All New Jacks Patch Series!

Hello All Bloggers!

Just a quick post to let you know that Jacks Patch has launched a new series on youtube which will follow tropical planting themes, thought the summer!

This exciting new series will show you that you can still grow tropicals at home, and keep that holiday spirt alive throughout the seasons!

Enjoy! The First Episode Can Be Found Here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_V0SsPtjKs

Jack.

Fragrant February Gardens.

Fragrance...in February?! Yes it's true, no matter how miserable the weather is out there!

There are plants that are at their peak throughout the month with stunning flowers filling the air with delightful scents that you just can't ignore.

Daphne odora 'Aureomarginata'

Probably the most prominent plant filling the air with scent at the moment is Daphne odora 'Aureomarginata' AGM with delicately variegated leaves and lovely, small, deep pink or white star shaped flowers borne on the stems throughout January, February and into March. Growing to a max height of around 1.5M this plant is great for use in a container or in the border. Likes full sun, or dappled shade.

Daphne bholua 'Jacqueline Postil'

Daphne's are "semi-evergreen" and will drop their leaves if the weather gets too cold, don't panic if this happens, new leaves will appear when the weather warms up!

 - Daphne bholua ‘Jacqueline Postil’ AGM, is another fantastic variety of Daphne with again, white or pink flowers, but may arguably be even more fragrant than its other odora counterparts.
'Jacqueline Postil' is also slightly bigger than odora growing to a height of 2/2.5M.

Sarcococca confusa.

Another plant that is in full bloom with a delicious scent is Sarcococca confusa. A slow growing, evergreen shrub with dark green glossy foliage which often "hides" the lovely small white flowers which pump the lovely scent into the air from January right through till March. Eventually the plant will reach a height of around 1.5M, but will take some time to get there. Sarcococca needs to have partial or full shade to avoid scorching and promote healthy strong growth.

Sarcocca hookeriana var. digyna.

 - Another fantastic Sarcococca is Sarcococca hookeriana var. digyna which has the same growth habit but with slightly red tinged flowers with less foliage covering those flowers, again producing an amazing scent all winter long.

The flowers of Lonicera fragrantissima.

It may be hard to believe but there is indeed a honeysuckle with an amazing fragrance coming into flower around now! Lonicera fragrantissima is a deciduous species of honeysuckle which bears its creamy white, or yellow flowers on the bear branches of the plant before the leaves appear for the main season.  Unlike some other honeysuckles this variety is a bush rather than a climber and will reach a max height of 2M, but can be planted in a container, near a doorway or planted in a border near a path so that you catch its glorious scent.

The above are just a selction of the fragrant plants that have caught my eye recently but there are many others that I haven't mentioned above like;
 - Hamamelis x intermedia.
 - Viburnum tinus.
 - Viburnum x bodnantense ‘Dawn’
 - Skimmia japonica 'Fragrans'

So go out in to the garden, get some fragrant winter plants in your displays and enjoy their beautiful scents each winter, for years to come!

Jack.

Beautiful Hellebores.

It's cold, snowy, rainy, windy... The time of year where our lovely UK weather throws everything at us. Thankfully theres some respite! 

Hellebores are coming into full flower now, with their uniquely shaped leaves, and stunning tall flower heads that rise up above the foliage putting on a huge display of colour when not much else is!

Hellebores are from the genus of plants called Helleborus of which there are about 20 different species to choose from. As a general rule, Hellebores need rich, well draining soil to grow, and will not flower or possibly grow at all if placed in a dry or waterlogged area. Hellebores also prefer to be situated in light shade, where they are protected from harsh cold winds.

Below are my top picks for the best Hellebores;

The Simple Petal Arrangements Make
For A Stunning Show With H.niger.

Helleborus niger AGM (Christmas Rose) - A stunning variety of Hellebore with dark green, purple looking foliage all year. The flowers appear from late December through to early February and are simple pale pink, or pure white flowers. Reaches a max height and spread of around: 30-50cm's.

An example of a hybrid Hellebore
collection. 'Washfield Doubles' Seed
can be viewed here.

Helleborus x hybridus (Lenten Rose) - Are a hybrids between H.orientalis and other species of the Helleborus family. These hybrids produce an amazing array of flower colours during late winter and early spring.  There are many types of these hybrids, some of which are difficult to obtain.
The height and spread of these plants will vary depending on the hybrid you opt to purchase, but you can expect them to have a similar height and spread to H.niger.

An example of an H.purpurascens flower.

Helleborus purpurascens - This species of Hellebore is a smaller, more clump forming member of the genus. It has dark green leaves, and then single cup shaped white, green, or purple coloured flowers. As stated above, they are more clump forming and only grown to around 30cm, height and spread.

As nice as these plants are, they do come with a health warning as they are an irritant to skin, and can cause sever discomfort if ingested, because of this I would recommend not planting them in gardens where children have access and always wear gloves while handling them.


Jack.

Sir Harold Hillier Gardens Trip - December 2012.

On the 17th December 2012, I went on a visit with college to the Sir Harold Hillier Gardens. Thankfully the weather was dry, and even sunny, so the perfect day for a stroll round some beautiful gardens... The gardens certainly didn't disappoint!

Jermyn's House, showing the climbing
plants growing up it.

Our first stop was Jermyn's House which is a beautiful home situated right in the centre of the gardens, where Sir Harold Hillier himself used to reside. The front of the house is covered in climbing plants which will no doubt look stunning when in flower. The house at the front over looks the magnolia walk again will look stunning in spring, and the heather garden.

The heather garden had some nice colour in it, Callunas, Ericas and many other types of heather it made for an unusual walk as I had never before seen a full heather garden! Betulas (Birch) trees were planted singularly amongst the heather and gave a nice backdrop and an element of height to the otherwise rather short garden area!

A section of the
centenary boarder.

After viewing this area we moved on to the new Centenary Border which was the gardens most ambitious project taking around 2 years to complete and is now the longest double boarder of plants in the entire UK! Even though at this time of the year, the sheer scale of the boarders and the amount of plants used to create them was astonishing, and I would love to go back in the summer and see it in all its glory!

The next area we then went to see was the winter garden, and given the time of year, looked absolutely stunning! The garden was planted with droves of Cornus alba, and Cornus sanguinea 'Midwinter Fire' which on their own look stunning  but were also underplanted with different types of grasses providing a beautiful contrast of colours!

Cornus alba surrounded by winter grasses.

The garden also had larger shrubs and trees such as bamboo, viburnum and silver birch which provided structure to the garden. As well as these larger trees in the centre was a large turfed area which was surrounded by the beds, again helping to provide structure within the garden. The whole area was incredible.

One of the many winter garden beds.

We just had enough time left after visiting the winter garden to go down and view the pond. This area was really beautiful. Secluded and tucked out the way of the rest of the garden it was a really peaceful area planted up with many water loving plants, trees and other shrubs which made it a really beautiful area to be in.

An overview of the pond area.

There were many other areas of the gardens that I was unable to view as there just was not enough time but just by viewing the areas that I did, I would wholeheartedly recommend a visit, I know I'll be visiting again!

Happy New Year!
Jack.

Brilliant Homemade Wreaths.

These Simple Wreaths Look
Great!

On Tuesday of last week I was lucky enough to be able to try my hand at making some homemade wreaths. These were really fun, and surprisingly simple too make!

Building Up Leylandii Layers.

Using an oasis material base (Soaked First), we built up layers of Leylandii hedging to create the background, after this we added traditional holly and ivy, but then changed things up a little bit, we added Euonymus "Silver queen" which added interest and colour to the otherwise green werath and then Cotoneaster berries, to finish of the look. The Cotoneaster berries were used as a substitute for holly berries, as they last longer and are less attractive to wildlife and therefore are safer from being eaten!

Permitting you soaked the oasis throughly, and you used fresh plant material, the wreath will last easily through the christmas period and into the new year!

A Leylandii Conifer.

Plant Information!

x Cuprocyparis leylandii (Leylandii Hedging) - This is an extremely vigorous, evergreen conifer and one of the fastest growing conifers in existence! This dense plant is used mostly for hedges, to screen the nasty neighbours in some cases, and does a perfect job, but is also great for making topiary's and if cut correctly, usually twice a year, can be kept in different heights, shapes and sizes depending on what you need!

Ilex aquifolium (Holly) - A slow growing evergreen shrub with spiky leaves, bearing vivid red berries (drupes) in winter. A common Christmas plant ("The Holly And The Ivy!").

Euonymus 'Silver Queen'.

Hedera helix (Common Ivy) - A vigorous, fast growing plant, with evergreen foliage and adventitious roots which 'attach' themselves to other plants, walls etc... and can cause issues in extreme cases. Again a common Christmas plant ("The Holly And The Ivy!").

Euonymus fortunei 'Silver Queen' - A dense, medium sized evergreen shrub with variegated leaves of cream and green centres.

The red berries of Cotoneaster 'Cornubia'.

Cotoneaster frigidus 'Cornubia' - This is commonly known as the "Tree Cotoneaster" and can reach the dizzy heights of 8M (Well a dizzy height for a shrub anyway!) and is covered in white flowers in the summer which is followed by large clusters of vivid red berries. It is classed as a semi-evergreen as the leaves may fall during the winter, but equally may still be present.


So there you have it! Stunning, traditional, yet simple Christmas wreaths containing plants that all have winter interest as well as a practical use!

Jack.

Winter Interest In Gardens.

Away from the chaos that is Christmas shopping gardens still have so much too give!

Dogwood Looks Great In Winter.

 - Cornus (Dogwoods) have now mostly lost all their leaves, leaving incredible coloured stems in shades of deep red/black, yellows and oranges that will last all winter, and for years to come!

Holly In The Snow.

 - Ilex (Holly) will now be coming into berry (or forming drupes if you want too get technical) which provides a vital source of food for wildlife during the harsh winter months but also creates that christmas card image of deep red berries against the spiked green foliage....now all we need is some snow to complete that picture!

 - Viburnum x bodnantense 'Dawn' A stunning variety of viburnum with clusters of pink and white, elegantly fragranced flowers, which are borne on the bear stems throughout Autumn and Winter.

 - Hamamelis x intermedia (Witch Hazel) These stunning shrubs, or small trees have brilliantly twisted growth which can clearly be seen in wirer, however there main feature is the beautiful coloured flowers with a divine scent that are borne on these bear stems throughout winter and into spring. They truly are stunning!

Your Garden Still Has Huge Amounts To Give Even In Winter, And Now Is A Great Time (Especially Over The Christmas Holidays With The Family) To Visit Some Truly Amazing Winter Gardens, Below Are Some Links To Get Your Ideas For A Trip Started;

Sir Harold Hillier Gardens - The Winter Garden.

The Gardens At Mottisfont.

Alnwick Gardens.

So Have Fun, Wrap Up Warm, And Enjoy Everything Your Garden Has To Offer In The Winter! 

Jack

Christmas Tree Chaos.

Its that time of year again.... Christmas, and with it comes the joy of picking that perfect cut or potted christmas tree, after all it has to look the best! 

Make sure you pick your perfect tree!

With most garden centres getting 1000's of cut trees over the coming weeks here are a few tips on getting the best of the bunch. 

 - Don't just pick the trees off the top of the piles! Have a dig around, the trees are often staked on top of one another so theres plenty more than just what you can see on the top.

 - Shake the Christmas tree once you take it out of the pile. This will help to give you an idea of what it will look like once all the branches have dropped.

 - Watch out for yellow or brown needles. Around the base to the tree, there will always be brown needles but the rest of the tree should be lush and dark green with no signs of yellowing.

 - Ensure the trees branches are even. Get someone (A member of staff for example) to hold the tree so that you can see if its even from a distance...theres nothing worse than your tree being lopsided now is there!

 - Pick the tree that right for you. Thick or thin, tall or short, you should need to cut any of the branches off because its too big! 

 - Don't assume the "potted" trees will grow as they will have had 99% of their roots cut off when lifted from the ground. Get a true pot grown tree if you want too keep it after the big day.

To keep your tree fresh and healthy for longer, cut 1inch of the base of the tree to aid water uptake, try and avoid placing it near a source of heat where it will dry out quicker, and ensure that the water reservoir or the soil the tree is in, is kept full/moist at all times.

A Nordmann Fir - The Most
Popular Cut Tree.

There are also now many trees that you can buy in both potted and cut form each with unique traits.

 - The Nordmann Fir ("Non - Drop" Spruce). This is great if you want a traditional Christmas Tree shape, without the mess of needles dropping as they retain them even when dried out! How good is that?!

 - The Blue Spruce. This variety often only comes in potted specimens, but has an electric blue colour too them, giving them added interest.

 - The Noble Fir. This variety is only available in smaller sizes due to its growth habit, and is often thicker throughout the whole length of the tree.

 - The Norway Spruce. The original christmas tree. With a thick, uniform shape that is of decent heights this tree is brilliant for a traditional xmas. Watch out for the needle drop though....theres a lot of it!

So have fun picking out your tree, get 'em quick before they sell out and so that you get the tree you want for your perfect Christmas. Have Fun!

Jack.