Thirty

Over the last three days the five cucumber plants in the gardeners vegetable glasshouse have gone into overdrive. Thirty cucumbers have been picked, too many for us to consume alone, so have been given away to the kitchen, staff, family and friends.
Cucumber Zeina F1 hybrid, all female, produces a mass of a sweet, juicy, smooth skinned, mini fruits and according to the label will continue to crop until end of August. Highly recommended!

Salvia guaranitica 'Black and Blue'

Another plant catching visitors eyes can be found on the south facing top terrace next to staircase five. Salvia guaranitica 'Black and Blue' is a vigorous, half hardy plant (although we have not protected ours during the winter) and has been flowering in this full sun position since the end of June. The upright spikes carry a mass of dark purple-blue flowers held on at their base by black calyx, a real stunner.

Moss, Plastic and Tape

What is that in the tree? Many people have stopped and asked that question when looking at the Magnolia iolanthe. The answer is an attempt at air layering, a method of propagating.
Back in early spring, armed with damp moss, pieces of old compost bags and sticky tape, Ali and Joe went on a search for one to two year old stems perfect for air layering. A wound was made in the stem through a leaf bud to create a tongue that could be lifted. The damp moss was then placed in the tongue and around the wound, covered with the piece of plastic, sealing it with the tape. During the next year roots should develop from the wound into the moss, after which the stem can be cut from below the rooted section and potted up to create a new young plant. All we have to do is wait for nature to do the hard work for us.

Successional Planting

The early flowering Daylillies have finished flowering in the herbaceous border leaving large patches of green foliage. Trialled last year, in a small patch of the border to make sure our idea worked, the foliage is cut down and removed to the compost pile.

Grown form seed, sown early March, the plants to replace the Daylillies are five varieties of Rudbeckia, a mid summer to late autumn flowering daisy. The varieties we have chosen are:

Rudbeckia x hirta hybrida 'Cherokee Sunset', a double to semi double, 3 to 4 inch bloom in shades in golden yellow, bronze, orange and mahogany.

Rudbeckia x hirta 'Cherry Brandy', a mass of cherry coloured blooms;

Rudbeckia hirta 'Chim Chiminee', a quilled petalled bloom in rustic colours;

Rudbeckia hirta 'Kelvedon Star', a bright yellow bloom with a dark brown centre;

Rudbeckia hirta 'Moreno', a generously petalled bloom of rich mahogany-red with golden orange tips.

Once all the Rudbeckia had been planted, three different Sunflowers were planted in the hot end of the border to infill a few gaps;

Sunflower 'Claret' F1 Hybrid, a chocolate brown bloom, sown mid May, is the tallest, requiring stake support and will reach 4 to 6 feet;

Sunflower 'Irish Eyes', dwarf, compact, multi branched, topped with yellow flowers with a green central disc;

Sunflower 'Teddy Bear', dwarf with big, fluffy, double golden yellow blooms.
The border will continue to have colour well into autumn now that all our successional planting is complete.

Provost's Garden Party

At 2 o'clock this afternoon the staff of Worcester College were invited to attend the Provost's Garden Party. Mr Richard Smethurst has been the Provost since 1991 and is retiring this summer, he will be greatly missed.
As can be seen by the photograph, the gardeners clean up quite well, not a pair of steel toe capped boots, dirty clothes or grubby gloves worn when meeting our Provost and his wife, Dr Gillingham. An enjoyable time was had by all.

Judged

The judges for Oxford In Bloom arrived this morning to judge our display. All the lawns had been re edged and mown, borders dead headed once again and weeds removed. We now have to wait until the 16th September when the results are announced at a presentation evening, fingers crossed, we can do no more but wait.

"What is That?"

Over the last few weeks a very large number of visitors have walked through the gardens and two plants have caused them to stop and ask us "What Is That?".
The dark succulent, pictured above, has caused quite a stir and has prompted the most questions. The answer is Aeonium arborium 'Schwarzkopf', a dark succulent forming rosettes of almost black, glossy leaves, needing full sun to show off its best colour.

The other plant causing people to stop is Crocosmia 'Lucifer', pictured above. Vibrant red, funnel shaped flowers on long arching stems that rise from mid green peated leaves, a must for any hot sunny border.