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

More Curves On The Quad Lawn

View From The Cloisters (Old Design, Right Corner)

The new curved design on the quad lawn was first seen at the beginning of May, see blog entry 9th May 'The Curves On The Front Quad Lawn', but they have been causing some concern to Joss with regard to their visibility from a certain aspect. From the right hand side of the cloisters, as you walk into the college, he felt that the new design had little, or no impact so improvements have been made.

New, Additional Curves (View From The Cloisters)

Starting from the adjacent corner, Joss has mown a new set of curves to improve the visual impact from the cloisters especially from the right hand side. Both sets of curves will be mown into the lawn throughout the summer, becoming increasingly prominent over time.

Both Sets Of Curves (View From Staircase 6)

An Brief Encounter With Three Young Goldfinch

The Wisteria 'Black Dragon', located on he terrace of the quad, has finished flowering and now putting on a growth spurt, producing long, whippy green shoots. These shoots are protruding out across the path and starting to cover the windows so need to be cut back. To reach the highest of these shoots, Ali climbed the large ladder, footed by Simon, and had a surprising, but brief encounter with three young Goldfinches. Unseen by Ali was a nest hidden amongst the wisteria and, as she went to cut one of the whippy shoots, got too close to its occupiers who, startled by this invasion of their space, jumped out of the nest, landing safely on the ground below. Not far off from fledging, usually between 13-18 days old, the Goldfinches were carefully picked up and placed back up in the nest, all this under the watchful eyes of the two adult birds who remained in the vicinity. 

The Large Plants Are On The Move

The large architectural plants are bursting out of the greenhouse roof desperate for more room to grow.

Extremely heavy and awkward to carry, it takes four of the team to carry each banana plant out of the greenhouse and load it into the waiting tractor and trailer for transportation to the herbaceous border. The unloading and planting is just as difficult, see blog entry 24th May 2012 'Five Strong Men' for photographs of how difficult it really is!