Cut Flowers For The Summer

The Sweet Peas were planted in the cut flower bed at the end of April, see blog entry 29th April 'Sweet Pea Juliet, Anniversary and Apple Blossom'. Other plants have now joined them, but not before the bed had been thoroughly weeded by Emma, our Tuesday volunteer. Once weeded the following plants were planted: Sunflower 'Irish Eyes', Sunflower 'Teddy Bear', Zinnia elegans 'Giant Double Mixed', Antirrhinum majus 'Apple Blossom', Antirrhinum majus 'Royal Bride', Antirrhinum majus 'Orange Wonder' and Panicum elegans 'Frosted Explosion'. The Sweet William are still flowering so will be dug up and replaced by other plants for summer cut flowers once they have finished.

Trimming Yew Columns

The 20 yew columns in the Provost's rose garden are usually trimmed once a year from late July to late August, only once before have they been trimmed in June and that was in 2012 in preparation for the Encaenia garden party, see blog entry 13th June 2012.

With the Tercentenary Ball being held on Friday 27th June, the 20 yew columns are again being trimmed early. Joss, unable to use the petrol hedge trimmer to cut them due to the loud noise it makes and their close proximity to the examination rooms, trims all the columns using hand shears. By the end of a very warm day all the columns have been trimmed and the preparations for the ball begin.

The Central Display In The Pump Quad

It started with the large ornamental plants being taken from the greenhouse and being placed into the centre of the Pump Quad, see blog entry 3rd June 'Hiding Large Plant Pots'. Next pallets were cut up, lined and planted up to create a shield to hide the pots, see blog entry 4th June 'Plants In Pallets'. The display has now been completed, all the pallets have been planted and the gaps behind them have been filled to create this year's summer display in the centre of the Pump Quad.

Deadheading Roses

With a garden party being held in the Provost's rose garden this and next weekend, the faded blooms of the roses need to be removed using a simple process called 'deadheading'. The old fashioned roses, including the varieties 'Capitaine John Ingram', 'Cardinal de Richlieu', 'Charles de Mills', 'Ferdinand Pichard' and 'Great Maidens Blush', all flower just the once so the deadheading tidies up the roses, leaving only the fresh blooms. By early July all the roses will have finished flowering, all the faded blooms removed and the under planting of perennials will then be providing the display throughout the summer.

Clemetis 'Durandii'

The Clemetis 'Durandii' in the herbaceous border is now in flower, looking the best it ever has. A non clinging variety, it has been tied to a pyramidal plant support made from hazel which it now completely covers. The indigo-blue flowers are 3-4 inches across with a yellow centre and is one of the first flowers seen on the border this summer. 

Plants In Pallets

The prototype, that was created yesterday, was accepted and the go ahead given for all six pallets to be filled with plants. Before they could be filled a lining was nailed to the inside, then the planting began. 

By the end of the day, Simon and Danny had planted up four of the six pallets and taken them from the greenhouse to the Pump Quad. The remaining two will be completed tomorrow and added to the others to create the hexagon to shield the large plant pots from vue.

Hiding Large Plant Pots

The large ornamental plants were taken out of the greenhouse last week, some were placed in the herbaceous border whilst others were taken to the Pump Quad. Those that were placed in the Pump Quad created a dilemma, how to hide the ugly looking black and brown pots?

Pallets, that is the answer that came to Ady and Kieron. Having gone on a search around the college grounds they managed to find several pallets with different slat configurations, making them perfect for their project.

Each pallet was cut up into smaller pieces and the best six kept to make a hexagonal frame that will conceal the plant pots. A prototype was created, including plants, ready for approval by Simon before the others were planted up.

The Prototype, Plants In A Pallet