A New Colour Scheme Of Tulips

Four years ago, November 2009, tulips were planted in the herbaceous border for the first time. The colours white, orange and red were the first, followed by purple and pink the following year. In the subsequent years, additional amounts of these colours have been added, all in the hope to recreate the colours seen in the summer. However, the resulting display is not as Simon had hoped for, so a change has be planned, starting today.

New colours of tulips have been chosen, 'Black Hero', 'Purple Dream' and 'China Pink, 750 in total, split between the two borders. The 15 packets were opened and emptied into two trugs and then mixed.

The team then spent a few hours planting the new tulip mix, but will have to wait until May to see if this new colour scheme is successful. The old tulips, unable to dig them all up, having been buried under numerous layers of thick mulch, will have to be cut down as they flower in order to weaken the bulb until they all eventually stop flowering.

Gone In A Day

The display in the herbaceous border has been looking tired for a weeks now, so today was the day for cutting it down. Using the hedge cutter, as in the previous two years, the border was cut down and cleared in a day.

'Queen Of The Night', 'West Point', 'National Velvet' and 'China Pink'

The planting of the many tulip bulbs has continued over the last two days, as the team tries to make inroads into the huge numbers received this autumn. The spring bulb area, on the Nuffield Lawn, was next to be planted with 100 'Queen Of The Night'  bulbs, a black, straight stemmed, single cup tulip.

Next to be planted was the corner border, which has been waiting for its 200 yellow 'West Point' tulips since early October, see blog entry 11th October 'Adding The Royal Blue To The Sunset Orange'.

A further 100 tulips, an equal split of 'National Velvet' and 'China Pink', were added to the large number that have been planted in the orchard since January 2011, which began with an initial 350 bulbs.

'Nemasys G', A Biological Treatment For Chafer Grubs

In recent weeks it has been noticed that Crows and Magpies have been gathering at the bottom of the Provost's lawn, pecking at the grass, making a mess. Another area of lawn, looking in bad shape with patches of dead grass, can be found in the back of one of the college properties. The culprit, Chafer Grubs, their favourite delicacy is grass roots.

Adult beetles lay their eggs in the turf, May to June, hatching a few weeks later. The grubs then feed on the roots and, as they reach their maturity in the autumn, the damage becomes more noticeable. The grass dies and, in the case of the Provost's lawn, the birds start to peck at the grass, feeding on the grubs. (Thank you birds for bringing it to our attention!)

Using a biological control, rather than a chemical one, Joss treated the area with 'Nemasys G', a microscopic worm, the Nematode, Heterohabditis megidis. Applied with the walkover sprayer, the nematodes, 250 million per tray, are mixed with water, and sprayed onto the affected areas. They enter the grubs, stopping them from feeding within three days of infection, causing them to die within 10-14 days. They complete their life cycle inside the grubs, then move into the soil to search for the next host, naturally occurring, they are safe, harmless to humans, pets and wildlife.

300 Lily Flowered Triumph Mixed Tulips

More of the large quantity of bulbs the team have to plant this autumn were planted today. The 300 'Tulip Lily Flowered Mix' were planted in the border at the bottom of the quad, in amongst the Wallflowers 'Sunset Primrose' that were planted last month, see blog entry 15th October 'From Summer Bedding To Spring Bedding'. Spring next year, at the far end of the quad as you walk through the college entrance, will be an explosion of colour, something to look forward too.

Wrapped Up Using A Butcher's Knot

Although there still seems to be no sign of the first frosts in Oxford, the hardy banana Musa basjoo, the only banana to be left outside in the winter, were wrapped up today.

In previous years there has only one plant to wrap up, but this year there are another three, usually taken into the greenhouse but now are far too big to dig up and move.

Kieron, with Anna our student volunteer, spent the morning wrapping all the plants, now looking like stalagmites or pillars of salt rising out of the herbaceous border, safe for the winter, they hope. (Interesting note, look at the carefully tied string, it's a 'Butcher's Knot', the banana plants wrapped up like pieces of meat ready for roasting, there must be an ex chef amongst the team!)

Labelling The Apple And Pear Juice

The first of the bottles from the pressing of the apples and pears, picked on the 9th and 17th of October, have arrived back from Waterperry Gardens. The juicing process has resulted in 420 bottles of 'Worcester College Apple & Pear Juice' and they all need labelling. Kieron and Ali started to label them today, managing 150 bottles, which will be on sale this Friday.