Newsflash
Are gnats annoying you out in the garden? Well, Sylvana of 'The Obsessive Gardener' found this remedy: I found my answer - vanilla! Apparently gnats don't like it, and I have some so why not give it a try? I took about 1/8 a teaspoon real vanilla extract and rubbed it onto my neck, ears and forehead, grabbed the camera and went back outside. I was outside for the same amount of time I had been before - no gnats! And bonus, I smell like a cookie! |
| Old Fashioned Hellebore Advice |
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| Friday, 01 May 2009 00:06 | |||
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I came across an old (1915) out of copyright book online which had some good advice on growing hellebores. These perennial plants have started to become much more popular recently. I put in a Lenten hellebore years ago, and always have enjoyed the dusky purple flowers early in the season. After I purchased some Christmas hellebores I decided to place them where I can look out the window to see them. Even though they won't bloom at Christmas time in my climate- the weather will still be inclement enough that if I hope to enjoy them I need to be able to do it from the comfort of my heated home! From the book, 'Gardening for Amateurs ' by H H.THOMAS Helleborus (Christmas and Lenten Rose The Hellebores are divided into two groups, the Christmas Rose (Helleborus niger and varieties), which blossoms from November to March, and the Lenten Rose (varieties of H. orientalis and H. viridis), flowering from February to May. Blooming as they do in mid-winter, when the weather conditions are often unfavourable, it behoves the grower to choose a sheltered position for the plants. They prefer a rather moist, shady position, and thrive in any good garden soil enriched with decayed manure and leaf-mould. Perhaps the best of all positions is among hardy ferns, for these two kinds of hardy plants have several cultural requirements in common. Both are shade-loving, delighting in liberal mulchings of leaf-mould, and during summer greatly benefit from free watering, and an occasional application of weak liquid cow- manure. The old fronds left on the ferns in winter provide protection for the flowers of the Hellebores, this being particularly desirable for the Christmas Rose. To give further protection it is worth while covering the best clumps showing flower buds with hand-lights or a temporary frame. A shrubbery border, where the trees and shrubs are not planted thickly, may be made very interesting from November to May with a planting of Hellebores. The falling tree leaves in autumn should be left on the ground. They will improve the soil and protect the plants.When to Plant Christmas Roses. Hellebores are increased bv division of the roots, July being the best time to do the work ; or by seeds sown in a cold frame as soon as they are ripe. Raising the plants from seeds is rather slow, the young plants taking from three to four years to flower. It is, however, most interesting, >especially with the Lenten Roses, and if a few seeds are sown each year there will be young plants flowering for the first time every season. So long as they are thriving and flowering freely it is not desirable to transplant Hellebores unless for purposes of propagation, as they dislike being disturbed, and take two years at least to recover from the cheek of lifting. An annual top-dressing of equal parts of leaf-mould and old manure is very beneficial in May or June. Christmas Roses. The old white Christmas Rose (H. niger) is at its best from December to March. Altifolius (syn. maximus) is taller and more vigorous, with large flowers. usually tinged with pink ; they are the first to expand, generally opening in November. Angustifolius, pure white, is the variety usually chosen for cultivation in the cold frame or greenhouse ; it produces fine flowers on long stalks ; this variety is sometimes grown as luvernis, the St. Brigid Christmas Rose ; major, a large-flowered variety, opens during December and January ; and Madame Fourcade is a fine white-flowered French variety. The height of the plants is about 1 foot, the leaves generally being rather taller than the flowers. The Lenten Roses are much more numerous than the Christmas Roses, and rather taller in growth. They comprise many beautiful shades of rose, purple, and white, some of the varieties being handsomely spotted. They thrive excellently on a shady border in the suburban garden. A selection of good sorts comprises Bismarck, deep plum purple ; Brutus, coppery-rose ; Councillor Benary, snow white, purple spots ; Chancellor, rose ; Frau Irene Heinemann, purple spotted flowers ; Gertrude Jekyll, pure white ; Gretchen Heinemann, light purple ; Harlequin, rose, spotted.
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