Shaggy tales

9:20am Saturday 23rd August 2008

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THE courgette in our vegetable patch has done very well, so well in fact that I am glad to have planted only one.

The leaves are enormous and have engulfed the poor beetroot, which has not done well at all. It has been pulled up and the courgette has been allowed to grow over the area. Several delicate tasting, firm dark-green fruits have already been harvested and consumed, and many more are beginning to emerge in this warm and wet weather they seem to so enjoy.

Being a first-time grower, I was disappointed to see that several flowers on the courgette plant had fallen before forming fruit, and thought it must have got too dry when I was away on holiday.

However, I have since found out from more experienced growers that this is not the case. Courgettes produce male and female flowers, with the males falling after fertilising the females. The courgettes only form behind a fertilised female flower.

Out in the flowerbeds, late summer perennials are also doing extremely well, dotting the garden with rich colours amid lush foliage.

Although most of the hues are deep pinks, red and oranges, among them are a few white plants as a contrast, including a Shasta daisy, Leucanthemum x superbum ‘Phyllis Smith’.

What a great plant this is, with yellow centres surrounded by shaggy white petals that curl this way and that. Just into its second summer in the garden, it was put in last July. We have only had a few flowers, but they have lasted for weeks and only now have needed to be cut back.

There are a couple of new shoots showing signs of embryonic buds, so with luck we will get a second flush. This plant likes full sun or partial shade, and grows around a metre tall with a spread of half of that, eventually forming a striking clump of these amusing flowers.

Shasta daisies are easy to look after once established. A small plant put into the garden in mid- summer is going to need a couple of years to get going. I expect mine to be much larger by next summer.

New growth emerges in spring and needs to be protected from slugs and snails. Support may be needed and twiggy spring prunings from coloured stemmed dogwoods are ideal. Overlarge clumps can be divided in spring and dead stems cut back in autumn.

Garden talk

Askham Bryan College (ABC) Gardening Club is beginning its new season of events by hosting a talk by the Duchess of Northumberland on Tuesday, September 16.

The duchess and her garden manager, Ian August, will look at the changes to her garden in a talk entitled Developments In The Alnwick Garden, in the Conference Hall at Askham Bryan College, at 7.30pm. Entry is by pre-booked tickets only, which are free to ABC Garden Club members and £7.50 for non-members. Telephone ABC chairman Peter Powell on 01904 795059 for further details.

Gardens at Newburgh Priory

The gardens and grounds at Newburgh Priory in Coxwold village are open on Monday, giving an opportunity to enjoy the beautiful surroundings at a time when they are usually closed to the public.

Visitors will also be also visit the summer plant fair, held outside the north entrance of the priory.

The fair brings together many award-winning nurseries selling a range of plants including hardy orchids, herbaceous perennials, alpines, specialist dark foliage plants, bonsai, autumn flowering bulbs and a large selection of hardy ferns.

Newburgh Priory gardens, grounds and fair are open from 10am to 4pm. Admission is £2.50 adult with children under 14 years admitted free.

Win tickets for Harrogate

The North of England Horticultural Society’s (NEHS) 2008 Autumn Flower Show will take place at the Great Yorkshire Showground in Harrogate, from September 12 to 14. Visitors will be able to get plenty of inspiration for their gardens from exhibits from more than 90 horticultural nurseries from around the country, as well as free advice from expert growers.

Flower Hall 1 will house the show stands from the exhibitors as well as the plants sales areas, while Flower Hall 2 hosts the National Vegetable Society’s championships. The popular heavy onion competition will also take place here. The NEHS is a long-term supporter of amateur growers and has expanded the Specialist Societies’ marquee to cover 46,500 square feet. Here, 17 societies will be represented including the British Fuchsia Society’s 70th Anniversary exhibition, plus more than 500 exhibits from the North of England Bonsai Association.

Tickets are available each day at the gate and cost £12, with accompanied children under 16 free. Visitors in wheelchairs can bring a companion free of charge. Opening times are 9.30am to 5.30pm daily. To book phone 0870 758 3333 Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 4.30pm.

How to enter:

•In the Garden has six pairs of tickets to the 2008 Harrogate Autumn Flower Show to give as competition prizes.

To enter answer the following three questions:

1. Which horticultural society has organised the 2008 Harrogate Autumn Flower Show?

2. Which popular competition will be held in Flower Hall 2?

3. How large is the expanded Specialist Societies’ marquee this year?

Send your answers to: 2008 Harrogate Autumn Flower Show Competition, In The Garden, Features Desk, The Press, 76-86 Walmgate, York YO1 9YN. Closing date Thursday, August 28.

Gardening TV and radio

Tomorrow
8am, Radio Humberside, Gardening Phone-in. Telephone number 01482 225 959.
9am, Radio Leeds, Gardening with Tim Crowther and Joe Maiden.
2pm, R4, Gardeners’ Question Time. Pippa Greenwood, Bob Flowerdew, Anne Swithinbank and chairman Peter Gibbs answer questions from gardeners in Dorset.

Friday
8pm, BBC2, Gardeners’ World Special. Sarah Raven looks at how to preserve Britain’s unique botanical heritage.

Saturday, August 30
7pm, Radio York, Plant Surgery. Presented by Julia Booth with horticulturist Nigel Harrison.