moving the plant since it resents disturbance
• Where necessary lift and divide congested clumps in early spring

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Click here to see the whole range of Japanese Anemone from Crocus.co.uk

Plant of the Month for August – Hydrangea

Our plant of the month for August is Hydrangea.

Hydrangeas are wonderful plants and often under rated; they flower for months right up to the frosts, they grow to a good sized shrub so are ideal for adding structure to your borders and they can be used as a cut flower too.

The most popular hydrangea are Hydrangea macrophylla Mopheads which have large ball-like blooms. Hydrangea macrophylla Lacecaps have a flat flower-head with an outer ring of large flowers surrounding a central group of smaller flowers.Hydrangea paniculata have cone shaped flowers.

The main colours of the flowers are white, pink and blue but they often bloom in shades of lilac and purple. Take a look below at a great selection from Crocus.co.uk.

If you buy a blue Hydrangea and want to keep the flowers blue it is best to grow it in acidic soils with a pH of 5.5. When grown on neutral soil (pH 7) the flowers will tend to turn more mauve or even pink.

To maintain the blue flowers keep the soil acidic by treating with aluminium salts or grow your plant in a large container filled with ericaceous compost and feed regularly with a special ericaceous feed.

White or pink hydrangeas are happy growing in neutral or alkaline soil.

To care for your hydrangea:

• In dry weather water regularly and soak well if there are signs of distress
• Keep the flower heads on over winter and remove them back to a strong pair of buds, in spring after the danger of frost has passed
• Take out diseased shoots
• Mulch young plants with a well-rotted manure or compost in spring
• Once established, remove a quarter to a third of the shoots to the base of the plant

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Click here to see the whole range of Hydrangea from Crocus.co.uk

Hydrangeas not flowering

Question:

Can you offer any advice as to why my medium size hydrangeas did not produce any flowers this year?

Answer:

Does the shrub look generally healthy? I assume the shrub has flowered before and has not been moved this year. If so then the most likely cause of the shrub not flowering is frost damage during the winter or early spring. The buds form on the plant during the winter so they are quite small and tender during the coldest times. This coming winter cover it with some horticultural fleece when frost if expected and it should flower fine next summer.